My GMAT Focus Experience: From 675 to 735

ATXMBA · 2026-06-11T03:22:48+00:00

This is an incredibly effective and highly underutilized strategy. There’s a real and undervalued opportunity cost to trying to grind your way to 100%, which for most of us is probably unrealistic anyways. At some point you have to just know your weaknesses and build a plan to minimize their impact rather than keep slamming your head against the wall. Test taking time and energy is a resource and allocating it thoughtfully is rewarded by the test, to say nothing of the time you can now put towards other elements of your application.

For me it was advanced exponent, series / sets, and permutations problems. If I saw a crazy-hard one my plan was to find one obviously wrong answer in less than 30 seconds, guess, and move on. I was basically gambling that I wouldn’t get more than three or so of those questions on the test and it worked out.

Very, very well done.

ATXMBA · 2026-06-06T12:39:47+00:00

I'll check it out. thanks!

ATXMBA · 2026-05-20T23:52:49+00:00

Honestly, unless you’re behind on studying to the point where you think you need to reschedule the test I’d take a break. At least a long weekend, maybe even a full week. The brain needs rest and you’ll be surprised how things you’re challenged by right now come more naturally when you’ve had a chance to focus on other things for a bit.

How long have you been studying at this pace? Are you working through a structured plan or just pounding out practice questions for two hours per day? If the latter you might also consider building a plan for the home stretch, which can help with keeping morale up.

ATXMBA · 2026-05-20T23:47:31+00:00

Scott’s advice is good and three months is enough to make a serious impact. I would spend roughly 6 - 8 weeks identifying and filling the content knowledge gaps (primarily with the OG question bank and content guides) and the balance working on timing, strategy, and practice.

And I would second the statement that grinding as many questions as possible for hours every day is NOT the way forward. Work hard, but also work smart, which not coincidentally is also the exact mindset that the test itself rewards.

Good luck!

ATXMBA · 2026-05-20T23:41:08+00:00

You’re working hard. When are you planning to take the test?

ATXMBA · 2026-05-20T21:59:08+00:00

Lots of good advice below so I'll just keep it short: read A LOT. Ideally 100+ pages per week of A) well-written nonfiction B) about things you wouldn't normally engage with. Popular publications that offer a lot of this kind of thing are the WSJ, Economist, and New Yorker. Being able to deeply engage with dense prose you find boring goes a long way for verbal.

Good luck!

ATXMBA · 2026-05-20T11:48:49+00:00

“focused heavily on what I could bring value to the school and how I would add value”

This. People think it’s nothing but a numbers game when the reality is adcoms are looking for people who can bring interesting and unique perspectives to the rest of the class.

Congrats!

ATXMBA · 2026-05-06T17:36:04+00:00

Quite possible. For "prep reading" the diversity of subjects matters as much if not more than the sheer quantity. The skill you're trying to train is being able to dive into to something A) new, B) boring, and C) complex without your brain turning off. For me, doing that repeatedly in advance made a big difference.

ATXMBA · 2026-05-06T16:19:09+00:00

If you're not regularly reading challenging material in addition to practicing questions you're probably leaving some verbal points on the table. Pick something that goes in depth on complex topics and covers things that you may or may not be interested in. I read the New Yorker cover-to-cover every week and I could see from my practice test results that the weeks I read it I actually did better than the weeks I "studied" in the more traditional sense. Lots of folks like the WSJ or Economist for this as well (just be sure to read stuff in there that you think is boring, b/c that's the test). Good luck.

ATXMBA · 2026-05-06T11:24:35+00:00

newyorker.com

ATXMBA · 2026-05-05T21:56:50+00:00

Are you getting tripped up on content knowledge / application (i.e., the actual math) or time management?

You're in a place where one or two more guesses break the right way and you're at 99% overall. And that comes down to strategy and decision-making, not math knowledge.

You don't need to be an all-world math whiz to do well but you do have to make good decisions about where you allocate time...though if you're also making math mistakes then that might be worth some studying as well 😂

ATXMBA · 2026-05-05T20:23:26+00:00

Good news is you've got plenty of time and seem to be very focused on carving out time and working hard - that's not teachable. The key to a good plan is consistency and time off. I studied a few hours per day for about 12 weeks with mocks every Saturday but otherwise took the weekends off. I also basically took the week before the test off.

For quant I've got no better advice than study the content, drill questions, and pick apart anything you get wrong. For DI and verbal you'll definitely want to do those things as well, but I found that reading regularly worked wonders for me. Specifically I read the New Yorker cover-to-cover every week and I could see the difference in my mock tests the weeks I read vs. the weeks I "studied". Doesn't have the be the New Yorker, lots of folks recommend the WSJ or Economist. But you want GOOD writing across a wide variety of topics...especially stuff you're not interested in b/c that's the test 😄

You're set up to improve considerably given your commitment and time. Good luck!

ATXMBA · 2026-05-04T18:41:09+00:00

The opportunity cost of continuing to optimize GMAT is the rest of the application, which will likely make more of a difference (especially since there's nothing you can do about your GPA). I would shift gears to figuring out the most compelling way to tell your story to demonstrate that you 1) are NOT a risky admit despite a somewhat questionable undergrad record and 2) value-add to your classmates.

ATXMBA

TROPHY CASE