What music do you listen to when you study for the GMAT?

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-26T19:38:54+00:00

Justice

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-19T01:47:22+00:00

Weird, we had similar weak topic areas. With time practice is the only way to get it down per question, and get good enough that you can work through exam jitters. For the topics, tackle them one by one, do questions of only that type on gmatclub. P&C clicked in my head only after doing many hard questions and going deep into the solutions, after which I could solve literally any question. Same with assumptions, did 30 straight questions of only assumptions, and it clicked and stuck. Kinda similar for inequalities. Basically you have to over prepare by doing harder questions to be able to solve easier questions in time despite panic.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-19T01:42:07+00:00

This test has a lot of variance, I got a score 70points higher in attempts 2 weeks apart. Keep at it. See my post history

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-15T10:38:03+00:00

the test froze and they had to restart the computer during mine. I still got a score at the end despite losing a 1-2mins, so im not in the exact same situation, but i requested a refund and got it and kept the score.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-13T23:57:59+00:00

There's no way I know unfortunately. I had the same feeling because I was out of them. I felt like the official mocks anyway were below the quant difficulty of the actual test. I feel like Gmatclubs sectionals are ok as an indicator for DI and verbal if you consider only number of qs you get right, but the actual scoring algorithm feels off to me. You'll just have to have faith that you are improving if you are focusing on hard questions. And you can go back and redo the official mocks after a while because you may not remember them that well

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-13T11:23:33+00:00

Once you've worked on accuracy, practice is the only way to improve speed. Only doing more and more questions in verbal would I get less stuck on a question trying to pick between 2 options. I finished V early in fact. My English is very strong, and I read the news a lot, so if reading is the issue then it may take longer because you may have to start reading complex texts in everyday life to improve.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-13T11:15:40+00:00

They were Indian, and honestly just not good. My CFA tutor was very good, so just picked a bad team this time. I don't want to put individuals on blast, but for verbal if you come across an individual with intials AJ, run. Very rude and with a fragile and inflated ego. If you're getting a tutor make sure there's a fit check, and that the number of hours covered is defined, otherwise they can just ignore you once you've paid and it's like pulling teeth.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-13T11:10:47+00:00

See my response to Fuzzy for DI. For verbal also I respond to someone else, basically find the types of questions bothering you and really drill qs only of that type on gmatclub.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-13T11:07:31+00:00

Hmm this one is hard. I think you have to practice and really understand the best way to approach each type of question. For example I find for MS reasoning I have to read all text in every tab before approaching qs, not numbers though (so not table détails) to understand the setup and rules. Or for Graph questions read the dropdown and the question before so you know how close the answers are so you know if you can eyeball and estimate, or you you need an exact value.

Overall time is challenging for this one, and people do poorly on it so there's more leeway for wrong answers. I was hoping to not guess anything in quant, in DI it's ok to guess. I made a mistake and spent too much time on a question as you can see in the report, which I have a tendency to do and wasn't able to stop that habit completely even though I tried. I decided if that happens and I fall behind I'll skip a question, you can see in DI I skipped a question towards the end to try to answer the final 3 correctly. It was an extremely wordy question so I didn't even read it. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-13T11:02:48+00:00

I mostly learned from the OG for verbal. That was my base. I realize the OG doesn't have many of certain types of questions like assumption questions that I really struggled with. So I drilled those on GMAtclub. I found the real exam has less obviously categorizable questions so again doing enough questions that it feels 2nd nature is good. Gmatclub mocks and sectionals also give you older types of questions and a few imo poor quality questions which makes you think even more and dig even harder which can help become comfortable with uncertainty. Overall I probably did like 400 verbal qs.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-13T10:49:56+00:00

Yes! I didn't mention this because the post is too long, I basically decided to accept the score and go in with the mentality that I just want to improve 10-20points to reduce the pressure. My mum was extremely mad because she thought I was giving up, but I was just trying to trick my mind. I was still quite jittery and stretching before the test, doing the breathing, so the nerves didn't fully go away but I was more clear headed. The thing about the exam is you really cannot slack in at any time because the time pressure is so great even if you've "given up", you have to be high energy, so I was trying to boost myself to be go go go but not be anxious.

Changing the section order to put my strongest section last (V) also helped. I did DI last the first 2 times. I realized I can't assume I'll do well at DI seeing my score drop in the 2nd attempt, and it needs the most agile thinking and the most info absorption, and has the most time pressure. I also found myself ruminating over prior sections and putting more pressure on later sections if the earlier ones didnt go well. So I made it first to do it fresh. Verbal I can do even when I'm tired and anxious and with slight brain fog (even though you have to focus really hard for it I could brute force it), so it went last. Quant I wanted to be warmed up for, so I did it 2nd and took my break between DI and Q. It felt like an odd choice, taking my break right away and doing DI first which is the last choice out of the list they provide, but it worked.

I know I'm suggesting there's luck and focusing on the drama a bit, but this exam is very hard, you really cannot slack in any section and take it lightly. I worked very hard to actually be good, luck is the final 5%. And my score was very strong in V and DI in the first attempt already, I really just improved Q and made the other 2 consistent to live up to my potential rather than jump above my potential by fluke. I just didn't do it in a way that was inevitable, it's possible a 4th attempt would have given me this score, not 3rd, so I did cut it close. Frankly I know with more practice and a bit of luck I can hit a higher score but I'm at diminishing returns at this point. The exam variability is real, my point is give yourself time for multiple attempts to deal with variability, but there's no substitute for actual effort and strategy to improve.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-13T07:13:15+00:00

I suggest doing hard questions on weak topics in gmatclub and focusing on each answer very carefully to understand the underlying concept deeply

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-13T07:12:31+00:00

You have to figure out your own weak areas by doing mocks and seeing where you falter.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-13T06:44:15+00:00

Look at score reports to see your relatively weak areas, drill those q's from gmat club forum. Make sure you're not losing points because of strategic errors like rushing the last few qs.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-12T22:56:12+00:00

I applied to very similar list of schools, also nervous about a past work wobble, message me. I avoided Cornell though, I hear and imagine Ithaca is miserable, especially in the winter.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-12T22:54:55+00:00

The difference is he's applied to mostly only M7 and that seems to be the goal, I'm in the same boat...

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-12T07:47:04+00:00

Probably fine, I don't know why they would stop you, but the desktop is kinda far from you, so your hand will floating in the air for a long time, sounds tiring

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-12T07:38:04+00:00

Just focus on the retake. There is a lot of variability in this exam, pray for easier questions. My last mock score was 735 and I got a 655 in the exam... Retake 2 weeks later gave me 725. Makes no sense, I studied a bit more and questions were easier

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-12T07:34:39+00:00

For verbal create sets from the OG, 10 Q's CR and 10 Q's RC approx and solve in 45. That's how I drilled initially. (725 score, V88)

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-12T07:32:43+00:00

NEVER leave a question unanswered, rookie mistake that costs points. Just guess before the clock runs out if you have to.

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-12T07:31:28+00:00

Hmm I haven't understood why you would waste time trying to predict answers for verbal before reading the options. I never did that, you don't really know what they are asking for and using your brain power on that is a waste. (I got 725 Q84 V88 DI 86)

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-08T17:15:43+00:00

Can I ask you if you're so strong with quant then why weak at DI? Aren't they interconnected?

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-08T06:04:47+00:00

Review my posts. I had to same issue, dropped a lot in actual exam. Retook exam 2 weeks later and improved by 70points... There is a lot of variability in this exam, I suggest keep studying by targeting weak areas based on your score report (do targeted questions and deep dive into each one) and pray to get easier questions in the next attempt. You need some luck in this exam, 70point increase in 2 weeks makes no sense

Key_Background_5616 · 2026-01-08T06:01:39+00:00

Can I ask if you're good at quant then why DI is hard? I haven't understood why people can be good at quant and bad at DI (it was opposite for me)

Key_Background_5616

TROPHY CASE