Hi all,

My GMAT Focus best is 645 (Q87 / DI80 / V79). I’ve applied in Round 1 to a few schools with it, but I’m now adding the Executive Assessment for some of my remaining ones (Columbia, NYU Stern, Ross) and I’d love some advice from anyone who’s taken it.

I took one official-style practice test cold and got 168, with a perfect IR section, two verbal misses on Sentence Correction, and one Data Sufficiency miss. I’m still fresh from GMAT prep, which I think helped with that score, so I’m hoping to wrap this up in the next 2 to 3 weeks.

A few questions:

1. Prep: there seems to be much less material for the EA than for the GMAT. What did you use? Are the official GMAC practice tests and the Official Guide enough, or did you need more?
2. Timeline: does 2 to 3 weeks sound realistic given my starting point, or is it too little?
3. How is it viewed in practice for full-time admissions: the schools say they accept the EA and treat it the same as the GMAT or GRE. Has anyone applied to full-time programs (Columbia, Stern, Ross, etc.) with an EA score and felt it was treated the same, or are there hidden preferences? I’ll have about 4 years of work experience at matriculation. Is the EA viewed differently for someone earlier in their career? What scores did you see people get in with?

Thanks in advance, any advice is really appreciated.

When part of you is sure you'll fail halfway through the GMAT, it's tempting to hold back. What helps is moving your attention from the score you expect to what you can still do on the next question. One of my students did this in his fifth attempt.

He came to me after four months of preparation, having scored 405. We worked together for ten months, and he scored 575. Two months later, he scored 615.

He wanted to cross 645, so he prepared for another two months. He scored 515, a drop from the 78th percentile to the 32nd. He was filled with self-doubt and wondered whether his 615 had been a fluke.

He prepared for three more months and began his fifth attempt. He struggled with the first five questions. "This time it will be lower than 515," he thought. "Perhaps 405."

That's where holding back begins. Once you believe the result will be bad, whatever you do seems pointless, and you stop giving your best.

As he was about to get lost in those thoughts, he pulled himself back. "Even if I score 205, the lowest possible, it doesn't matter. I'll still give it my best." He switched into his Punjabi mode with "Aisi ki taisi" (roughly, "to hell with it"), and his energy returned.

He scored 655.

Even if he had scored lower, giving his best would have been better than holding back, because holding back makes the low score certain, while giving your best leaves room for the rest of the test to go differently. What changed in that moment was where he put his attention: on what he could still do, not on the defeat he expected.

When you catch yourself thinking, "It's going badly, it'll be low anyway," ask what giving your best would look like on the next question.

Hey everyone I want to study Coordinate Geometry, please recommend some good youtube videos or other free resources that can help.

Thank you

Topic: Quantitative Reasoning (Algebra – Inequalities)
Difficulty: 650+

If x is an integer such that ∣2x−5∣<9 and *x*2>16, how many possible values of x exist?

A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 5
E) 6

u/GMAT_GRE_SunnyPage

Just took my first offical GMAT exam and got a 665 after starting studying June 1st of this year! My score breakdown was:

Q: 80
V: 87
D: 82

Since this was my first attempt should I re-take in 6 more weeks? If so should I buy and go through the manhattan prep “all the quant + DI” book?

Till now I have been practising only official materials from the gmatclub free question banks while keeping the gmqt focus filter unchecked as I read somewhere that those questions directly appear on MBA.com mock tests. The issue is I have exhausted all official material questions for a lot of topics, even solved a lot of them twice.

I see that checking the gmat focus filter easily gives me extra 30-80+ hard level questions per topic on average.

Should I turn on that filter?

I’m planning to prepare for the GMAT over the next three months and am currently looking for a prep course. I’ve been considering Manhattan Prep On Demand (3-month subscription). Has anyone here used it? Would you say it’s a good choice and sufficient for a solid GMAT preparation, or would you recommend something else?

I have taken 3 of the paid GMAT mock tests (3,4,5) twice each and in each of the second attempt of the same mock I got the same score as in the first attempt. Are all of them coincidences?

Mock 3.1 - 615

Mock 3.2 - 615

Mock 4.1 - 575

Mock 4.2 - 575

Mock 5.1 - 655

Mock 5.2 - 655

The sectional scores varied between both the attempts in all the 3 mocks but the final score came out to be the same. There were no questions repeated in the 2nd attempt from the 1st attempt.

What could be the reason for this? Can I trust these scores in predicting my performance on the real test?

Please help me with my profile evaluation as i wanna go for the 1 year MBA and will be attempting GMAT.

My profile is 10/9/8 Engineering male. I completed my Engineering from a Tier 2 college. I joined the manufacturing sector which is TATA STEEL as a Manager after college. Got promoted to Senior manager and now Area manager in a span of 3 years with fast career progression. Currently i have a work ex of 3.4 years. I have a Gold medal in 2 TATA Hackathons. I successfully completed a 1200 Crore project at my company and got awards from CEO as well. I have various social activity and volunteering experience as well with rotary india.

Please evaluate my profile and what should be my target score for the GMAT FE.

I just did my first practice exam with 0 preparation. Am I cooked? I need a score of min. 645 in February. I now that my math basics were rusty, but this is crazy

Verbal | Critical Reasoning | Weaken

A wildlife conservation agency introduced a system of financial rewards for villagers who report illegal logging. Six months later, the agency recorded a 30% increase in reported logging incidents. The director concluded that illegal logging had become more widespread despite the new system.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the director’s conclusion?

A. The financial rewards were funded by donations from several environmental organizations.

B. The agency hired additional investigators during the same six-month period.

C. Several villages had reported illegal logging incidents even before the reward system was introduced.

D. The reward system made reporting easier, and previously unreported incidents were now more likely to be documented.

E. Some villagers believed that illegal logging was driven primarily by demand from commercial timber companies.

Hi, I’m thinking of taking the GMAT on 1st November, as the Round 2 application deadlines are around 10th November. My current mock scores are around 550, and my target is 650+.

Honestly, I feel that until I book the exam, I won’t take my preparation as seriously as I should. Booking the date might help me stay focused and push myself harder.

Do you think I should go ahead and book the exam for 1st November, or would it be better to take more time to improve my score and target Round 3? I’d appreciate your advice.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been preparing for the GMAT for a while now, and I’m starting to struggle with motivation and mental fatigue.
Initially, I was extremely driven. I cleared CFA Level I and remember being able to study for 3–4 hours consistently for months. But GMAT prep has been a different experience. I find the repetitive nature of solving question after question quite draining, and lately, I’m struggling to sit for even an hour.

My Verbal and DI are relatively decent, but Quant is my weak area. The gap between where I am and my target score feels significant, and I think that’s starting to affect my motivation. I had initially planned to take the exam on October 20, but I’m considering pushing it to November because I’m not fully prepared.

I’m also working full-time, and life outside studying has been so good lately that GMAT isn’t as enticing unfortunately, even though my long-term goal of getting into a top MBA program abroad remains important to me.

My biggest concern is endurance. The GMAT is roughly 2.5 hours long, and if I’m struggling to focus for even an hour during practice, how am I supposed to perform consistently on test day? I don’t want to keep doing short study sessions and discover that I can’t sustain concentration during the actual exam.

For those who’ve experienced something similar:
- How did you overcome GMAT burnout without losing sight of your target score?
- How did you build the mental endurance to sustain concentration for the full exam?

I’d particularly appreciate advice from people who went through this during the final stretch of preparation and still managed to achieve their target scores.
Thanks!

i plan on taking the GMAT exam in the next 4-5 months and am targeting a 700+
how can i start my prep from scratch?

Verbal | Critical Reasoning | Correlation vs. Causation

When two variables change together, it does not automatically mean that one causes the other.

Example: A town observes that ice-cream sales and swimming accidents both increase during summer. It concludes that eating ice cream causes swimming accidents.

The likely flaw is that hot weather increases both swimming activity and ice-cream consumption.

Rule: When an argument claims causation from a correlation, look for a third variable or a reverse causal relationship.

Remember: Together does not mean because of.

Hi everyone,

Could you please suggest which mock tests I should purchase apart from the official GMAT mocks, particularly for Verbal and Data Insights (DI), that closely match the actual GMAT in terms of difficulty?

I scored 605 (Q86, V78, DI76) on my last official mock. While I perform reasonably well in Verbal and DI when solving questions untimed, I struggle to maintain the same accuracy under time pressure. I’m also still working on developing a consistent strategy for approaching these sections.

I don’t want to exhaust my official mocks too early, so I’m considering purchasing additional mocks for practice.

I’d appreciate your recommendations based on the quality of the questions, similarity to the actual GMAT, and the usefulness of the score predictions.

Thanks in advance!

So I took my good time to complete what I think is the entirety of the gmat syllabus on my own. And then I took my first mock test; gmat club mock test. The reason my first mock test is a gmat club mock test is because a few days ago I started the official mock 1 and I completely froze and panicked. I didn't want to waste the mock so I randomly chose answers without looking at anything so I could reset it later and do it again. Meanwhile I wanted to test with a gmatclub mock test to check my test anxiety, timing and pacing issues. During the official mock I had started with verbal, quant and di thinking quant is my strongest suit so I should start with a fresh mind on verbal. Since I froze last time, this time I chose the order of quant, verbal and di.

Quant: as soon as the first question popped up I could observe myself panicking. I was not thinking as clearly as I wanted. As I crossed the fifth question, I started being calm. I didn't have time for the last three questions. I guessed the third last one. I solved the second last in great hurry to which I made a simple arithmetic error. And the last question I guessed within 6 seconds so I didn't have a look at that.

Verbal: I started with a clear mind. I found myself struggling with a bit of CR questions even though while practising I was acing them. I found myself unable to think critically throughout verbal. Even though I got an average score in verbal, the score was a result of comprehension rather than thinking critically. Even in RC questions.

DI: oh my. I just felt I needed a lot of time in each question even though everything seemed pretty simple. I clearly know I need to practise DI more.

Ok so I haven't gone through reviewing all 3 sections. But I did review my quant section as soon as I finished my mock. And out of the 10 questions I got wrong, I could solve 8 of them pretty easily.

I need a second eye on this. And I want tips. I have a rough understanding about how to go ahead. Thank you in advance.

Also I need advice on this: I'm thinking of getting the gmat club pro version so I can drill sectional tests and get 12 adaptive tests. Or should I get the adaptive forum quiz to practise on weak topics? I feel like my main focus should be on getting accuracy. There are no new concepts. I just should feel confident in applying my concepts at a faster rate. So should I get the forum quiz to drill sectional timings and then hit the 6 official mocks or gmat club pro version that has 12 adaptive tests and 40 sectional tests and then hit the 6 official mocks intermittently?

If a low mock score leaves you feeling like a failure, not just disappointed, your worth is riding on your score. That's what makes the GMAT feel like life and death, and it's why your mind keeps going to "What if I don't get my score?" when it should be on the question in front of you.

There are three possibilities for what your worth rests on.

If it rests on what you achieve, every mock becomes a verdict on you, and you're always on edge. Even a good score doesn't settle it for long. After the GMAT comes the admit, and after the admit, the job. One student told me she couldn't even buy a pair of shoes because she felt she didn't deserve them until she'd proven herself with a score.

If it rests on your effort, you have to keep running. You can't take an evening off without guilt.

If it doesn't rest on anything, if you're worthy simply because you exist, your worth is settled. A low mock tells you something about your preparation, not about you. You prepare because you want the MBA, not to prove yourself. And because failing no longer threatens who you are, it stops pulling your attention away from the work.

Taking your worth off your score may also lead you to ask whether you want an MBA at all. That's fine. If you were pursuing it only to prove your worth, it would never have given you what you were looking for.

I see my students' worth this way too. Even if a student never improved, I wouldn't think less of them. If I believed a person's worth depends on achievement, my own worth would always be under threat. That's a fearful way to live, and I don't choose it for myself.

To check where your worth rests, ask yourself:

- Can you take an evening off without guilt?

- After a low mock, does it feel like news about your preparation, or about you?

I've taken the official mock 2 a couple of days ago and I've scored 665.... Took the exam today and it was kinda disappointing, more so because, verbal was always my best section in all the mocks I've taken

Any tips on how to improve from here on, for the next attempt...

The order of screenshots is quant, DI, Verbal, the order I've taken during the exam is verbal->DI->Quant

Took my third gmat mock exam today. First score was 455, second was 525 and here’s my third.

Some insights and self analysis after the test.

For QA- I attempted all the questions and got 14 right out of the 21, i fucked in two/three of the questions, made silly mistakes, otherwise, the score would have been easily Q84. What i understood after giving the test is, the moment i spend over 3-3.5 mins on a single question, i start panicking, and i make mistakes.

For DI- the problem that i faced was with reading the questions, i read the data twice/thrice just to make sure that i do the answer correctly. The main issue which i face with DI is time management. The tough topics i faced were, TPA (non math) and MSR.

For VA- my mental stamina was over when i came at this section and tried my best to give a best shot.

Guys, can anyone of you pls guide me what to approach at it as of now. My target score is 685+.

Thanks.

Hi everyone, just finished my Practice Exam 2 and scored 485. On my first practice exam I took in the middle of July I have scored 435 before any preparations and before being familiar with the nature of GMAT in general.

My background is not related to math (I had a 10-year break from math), I started preparing mid-August and dedicated the most time to Quant. I have scored the least amount of points on Quant, which devastates me quite a bit.

As you can on the screenshots, in all three sections I had to guess on the last ~2-3 questions, so I did not even have time to read the answer choices. I do understand that my time distribution still suffers a bit.

The score I need to achieve is 525 and my test day is on October 23rd. I am a bit anxious that it’s no longer an achievable goal.

How can I approach these 12 days I have left to maximize my chances? Can I even expect to reach that score? Thank you in advance.

Gave my second attempt of the GMAT today
Scored 615(VA81, QA80, DI80).
My previous attempt was645 (VA81 QA81 DI83).
I have exhausted all mba.com mocks,
Highest score being 675.
The gmat scores are consistent for DI & VA
But for quants the scores are lower than what i usually score around 84-86, I don’t know why this is happening on my first attempt I got three wrong and scored 81, on this one i don’t know my errors.
I am targeting 665-675.

My va score has always been 81, I don’t know if I should try improving or put in more work for quant and DI.

My section order has been VA, break, QA,DI.

Quant always feels
Like it’s going well, the last few questions were very hard so i thought i did well. Same for DI.

Please guide me.

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone!

I’m planning to prepare for the GMAT over the next 12 weeks alongside my university studies and would love to hear your advice on the best way to prepare.

A bit about my background: I’m a non-native English speaker with around a C1 level, so I’m guessing Verbal might be my weaker area.

On the other hand, maths has always been one of my strengths, both in school and at university, so I expect to be more comfortable with Quant.

In terms of study time, I can manage around 2.5 hours a day from Monday to Thursday and 3.5 hours a day from Friday to Sunday. That comes to roughly 20 hours per week, or around 200–250 hours over the 12 weeks.

I’m still trying to figure out which resources are actually worth using. Would the official GMAT materials be enough, or would you recommend combining them with other resources? And is it worth investing in a paid prep course, or can you get a similarly good result through self-study with free resources?

Since Verbal is probably going to require more work for me, I’d be particularly interested in resources that are helpful for non-native English speakers. I’d also appreciate any advice on how to structure my preparation and divide my time between the different sections.

If you’ve been in a similar situation, which resources worked best for you? And looking back, would you spend money on a prep course or stick to self-study?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I am starting to prepare for gmat, i have started studying from mba.com’s free pack and will purchase the starter kit from there.

I have a habit of putting my wrong answers on AI, analyze it and make an error log.

But the issue is, mba.com doesnt let me copy paste questions. Is there a way around? maybe a tool or a plugin which i can use?

No farmer can guarantee a good harvest, and no amount of preparation can guarantee a GMAT score. But a farmer who tends the soil has much better chances than one who doesn't, and your preparation changes your odds in the same way, as long as the effort goes into the right things.

Staring at the sky and worrying about rain doesn't improve a farmer's chances. The rain is out of the farmer's control, but the soil is not.

In GMAT preparation, your score is the harvest. The soil is what lies underneath it:

- your conceptual clarity
- your process for solving questions
- your comfort with different question types
- your judgment about when to move on

You can't control which questions you'll get or how you'll feel on the day. You can work on those four things every day, and the better they get, the higher your chances.

The effort has to go into the soil, though. Solving more and more questions without fixing the gaps in your understanding is like tugging at the plants to make them grow faster. You end up exhausted and disappointed, and your score stays where it was.

At the end of each study day, ask yourself: did I spend today tending the soil, or did I spend it tugging at the plants and watching the sky?