700 to 770 on GMAT! What Does it Take to Get There?

Scoring a 770 on GMAT (99 percentile) is rare enough, but doing it in one's first attempt on this challenging test is rarer still. What does it take to get this outstanding score, and how should one optimize one's preparation strategy to overcome constraints and suit one's strengths? This is the story of Vatsal Gupta, and of his 770 on the GMAT.

How to begin GMAT preparation
Before one can start dreaming of a great GMAT score, one needs to be able to plan for it. Unfortunately, most test takers plan for a test wishfully, and execute fitfully. In other words, everyone wants a great score, but not everyone puts in the effort and structure into preparation that is required to achieve it. This structure is not just about what to study, but about how to study it. Here are the key strategies that Vatsal followed:

- To begin with, Vatsal took a mock test to identify his natural strengths as well as areas that did not align with his capabilities immediately. For example, as an engineer, Vatsal knew that he would be strong at Quant - and he was - but he also found that for him, Data Sufficiency would take some more effort to get right. Data Sufficiency presented a new structure and question type, and its mechanics would entail a lot more practice. Note 1.

- Vatsal also ensured that the test he chose was not just another practice test, but a deep and comprehensive diagnostic. It is important to take a diagnostic test which can help you to evaluate and identify weaknesses across ALL areas. After this test, Vatsal was able to identify that some parts of Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension, and quite a few of Sentence Correction, would need more attention from him. Note 2.

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This post was first published on the GyanOne Blog