710 in 3 weeks - my experience

Find out how Beat The GMAT members tackled GMAT test prep with positive results. Get tips on GMAT test prep materials, online courses, study tips, and more.
This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 6:10 am

710 in 3 weeks - my experience

by tkor » Tue May 29, 2018 8:13 am
I studied for the GMAT during my senior year of college and never gave it the attention / time it needed and didn't score well, but recently had some time while switching jobs to retake the exam at the ~2 year mark of my career. I knew that I wouldn't have a ton of time (about 3 weeks), so I planned to study full time for about 6-8 hours a day, 7 days a week. I knew that if I didn't go well, I could spend more time in the fall.

I took a Major Test Prep Cos. online course in college, and while the resources were great, I didn't feel like I extracted as much value as I could - maybe the 3 hour sessions over video conference made it easy to goof off. Anyway, I knew that I wouldn't go that route because those course take 8 weeks and I needed to get fully prepared in a much shorter time frame. I found TTP and Jeff Miller through Thumbtack and after doing a trial tutoring session with him and a couple others, I decided to go with Jeff.

A couple of reasons why I went with Jeff: he's a straight shooter - he never BS'd me and always told me what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear, was always available to talk via text or call, was able to motivate me when I lost sight of my goals, and was generally just very relatable; someone who I looked forward to working with rather than dreading the sessions we had together.

Once my studies got underway, I was working through the Target Test Prep course as efficiently as I could, while meeting with Jeff every day to review questions and study new topics. We often spent time talking about my goals and timeline and Jeff was super helpful in keeping me motivated when things didn't feel like they were going so well. I also started to mix in some verbal work, but had a very high baseline, so spent close to 80% of my time on Quant.

It quickly became clear that I wouldn't be able to finish the entire TTP course, but got through as much material as I could, and by the end of my full-time 3 week studies, was feeling close to burning out. I decided to spend a bit more time relaxing and reviewing rather than trying to learn new things. Jeff was again available to talk, serve as a sounding board and help ease my nerves.

When test day came, I was feeling good knowing that I put in about 130 hours of dedicated study and that I had nothing to lose. In the end, I got a 710 which I was thrilled with given the goal I had set out for myself. I loved the TTP course because it forced me to push myself and the results were instant with the quizzes and question sets. TTP and Jeff both feel like a great investment and I'm super happy I went with them!