BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Target Test Prep · GMAT

Choose how you want to prepare

Learn live with an expert or move at your own pace. Every option includes the complete TTP study system.

★★★★★5.0559 reviews
Vote for Target Test Prep, Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards 2026
NEWSWEEK READERS’ CHOICE 2026

BIG NEWS! Target Test Prep has been nominated, and they’d love your vote!

TTP has worked incredibly hard to build the best test prep experience possible, and winning Newsweek’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Award for Best Test Prep would mean a lot to them. If TTP has helped you, they’d be incredibly grateful for your vote. You can vote once each day through September 9.

Vote for TTP
GMATLiveTeach 7 seats left
Chris Peckover
NEXT LIVE COHORT

Oct 13 to Jan 7, 2027

with Chris Peckover

Schedule
Tue, Thu · 8:00 to 10:00 PM ET
Included
40 live hours + 6 months of GMAT OnDemand
  • Live instruction and real-time questions
  • Class recordings and assigned practice
View class & enroll
Limited cohort · enrollment openTarget Test Prep
EALiveTeach 5 seats left
Logan Thompson
EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

Sep 6 to Dec 6, 2026

with Logan Thompson

Schedule
Sun · 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM ET
Included
40 hours of live online classes plus six months of access to the complete TTP EA OnDemand course.
  • 165+ EA Score Guarantee
  • 4,100+ Quant, Verbal, and Integrated Reasoning practice questions
  • 400+ hours of in-depth video lessons
  • 3,000+ step-by-step video solutions
View EA class & enroll
Limited cohort · enrollment openTarget Test Prep
GMATOnDemand Start anytime
SELF-PACED MASTERCLASS

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Complete access from day one. Study on your schedule.

715+ score guarantee
$0to start then $127/mo
  • Personalized study plan and analytics
  • Thousands of lessons and practice questions

Compare the format, schedule, and included access before enrolling. Prices and seat counts shown reflect the supplied offer details.

Killed it - 790 (51 quant / 49 verbal)

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.
Expert replies
by trooper » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:15 am
Hey guys,

Thanks a lot for all the great advice here. Needless to say, things went really really well. Also, got a 5 on AWA but from all I've heard, that doesn't matter much.

What helped me most during prep was doing a number of practice tests. By test day, I had the timing down to a science and recognized most of the question "types" from having seen similar questions before.

Providing my avg. practice test scores:
- Kaplan Test 1 - 730
- Kaplan Test 2 - 740
- Kaplan Test 3 - 640
- Kaplan Test 4 - 730
- GMATprep Test 1 - 760
- GMATprep Test 1 - 770

Good luck y'all! Feel free to hit me up if you want any help/advice.
Join the discussion
Source: — I just Beat The GMAT! |

by gmat_dest » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:45 am
Bravo!!!
Join the discussion

by kyabe » Fri Aug 21, 2009 7:45 am
I couldn't resist myself to hail your achievement.. Congrats buddy.. U seriously killed the beast :)
Join the discussion

by DanaJ » Fri Aug 21, 2009 7:47 am
Great score! Maybe if you have the time you could post some of your strategies/materials used, so that the community might benefit from your experience...

Good luck with the apps!
Join the discussion

by fmohsin » Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:53 am
Congrats, pal!!! That's a killer score!

Can you debrief on how you studied for quantiative and what texts you used? Math has always been my strengh. I usually average from 44 to 50. But I would love to gain the consistency of 50+. I believe if I work hard I can get there...it's not too far away. BTW - verval hasn't ever been my streangth. I usually average from 27 to 35. I need consistency there too. My aim is around 40 so that I can break the 700 barrier. That's all I ask for!

Thanks in advance!
Join the discussion

by jjk » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:25 am
Now THAT is how you demolish the GMAT. Awesome score.
Join the discussion

Insane

by EMAN » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:59 am
Absolutely amazing! Congrats!
Join the discussion

by trooper » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:18 am
Thanks a lot guys!

Break down my prep in case it helps you guys:

Materials Used:
- OG 11
- Kaplan CD
- GMATprep (Practice Tests)
- Kaplan 800

I started with the official guide and can't stress enough how useful that book was. I think just going through the 1 - 2 page summaries and doing plenty of questions helped me a lot at the beginning. I probably worked through ~75% of verbal and ~50% of quant questions through that book. I struggled with SC sometimes and wasn't completely confident on DS, but was pretty strong on the other stuff. I probably spent 1+ months into this since I was fairly busy at work.

I took my first CAT test at this point, a diagnostic on the Kaplan CD (I got it from a friend, but I believe it comes with the Kaplan book). I had a 680 on the diagnostic and with the assumption that I can push that another 50 pts, I registered to take the test (giving myself about 5 weeks of more prep time).

From here on I completely focused on taking as many CATs as I could get my hands on. I occasionally reviewed the lessons and exercises on the Kaplan CD (probably went through them twice) just to re-enforce the basics. I think going through the lessons particularly helps iron out issues with SC, since SC basically centers around a few key concepts.

I listed the Kaplan 800 book because I bought it, though I didn't spend a lot of time on it. Just spent a day or so browsing through the lessons and a few practice questions. Looked generally useful, but wouldn't say added much value to me.

Test day was all about 2 cups of coffee and a calm head. I will say though, 4 hours of testing can get very tiring (I never did the essays during practice). Also, I really could not have guessed that my score would be that high. So if you're not sure how your first section went, don't let it dishearten you for the rest of the test.
Join the discussion

by etnry » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:20 am
Excellent score buddy!one question did you rely on the "first 10 questions very very important" stratergy or did you give equal importance to all questions.Please share with us how you worked on your timing.As in my case i'm never able to finish the practice test on time.
Join the discussion

by trooper » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:29 am
fmohsin wrote:Congrats, pal!!! That's a killer score!

Can you debrief on how you studied for quantiative and what texts you used? ...
Since your quant score's already pretty high, I'm assuming your basics are pretty strong. Just make sure you review the core concepts (any GMAT book should do) so you're not missing the same types of questions every time. For example, I struggled with permutation/combination questions at first but fixed it with 30 mins of review.

Once you're confident on your basics, PS should be easy. DS was pretty tricky for me in the beginning. I'd advice not trying to work around it but actually evaluating it step by step - i.e., try solving with just option 1, then just option 2, then both.

It's also important to keep reviewing questions you're getting wrong in quant and making sure you can answer them later. The same types of questions appear repeatedly (and in the actual test) and you don't want to be repeating the same mistakes.

As far as materials go, same as my general prep materials:
- OG 11
- Kaplan CD
- GMATprep
- Kaplan 800 (only a little bit)

For verbal, in addition to all the prep, try to read on a regular basis. Doesn't have to be books - news articles, movie reviews...whatever interests you. I do this by habit and I think it definitely helps in the long run.
Join the discussion

by trooper » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:46 am
etnry wrote:Excellent score buddy!one question did you rely on the "first 10 questions very very important" stratergy or did you give equal importance to all questions.Please share with us how you worked on your timing.As in my case i'm never able to finish the practice test on time.
I definitely relied on the "first 10 questions very very important" strategy. I worked through initial questions pretty carefully, re-checking when I thought necessary. Once questions got harder (probably around ques 15), I was just solving the question and moving on.

I should add that I definitely had early issues with timing. It really helped me to build some structure around it, since I could keep a check on working too slowly. This is what I aimed for:

Starting backwards from min 75:
Min. 60 -> Q8
Min. 45 -> Q16
Min. 30 -> Q24
Min. 15 -> Q32

The idea is basically 8 ques / 15 min through the first 32 questions with some extra time at the end for the harder ones. Also important to note is that I'm giving questions 1 - 8 the same time/Q as 9 - 32, even though they should be easier. This, once again, is to allow me to work through the initial questions carefully. Can't say I could always stuck to this completely, but I tried to stay close.

This is just something I came up with, not something I read somewhere. So take it with a pinch of salt and see if it works for you. You should definitely tweak it around the edges as you feel necessary. In general though, I would say that structuring your timing certainly helps.

Also don't spend 5+ mins on a single question. If it's going to take that long, take a good educated guess and move on. I probably did this for 1-2 questions in the test.
Join the discussion

by costarica » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:27 pm
You are a freak of nature my friend!!! Congratulations!!!
Join the discussion

by etnry » Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:28 am
Thanks buddy.

All the best for your applications.
Join the discussion

by [email protected] » Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:42 am
Congratss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Join the discussion

by bvn » Sun Aug 23, 2009 4:12 am
awesome !!!, thank you very much
Join the discussion