I just Beat The GMAT!

Background
British
Undergraduate Economics
Master in Management

Goal Score
730+

Base Score
GMAT Prep 1: 640
1st Attempt: 680

Resources Used
TTP
GMAT Club
OG

Attempts 1 and 2
My journey started about 3 years ago when I found out that I must sit a GMAT to apply for a masters in management degree. I quickly read up on the GMAT and then took a mock within 1 week scoring a 640. Lots of work needed to be done...
After a few months of unstructured studying, I managed to drag my score up to around a 700 score in the mocks. I felt unconfident in my ability to achieve a 730+ but wanted to get the GMAT out the way.
Sitting my first test I felt rushed, stressed and overall not confident in my ability. I scored a 680 which was a humbling experience. I scheduled again in 16 days to try and score higher.
Second attempt 710, a little bit of exam specific training helped my pull my score up to 710 which was enough for my masters entrance. I was not happy as I knew I had the potential to do better.
Following my 2nd attempt, I let the GMAT lie for a few years whilst I studied my masters.

Attempts 3 and 4
GOAL: Take my score from 710 to 730+
I discovered deferred MBA programs but knew I would need a better score to have a better chance at top schools and so I decided to sit again. This time, I would be disciplined, this time I would be structured, this time I would listen to the experts.
A few weeks before my 710 I'd discovered TTP through Marty's Reddit comments helping GMATters navigate the rough waters of the GMAT. I became enthralled by his 800 score and his approach to the test. I found his level of rigour and methodology, particularly on the Verbal section, fascinating and motivating. Seeing that he was the head of Curriculum at TTP made me hopeful that there really was a "formula" to scoring 730+.
This motivated me on my second attempt to start the TTP course which is truly impressive. The sheer depth that they go into made me feel confident and comfortable about the GMAT. I really wasn't stressed until the morning of the exam.
I diligently worked through the TTP program but found that I was short on time. I definitely could feel my improvement, particularly on the Verbal section. Before the course I felt like Verbal was somewhat of a guessing game. Marty's approach to verbal, developing a 100% understanding of problems, was revolutionary for me. I felt that CR and RC problems became a real forte of mine and that I rarely made a mistake on them. The Quant was harder to improve; I didn't have clear visibility on my weak areas and I was low on time, so I knew I couldn't get through the whole course. TTP has an accelerated quant plan that allows you to identify weak areas and only focus on those. This helped me sure up topics in which I was weak like combinations+permutations, probability, and inequalities. I went from scoring around 47 in Quant mocks to 49.
Test day came around and I scored a 720, only a 10 point improvement. Whilst 720 was a good score on paper, deep down I was gutted. Hard work for a 10 point increase, something didn't add up. I went back to the drawing board and thought about what could have gone wrong. I realised that timing issues were causing me to rush certain easy questions, creating silly errors. These silly errors meant I never even saw the harder questions haha. I messaged TTP telling them that I had 16 days to try and boost my score. I knew I had a higher score in my as I'd scored a 750 and a 740 in the mocks. TTP sent me a weekly program with about 60 questions per day that repeats each week. I followed this for the next 2 weeks.
Test day 2 came along. I felt more confident on timing in particular after the intensive questions. I also read the strategy section in great detail and it opened my eyes on a key point. Why spend 3 minutes on hard questions to potentially get them wrong and have 1 minute on easy questions when you can lose a battle to win the war. This helped a lot in both sections, I finished both sections without time stress and had more time to ensure I got easy and medium questions right. I clicked next at the end of the exam and saw the 740.
Had a bad day on the Quant scoring only 47 after knowing I'm easily capable of 49 after TTP but had a good day on the verbal so alls well that ends well!

To summarise:
Follow a course. TTP is really good, I've rarely seen such rigour.
If you haven't already, read the TTP method to completing your practice questions (untimed practice), it is a GAME CHANGER.
Don't give up, it will come good in the end.
When you make a mistake, really understand it, you made the mistake for a reason so understand why.

Good Luck, and reach out with any questions.

Best,

R

Your writing demonstrates a high level of expertise and professionalism. Melon Playground

Bravo for achieving such an impressive score! I appreciate you sharing this with us.