From 640 to 730|| My GMAT Journey|| Never Give up||

My GMAT journey started in August 2018 and I took my first GMAT test in Mid December, 2019. I got 640 but I wasn't happy with my performance. So, I again booked the second GMAT in the month of January and took my second GMAT on 11 Jan, 2019. I got 730.
Being from a corporate world, I very well knew How an MBA degree could change the life, salary, and profile of a person. Me and my friends, we all were planning for MBA but was not very sure about CAT or GMAT(Later I decided to drop CAT and give GMAT a shot). I was just looking for CAT and GMAT coachings on the internet when I got to know about EduShastra. They were providing coaching for both CAT and GMAT or as they call it GMCAT, and that too in the fees lower than what others charge for just one course. I was quite impressed with the GMCAT idea and I started calling their offices.
I talked to a person there at Edushastra and he told me about the course and everything. I was given 5 free applications to the college (This was an extra layer of cheese) and VISA and Loan assistance. After a few trial classes here and there, I finally joined EduShastra as it was the best of all available options beyond a shadow of a doubt.
As soon as I enrolled in EduShastra, I got my books along with a diagnostic test. The diagnostic test revealed significant verbal deficiencies while I did well in Quants. Keeping this in consideration, they allotted me a 7-series batch and my classes started. Teachers are highly experienced and professional here. It was more like one-to-one mentoring and it helped me a lot in my preparation.
Every topic was taken up from the basics and was taken to the advanced level. I soon started feeling good about my preparation. I truly liked Verbal preparation at EduShastra. They take you through the detailed explanation with the process of identifying weakness in each step of learning the concept. They allow you to analyze the errors you made, and support you to rectify the same error. This helps you tremendously in the long run as you start realizing your mistakes in between the problem solving process and thus there is a low chance of getting a wrong answer.
I got all the important books along with GMAT Official Guide from EduShastra and I started working on my problems. I joined a weekend batch and started the learning process. I used to dedicate 2-3 hours daily to my preparation and most of my time was dedicated to the Verbal section only. I was so moved by the diagnostic test that I put most of my time in Verbal which resulted in an improvement in verbal score (V: 40) but a decline in Quants score (Q: 38).
Though I had already completed my course at EduShastra, I still asked them if I can attend classes in some other batch. People there were generous enough to allow me in a new batch for the next 20 days (I left the batch because of my exam). I asked for extra mock tests and I started working on my weaknesses. I used to get extra help from teachers before and after the class and I also used to take a lot of doubt classes. I can't stop admiring faculty here as they helped me at every step of my preparation.
These things helped me a lot in improving my score and I finally ended up getting 730(Q: 48, V:44). I feel now that I have got what I wanted, I should repay to EduShastra. I am writing my honest reviews so that people can know about this institute and learn from the best in the industry.

Tips & Tricks

"¢ Take as many tests as possible, as many times as possible. Yes you heard me right; taking the same test thrice actually helped me.
"¢ I wrote the errors and the learnings. I noted the ones which were tough and the recurring errors. These I transferred on to another book. Then I used to go through this shortlisted error log very often.
"¢ Quick Calculations and approximations: Be sure to do as much as mental calculations as possible and memorize things like squares, cubes, roots, fractions and percentage conversions. You can use approximations up to 1% in your calculations as the options in CAT are general varied by at least 3%. For ex, you can use 3 instead of 3.453 to speed up calculations.
"¢ Focus on keywords: There are a few keywords that can completely change the meaning of a statement. Some words that should be paid attention to are: all, some, none, other than, only, unless, if and only if, and some prefixes like non-, un-, dis- etc
"¢ Use Options: Be sure to look at the options before you start solving the questions. It will help you eliminate some of the variables which are not a part of the options and, more often than not, includes clues which will help you solve the answer in less duration.

Learnings
"¢ First and foremost thing, One should spend some time and devise a good realistic achievable plan. This helps you stay focused and target oriented, improve efficiency and you also end up spending time in the right proportion.
"¢ Never burn yourself out by studies. I believe that burdening yourself with studies always draws you away from the books. So, have fun studies. Fall in love with the exam and you will find it way easier.
"¢ Keep Calm, come what may. There might be a time when you will feel like giving up. Keep your clam and stay motivated.
"¢ First know, then go!! Test your capabilities before you start, align and calibrate the initial plan depending on your assessment.
"¢ Accept failures, Failures are good. They keep you grounded and give you the much required kick. Failure is a bigger lesson than a success. A person can forget his victory but he can't ever forget his failure. Each failure presents an opportunity for success.
"¢ In hindsight, I would say a timeline of 3 months is realistic, given you are at a good base. If not, and you have job commitments, maybe add a month or two to it.

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