How to go from 600 to 700+ on GMAT: real life experience

[Saupayan]

Hi Everyone,
I found this answer on Quora (link: https://qr.ae/TVrlif)
For your convenience, I am also going to copy paste the entire answer...

In 2005, I was doing a bachelors in accounting at the University of Oklahoma. I decided to stay an extra year and do the masters in accounting, because - hey, college is fun. The school told me to just take the GMAT, the score didn't matter because I'm already a student at the school, and the GMAT would just be a formality.

After a typical undergrad night of going out, I arrived at the test center with two sharpened pencils and a calculator. Only to have the proctor tell me that the test is on the computer. I had no idea what this test consisted of and scored in the 50%... maybe that's a 500 score?

Fast forward, 5 years later when I decided I actually wanted to get into a good MBA program. I actually delayed applying to b school a year because I needed that undergrad 500 score to fall off my record.

The second time around, I felt a lot of pressure to make over a 700.

I took a prep course. I did Manhattan GMAT. It's expensive, but grad school is one of the few big investments you can make in yourself. You're probably going to do grad school once, so you might as well go all out.
I took a lot of practice tests. Maybe 10? The GMAT is a mind trip with how it gets harder and harder. I'm the type of person who wants to take long division to the .00000. If I think I could maybe solve something, I'll spend 10 minutes on it, only to have the GMAT give me harder questions that take up more time. Taking the timed tests taught me to recognize when something is too hard for me and to just eliminate clearly wrong answers, make an educated guess, and move on. I also discovered what conditions I work best in. I noticed that I do better on practice tests in the morning after a lot of sleep, so I scheduled a morning GMAT went to bed early the night before.
I chose studying over work. A lot of overachiever professionals struggle with balancing work and studying. For the last few months of my studying, I could have given more attention to work, but I didn't. I consistently prioritized studying over work. If my boss wanted me to finish a presentation that night or to come into work on a weekend, I would help some, but it was clear that I wasn't going to push back my studying. I also frequently found myself studying at the office until 4:00 a.m. And that's okay because, again, you're probably going to grad school once, so you might as well go all out.

Sending you good vibes and wishing you the best of luck!