1. We were all excited when we learned about Chris’s amazing achievement in the GMAT and that we were able to help him increase his score in such a short period of time.

    We’re grateful he was willing we’ll share his story here. Here’s Chris’s experience in his own words:

    When I finished my GMAT and saw the 730 score on my screen, I didn’t scream or jump; I just stood there, closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment. I had done it. It had been a hard journey: I changed my study approach, repeated the exam, and overcame the disappointment of a low GMAT score, and in the end, it was all worth it. The reason I am sharing my story with you is that I was frustrated by the GMAT; I almost gave up, but that would have been one of the worst mistakes of my life. Anyone can get a 700+ GMAT score; you just need the right approach, understand what the GMAT actually tests, create a study plan, and put in the hours and effort.

    When I decided to pursue an MBA, I was thinking about changing both my career and my geography. The companies I was aiming to work for all valued an MBA degree and that was something I was missing. Additionally, if I stayed in my current job, an MBA would grant me a promotion and an interesting career path, carrying a significant salary increase. While researching MBA programs, I concluded that being accepted at one of the top business schools would help me achieve my career goals, and I was right.

    I have never been a stellar student, and my background was weaker than most candidates applying to these programs, so I had to have a great GMAT score, one that would set me apart from the crowd. My first choice was INSEAD’s MBA program.

    After having decided to pursue an MBA degree, and knowing that the GMAT score would be the critical factor in my application, I started my homework. My first step was to research all GMAT books and resources available online. I decided that I would focus my efforts on the GMAT Official Guide (OG) and on free online practice resources. The OG would allow me to study and learn all the necessary concepts, while the exercises would be the best way to practice and perfect my techniques. I’ve listed below some resources I used while preparing for my first GMAT attempt. You might find them useful.

     

    I used the same approach for the GMAT that I had used for countless exams before, and although at the beginning I saw my score increasing significantly, after some time, it plateaued, and on my first GMAT I got 650. Now I know this was the wrong approach.

    The OG goes through all the necessary material, and it’s a really good introduction to the GMAT, but if you want a great score, you will have to go the extra mile. You will need to learn different approaches to GMAT questions and adapt them to your own skills. To have a great GMAT score, you can´t just have a 70% accuracy rate. You will need to have an 80%-90% accuracy rate, and it is this increase that will make the difference in both your score and which MBA program will accept you. To raise your accuracy rate from 70% to 80%-90%, the OG and the online practice exams won´t be enough.

    After my disappointing 650 result, I felt completely lost. I had invested my heart and soul on GMAT preparation for months, and I had studied for countless hours, and the result was much lower than the one I needed. Moreover, the application deadlines were approaching and if I wanted the chance to be accepted to a top MBA program, I would need to retake the GMAT exam as soon as possible.

    I went back to my research, looking for new resources and GMAT success stories to try to figure out what to do next. All I found were quite expensive GMAT books or even more expensive prep programs. At a certain point, I became convinced that the only way to get the GMAT score I needed was to spend thousands of dollars on books and prep courses. Moreover, most of the resources I found were based on spending more time practicing, an approach I knew it wouldn’t work. I knew I had to retake the GMAT ASAP, but I didn’t have a clue about how to proceed. At this point, my approach was to start talking with people that had great GMAT scores, and had used different prep courses, to gather information.

    While doing my research, I found examPAL, a  GMAT prep course with a different approach than that of most of the others. I contacted them, as I had done with other companies, and after a short, pleasant conversation, they offered me a 1-on-1 session. What struck me the most was that they knew that studying for the GMAT in the same way that you study for any other exam wouldn’t get me the score I needed. They also said that their program was entirely developed around the premise that the GMAT was a one-of-a-kind exam and also, as this was my second GMAT attempt, I would be offered a totally customized and tailored-to-my-needs program. As a result, I decided to accept the 1-on-1 offer, and after that, I was sold. My examPAL course taught me new ways of thinking about the exam, namely that in order to excel on the GMAT, finding the precise answer (the one in the OG) is not always the best approach, and they guided me through new approaches using alternative and logical solutions. Additionally, one of the key success factors for a great GMAT exam is your confidence on exam day. At examPAL, I felt my confidence increasing along with my accuracy rate because I always felt they were guiding me to improve my GMAT skills, both in person and through their cool software, by always telling me what I needed to do to get better at each question.


    In the end, I had a 730 GMAT score, a result that had seemed impossible to me just a few weeks earlier, when I got 650. If I managed to do it, anyone can. You just need to find the right approach for you. In my case, examPAL was the key success factor, but you should know yourself and see which kind of study approach works best for you. This is my GMAT story; I hope it was helpful to you, and good luck on your GMAT prep. Getting a 700+ GMAT score is totally possible and getting an MBA degree can really change your life for the better. It changed mine.

    mm
    Jack Oren Jackman
    CEO & Founder of examPAL. 21 years' experience in the field of test prep. Has written dozens of books and courseware, and personally taught over 4,000 students.

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