GMAT is one of the important standardized tests to be taken by any aspirant willing to study abroad. Even though every aspirant wants to crack a 740 score, the journey is quite difficult. Recently, Scoreleap organized a webinar with one of its students, Vibhav Parikh who has managed a stellar score of 740 in GMAT along with a 44 in Verbal. Vibhav is an investment professional and founder of an ed-tech startup. Let’s hear the story of Vibhav’s GMAT journey that would be an eye-opener for many aspirants planning to give the exam:

Vibhav mentioned: My GMAT journey began in the year 2019. Since last year, I have written the exam twice and obtained a score of 690. At some point of time I realised that may be due to some common mistakes, I am not able to score beyond 690. That is when I started looking out for tutors who would guide me through the entire process and help break the score monotony. At this juncture, I happened to connect with Kalyan Chamarthi, from Scoreleap Test Prep Pvt. Ltd. We had a detailed discussion and he suggested that he could counsel me for free for a score of 700. But in order to hit that dream score of 740, I would have to learn all the strategies by sitting in his classes. Finally upon my enrollment with Scoreleap for GMAT classes, I could relate to the mistakes. I learned all the methodologies and strategies for dealing with each section. Getting to learn directly under the guidance of Kalyan, I managed to crack my dream score of 740 and also a 44 in Verbal.

Vibhav said: I was always scared of this section because of the structure of the question and required responses. In all of my last attempts, I realised that my approach of dealing with SC questions was consistently wrong. Even after enrolling with Scoreleap , it took me time to grasp the concepts and strategies in order to ace the section. Kalyan really helped me a lot to learn the techniques of answering the questions and practising it again and again with related modules. I would say rather than luck, it was the basic understanding of the fundamentals that helped me get 94% accuracy in SC. I strongly believe that Scorleap’s strategies of teaching the SC concepts are very much time efficient and helps to balance out the time equally between other two sections - CR & RC.

Vibhav mentioned: Being an avid reader, I have been reading a lot of articles throughout my professional stint. For me, the greatest challenge in RC was dealing with the lengthy passages. Scoreleap taught me the FIRE strategy to deal with the RC questions. It is basically the framework that gives the power to interpret, react and finally eliminate the answer choices accordingly. In a way, this would help you to solve questions faster with a consistent approach.

Vibhav said: On a lighter note, I would say the biggest thing that worked was not thinking critically. But again I would say that the approaches that I learnt @Scoreleap helped me a lot in eliminating the maximum incorrect answers.

Vibhav said: I referred to OG 10th & 11th for prep. Primarily I focussed on official guide questions. With reference to tackling problems and past mistakes, I would again go back to my student tenure @Scoreleap. At Scoreleap, as a student you create an exhaustive error log which provides a holistic view of the questions. This helps to provide a detailed analysis of the loopholes. Besides preparing for the GMAT, it is imperative for every student to prepare an error log diligently.

Vibhav mentioned: Ideally speaking, I gave a lot of mock exams in order to assess my preparation. But having referred to multiple test preps and online sessions, I would recommend the mock exams conducted by GMAT club itself. I would be loud here in saying that I applied all the strategies taught @Scoreleap and my mock tests went pretty well. Mock exams help to figure out the time issues and strategy that could be applied to each question. It is always better if one takes as many mock exams as possible. Also, the questions in the mock were very much similar to those that come in the exams. It really set the tone for my the day and here I am with a 740 score.

Vibhav said: As a person, I was not very good at Quants. But I would say it is very important to get the concepts cleared because that's the key. I could improve my quant scores in subsequent exams because I concentrated more on understanding the concepts.

Vibhav said: GMAT was an arduous journey for me. I stay in Mumbai, so I had to drive all the way to Pune to take the exam. I went to the centre a day before to check all the formalities. It is always better to be familiar with the environment and one should be comfortable in aspects pertaining to clothing, exam time etc. It is advisable to stay calm on the exam day. Many people recommend taking a mock exam a day before the exam but it's better to relax and revise on the concepts a day before the exam.

Vibhav said: It is important to diagnose the exam thoroughly. This would help to strategize the exam prep better. The questions in the official guides should be solved with precision, each question should be taken seriously. It is better to understand the concept behind solving each question rather than just solving the guide to finish it for the prep purpose.

Vibhav mentioned: I enrolled with Scoreleap last year after getting a 690 score twice. I realised that I was making some repetitive mistakes specifically in the Verbal. Thereby, I spoke to Kalyan who de-briefed me on his way of solving the questions and how those strategies could bring about a change in dealing with Verbal questions. I learned and unlearned all the strategies in Verbal. Kalyan was very patient in teaching me all the strategies for the Verbal section. It took me time to adjust to those methodologies. But I would say that Scoreleap has some unique and amazing teaching methodologies for online GMAT prep.

Vibhav mentioned: Treat this exam like a traditional one. Prepare well, make use of every resource diligently. It is important to master the concepts and techniques well before the exam. The mock exams should be taken seriously. It is also important to plan your time judiciously for each section. In short, effective time management and efficient concepts would be the key for an excellent GMAT score.

We are very thankful to Vibhav Parikh for sharing his insights on the GMAT journey. The session was very informative in understanding the nuances of the GMAT exam in detail. As a general psychology exam is always nerve wracking for every individual. It is always important to identify that right platform that would guide in the right direction in terms of preparing for the respective exam. As mentioned by Vibhav, Scoreleap helped him in breaking the score monotony of 690 to a stellar 740. Scoreleap has an expert team of trainers who could assist in teaching the cognitive methodologies for cracking the exam with excellent scores.

If you are in the process of appearing for GMAT exams, then talk to experts @Scoreleap to understand the strategies and concepts in a more refined manner.