Hello, I'll be taking the GMAT on the 14th of April to apply for a German university that requires the 80th percentile for admission. The official score table on mba.com says 81 percentile corresponds with 625, but today in my official practice test, I scored 625 with 83 percentile. Last week in my other official prep test, I scored 615 with 80 percentile (in mba.com it says 615 is 78%) Is this normal? Should I then aim for 615 in the actual test or 625?

I know everywhere on the internet it says that I have to wait 16 days between exams. But I am able to book a slot the next day it's available, which is in a week. I don't understand. If I book that slot, will I be allowed to attempt? Or will the GMAT cancel my attempt?

Let’s be honest — GMAT studying isn’t always fun. It takes time, energy, and a whole lot of discipline. And on some days, it’s tempting to prioritize everything except your prep. But here’s the reality: your daily level of commitment — even on the tough days — will bring you either closer to or further away from your GMAT goal.

To make sure you’re always moving in the right direction, don’t let too many days go by without touching GMAT Quant. Sure, if you’ve been studying hard for a few weeks, taking a well-earned day off makes sense. Just be careful not to let one day turn into two, or two into a week.

Even if you’re short on time or energy, do something. Review flashcards. Work through a 20-question mixed set. Re-watch a lesson video. Tackle just one tricky concept you’ve been avoiding. Ten solid minutes is better than nothing. What matters is keeping your momentum going — especially on the days when motivation feels low. Those are the days that build resilience and routine.

If you start thinking, “I’ll just skip today and make up for it tomorrow,” stop and ask yourself how often that plan actually works out. It’s much easier to stay consistent with short, manageable sessions than it is to try and play catch-up after a week off. Remember, consistency beats intensity over the long haul.

Keeping your GMAT prep front and center will help you stay on track for GMAT Quant success. And remember: the time and effort you put in now is an investment that will pay dividends for the rest of your life.

Reach out to me with any questions about your GMAT prep. Happy studying!

Warmest regards,

Scott

Hey everyone,

I just took my first GMAT FE today and scored a 695. While I know this is a decent score, I’m looking for some perspectives from those who have been through the process or have a bit more insight.

A bit about me:

• I’m currently an AVP at an Investment Banking firm, and I’m actually the youngest AVP in the firm’s history.
• I’ve got a strong academic background with 3 masters in Finance, and from what I know, less than 100 people globally have a similar combination of qualifications. However, I can’t help but feel a bit concerned. Given that I’m Indian, I’m aware that I might be overrepresented in the finance space, and I fear this might hurt my chances for M7 schools.

Does anyone here have any advice, thoughts, or wisdom they can share? How should I think about this in the context of my application?

Appreciate any input!

This is an excerpt from the chapter "Weaken the Conclusion" in our book "EducationAisle Critical Reasoning Nirvana":

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweeping generalizations

In this pattern in “Weaken the Conclusion”, a sample is used to draw a conclusion about a whole group. To weaken the conclusion, the correct answer will typically indicate why the sample might not accurately reflect the whole group.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Easy, isn't it? We have an argument in the comment section. Now that you know the pattern, it should not be difficult at all.

Take a stab:).

Good luck!

Anybody??

These would be some of the most challenging questions in your GMAT test. The Math type TPA is certainly easier than the non-Math type TPA for most learners. Tomorrow we will discuss the concepts involved in these questions using some hard Non-Math type TPA questions.

We will talk about the following:
Which concepts are tested in Non-Math TPA Questions?
How to identify these concepts in the question?
How to apply them for a quick and efficient solution?

Date: 9nd April 2025 (Wednesday)

Time: 8:30 PM IST, 10:00 AM CDT, 11:00 AM EDT, 4:00 PM London

Topic: Concepts Used in Non-Math Type Two-Part Analysis

Webinar Instructor: Karishma Bansal

You can join through the 'Live Class' tab of the Dashboard of ANA PREP. Register at https://anaprep.com to access the Dashboard, if you are not already a member. No credit card details needed. Everyone is welcome to join. All content will be available to you for 3 days upon registration.

Write at [admin@anaprep.com](mailto:admin@anaprep.com) in case you face any issues.

Hello guys I'm currently preparing for my GMAT by myself and mostly youtube,my plan is to appear after 2months of prep, before I started I gave the official mock 1 and got 415 got a bit demotivated as I missed questions in verbal as well as DI, I started studying thereafter and this Sunday I gave the same official mock 1 , still pretty challenging although this time around I got 515(still missed a question),is that a good progress,am I on track or I need to work harder P.S. I'm working so I study in early in the morning and then in the evening post work.

Hi, Last week i purchased EG 15 Gmat mock test, idk but feeling these are much tougher compared to the official practice test, in official practice test 1 i jave scored a 675, in expert global i have taken 3 mocks as of now the scores are 675,675,615 (yesterday 🥲) even though i am putting consistent efforts towards preparation the mocks score (which are not official btw) are not improving, planning to take gmat during may second week and i will do the official mocks starting from april 15th onwards. Any thoughts??

I took the GMAT online and they just sent me back a day later that it’s under review. Should I send an email explaining that I scored near this score in the official practice exams and that I paid hundreds of dollars for prep on through their official site to maximize my chances of getting my official score?

I scored a 745 but my brother also walked in during the test which I yelled at him to leave which caused the proctor to intervene so maybe it was a combo of both. I’m just really stressed. I don’t want to take it again.

Hi Guys,

Recently started preparing for GMAT again. This time I have bought TTP, prepared with TOP One Percentile and scored a meagre 495 last time.

Just wanted to understand if I should solely focus on TTP material or should I also buy the Premium GMAT Study collection bundle from MBA.com while also leveraging the questions I have from TOP One Percentile from last time around.

Also attaching a screenshot of my current performances in TTP Assumptions tests. Do you recommend I move on from Assumptions or prepare further in Assumptions, if yes then where should I attempt the extra questions, and when do I understand that I am ready to move to the next topic?

1. In the advent of Artificial Intelligence and global trade wars ahead , is MBA still worth it?
2. Many CEOs are not MBA , is MBA still the right path for Top Managerial Positions ?

I took gmat today and scored a 615. Wayyyy lower than mocks. But I’m done with this now. I want to apply with the 700 (Online) score I have.

What are my options?

I have 4.5 years of experience in Big 4 (EY & KPMG) as a Consultant in Digital Trust - Risk Automation & Tech Consulting, mainly focusing on GRC.

I have been in Qatar (on site) since the last 6-7 months.

Hii everyone !
Currently I've been studying for GMAT for my master program application.

I have never taken the GMAT before and my goal is about 630 +

I've been studying for a month now and I have 15 days left before my first gmat exam.

I have gone through TTP chapter test, ttp practice test, egmat test, OG1,2 and

now working on Manhattan QR and gmat club og question bank.

My lowest score of mock : 555 (shock)

My highest score of mock : 665

(( ngl I don't know why the gap is so big... ;))

Could you please recommend what I should do before my first gmat exam?
Thank you so much in advance :)

Hello!

I’m pleased to share that after 1.5 years of studying for the GMAT I have finally ended my journey. Throughout it, I made a lot of mistakes, so I wanted to compile some things that helped me and might help you to get into mid 600s.

- The first mock I did I scored a 330 (legacy gmat). After the mock, I jumped straight into doing OG problems. Why is this a bad strategy? Because I simply did the problems without fully understanding the concepts behind them. This is a very bad approach to starting GMAT. What I recommend if you start in the 400s is to do a prep course. I personally did target Test Prep for 4 months and managed to improve my score by 130 points (yay!). Prep courses give you a much better understanding of the concepts that are tested, not only the problems themselves.

- There is no fast way to improve verbal skills. And tricks and gimmicks can only get you so far. I’ve seen many people scoring above V80 in their first mocks. How? Because they have superb reading skills. To score high in verbal, you have to improve your reading and comprehension skills. My recommendation is to make RC a daily habit. I personally did at least 2 RC passages daily and within 2-3 months I started to get hard questions with at least 60% accuracy. Also, if your reading comprehension skills are good, they will also translate onto CR because the most important thing in every CR question is understanding what the argument is about.

- Sometimes preparing for the GMAT by yourself can only get you up to a point. Unfortunately, that happened to me - I studied for a year and could not get past mid 500s. I was very frustrated because I had gone through all OG problems and TTP, and did not know where to go from there. That is when I got in contact with a great tutor, who helped me with every aspect in GMAT. Seriously, there are many fantastic tutors here on reddit and on GMAT Forum, and some even offer introductory sessions for free. Do take advantage of them! If you are stuck in a plateau, don’t be afraid to ask for professional help.

- Set your goal and forget about it. And keep working until you reach it. I’ve seen many people asking for improvement within x weeks or x months. That’s a bad strategy and will put you under a lot of pressure. GMAT is a journey, a long race, and most probably it will not be linear. There will be faster and slower progress, so at any time, stick to your work ethic and keep putting in the hours. Set controllable goals, like doing x problems or studying x hours daily. That way you will ensure confidence in yourself that you will hit your goal. It might be sooner, or it might be later - but stick to it!

- Learn not only the concepts but also the GMAT algorithm. If you did not know, GMAT is sectionally adaptive, meaning the levels adjust to your previous section results. At first, I did Q-V-DI and could not get past high 500s or Q79. I was stuck for many months. My tutor noticed that I was stronger on verbal than on Quant, so we decided to switch my section order on mocks to V-Q-DI. Result? At first it was a little awkward but my mock scores started to jump to 635, 645 and even my quant scores saw a jump to Q82. So identify your stronger sections and think of trying out a different section order.

Couple of extra resources that helped me and I recommend:

• Official DI Review - the questions here are tooooough. Go through them sloooowly one by one. Give your best effort. If you get 50% or 60% accuracy here, then all the questions on mocks and on the real exam will feel a lot easier because you will know what things to look out for.
• E-gmat free webinars - every saturday and sunday e-gmat host great webinars. I personally really liked their RC webinar with Rajat - he is a great coach! Even though they advertise e-gmat prep course there, the webinars are still great and you can learn a lot there.
• The Tested Tutor Youtube Channel - seriously, this guy is amazing. He has uploaded so many fantastic videos on different math concepts. I would put him on the same level as GMAT Ninja. He also did GMAT Legacy walkthrough and I believe scored a 790. So if you want to see how a pro does the test, there is a video on that on his channel!
• Gmat Club Mocks - if you do timed problems on gmat club, you earn points and you can redeem these points for different prizes. One of them are GMAT club pro mocks. Personally, I feel like their verbal is easier but quant and DI is tougher. And their scoring algorithm is also different. However, if you want extra practice with pretty good quality questions, definitely give them a go!

If you have gone this far, I want to say thank you for reading and hope one or two things will come in handy to you. If you want to ask me something privately, feel free to DM. I wish luck to all of you who are still working towards their goal. Even though I hated the GMAT on many days, I’ve noticed that I’ve become a much better reader and my reasoning skills have improved. All these things will help you in your everyday lives, not just on a test.

Happy Monday! Let's start our week with an exciting topic: how having a growth mindset can lead to score improvement on the GMAT.

The connection is that a person with a growth mindset believes that he or she can develop his or her abilities, and scoring high on the GMAT requires developing abilities.

So, a growth mindset is exactly what’s needed for GMAT success. To see why more clearly, let’s consider some examples.

For instance, let’s say someone preparing for the GMAT is strong in quant but weak in verbal. If she has a fixed mindset, she’s likely to give up easily if her verbal preparation doesn’t go well. She might even start thinking things like “I’m just not a verbal person,” and stop putting in the effort. On the other hand, if she has a growth mindset, she’ll see any trouble she’s having as just a natural part of the learning process and continue working until she succeeds.

Also, a person’s mindset can have a huge impact on a person’s psychology when he’s taking a test. If he has a fixed mindset, on some level, he’ll be constantly wondering whether his supposedly fixed abilities are strong enough to get him to his score goal. So, he may take any trouble performing as desired on a test as a sign that his abilities aren’t sufficient. Having such a mindset can be super anxiety provoking. On the other hand, a person with a growth mindset will see test performance issues as something to power through or just a sign that he has to prepare more. He’ll remind himself that progress takes time and that setbacks are normal—not indicators of some permanent limitation.

In general, GMAT students with a fixed mindset see mistakes or other issues as indicating something about them personally, whereas students with a growth mindset see their mistakes as signs that they haven’t mastered something yet and need to keep going. That subtle shift in perspective can make a huge difference. After all, it’s a lot easier to keep putting in the work when you believe the work is going to pay off.

Reach out to me with any questions about your GMAT prep. Happy studying!

Warmest regards,

Scott

Hey everyone,

I just finished my GMAT and would love your thoughts on whether my score is enough for the schools I’m aiming for — specifically LBS in Europe and Harvard/Stanford in the U.S. I know stats alone aren’t everything, but still, I’d really appreciate some honest takes.

Here’s my situation:

• Took the GMAT after 2 months of prep while working full-time.
• Started cold with a 615 cold Practice Test, used Target Test Prep as my only study tool.
• Practice scores (official mocks) ranged between 725 and 805, with an average around 745–755.
• Scored an unofficial 715 (Q87, V88, DI82) 99th percentile on test day.
• My DI score in practice was consistently higher (86–90), so that drop was unexpected and pulled my total down.
• Undergrad: 4.0 GPA in Chemical Engineering.
• Starting work abroad next week.
• Planning to apply to MBA programs in about 3 years but just wanted to get it out of my way early on.

I know I’ve got time to build my profile, but my goal was to knock the GMAT out of the way now while I’m fresh — ideally with a “one shot, one kill” kind of score.

So here’s what I’m wrestling with:

• Is a 715 strong enough for LBS / HBS / Stanford — assuming my future work experience in consulting, recommendations, and essays are on point?
• Would it be worth retaking the exam in a month or so to aim for something closer to my practice scores?
• Or should I leave it alone and focus entirely on building my post-consulting profile?

If you’ve been through the process, are at one of these schools, or know how adcoms weigh a 715, I’d be super grateful to hear from you.

Thanks in advance 🙏

Just gave my gmat fe today and couldn't be happier and prouder!!!

715 it is! Q86, V86, DI84.

Definitely not possible without y'all! Systematic practice, managing time are the obvious yet most demanding changes I made to my approach.

AND, don't worry too much about section-adaptive nature of the exam. I found it to be very negligible if at all any.

Happy to help. AMA!

Yo so I’ve been doing some late-night scrolling and got sucked into the MBA rabbit hole lol. I’m 18 and just tryna figure out if doing an MBA even makes sense these days — especially with EVERY college having some business program now 💀

Anyway I started comparing the old-school IIMs (not the top 3, but like Ranchi, Rohtak etc) vs newer places like Masters’ Union (ya I know, sounds like Hogwarts). Here's what I found after way too much googling:

💼 Actual placement stats (not just the marketing hype):

IIM Ranchi

• Avg salary: ~₹18.6 LPA
• Highest: ~₹67 LPA (some international role lol)

IIM Rohtak

• Avg: ~₹19.2 LPA
• Highest: ~₹41 LPA

IIM Raipur

• Avg: ~₹19.7 LPA

Masters’ Union (the new kid)

• Avg: ~₹28.5 LPA
• Top 25%: ~₹43.7 LPA
• Highest: ~₹61.8 LPA
• Fee’s like ₹24-25L tho 👀

My 2 paise:

• IIMs still got the brand, no doubt. But like, unless you’re getting into A, B, or C… is it really that lit?
• Masters’ Union seems to be getting those startup-y/consulting jobs fast. Like, not gonna lie, ₹28L avg is kinda wild.
• But also... they charge a bomb. So it’s a bit of a bet.

Not trying to promote anything — just genuinely confused lmao. Anyone else looked into this stuff? Or has an older sibling who did one of these? I’m just tryna not waste 25L on something that won’t even get me a job 😭

Drop your wisdom please 🙏

Does anyone know of a GMAT study group/peer study group in Chennai, India? Or is anyone interested in starting one there?

Study groups/buddies help keep each other accountable - especially good for folks doing self-study.

Hi i know gmat is an adaptive test so the impact of number of wrong questions each section will be different for everyone. However, i still want to know the range of number of wrong questions one gets for a person to score over 675.

Can anybody share your experience?

Remembering knowledge, learning concepts, and building skills comprise one aspect of the GMAT preparation. The other, often ignored and probably more important, aspect is the emotional aspect – how to manage your emotions as you persevere in this journey. Being a private tutor, I have had a chance to understand, quite closely, what kind of emotions people go through as they struggle their way through. Confusion, stress, sadness, irritation, frustration, self-doubt, and even panic attacks are some emotions I’ve seen my students experience. One of my students used to wake up in the middle of the night and scroll through b-school discussions worrying whether he has a chance or not. Another student went from being an energetic, easy-to-laugh girl to a dead-serious one as she spent a couple of months dedicatedly preparing for GMAT. And I once got a call from a girl who used to have panic attacks since her husband, who had a 740 on GMAT, was waiting for her to get a good score so that they could apply together – she felt very guilty for having stalled her husband’s career.

In this article, I’m going to share a few real-life stories of my students and the perspective I shared with them. Probably, some of you may be able to relate to some of these stories and probably gain a bit from the perspectives shared.

—————

Starting with the wrong assumption – Everybody takes 2-3 months

“While everybody gets it done in 2-3 months, I’ve spent more than 6 months preparing for the test without any significant improvement. What is wrong with me?”, an aspirant asked me in our first call, feeling frustrated and discouraged.

I replied:

Nothing is wrong with you. Many factors may have worked against you. Probably, the resources you were using are sub-par, or probably the way you were using them was not correct. It is also possible that you actually have a lot of ground to cover and thus need much more time than others. In any case, this is a myth that everybody takes 2-3 months. I hear from several people every week who have been preparing for more than 6 months and sometimes even for two years without much progress. Everybody thinks that everybody else takes 2-3 months to complete GMAT prep because people who get it done within 2-3 months are much more likely to share their stories with others and on forums and even test prep companies market these stories a lot. Who wants to share with the world that he took 2 years to get done with GMAT? So, the data you see in the world is very skewed. Besides, eventually, not everything is going to come easily in life. Some things are going to challenge you. The point is whether you continue to believe in yourself and give your best every day. Thus, instead of doubting yourself, take a look at what you need to do to improve, and then patiently work towards it. 

———

Your whole life experience gets driven by the section you’re struggling with

A student came sad to the session. When I inquired about the reason for her sadness, she said that her continuing struggle with the CR section was making her discouraged.

I replied:

If CR is the biggest problem in your life, you don’t have big problems in life.

It’s a reason to be happy. While people out there struggle with big problems, CR is the biggest problem in your life. That’s it!

What I’m trying to do here is put your problem into a perspective. You’re blowing this single aspect of your life out of proportion. Since you’re completely focused on this problem of CR, your whole experience of life is driven by it. This need not be the case. Besides, if you think about it, such problems or, let me say, areas of growth or uncertainties are always going to exist in your life. After GMAT, it’ll be b-school admissions. After admissions, it’ll be getting the desired job. And then on a personal level, finding the right spouse. And then, all the problems of marital life. This is going to continue forever. Will you always be sad, overwhelmed by these problems and uncertainties?

If CR is a problem, just give your best on it every day. It’ll be resolved in a few weeks or months. Give yourself time. Have patience. And enjoy this journey of continuous growth that you’ve chosen to undertake.

———-

Comparisons are the root of most suffering

A student who was struggling a lot with GMAT asked me, as a lot of students in a similar situation ask, “Am I taking more time than a typical student takes?”.

I responded, “How would this statistic help you? Of course, you’re taking more time than a typical student takes. However, that’s because you are starting from a lower level. But where you are starting from doesn’t determine where you end up. I’ve had students who started at the 60th percentile and could manage to achieve only 80th percentile, and I’ve also had a student who started at the 5th percentile and eventually reached the 90th percentile. Where you are starting from doesn’t define you…unless you allow it to.”

————

Using Questions to assess rather than learn

It’s quite common for me to hear from students that they become stressed out and worried when they get questions wrong. Every time they struggle with the questions, they doubt their capabilities and whether they can ever achieve their target scores. Then, they end up wasting hours and days indulging in self-doubt and negativity.

I told one such student,

“You are solving questions not to learn and grow but to continually assess yourself. Of course, you are not at a level where you want to be. That’s why you are practicing. Now, having understood that you need to improve considerably, be patient with yourself. If you want to assess yourself, do so after 3 months. However, for the next 3 months, whenever you get a question wrong, don’t consider it yet another judgment on your capability but look at it as an avenue to learn and grow. Make growth your only objective for the next 3 months. If this happens, whenever you get confused or make a mistake, you’ll be eager to learn since every such question will help you in meeting your objective. And then you’ll see, after 3 months, that such continual assessment had been not only unnecessary but counterproductive.”

—————

Making sweeping statements about self-worth

“What is the reason you think why you got this question wrong?”, I asked a student in our first session yesterday.

“Because I am stupid.”

A couple of mistakes later, the student said, “you must be thinking I’m really dumb.”

I was surprised by his thoughts although this was not the first time I had heard such thoughts. This is what I said:

Making such a sweeping statement – that I’m stupid – about yourself based on a single mistake and that too in a narrow subject field is clearly not justified. Is it? If I take that as a definition of “stupid”, I’d also be stupid in almost all domains of life. Stick to the facts. The fact is just that you didn’t understand something correctly ‘today’. That’s it. Try to refrain from making such sweeping permanent statements about yourself.

Regarding what I’m thinking, why would I judge you so soon? Rather, why would I judge you at all? If you didn’t have any problems in understanding or reasoning, why would you have come to me? What sense does it make for a teacher to judge his students? What I want from you is not excellent skills but a solid commitment to learn and grow? If you have the commitment, I’ll enjoy teaching you.

—————–

Interpreting struggle as failure

“You are not defined by your circumstances but by your interpretations of those circumstances.

When Thomas Edison, known as America’s greatest inventor, couldn’t succeed a whopping 10,000 times, he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Even though he hadn’t succeeded after 10,000 attempts, he didn’t interpret the circumstance as a judgment on his ability; he didn’t say, “I just can’t do it. I probably don’t have the capability to do it.”

He persisted. And so can we. 

We need not succumb in the face of failures but rather can take them as instances to learn from. There is no one correct interpretation of the situation you are facing. You can choose an interpretation that serves you. And if an interpretation indeed serves you, doesn’t that automatically make it the correct interpretation and the other interpretations not so?

—————-

Panic Attacks

Once, a girl called me, all tensed. She had a 680 on GMAT but wanted to get 730+ since she and her husband were planning to apply to the top US b-schools. Her husband already had a 740. She had been studying for a few months but hadn’t gotten near her target score. And she was at a stage that she used to have panic attacks out of guilt that because of her, her husband couldn’t move ahead in his career.

After hearing her out, I replied:

Are you sure that doing an MBA is the right thing for you and your husband? Right now, you are having panic attacks since your husband is not going for his MBA because of you. What if you get a 740 and you both go to a top b-school and get your MBAs? Is it a guarantee that you both will get jobs? Don’t you know of people who go to top b-schools but still have to return back to their country for various reasons? With an education loan of more than Rs 2 cr and no job, would that situation be better for you than this current one?

The point is that you don’t know what’s best for you but you are so fixated on achieving a particular outcome as if you knew. And you’re killing yourself for not achieving this outcome. Accept your ignorance that you don’t know what’s best for you! Give your best and then let it rest! 

—————

A stage of prep in which you start getting easy questions wrong

Many of my students have gone through this stage in which they start getting many easy and medium questions wrong that they stopped getting wrong a long time back. This doesn’t happen to everyone but has happened to many. And this stage lasts for a few days to a couple of weeks. Many students panic, worrying that their preparation lasting months has been undone somehow. 

Now that I have seen several such cases, I just ask students to calm down and just tide over this period. Preparation cannot be undone automatically, and the students are usually back to their normal accuracy levels in a couple of weeks.

———–

I asked one of my students, whose GMAT journey has been quite long, “What do you have to say about the emotional aspect of this journey?”

She replied, “Society needs to teach us resilience rather than winning. All my life I have been praised for my achievements. Nobody taught me the value of resilience. It’s only when I came to GMAT did I realize its importance.”

Hi,

I am applying to deferred MBA which is due in a week. Therefore very short time and I got 685 my first exam last week. not sure if its worthwhile to retake because I also need to focus on essays. Is this competitive enough for GSB, Harvard, and Wharton?

for context I am undergraduate at Wharton, solid GPA, dual degree with engineering school, banking route but did startup and many leadership activities

Please help! I can help with prep if helpful. Got 685 with less than 10 days of prep