Csquare Learnings-Student Feedback-GMAT Score 710

Coen de Heus-GMAT Score 710

Hereby my feedback:

My reason for coming to India has always been to improve my resume to get into a business school. During my period here I started realizing that my achievements so far were very close to getting me in, and actually I started thinking about scholarships. Research concluded that a 700+ score would get me close to earning such a scholarship. What complicated my study though was the full-time work schedule at my job. Thus I decided that I needed help. CSquare felt good, thus I stuck with them.

At the intake I already scored a 650 on the prep test. As a near native English speaker I had a major advantage, RC and CR where near perfect. However as a near-native, I never thought about grammar rules, thus my SC was terrible. Obviously my math could use some help too. We decided that 3 classes per week, 2 hours per class, for 1 month, and another month preparation should get me where I want.

The next period was very difficult, 2 hours class before work, 8 hours work, and some more 2 hours of homework each day. However having a goal is extremely useful here. Make sure that you know why you want to do this. If you lose focus (which will happen multiple times in two months) try to imagine or visualize where you want to go.

Study-wise I did nothing special. Even more so, I tried to focus on the basics. All the math you have probably seen before, and while GMAT may ask some difficult concepts, 90% will be on the basics. Besides if you understand these, you can derive the right calculations yourself often.

To make the essay part easier, see if you can learn to type blindly. This way you can check your spelling and grammar while you are typing. I earned myself some 8 minutes extra rest for both Analysis of Issue and Analysis of Argument. I am sure this mental rest helped my math score tremedously.

I was able to improve much on the verbal and scored a 37. Personally I only used the framework for RC and CR (Only F not IRE) as I was already quite good at these. The framework did however relieve my mind a bit, which is crucial after three and a half hours.

So I ended up with a Q:50, V:37 and Total:710, still waiting for the AWA. I cannot imagine a score less than a 5.0 though. Hope this helps future students.

Good Luck Coen de Heus