What if you literally just have 2.5 months to prepare for your GMAT from the extreme basics after being detached from academia for over 8 long years but still managing to earn yourself a score that puts you in the top 1% of the test takers on the planet?
Well, that is what happened with Ankit Chand when he recently aced a 760 in just a matter of a few weeks!
He tried multiple times but just couldn’t succeed, suffered from COVID post which he officially took time off from work that gave him a deadline of just under a few weeks to prepare starting at a really novice level but he did pull it off, fantastically. How so? He shares.
His entire stance on his preparation from foundation was built after he heard the words “trust the process” which he fully followed that gave him an objective methodology to follow. He primarily struggled with verbal more than quant. Initially had really low accuracy levels in all the parts of verbal but his accuracy improved as he applied the techniques better.
He shares some wonderful tips that worked for him while building concepts: 1. He went backwards in preparation of CR and RC combine. Reading through the lines of the CR arguments by using elimination and OCTAVE gave him a lot of clarity which he further applied in RC that vastly improved his accuracy.
2. In CR, instead of intuition he solely started using logic which helped him identify and eliminate and skip through the excess in RC.
3. For SC he says maintaining an error log, staying consistent and connecting the multiple concepts helped him.
On top of everything he gave credit to the KTW series that helped him understand the RC topics in extreme depth. The 12 major themes based on which RC passages come on, he says, being acquainted with the ideas through the KTW was a massive advantage.
For quant, he says he just followed whatever concepts and techniques were taught in class without fail just did the work for him.
After some preparation he had given a mock in which he scored a 640 after which he habitually started giving mocks every 15-16 days and by the end when he scored a 730, he knew he was ready for the exam given the time constraint he had.
He rigorously gave mocks in the 5 days preceding the exam and managed to sail through with a 760.
A few advices he shared for those preparing for the exam and especially for those who’ve been out of touch with academics for some time: 1. Get a baseline to see what you actually know and don’t know 2. Let go of intuition and whatever has been taught traditionally. 3. Completely go by logic and technique and being pinpointed in your preparation. 4. Realize your strength and weaknesses and work accordingly by keeping an error log.
One interesting also happened during his preparation. Sandeep says to go over and apply the concepts so much so that they become a part of your muscle memory and a part of your subconscious like driving a car. Inspired by this at the start of his preparation, Ankit also took actual driving lessons and by the end of his preparation he had learnt how to drive a car!
A wonderful (double) feat Ankit, kudos to you!
And to you who’s preparing, just stay consistent with the right techniques, you’ll surely get through too!
Best of luck!