Pranav Srimal’s GMAT Success Story: From 690 to 750 and an ISB Admit

Introduction

Meet Mr. Pranav Srimal, a determined individual who conquered the GMAT with an impressive score of 750 (98th percentile), securing admission to the prestigious Indian School of Business (ISB) on November 17th. Mr. Pranav Srimal went on to scale the lofty heights of the GMAT with a stupendous score of GMAT 750 (98th%ile), with a V44 (98th %ile) in his third attempt, a score securing him coveted Indian School of Business Admit (ISB) on the 17th of November.

Initial Challenge

Pranav’s path to reaching a GMAT 750 wasn’t easy. In his first GMAT try, he scored a respectable 690 (85th%ile), which, although a solid effort, wasn’t sufficient to secure him a seat at his dream school of ISB. He realized that while he was strong in Quantitative skills (he consistently scored either a Q49 or Q50), his performance in the GMAT Verbal section, especially Critical Reasoning (CR) and Sentence Correction (SC), needed work. That’s when he decided to seek guidance from Paramjit Das, a decision that he says he is “incredibly grateful for“.

Guided by Expertise

Under my guidance, Pranav quickly learned that relying on shortcuts and tricks wouldn’t be sufficient to break the GMAT 700 barrier. He needed a deeper understanding of the underlying logical frameworks in GMAT CR, and advanced grammatical ideas in GMAT SC. So, he shifted his focus from seeking quick tips and tricks to building a solid knowledge foundation in GMAT Verbal via GMAT30’s Live Immersive classes.

Progressive Improvement

In his second GMAT attempt, he achieved a score of 710 (the 90th%ile on the GMAT), showing that he had developed a strong grasp of fundamental concepts. However, he still needed to improve his question-solving skills and mock exam performance in GMAT Verbal. That’s when he opted for a deeper revision of GMAT30’s session recordings and I was only too happy to provide added mentorship — simply put, I was absolutely confident of and believed strongly in Pranav’s capabilities to score a GMAT 99th %ile. I helped Pranav refine his approach to handling questions, emphasising the importance of using concepts to eliminate answer choices rather than guessing.

Dedicated GMAT Preparation

For his third and final GMAT attempt, Pranav had done everything he could to prepare, including solving over 100 GMAT club questions, attempting 20+ mocks on various platforms, and discussing numerous doubts with me through chats and live sessions. This time, he entered the exam with a sense of satisfaction, knowing he had given his all. We at GMAT30 felt quietly confident in the outcome, knowing we had given our best with Pranav.

Stellar Outcome and ISB Admit

When he saw the result on the screen after the exam, it was an indescribable feeling. This success came after months of preparation, setbacks, and tremendous hard work. According to Pranav, the focus on conceptual clarification was key to his stellar score, and “I can’t thank Param enough for his guidance, support, and motivation”. And, lo and behold, the ISB interview came shortly after, followed by the dream ISB admit too! And we are happy — few have deserved this more than Pranav has — a journey embarked upon more than a year during the Covid time finally came to fruition!

GMAT30’s Success and Learnings

 Pranav’s score was a hattrick in our three GMAT 700 scores achieved in the month of September for GMAT30! His score was a stupendous, fantabulous, once-in-a-lifetime score of GMAT 750, with a superlative V44 (98th %ile). The simply stunning 98th %ile score was achieved over the course of a long graft, dedicated concept building, and live doubt solving. While we have seen some stories of my students getting GMAT 730+ in as little as a few months, this story goes on to show that everyone’s journey is different — Pranav faced several family crises during this period, which he overcame with great resilience and versatility — and it is aokay to take longer to achieve your dream score. What is most important is that we get there, even if the duration is slightly longer and the path more non-linear than others’. This was a real rollercoaster, right down to the very last minute — including a test center glitch in which Pranav couldn’t get a print-out of his unofficial scorecard from the center (they raised a case), and we had to spend an anxious few hours following up with the Graduate Management Admission Council™ (GMAC™) for updates to his case. But boy, does it feel extra special to have contributed to the relentlessly Herculean journey from V35 a year ago (GMAT 690) to V37 (GMAT 710) to 05 Sept, 2023 V44 (GMAT 750) — the coveted 98th%ile!

What you can be absolutely assured of with us at GMAT30 is that we WILL BE BY YOUR SIDE till the day you write the exam — no matter the course validity (we have unlimited validity on our courses). Well done, Pranav, and many many congratulations on your amazing journey and your ISB admit!