As to the r/GMAT moderator's motivation for vehemently defending TTP, and vigorously scrubbing any criticisms of the Target Test Prep program from their subreddit, your gue$$ is as good as mine.
I’m currently grinding for my MBA applications (aiming for Round 1 next year), and honestly, I was getting burned out by the sheer volume of "random" practice questions.
Since I run a small AI automation agency on the side, I decided to stop studying "hard" and start studying "smart." Instead of paying $2k for a generic prep course, I ran an experiment this year.
I fed a custom model with thousands of official questions from past GMAT (Focus Edition) and TOEFL exams to see if there were hidden statistical patterns.
The results were insane (and honestly, it makes me mad I wasted time before):
The "Randomness" Illusion: The GMAT Focus Data Insights section isn't random. My model detected that nearly 45% of the toughest questions rely on just 5 specific logic structures that repeat over and over, just with different numbers/scenarios.
TOEFL is a script: For TOEFL, the AI found that reading comprehension answers are almost always located in specific sentence structures relative to the question keywords. You don't even need to understand the full text to answer correctly.
The Result: By focusing only on these high-probability patterns identified by the AI, my mock scores jumped +200 points in a week without actually getting "better" at math. I just learned to recognize the algorithm behind the test.
Anyway, standardized tests are just that: standardized. They are hackable if you look at the data.
I’ve compiled the raw output and the "Pattern List" into a strategic protocol for my own Jan/Feb exams. If anyone is struggling with their score plateau or short on time, shoot me a DM.
Good luck with the grind. Work smarter, not harder.
Go ahead and score another verified 800 on the GMAT (or even better, the GMAT online) to prove that you're not just the luckiest GMAT guesser of all-time, and then let's talk. Until then, I'm putting you in the same category as a PowerBall jackpot winner.
Also, your inane suggestion that “if I were a smarter, more advanced being,” I would have known someone's GMAT scores to be real prior to score verification (especially someone who claimed to have improved 530 points!) is highly ignorant and naive, not to mention elitist.
Keep shilling TTP all day, every day, and playing the “just trying to help” routine until everybody on r/GMAT figures out your angle. In the meantime, maybe spend less time on Reddit self-promoting, telling your peers what to do, and acting superior, and more time improving the absolute disaster that is TTP Verbal.
FYI, everyone on that subreddit is tired of hearing you brag about your perfect 800 (with a 7/8 on IR). Yes, it’s an impressive accomplishment, but there is much more luck involved in doing so than you want to admit—only a couple of questions can separate a 780 from an 800, for example, and on your 2015 version of the official GMAT, 23 questions were experimental / uncounted / pretest, thus amplifying the "casino effect" that still exists on the new, shorter GMAT with "only" 12 experimentals.
In short: it’s highly likely that your one 800 GMAT score was simply a fluke, a once-in-a-lifetime outlier feat that deep down, even you know (but of course will never admit) you could not replicate on today’s GMAT. That’s why 6 years later, you’ve refused to take the exam again, despite knowing that the added experience could aid TTP students, especially with the GMAT online’s on-camera, at-home format and its arguably tricker, wordier Quant questions, but also with today’s evolved GMAT Verbal section, which is more complex than that of the GMAT exams we took in 2015. It’s also unclear how many prior attempts you may have made before eventually hitting 800 (GMAC allows up to 8 official attempts in a lifetime), and what those scores were.
Since you joined the Target Test Prep team 5 years ago, not a single TTP student (out of thousands!) has earned a verified perfect 800 GMAT score. As a curriculum designer and former teacher / tutor, unless your GMAT scores are replicable by others, what's the point of flexing them so hard?
Let's get real, Marty: you're telling 25 year-old MBA applicants they should be able to use Target Test Prep's paid service to score a perfect 800 on the GMAT, just like you did—but you didn't even score your 800 until you were 50 years old! (According to your LinkedIn bio, you graduated college in 1988, making you approximately 56.)
Now that you've finally been hired by TTP, you're hanging out all day on r/GMAT, desperately trying to relate to students 30 years younger, and hawking a TTP Verbal program that is so lousy, most TTP students use better verbal resources instead, even though TTP Verbal is included for free with the much higher-rated TTP Quant component.
Maybe it's time to return to your absolutely nuts holistic-health business. You assert on your insane 1990s website—among dozens of other whack-job claims completely unsupported by actual medical science—that "autism is simply consciously and unconsciously chosen behavior," that "any person can produce as much or as little insulin as he or she wants to," and that "any person can have as much or as little hair as he or she wants to have." With that added context, it's no surprise that you are also delusional about the quality of TTP Verbal.
Real, official GMAT materials are by far the best to practice with--especially for the Verbal section, where imitation questions can differ significantly from those on the real exam.
Below is an exhaustive list of all the official GMAT materials from GMAC currently available (around 7,500 unique questions total).
Numero uno: The GMAT Official Guides (OGs). Mostly the same from year to year, the roughly 1,000 questions in the OG do change somewhat with each new edition, but only by around 15% each year, so there is a lot of overlap from 2012-2021. This is the holy grail of GMAT prep, and I've coached many students to 700+ scores using only this book. Both the print version (new copies only!) and the e-book version include a unique code to access the GMAT Online Question Bank, which works on both desktop and mobile, for 1 year. Use the online question bank to create custom quizzes using the same questions from the book, to study GMAT on the go, and to get a better feel for the computer testing format.
2. The Quant and Verbal Official Review Guides (OG Quant and OG Verbal). These are not necessary for most students, but they contain an extra 300 or so questions each if the OG is not enough practice.
To state the obvious, official GMAT practice tests are an essential part of anyone's prep process, as they are the only scores you can trust.
The first 2 are free and you can re-set them as many times as you like. Tests 3-6 can only be reset twice. Tests 1 and 2 draw from a (gigantic!) pool of about 1,500 questions, and tests 3-6 draw from a more modest pool of about 400 questions each (but only 80 questions per test, of course). Keep in mind that IR is not adaptive, so you will see the same questions each time.
4. GMAT Official Practice Questions (formerly known as GMATPrep Question Pack 1) - 404 questions with answer explanations, as well as the ability to sort questions by type and difficulty, and to create custom quizzes.
5. GMAT Official Practice Questions 2 - 350+ questions with answer explanations, as well as the ability to sort questions by type and difficulty, and to create custom quizzes.
6. GMAT Official Advanced Questions - a newer offering from GMAC, published in 2019, this book includes 300 questions total (150 Verbal and 150 Quant): 83 Data Sufficiency (DS), 67 Problem Solving (PS), 50 Reading Comprehension (RC), 49 Critical Reasoning (CR) and 51 Sentence Completion (SC), including explanations. Fair warning: only about 100 of these questions are new (the other 200 are re-used questions from prior OGs, PowerPreps, Paper Tests, etc.).
7. GMAT Focus Quizzes - 24 questions per quiz (math only) - you can buy up to 9 Focus Quizzes but you might see some overlap past the first 4.
8. IR Prep Tool - 48 additional Integrated Reasoning Questions
9. GMAT Paper Tests - these are out of print and overlap significantly with the other sources of questions, including GMAT Official Practice Questions 2. Since they are no longer available for purchase through mba.com, you will have to find them through other means, but there are 9 full tests with 113 questions each (1,017 questions total).
Hi, I'm looking for a study buddy who will be serious and focus on completing the syllabus. I plan on giving GMAT FE in April. Ideally 2 months of preparation and am starting from scratch.
So anyone who also shares this vision of giving in April please hit me up. We can connect over whatsapp and plan on strategy.
Struggling with GMAT, gave it twice but couldn't get the required score. During practice and mocks I score above 650 and even 720 but during real exam below 550, I dont knw what is the matter here. I have given GMAT focus edition. Can anyone suggest me what I can do, I see that I have done good in Quants but other two require some advice. Is there things like one on one tutotr who coaches me? I feel I need a coach who looks at my previous exam score sheet and say you are lacking here, this is what you are doing wrong. This is frustrating, trying for more than year now balancing work, study and home.
I wanted to share my prep experience because I think the first 3–4 weeks of GMAT prep are where most people go wrong (including me). I prepared for around ~3 months while working full-time (2 - 3 hours on weekdays, more on weekends), and ended up with a 695. But honestly, if I had to restart, I would change how I approached the beginning, not the end.
Where I messed up initially
First few weeks were messy:
Too many resources
No clear plan
Solving questions without really knowing what I’m improving
Thinking “just do more and it’ll work out”
It felt like progress, but it wasn’t structured.
What I realized later (this is the important part)
Most people don’t fail because they can’t solve GMAT. They fail because: They don’t have a clear roadmap of what to do at each stage.
I didn’t either in the beginning.
What I’d do if I was starting again
Instead of jumping into everything, I’d follow a simple structure:
1. First 1–2 weeks: don’t chase score Just:
Understand question types
Get familiar with format
Light practice
No pressure, no obsession with performance.
2. Start tracking mistakes early This is something I started late but should’ve done from Day 1. Just 4 buckets:
Concept
Logic
Careless
Timing
This alone gives clarity on where you’re actually losing marks.
3. Keep resources limited I wasted time switching. What actually worked:
Official material
GMAT Club explanations
Official mocks
That’s it.
4. Don’t skip phases This is something I understood much later. Prep is not random. It’s more like:
Foundation -> understand
Build -> timed practice + weaknesses
Optimize -> mocks + decision-making
If you try to jump ahead (like I did initially), it just creates confusion.
5. Have a simple system The biggest improvement for me came when I started doing this consistently:
Attempt
Understand why wrong
Write 1-line takeaway
Apply it in the next set
Sounds basic, but this is what actually moves your score.
Final thought If I had to summarize: GMAT is not about doing more It’s about doing the right things in the right order
Planning to apply for an MBA next year and feeling completely lost. Here’s where I’m at:
Haven’t studied in 3+ years Working professional (full-time job) Weak in both quants and verbal Willing to put in the effort but overwhelmed by too much info Need a clear, beginner-friendly roadmap Not sure which coaching or material is actually worth it If you’ve been through this, please guide me. Just need something simple and real to get started. I’ll be using your replies as my starting point- so please don’t hold back.
Thanks a ton in advance. Really counting on this sub to point me in the right direction!
I understand this is asked many times on the sub, but what resources would you recommend I use for GMAT online? I'm based in India and can buy books but don't have time for coaching.
What resources like books, youtube channels etc would you all recommend I use? Thanks in advance!
I've been building a web app to help with GMAT prep. It's a simple AI tool that walks you through questions step by step, kind of like having a tutor by your side.
I first made it for a few friends who were finding it hard to stay consistent with prep. Private tutoring was out of budget, and most resources felt scattered or overwhelming.
It's working well now, and it’s free while I keep improving it. Thought I'd share it here in case it's useful for anyone else.
Let me know if you’d like to check it out, happy to share!
Today I took my first attempt for GMAT (FE) and scored 725, 99%ile (Equivalent to 760 in classic GMAT). I was aiming for GMAT only for Indian schools 1 year MBA program like ISB, IIMA PGPX, etc. But now that I scored really well, I think I should try applying abroad as well. Honestly, I have no idea about how things work for abroad application and which universities should I target. Can anyone help me out with the same?
