After getting Business School research right, the next important step for an MBA Aspirant is GMAT Preparation. For 1-Month, 3-Month, or 2-Week GMAT study plan, practice sessions are an integral part of the preparation. But most aspirants are driven by two motivations: mastery or 700+ score. You might argue that the goal behind each motivation is the same, but depending on the motivation that you choose, the results can vary.
Mastery
The focus for MBA aspirants with this motivation is to improve accuracy every day, and reach 100% accuracy by the end of the preparation schedule. There is nothing wrong in such an aspiration but you will be surprised to learn that aspirants with ‘Mastery’ mentality tend to repeat similar problem types several times. Even after understanding the fundamentals, the test taker will repeat problems from various data sources, official and unofficial, just to prove that he is capable of handling problems from a particular topic. Practice sessions become an ego battle on accuracy, instead of broad coverage. Often such practice sessions are rote learning sessions that can last 3-5 hours every day, leading to sleep deprivation and lack of mental awareness to solve GMAT 700+ questions.
700+ Score
From the start itself, the targets are set, and the practice sessions are focused on achieving this goal. By collecting advice on scoring 700+ through various resources, aspirants have at least 3-4 strategies to reach this goal. Practice sessions become sessions to master fundamentals instead of a problem set. With each mistake, the test taker notes down mistakes, and categorize them under fundamental errors, careless mistakes, or lack of speed. There is no guilt feeling that pushes you to solve 3-4 problem sets every day but the focus instead is on doing enough problems to master a topic. The emotion at the end of the practice sessions is that of contentment, and eagerness rather than exhaustion, and boredom.
Solving 100 problems on a particular topic does not improve comprehension, but noting down weaknesses systematically and methodologically, and working on problems that would overcome weaknesses will help the test taker score 700+ on the GMAT.
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.