Finally passed my HBS exam after two failed attempts — here's what worked

I want to share my experience because I was seriously struggling to find good resources for this exam and the lack of information online almost made me give up. I failed my first two attempts with scores of 68 and 71 — passing is 75 — and I honestly couldn't figure out what I was missing. My third attempt I scored an 82 and it felt like a completely different test, not because the content changed but because my preparation finally matched what they were actually testing.

The biggest shift was using a solid HBS practice test to diagnose my weak spots rather than just reading through the material linearly. I was spending way too much time on areas I already knew and glossing over the stuff that kept tripping me up on test day. Once I pinpointed my gaps — mostly around the behavioral competency sections and situational judgment questions — I built my last six weeks of study around those specifically.

Happy to answer questions if anyone is prepping right now. I wish I'd found a real community like this earlier in the process instead of going it alone for eight months.