There are different lengths for different people. Take a diagnostic first and see where you stand. Difficult to say how much time you'll need with such limited information.

B.

Whether you take a diagnostic up front is up to you...given that you have only 5 weeks to prepare, I would just open the books, start reading up on the test, learn strategies, and start doing practice questions. By the end of the first week, take a full practice test (I would do practice questions on weeknights and tests on the weekends). Then see how you do. With only 5 weeks to prep, if you take a diagnostic before studying, you might freak yourself out with a low score.

If verbal is a concern, focus on Princeton Review's strategies and tests, and the official questions and tests. Their verbal strategies are very effective, and their verbal questions are a lot more realistic than most other simulated tests. I would do the PR tests instead of the ETS paper tests. You need to be extremely comfortable with an adaptive computer test in order to reach your goal; the paper tests are no better than practice questions.

It can be done if you're dedicated and are pretty good on the fundamentals already. Go for it!

I agree with the approach to study for a week then take the diagnostic. 5 weeks is enough time overall if you dedicate several hours every night to studying. Ultimately, you need however much time it takes you to learn the concepts behind the questions. This is best done by endless repetition and error logging. Once you start cranking through problem sets you see the patterns of GMAT traps. This is when you are ready.

Once you get a handle on the basic format and concepts, you need to start hanging out in the advance math & intel disc forum. That forum was absolutely key to improving my Quant score. You should be shooting for a 48 Quant and to get a score like that you need the advanced concepts discussed in that forum. You should be acing the Powerprep practice sets, that is basic stuff. You will see problems on the real GMAT very similar to those in the advance math forum.

Also after you get a handle on everything start taking full length practice sets. Simulate the testing environment, look at it like endurance training. Try and build up to where you can take a full length test 3 or 4 nights in a row or even two in a night back to back. Most importantly spend the time to adequately review what you got wrong, why you got it wrong, keep an error log detailing the type of problems you miss and find the pattern. Do not simply look at the right answer, say "doh", force yourself to understand where you mistake was made.

And use this forum to the fullest, the systems on here work. You only need to look at the string of 700+ scores and endless improvement stories. Everyone here will try to help and answer any questions they can.

Good luck.

B.

I studied for a little over 4 weeks total (nights and weekends, while working full-time) and scored a 770. So yeah, it's possible. It depends how solid your concepts are in the first place. In my case it was mostly refresher. If you're learning them from scratch you may want to leave more time.

Wow ... thats real awesome !
So , when u say refresher ... do you mean u had taken the GMAT recently or that you haven't spent too much time out of school and hence the concepts weren't too rusty

Now , I get the part of slogging for the next few weeks (and living in the library ... nay , my-nose-buried-in-my-books is more like it )but it will help immensely if you can provide some details on how you went about u'r prep .
For eg. how many hrs /day /weekend-day and more imp. what books / papers did you go thru' .
Here's my plan based on some input :
1) Kaplan 2005 - theory and questions only - no tests yet
2) Do Diag. test
3) Kaplan 800 - all q's
4) CAT Tests (2-4)
<<5) Kaplan Verbal Workbook --- iffy >>
6) 1st PP test
7) OG
<<8) AWA ------ iffy>>
<<9) LSAT Verbal Coverage , SC from MGMAT , Challenges from here --- iffy>>
10) CAT Tests (2-4)
11) 2nd PP
12) ETS Paper Tests

The iffy part is if I have the time , and if I need to focus on that particular section

While this list seems kinda complete and others do something similar , what I'd like to know is with severe time restrictions , is this study list (needed)/sufficient ?
It seems to me that you are in a good position to provide some input given your very relevant experience

Any feedback will be much appreciated .
Thanks.

Coffeelover, I would like your advice on something:
My main problem w/ RCs (and to some extent CRs), is that I have trouble staying focused while reading and take a while to read an entire passage. I often end up reading the same sentence over and over for it to make sense (mainly due to focus). Do you think reading a book on speed reading can help the cause? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Thanks coffeelover.... Just to clarify, are you suggesting that I skim the passage once, then read it again in more detail, and after that look at the first question? How long should this take on an avg. length passage?

Thanks

Thanks

I started right away. And you're here now...

P.S. I'm no "whiz kid"; I'm just someone who cracks the books.

Admittedly, having English as a first language is a built-in advantage for the verbal section, and I really admire people who ace the verbal section with English as a second or third or fourth language.

Aside from that, though, you don't have to be a genius to crack the GMAT. You just have to learn the question types, build up stamina, and practice practice practice.

It can be done!