GMAT Study Plan - How to Start your GMAT Prep

You are good without Kaplan Premier.
NO need for it. (I will revise and remove that suggestion - you are not the first one confused)

Hello at everyone,

First of all I would like to thank you for the whole amount of tips and informations you post in here, that's amazingly helpful, but You have also scared me a bit since I have to sit the test by the end of January 2012 and I haven't started to study yet. I was confident I could achieve a score ranging between 650-700 (I actually don't need a very high score to fulfil the requirements for the courses I'm interested in) with a month preparation but according to what you say I'm already pretty late. The only good point is that I'm a student so I could spend on test preparation even 7-8 hrs per day.

Considering I have 6 weeks to study and I'm starting from a 570 (I've actually spent too much time on the first questions and I had to rush myself on the last questions, randomly guessing the very lasts, so I might be able to score better by simply better managing my time) which I would like to improve of 60-100 points:


-Which book do you think are best for my case?
Skimming your review I've thought about Kaplan premier + official guide but am not sure also because I've red that the last version of Kaplan contains the preparation for Integrated Reasoning part which I don't need so maybe the 2011th version would be better for me?

- How would You plan your time if you were in me? Like 2weeks for each of the three steps?

Thanks in advance for your time

Siccio

Most folks recommend the MGMAT Books but you can definitely take the route of Kaplan Premier. With 6 weeks you may not have enough time to cover the MGMAT Guides.

Instead you may want to grab the Kaplan Math Workbook and Kaplan Verbal Workbook. Those are quicker to cover (though again in 6 months it will be tight).

P.S. The integrated reasoning section is 6 or 10 pages long - it is not a consideration.

The problem for me is that in exam mode , I just cannot concentrate on the passages in both RC and CR questions. On other times ,I would read those same passages with ease. This killed my first GMAT attempt ,only 33 in Verbal .

bb i just love your topic(study plan).Whenever i am off track,i come and see that and i am up & running towards my goal.

Great Job ..

This is a great post-I was stuck in a rut and this post has given me gr8 ideas-Thanks!

Quick question

I have purchased the Kaplan Premier 2012 Edition and inherited the 8 Manhattan guides from 2007. In addition, I have the 2011 OG and the Verbal and Quant companion.

When devising my study plan should I go through the Kaplan book first in its entirety? Or a better approach is to go through Kaplan and the Manhattan review books concurrently?

You can actually drop Kaplan - I like to recommend as it is a faster way to get an overview and then you can do a deep dive. But that's not required really.

P.S. the manhattan GMAT is different from manhattan review..... I know, very confusing.

I feel like I need a bit of a primer so Kaplan might give me a good base as I have forgotten tons of stuff. So sad... Possibly I can go through the book in a month and retake diagnostic and then focus on the other material?

I have the Manhattan GMAT set of 8 Strategy Guides - you had given them a glowing review

Glad to see someone else not out on Friday night

Hi BB, can you please share some tips on SC.I am struggling like nuts in that area. Gave up trying for now. Located in a remote place, unable to seek one on one professional help. So have to depend on substantial study plan and correct guidance from forum. Referring MGMAT guide, but I guess mostly I am struggling on VERBS part.....surprising, but that is so true, I have messed up my Wren & Martin knowledge of school completely. Seems I am loosing out on the game. Please help me recover.Everyone is requested to share any means of getting grasp of verbs and concrete study plan of SC.

What about an "accelerate" study plan ? I found many different strategies for studying the GMAT while you have a job. In my case, I am not working and I can focus only on the GMAT preparation but I have only one month. As I am studying only for the GMAT and as I can study 8 or 10 hours a day if needed, I wanted to know if you could give me a plan for a one-month preparation..

Thank you for any suggestion or thought

Hi martindc,

I suppose this is a frequent situation that one can devote 100%, but for a limited period of time. In fact, you don't have that much time to go through many books, which are suggested here (as the 8 strategy guides of MGMAT). It all depends on your current quant and verbal level. Maybe the best idea is to have a CAT and see where you currently are. Use GMATPrep or PowerPREP (as they both are the most reliable source). Then you can post the result here, and we can give you some book suggestions, which will be rather specialized and will target your problem areas. It will depend on you if you are going to be able to study thethroughout the day for the GMAT, as this can be very tiring. If you are not familiar with the GMAT exam format, you may buy a more general book (as Kaplan Premier) and see some strategies. However, in my opinion this would rather be wasted time. Better have a CAT and tackle directly your weaknesses.

Feel free to ask, if you have any further questions.

Thank you for your answer, I will do the CAT and then I will post the result. I know that studying the GMAT all the day can be painful but I need to get +700 so I have no choice than studying like a nerd

request all to share some insights on SC study plan

bb,

I really like this plan and I thank you for putting this up. I am planning to start with Verbal instead of Quants because on my diagnostic test (GMAT Prep1 ) which I took almost a 1.5months back I scored 570(42Q, 26V). I am starting my preparations now and I want to focus on verbal during holidays as I can devote 6-8 hours of studying and focus on my weak areas. What do you think about this approach?

Thanks

Don't spend more than 2 hours studying without taking and hour break, so spend at most 4 hours with an hour or two hour break.

Ideally, redo your schedule even before the holidays or after so that you can study early in the morning or perhaps take an extra long lunch break (work it out with your boss) so that you can focus on your studies and study as well as you can.

I would also recommend getting the MGMAT Roadmap book if you can.

Thanks bb! I am planning to take my GMAT by end of March. Instead of starting with quants, I decided to start with verbal since it needs more work. My vacation starts tomorrow and I am going to start with MGMAT SC guide and follow it up with CR Bible.

Thanks,
dj