GMAT Study Plan - How to Start your GMAT Prep

I took a manhattan gmat course that ended in February of this year. Unfortunately due to work committments and a lack of focus, I pushed off taking the actual GMAT. Having taken a prep course and learning many of the strategies necessary to tackle the GMAT, how long would one suggest I study/practice GMAT problems before taking the test. My current plan is to study for around 20 hours/week for 4 weeks and then take the exam Note this would also be my first time taking a "real" GMAT exam.

Hi to all club members... I would be writing my GMAT on Sep 19th and not much of a time left as such.. I gave my first ever MGMAT mock and scored 660 (47,34) though I believe I can surely improve on them given it was my first ever mock and there were butterflies .. My questions are as follows and would be great if i find some help in these regards..

1: I have planned to get more question practice from Verbal review, manhattan advanced quant and CR 700-800 question sets (which i found here in gmat club).. Would this be sufficient (guess a bit too many but i will be on leave for 2 weeks and planning to get the best out of it..)??

2: Presently I have 5 MGMAT CATS and 2 gmatprep tests left with me which I am planning to attempt only after some practice from other prep sites like kaplan, veritas etc.. sectional tests of good quality would do as well.. My question is given my requirement which tests should i go for which would help me get some test practice, after which I would attempt the MGMAT CATS and GMATPREP religiously???

3: I also could get hold of some sectional tests of 800score.. how are they to practice and get your timing strategies right???

Thanks lot in advance!!!!

BB,
I am studying for GMAT from MGMAT books and at the end of each book there is a list of official guide tests related to that book. I study each book and take the test after I finish a book. However, here you said that starting with OG tests is a waste of these tests. What should I do instead? I thought it is a good strategy.

Hey BB .... I am using the Princeton Review guide (2013 edition) for my GMAT prep ... planning to give it 3-4 months from now .. just wanted your opinion on this book ... this is the only book i am planning to use , along with the forums and self tests available on this website ... dont want to cloud myself with a lot of material ... Please advise

Hi,

What is your target score? If its anything above 650 then this book wont be sufficient..You may want to check this link...

best-gmat-books-118706.html

Thanks for your reply Prateek .... Just want to know why u feel it wont be sufficient for anything > 650 .. are the problem solving/verbal techniques explained in the book not good enough ?? Or is it because the practice questions (not tests) are not challenging ?? Or both ?? .. I went through the link you sent me ... There's no mention of Princeton Review (is it actually that bad ??) ... So before I invest more money into buying an entirely new study guide, I want to know if i can go ahead and learn the techniques mentioned in Princeton Review and then buy the Official GMAT guide for practicing real GMAT questions ... As I mentioned earlier I will be doing all the practice tests available from the GMAC website and the 4 free tests provided with the guide (along with the questions in this forum) .. Let me know your opinion on this and if its sufficient for a score above 720 .. Thanks again !!

By my statement i didnt mean that the PR book is bad, its nice and teaches you guessing techniques but unfortunately guessing wont take you above 700. It is extremely important to have an indepth theoretical knowledge.

If you feel that you have the knowledge of a subject only then you can use guessing strategy and get benefit out of it.

So my recommendation would be to take a Gmat mock exam from mba.com see your score and understand what you need from there.

hi
Your suggested plan is good. I am not able to improve my score beyond 500.
Pls advice for improvement. Is it possible to improve upto 700?

Yes its possible, study effectively,make notes, review error log, book a gmat date.

ATB

Hi,
I am new to the GMAT Club but already this is turning out to be the best resource so far.

I feel Quant will be my strong area, but to begin with I want to focus on Verbal. All study plans I saw recommend starting with Quant (before Verbal). I want to know is there any specific reasoning here.

I feel, once I get Verbal under my belt, I will be much more relaxed in my preparation and hence want to start with it.

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Adi

Depends on your strength, you can start with verbal and then jump to Quant.

very helpful post

i was wondering what if one could spare more time for gmat prep ? how much will the study statergy differ ?

You may spend the extra time on your weakest area....Rest study plan should be same.

Experts,

Are the books in the initial post still the best ones to use for the current GMAT?

Yes sir...! You may want to use the latest editions of some of these books and also see this.

Hope this helps

Great study plan, I think I'll use it as a base for my preparation.

Hello everyone,
I am currently working and studying simultaneously. I need to give GMAT in this month, latest by December last week. I have been preparing on and off, from last 4 months. I have sort of reached my saturation limit. Quant is not an issue. But Verbal is. I am not getting verbal more than 30. Reading comprehension is the bottleneck. Please tell me how should i go about my prep in next 15-20 days, so that i can achieve more than 35 in Verbal. Quant...i am getting more than 45 in mocks. I have given 2 mocks...
1) Princeton Mock Test 1 --- Q49 V28 Score 630
2) Princeton Mock Test 2 --- Q44 V27 Score 580

Guys my target is 700+. I am rilly disappointed with the scores. In Verbal, timing is another issue. I am not able to finish my questions. Always lagging by 3-5 Questions. In both the mocks, i was targetting 700+ but finally achieved this.
Please tell me how to go about in the next 2 weeks...given that i can study only 4 hours a day(excluding sundays).

I would really appreciate a quick reply.

Thank You.