16 Week Study Plan Suggestions

Question

Hi! I want to begin my study plan for the GMAT in February in order to take the test in June or July. I took the OG practice test #1 without any preparation and scored a 680 (47 QR, 36 VR, 8 IR). My dream is to go to Columbia, so I would ideally like to get my score up to a 730-750. I don't want to have to study more than 2-2.5 hours/day 4 days/week, or else I think I will experience burnout. I want a comprehensive week-by-week 16 week study plan and suggestions on what books/study materials to invest in. I'm starting this very blind, so I would appreciate any advice--especially a 16 week general study guide if possible. Thank you!

bb · Answer

Welcome to GMAT Club.

We have the 13 Week study plan that GMAT Ninja is about to finish publishing: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-ninja-s ... 00295.html
You can check my "rough" study plan here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-definiti ... 17827.html

I studied about 2 hrs/day (studying) but also spent another 1-2 hrs per day just reading English Fiction to get my mind to be more used to dense reading passages and help improve my English skills (something you may not need as much if you are a native English speaker).

I would add that you may want to consider your starting point. You may not need such as long haul since you are looking to improve 50-80 points. Not the easiest end of the spectrum to improve on but definitely better than starting out at 500. It seems you may not need as much focus and effort. I generally recommend planning to take the test within 3 or 3.5 months. The issue is not burn out (which is an issue in itself) but rather forgetting all that you need to remember. Stretching it all out causes losing momentum/etc.

Finally, would decide on what you want to use to prep - are you an online course person, a live course person or a books person? What helps you study best and helps you perform best? I knew I was a book guy so I stuck with books but some courses do adapt and help you cover the material that you need rather than everything in the book so there are benefits. My issue was being passive while doing a course and not being able to lock myself in a room and focus on the material 🤷‍♂️

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi michele, I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions. GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made, Rich Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com

Archit3110 · Answer

Gmatninja has recently given out week by week study plan you can check that...
All the best for your preparation

Posted from my mobile device

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

For Verbal, memorizing idioms commonly tested on Sentence Correction could help quickly boost your score a bit. For Quant, see whether you can find shorter ways to solve the questions such as using the answer choices themselves.

How to get a V40 or higher on the GMAT? What about a V51?

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi michele13.

Since you took that practice test without any preparation at all, your true starting level is probably at or above 700. I'd be curious to see how you would do in quant if you just had some practice answering Data Sufficiency questions. That change alone might get you to 49 or even 50 in quant.

If it did, you'd need to get to 40 to 42 in verbal to achieve your score goal. In fact, with Q50 and V42, you might score 760.

To see how you need to score on quant and verbal to achieve your total score goal, you could use this  GMAT score chart .

Also, for some insights into how to get your verbal score into the 40s, you could see this post.

How to Score High on GMAT Verbal

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi michele13,

680 is a great start! Regarding prep courses, in addition to seeking advice in this thread, take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for  the best quant  and  verbal courses , and also read through some  GMAT success stories  to see what materials have worked well for other test-takers.

Also, if you want some general advice on what to look out for in a great study plan, give this article a read:

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