GMAT Prep for Working Professional

Question

Hi all,

I am a working professional planning to take the GMAT in 3 months. Since I usually work on 9-5 hours, I believe I will be able to accommodate 2-3hrs of GMAT prep on weekdays and 5-6hrs on weekends.

I have already taken my first practice test and got a score of 490. I am targeting to achieve 670+ for my first choice business school.

Accordingly, could you please recommend the best resources/courses that I could register for the upcoming 3 months. Self-paced online courses with less theory and extensive tips & tricks are appreciated. I have had a look online but unfortunately the online GMAT prep market is very saturated and hard to choose the best course for me personally.

Thanks,
Sami

Businessconquerer · Answer

Just a heads up, if you are looking at Canadian schools such as Rotman and are from an over represented country such as India, you will need a higher score than a 670.

Also, GMAT will require, persistence and dedication. I have seen people go from 490- 600+ after knowing all the basic concepts. If you already knew all the basic concepts and still took the GMAT an scored a 490, I think 3 months won't be sufficient. Scoring from 650+ to 700+ takes about 2 months of dedicated prep for an average candidate.

Good luck on your GMAT journey.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Sami,

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on this initial practice CAT test?
2) Have you put in any study time already (and if so, then how much so far?)?
3) What study materials do you currently have access to?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at our website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them, then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

https://gmatclub.com/reviews/ You might want to do some further search and make a decision. Some courses may have trial periods available, too.

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Sami,

Good to see that you started seeking advises during your initial stages of preparation. This will save you a lot of time and effort. Many students start their prep using random resources and realize later that they need something more standard. Let me shed more light on the same.

The best way to evaluate a course if by checking the free trial of it. Because a free trial helps you to get a real time experience of what the course has to offer for you. Having said that, there are a few key points to be kept in mind while evaluating the course. This is the link to a   blog   regarding “ The key factors to consider while evaluating the right course ”. You can read through it to understand how to evaluate any course.

But as you are a working professional, I think a  course offering a study plan would be the most suitable one  for you. Most working professionals struggle to dedicate a particular slot in a day for studies. They become lethargic and feel like they can compensate the lost hours on weekends. Procrastinating is a bad habit. You won’t realize how it affects your learning initially, but in the end (probably in the last 30 days before GMAT), you will realize how much stuff you have left to do and how little time is left. Most students end up entering the fire-fighting mode and eventually end up missing their goal.

What is the best way to do it? 
Now you must be wondering how do I motivate myself to study every day. It’s really simple. Having a proper study plan will help you do it. Having said that, many students organize the topics and make a plan but eventually don’t follow it. Can you guess what’s the reason for it?

Not having proper deadlines! Having a proper deadline will motivate you to finish the task under a stipulated time. Having said that, a person who can dedicate 5 hours a day cannot have the same deadline as a person who can dedicate only 3 hours a day. As most students are working professionals, and are at different positions, the number of hours they can dedicate is not the same. So, a generic plan would not suffice. Then what is the solution?

The solution is a personalized study plan! 
A personalized study plan is something which takes into account the number of hours a person can dedicate in a week and the approximate deadlines and then creates weekly tasks based on that. For example, a person who can dedicate 20 hours a week and plans to appear for the test in 3 months has to have different weekly tasks compared to a person who can dedicate 40 hours a week and plans to appear in 45 days. This will help students stay motivated right till the end because they have weekly deadlines to meet. Students can focus on just finishing the tasks scheduled for the day and take care of their office work.

So, I recommend you to primarily focus on this parameter while choosing an online course. If you are open to suggestions, I would like you to take a check at the course of GMATWhiz. 
  It is one unique course which offers you the best quality content and employs an artificial intelligence driven learning. 
 It  offers you a personalized study plan  which is integrated with the course. This way you can happily focus on preparation. You just have to click the tart button and everything else is taken care by the course. By everything, I mean the organization of concepts, weekly tasks. It’s still your duty to finish them. 
 The concept booster and practice quizzes after every concept video help you solve GMAT like questions using the right methodology.  
 It offers you  real time improvement modules  so that you can work on your weaker areas right away. 
 It primarily  focuses on the methodology  because GMAT is an test of application of concepts and it is use of right methodology that helps you score well on GMAT

There are many more exciting features offered by the course. I would recommend you to check the free trial of GMATWhiz before taking the decision. Hope it helped! If you have any more concerns regarding the GMAT preparation or wish to know more about study strategy, you can always write back or a better way would be to discuss over a call. You can  schedule a free consultation call  using the below link.

Click here to schedule a call

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi SamGulati,

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, would you like some general advice on how to improve your verbal and quant skills?

You also may find it helpful to read this article about  how to score a 700+ on the GMAT .

Good luck!

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