GMAT Study Plan - How to Start your GMAT Prep

Thanks Wishbone. Thanks a lot !!! I kept searching this subject the whole day while waiting for an answer on this thread. I got the link of chineseburned by mid day and have read all the threads inside it ...!!! ...

Thanks a lot for replying. Appreciate your help.

you're welcome but honestly thank chineseburned!!!! Kudos to you

Can anybody please tell me if remembering the list of GMAT words is really worth it, considering that it will take me 45 days to complete the list of 1350 words?

My target is to get min 720, and I may already know 25% of these words. I have skimmed the list quickly.

Reply to this would really help me as 45 days are a lot to spend !!!

No, there is no correlation between studying words and GMAT results.
GMAC did a study on this. Not worth it really to study anything other than standard/common words.
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Hi, that is a very useful intensive study plan. I am a novice. Just starting to get hang of preps for GMAT. After 10 years of work experience, it is difficult to go back to books. However, this is a synopsis of my plan. I am currently going through the MGAT strategies, post which I wish to go through Dummies, OG, NOVA, some Princeton reviews. I am currently focussing only on PS/DS.Want to take them one at a time, to brush up my concepts before I get into to real test practices.After completion I wish to take up a course with Manhattan.
Need your advice, if I am heading correct, or do I need to have any different approach.

I would recommend that you start with the Foundations book for Math just in case and see how it goes. Otherwise, you don't need diff materials, just will need to spend more time and make sure you are refreshing it well enough (don't rush)

MGMAT Math Foundations
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Thanks bb.
But i read somewhere on the net that remembering words does not assure 700+, yet most of those who get 700+ know these ~1300 GMAT frequent words.

Can you please tell what do you consider "common words"? Do you have a list?
Apologies. It is just concerning me ... :/

You will have to make that decision (and research) yourself.


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Shalom
I am currently studying the Manhattan GMAT Quant portion @ Belmont University.

Can somebody please tell me which one of the following is better book for Grammar: Doing Grammar or GMAT Club Grammar book? How many pages do they have?

I could not find comparison between these two on the forum.
How many pages do they have?
Which one is more specific to GMAT? I mean we can always learn as much as we want randomly. But studying the right matter is what gets you a good score.

Any suggestions?

Well, it really depends what your current level of grammar is. I believe that the GMAT Club grammar book is for beginners, those really weak in grammar and who need an introduction. Doing grammar is not an introductory book and is for really high scorers. Below is an indication of the level of various GMAT SC resources:

Beginner's grammar book for GMAT:

GMAT club grammar book
Pro: Starts from basics
Con: Doesnt cover everything

Kaplan Verbal Foundation:
Pro: Quite comprehensive introduction
Con: Assumes some basic level of English

GMAT SC - main books

MGMAT SC
Pro: Very comprehensive
Con: Not very well structured, No GMAT like practice questions

Powerscore SC
Pro: Good basic grammar tutorial, Easy to understand structure, GMAT like practice questions
Con: Not comprehensive

Aristotle SC
Pro: Easy to remember bullet points
Con: I personally didnt think it was comprehensive

Advanced GMAT SC:

Doing Grammar - I shall be doing a detailed review
Pro: Very good comprehensive coverage, even beyond MGMAT SC
Con: Not a basic book to start with

I would actually recommend going through MGMAT SC once before starting Doing Grammar.

My recommendations for GMAT SC books:

1. Intro - Kaplan Verbal Foundations
2. MGMAT SC

Think these 2 should be sufficient. If you are still struggling, then check out e-gmat. I personally didnt need it but its very good for those struggling at 60% accuracy.

Thanks, Roshpat, for your reply.
I think I am okay with grammar. I would rate myself 5 / 10, i guess.

How long does it take to go through "Doing Grammer"? I have only one and a half month in total for Verbal Section.
Is doing MGmat SC only sufficient if I am targeting for 720 and above?

I havent taken the GMAT yet, so cant say for sure. But yes, I think MGMAT SC should be sufficient for 720+. Very few high scorers have actually used Doing grammar. . If you have the book, then probably you can have a quick look at it after you have gone through MGMAT SC. I believe that MGMAT SC+ OG + explanations are the key.

How useful is to do The official Verbal Guide and The Official Quantitative Guide, given the following:

I am using: Kaplan Premier for General Strategy
5 book set (out of 8) of MGMAT for Quantitative
3 books set (out of 8) of MGMAT for Verbal - I may quickly review a grammer book also
The Official Guide for Additional Practice / help

I already don't have enough time. I just wanted to know the value of doing Verbal and Quantitative guides with the above?

Thanks. Makes sense. Doing the Grammer along with these books may consume a couple of extra weeks (at minimum) from our plan.

So if I got Quant 43 in test CAT - is it good enough for 700+ that I am aiming for?
As I want to move on to verbal after it - as my Verbal score is 25 and a total of 570

A great Post indeed...i am preparing a plan for the GMAT and i hope the site will help me a laong way !

Hi,

I have just started preparing for GMAT and this forum is exactly what I needed to get me motivated and connected.So, Thank You!

Based on your GMAT plan, I am building my own and want to know the best time to take my first test to check the waters.Should it be right away, even before I have gotten to the basics? I plan to follow your 3-month plan.

Thanks,
Mona

Absolutely, giving the test cold should help you know where you are and more detailed breakdown can point you to your problem areas.

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