This thread has retired. Find the latest version is here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-plan-217827.html GMAT Study Plan for New GMAT Test Takers Hope you find this study plan helpful - please PM me any of your tips or suggestions for those just starting out on their GMAT Journey You can bookmark this topic on GMAT Club by clicking the STAR button next to the topic name or you can print it out for future reference . Improvement: 50-150 points depending on the starting point Concept: You are just starting your GMAT journey and need the shortest way to a solid GMAT Score Recommended for: GMAT Novices Stagnant gmat test-takers No prior knowledge is required Other Study Plans Advanced Study Plan: Go from 650 to 700+ GMAT Course Study Plan Ultimate Verbal plan How to go from Q44 to Q50 How to improve verbal from V30 to V40 Hello - welcome to GMAT Club. If you are new to GMAT and looking how to start and dip your toe in the water - this is the right place to start. Step 1: First, You should familiarize yourself with the GMAT structure and principles if you have not done so already - see GMAT FAQ for details . You can also visit https://www.mba.com and poke around. While you are there - go ahead and download GMATPrep - 2 practice tests released by makers of the GMAT. These 2 tests contain real GMAT questions, follow real GMAT principles, and are the best at estimating your GMAT score at any point in time. Step 2: Take a practice test to find out how far you are from your target . Many believe it is a good use of one of the free GMAT Prep tests (I'll tell you to actually get more than 2 tests out of the package later). The main reason it is a good use is that you can see your starting point (now) and then compare it against the ending (taking GMAT). Alternatively you can use any other computer adaptive test from Princeton, Kaplan, Manhattan, or others and then use GMAT Score Estimator/Calculator to find your real GMAT equivalent. If you are offered to write an Essay (AWA) - skip it. For listing of all available GMAT tests - see https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-gmat-cat ... 77460.html Step 3: Find out what GMAT score you actually need. Just to give you an idea - You need at least 700 for Top 10 schools, 680 for Top 20, and 650 for Top 50 to pass - meaning your score should not be an issue and you will need something 50 points higher to actually stand out. Most people are able to improve between 50 and 150 points - that should give you an estimate of what you can count on based on the diagnostic test you just took. You can see current average applicant GMAT scores here . To visualize the entire application process, please use MBA Timeline Tool Step 4: Identify your weaknesses - take a look at your practice test score and note the raw score distribution (you will get one three digit score such as 600 and 2 two-digit scores such as 35, 40 - those two are your raw scores for each of the sections. They have corresponding percentiles). See how you rank in each. Also, do a basic mistake analysis and understand which question types are the most challenging for you. The options are PS, DS, CR, RC, SC and potentially even more detailed such as probability, or assumption questions, etc. Don't only look at what questions you got wrong, but also why. Why did you make a mistake? You can also take a diagnostic test - Math Revolution offers a free Quant Diagnostic test , as does GMAT Club, and eGMAT offers a verbal diagnostic . Use this information to build your study plan. Step 5: Design your study plan - finally! You need to build up your toolkit and get some ammo for the GMAT. You will need books or a course (online or in person) to refresh/learn fundamentals and then test taking strategies. You will also need GMAT tests to practice those strategies and also evaluate your prep level. See these links for: GMAT course reviews , GMAT Books reviews For collection of all GMAT Tests available today: https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-gmat-cat ... 77460.html Finally - chart/plot/graph your study plan - use this calendar format Step 6: Avoid typical GMAT prep mistakes and pitfalls. Here is the most common one I see - jumping into questions and tests completely unprepared and expecting results/miracles. GMAT consists of several layers and it is important to master each one before moving on to the next - think of it as of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. There is no use in satisfying your social needs before you can take care of basic needs such as safety and food. The same is here, if you don't know the underlying principles that GMAT is testing (such as grammar, arithmetic, etc) there is no use in solving hundreds of questions or taking multiple GMAT tests. This means that if English is not your native language, you should not work on the RC strategies if you can't understand half of the passage - you need to get comfortable reading long passages of text before moving on. To illustrate this principle, consider the following hierarchy for the GMAT: pyramid.gif In the General Knowledge stage cover basics for a chapter/section/area In the Question Strategies stage start practicing questions either for the area you just covered or for an entire section but don't attempt questions for sections you have not covered yet In the Test Strategies start taking full length tests and practice on putting questions and knowledge together Step 7: Commit to excellence and doing the best job possible. Think about what you can do to improve your score – is it creating your own notes? Is it not moving to the next chapter until you are able to get 90% of the questions right? Is it reading a lot of fiction to get comfortable reading? Is it shifting your schedule to wake up at 5 AM and study till 8 before work? Is it investing in the right books, courses, and tests? You get the idea... Here is the most common GMAT study plans used by GMAT Club Members: Online Study Plan: You can get online access to almost anything these days and self-paced options among prep companies have really gone down in price. Step 1: Foundation Most Online courses have modules that teach the fundamentals and that will quickly help you build the foundation and come up to speed. These modules can be particularly useful for students who have not studied quant for quite some time or who are not particularly strong in Quant. Step 2: Core concepts Once you have built a foundation, focus on mastering the concepts. Solve OG during this time and maintain an error log. Keep track of your mistakes and guesses - this will become your study guide in Month 3. This is also the time to get involved in GMAT Club’s math forum. Determine where you stand: almost all online courses come provide plenty of CAT's. Start taking the math portion of the tests you have. Move to Verbal only after reaching at a certain Level: Evaluate results and decide if you need to spend more time in Math and patch up certain weak areas or move on to Verbal. This decision will be based on your target GMAT score. If you are looking for high 600's and 700's, I would not move past Quant unless I was able to score around Q44 and possibly higher. Quant scores have been inflated recently with Q51 (highest possible quant score clocking a mere 97th percentile and Q49 is 79th), so make sure you are up there. Do not leave a section unless you were able to solve 90% of the questions correctly in the allotted time. Don’t run away from your mistakes – sooner or later they will catch up; the better strategy is to address them right there and then and make sure you never see them again. If you prefer the online study option, use the Magoosh, eGMAT, Math Revolution, examPAL, Target Test Prep or EMPOWERgmat online courses. They come with everything you need, including practice tests and quizzes. You can compare them all in the Marketplace . Online courses also provide constant feedback. Most also come with Free access to GMAT Club tests . Many self-study courses offer free trials so you can test drive them before you buy, and for most no credit card is needed. Your cost may even be less than with books ($99 - $300). Mobile Apps: There is a number of free GMAT Apps for iPhone and Android including GMAT Club's ToolKit . Many courses have free companion apps - Veritas Prep Offline Study Plan: If you study best with books, get the full collection of the MGMAT Guides or Veritas Prep Guides or Kaplan Books (remember to also get the Official Guide). The book bundles come with everything you need and both are fully all-inclusive in terms of what you need. My only other suggestion is to get the MGMAT Roadmap which serves a collection of study-related tips. This is a reliable/proven approach with good results. Total cost for this study plan will be $150-$300. Month 1 Start with Math section first and focus just on math alone (you can do both math and verbal but I suggest you put all attention into one). Both MGMAT and Veritas Prep have numbered books, so all you have to do is open Book1 and just follow along to Book10. Plan to spend 4 weeks on the Quant Portion. Start using an Error Log - keep track of your mistakes and guesses -this will become your study guide in Month 3. ( Tip: dedicated post on how to analyze your mistakes ) Optional Step: If you are feeling the load is too heavy and you are really weak in Quant or Verbal - get MGMAT Math Foundations or MGMAT Verbal Foundations book; it is great in providing a more general overview of math concepts. At the same time, start reading GMAT Fiction (see below for details on what it is for) Get involved with the Math Forum - you will learn a lot esp. when you try to teach someone or explain something After you are done with the math section - start taking the math portion of the tests you have. Evaluate results and decided if you need to spend more time in Math and patch up certain weak areas or move on to Verbal. This decision will be based on your target GMAT score. If you are looking for high 600's and 700's, I would not move past Quant unless I was able to score around Q44 and possibly higher. Quant scores have been inflated recently with Q51 (highest possible quant score clocking a mere 97th percentile and Q49 is 81st), so make sure you are up there. Do not leave a chapter or a section unless you were able to solve 90% of the questions correctly in the allotted time. Don’t run away from your mistakes – sooner or later they will catch up; the better strategy is to address them right there and then and make sure you never see them again. If you need additional help in Quant - refer to the Math Resources on GMAT Club or the GMAT Math Books section. Another book you may consider is the PR 1012 - it contains targeted GMAT practice questions, which could be helpful in honing one's skills. Though may seem attractive, Advanced Quant book from MGMAT has received mixed reviews from the users - many feel it is really too hard and is not representative of the GMAT's difficulty. We did attempt to go through it and even for yours truly, it proved discouraging and painful. Unless you are really bored, it may be a book better left for another time. If you are comfortable with Quant but want to get to Q50+, use the GMAT Club Tests - they contain only hard questions and were designed as practice for high-level math scorers. You can purchase them, earn a free subscription by earning 25 Kudos, or sign up with a partner course (almost all come with GMAT Club tests as a bonus) Another worthwhile resource for you may be this quant-focused discussion: how to get from Q44 to Q50 Sidebar At this time you will probably be wondering about questions such as “how many can I get wrong and still get a Q50?” and other questions which really do not have answers. If you find yourself wondering about these things at night, head over to the following discussions: GMAT algorithm – how does it work? What-If analysis of the GMAT Prep Alternative ways to increase your score (i.e. not by studying) How are GMAT scores calculated and what is a raw score? Has anyone scored an 800? Yes, he has. Month 2 Start working on the Verbal section. You can start with any question type, but my suggestion would be to tackle Sentence Correction first as it is usually the most straightforward Error Log! Sentence Correction Optional Step: If you are not a native speaker, you will need a good grammar book or a verbal-intensive course such as the SC course by eGMAT that focuses on concepts for non-native speakers. Several grammar books are recommended on the Forum ( https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-gr ... 79934.html ). We have created a book specifically for this need - Ultimate GMAT Grammar (it covers all of the tested grammar topics on the GMAT, plus a bit more concepts that international students seem to struggle the most (articles, etc). The best thing of all is that it is Free ). Other books to consider are Kaplan Verbal Foundations and MGMAT Verbal Foundations. This is for you to decide how much help you need or how much time you have. Also, take a look at GMAT Club's Verbal Resources for many copies of study notes. If you are short on time and can’t cover the MGMAT’s SC book, you can use the Kaplan Verbal Workbook - it has good strategies and I have personally used it to prepare, so it does work, though it is not as complete as the MGMAT or Vertas Prep books. Critical Reasoning Optional Step: If you need additional help with Critical Reasoning - Do not get both PowerScore CR and Manhattan GMAT CR - the books are virtually identical (not really but kind of). Instead, you can get an inexpensive online course such as SC eGMAT . You can also use the PR 1012 book for targeted practice with Assumption or Conclusion questions or you can go very heavy weight and use LSAT books, but that's a tad too hardcore and usually unnecessary. See BM’s review of the LSAT resources. Reading Comprehension is often the hardest area to conquer. Unless you strongly feel that Reading is your forte, I would recommend you pick up a reading habit for the time being. I have written a large post on what I call GMAT Fiction and its benefits - take a look. I felt that reading books was a big contributor to my SC and RC abilities and gave me a 96th percentile in Verbal (not too shabby for a person who spoke zero English until 12). There are no downsides to this really - worst thing possible is that you would have read some great books. And yes - make sure you read them during your low productivity time (at night, during transit, etc). Verbal forum should be your hobby by now and we have a great feature – GMAT Club Forum Timer . Use it! If you have not discovered it yet, you should – the timer will keep track of all your practice and even more – it will suggest you questions (every day Monday through Friday) that are at your level, and after about 10 questions in SC and CR, it will even give you a daily estimated GMAT score. Verbal Advantage – you may have seen badges and posts about it – make sure you use this initiative. Every year for about 3 months, GMAT club teams up with the best verbal prep companies to bring you the best experts, articles, and questions. You can use these resources at any time and benefit from the previous years of work. Verbal Advantage 2013 and also the first season – Verbal Advantage 2012 Take the verbal-only portion of the tests to evaluate your progress (compare to how you did in the diagnostic test). Another worthwhile resource for you may be this quant-focused discussion: how to get from V30 to V40 Month 3 This month should be spent on 2 things: taking full length tests (polishing your test taking techniques, timing, stamina) and Reviewing your error log (going through your weaknesses, making sure you understand why you keep making mistakes and how to solve every problem you encountered). You can start using Error log earlier than this by the way - the earlier the better. You can also use this time to prolong your prep (we assume most will run about 4 weeks late and will need this time) or you can use it to spend on digging deeper in some areas. Schedule your test if you have not done so already. Start taking full length tests (including AWA and IR ) - this is important for your test stamina. Plan to spend a Saturday on this and then subsequent test review. Spend a few weeks taking tests and drilling down into your areas of weakness. Create a "black list of questions" that you continue to struggle with and find a way to solve them with minimal mental effort. For IR, there is always the big question of, how important is IR really, and the answer, clearly, is – nobody knows. We expect that it will be more definite in 2015/2016 years when the first IR test-takers have graduated and GMAC can trace patterns. Meanwhile, go here for IR resources and practice. The BIG Day and Final Thoughts Make sure you take a look at these before you take the GMAT: What to do 30-14-7-1 days before the GMAT? What to expect at the test center and 8 things not to do Analysis of Patterns among those who scored 750+ and what they did The best of GMAT Club’s debriefs – get inspired! Common Mistakes with GMAT preparation 1: Rushing to take tests before learning anything - waste of tests 2: Starting with the Official Guide - waste of official GMAT questions 3: Giving GMAT the worst time of the day - studying after a long day 4: Skipping basics and rushing to advanced topics 5: Moving through material too fast or too slow 6: Starting to prepare with poor English proficiency How long should you prep really? The study plan above suggests 3 months, and that's probably 10-15 hours per week (2 hrs/work day and 5 hours on the weekend). Over 3 months, that's about 120 - 180 hours, which includes reading some books, so the true study time is probably 80 - 120 hrs. What if you study 2x or 3x of that and take 9 months instead of 3, can you triple your improvement? No, actually, your performance will be MUCH worse if you spread out your prep over a time period great than 5 months. Long study stretches are demotivating, hard to keep fresh, and ultimately ineffective as after 6 months, you start forgetting material faster than you can learn it and the time you will have to spend 75% of your time on refresh. It is much more effective to spend 3-4 months, and that’s what I would encourage you to do. How do you Measure Improvement and what if you are not seeing any? Many test-takers waste a lot of tests and precious time by taking un-needed CAT’s. As a matter of fact, you should be able to get away by taking no more than 10 CAT’s during your GMAT love affair. The question you may ask then is – how do I measure improvement and keep track of my score? A number of ways actually: Make sure you are hitting a certain percentage of the questions in each topic/subject. Set a goal such as 90% of questions have to be right in exercises, OG, or wherever. E.g. if you just covered Geometry, there is no reason to take a whole quant CAT since you will only hit 3-4 Geometry questions tops (perhaps as few as 1-2) and it will be a minimal impact on the score, while you will waste a few hours, waste a test, and more importantly, grow discouraged. Use short quizzes and exercise. Let’s say you covered that same Geometry chapter in the book and only hit 50% on the quiz at the end of the chapter. Do 2 things: 1) Analyze your mistakes, read the explanations how to solve questions, and make sure you can solve each one of them 2) Go back to the chapter and using the mistakes you just made re-read/learn (make notes, create PPT, etc) of the areas you are still lacking. Then you can use OG, GMAT Club tests, Kapan Quiz bank , Math Revolution Question Bank or whatever you want to do real short/quick checks to see if you have improved. At this point in time, it does not matter what your overall Quant score is, it only matters what percentage of the types of questions ALREADY covered is. You can use the GMAT Club Forum timer. As long as you take about 10 questions in PS and DS, you will get a quant raw score estimate and as soon as you do the same in SC and CR, you will get a verbal score estimate (note that RC is not evaluated). Learn more about the amazing and free GMAT Club Forum Timer and Workbook here . Finally, once you have covered ALL of the quant topics, it is time to take the Quant CAT and similarly when you have finished the Verbal section, it is time to take the full Verbal CAT. (This is the reason GMAT Club tests have split quant and verbal CAT’s – we don’t think you really need to take a Full CAT until the very end when you are working on improving your stamina and test-day strategy, and at that point, you can just Quant and Verbal CAT’s with an 8 minute break). What if No improvement? My suggestion would be to understand why, what needs to change, and how. You need to answer this yourself. If you can’t, post it on the forum, though I have to warn you, it is a hard one to answer from afar. A much better option is to get a tutor for an hour or two (that’s all you should need) to get you back on track. Any decent tutor can spot most of the issues after one session and you can use the second session to answer any questions and draft a personalized plan for the rest of your prep. You can also take a course – that’s become an especially popular and cheap alternative with the online offerings from EGMAT, Math Revolution and Magoosh, many of which have courses for less than the cost of books (as low as $59). Many of the courses are interactive and adapt to your needs. Online adaptive courses often are much more effective than books since they are audio visual, provide constant feedback, and provide instructor support. You can bookmark this topic on GMAT Club by clicking the STAR button next to the topic name or you can print it out for future reference .

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GMAT Study Plan - How to Start your GMAT Prep

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rahulzlpr

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26 Jul 2015, 21:19

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Hi

As we were discussing about the study approach for GMAT viz a viz online course or books. I came across the Magoosh online course which as of now is only for $99 covering the entire gmat course however the same is much more expensive as offered by other test prep companies (anywhere between $800 to $1000). This will also be cheaper than the entire Manhattan study guide set in print which can cost around $250. Also GMATPREP is offering the online course for free. Now clearly magoosh and gmatprep online courses are the best deals out of all the other online programs. Since the Manhattan guides are well recommended all over what would you suggest would be the best approach to score high (750)?

dzillante

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GMAT 2: 700 Q49 V38 Verified score

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28 Jul 2015, 22:44

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Hello!
I must start by thanking the creators/collaborators of GMATClub... I've been reading the forum for a couple of months now and I have to admit that it has been probably the best advisor I could ever get.

Now, down to business.

I would like some advice on how I should proceed now that I'm 2 weeks away from taking the test...

I graduated 4 years ago from Engineering, so, I thought Quant was going to be an easy thing (of course it wasn't!) and I thought I should start from there to then take a deep dive into Verbal.
After a couple of months studying Quant, I manage to get a Percentile 88% in Kaplan Free Test & The Economist Free Test, and Percentile 71% in Veritas Test (all free tests). Then, I studied verbal for 6 weeks and got Percentile 85% in Kaplan (Verbal-Free test) and 81% in Manhattan (Verbal-free test).

I never took a full length exam because I thought it made no sense to take a test of something I had not studied... Now I'm a bit worry about possible results.

To my surprise, when I tried to take a full length test after I finished studying verbal, I scored badly in quant. I couldn't remember many things I studied in the past and I was much slower.. Now, I have two weeks left until my ideal date and I'll spend this week reviewing math, and next doing full length tests.

My questions really are:
1- What are my chances of getting +700 in the Real thing? I haven't paid the test yet and I could delay it another week.
2- How much better can I improve my scores in the real thing with an extra week of studying?
3- Finally, any advice for this last couple of weeks?

Thank you!!

Weisemann

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29 Jul 2015, 01:11

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Hi everyone,

In many comments by experts in these forums, it seems the idea of going all out on a full-time study plan is generally frowned upon. Generally, it appears the more favoured study plan is small daily sessions over an extended period of time. I would appreciate more discussion on this. Its true the GMAT is quite unlike other typical exams, but I don’t quite understand why, say, four weeks of full time study would not be as effective as five months of daily two-hour study sessions.

I am currently working in a fairly busy office and I (re-)scheduled the exam for the last week of November. My plan is to have a thorough understanding of quant and verbal fundamentals over the course of three months (2/3 hours daily on weekdays & 5hrs/day on weekends). Fully acquainted with the basics, I plan to take 3 weeks of full time GMAT study (in November) and drill down on test-taking and exam strategies. I would greatly appreciate your opinions on these plans, especially the full-time study part.

Many thanks!

evdo

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30 Jul 2015, 18:46

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Verbal is definitely the harder challenge for me, especially the reading comprehension. I have been using materials from GMAT club in building a strong foundation of logic for answering Critical Reasoning questions.

vivekgautam1

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05 Aug 2015, 07:14

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Hi,

I started my studies two months back.
Initially i took one Gmat prep CAT and scored 610.

I will start taking mocks this week.
Please suggest between Manhattan and Veritas.
Is the difficulty level of Manhattan very high ?

vivekgautam1

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05 Aug 2015, 07:14

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GMATinsight

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GMAT 1: 750 Q51 V41 Verified score

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Schools: IIM (A) ISB '24

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05 Aug 2015, 07:42

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vivekgautam1

Manhattan Tests are difficult on Quant part but the Verbal part is very appropriate. On the other hand, Veritas is good but the tests are a little simpler than Actual GMAT (as per feedback of many)

If I get to choose/recommend one of them then I would suggest "Manhattan Tests".

Just be prepared to face challenging questions in Quant butt he practice of those question is really good brain exercise and about the scoring of test I would be happier to give my feedback on PM.

I hope it helps!

Also before you mak a decision, Please take the FREE Mock of Veritas as well as Manhattan. Please find the list of all FREE Mock GMAT CAT in my signature.

GMATinsight

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05 Aug 2015, 08:04

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dzillante

Hi dzillante

After reading your comment there is one quick suggestion that I want to make

First Suggestion : Don't take test in 15 days if you don't want to waste $250

Now, The reasoning of this suggestion is very simple that wonders don't happen in GMAT and Only Luck doesn't get anyone the score that you are looking for. Don't get biased by advertisement/communication which promise to teach you everything about GMAT in 15 days.

GMAT is a scientifically designed test and it is made in such a manner that a student with weak basics is bound to get the score in sync with the preparation. Quantitative section, however, can be prepared in lesser time than the time taken by verbal. But not giving it a complete month will definitely not justify the time that Quant Preparation Deserves.

Engineers generally have greater potential to perform very well in Quant section so don't doubt your capability and give the preparation proper time. The dates are generally available on short deadlines so that shouldn't be much of a worry.

NOT Taking a FULL CAT doesn't represent your ability to perform in the test. So your scores that your have mentioned in your post can't be accepted as the correct representation of your real performance on face value because GMAT test is of about 4 hours duration and it also tests your ability to concentrate for such a long time which is not easy when you approach the end of the test.

It's highly recommended that a students takes atleast 10 Full Length GMAT CAT before appearing for GMAT.
The straight answers to your questions are
My questions really are:

1- What are my chances of getting +700 in the Real thing? I haven't paid the test yet and I could delay it another week.
Your chances of getting a score 700+ are low (in my opinion) if you take test in 10-15 days but your chances are definitely good if you prepare for atleast a month with dedication and conviction. If you haven't paid then I would suggest that save your money because with not so good score anyways you won't be able to apply in the universities that you are targetting. If you don't mind gambling for sake of your satisfaction then you may choose to go ahead.

2- How much better can I improve my scores in the real thing with an extra week of studying?
One week doesn't make much of difference in performance unless you are prepared with required basic concepts and you have to just learn to avoid some test taking mistakes and work on test taking strategies, timing strategies etc. If you are prepared then one week can definitely contribute in building your stamina to sit and take FULL test in one sitting with the optional breaks

3- Finally, any advice for this last couple of weeks?
If these are last couple of weeks then best course of action is to take Full length GMAT CATs in one sitting and find out our mistakes and work on them wherever needed. The analysis of mistakes can definitely help a lot.

I hope it helps!

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05 Aug 2015, 08:24

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vivekgautam1

Hi,

Thanks for your feedback. I took the Veritas free CAT, and found it OK.
But have not taken the Manhattan.

I hope the challenging Manhattan CATs help me in raising my preps.

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07 Aug 2015, 03:55

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Is appalled by all the marketing gimmicks of all the above coaching centers to dupe vulnerable students . Will give a frank opinion from a students perspective, who has taken both the services e-gmat and crackverbal .

E-gmat ...completely useless if u are looking to improve verbal . After u pay the fees u get access to some random videos uploaded, each explaining some basic concepts . The thing is these concepts are pretty basic and can be found online in Manhattan's Thursdays with Ron series (they are pretty amazing and honest do check them .) for free !! . They have very minimal questions to practice from.... a very big disadvantage , since without practice no point in cramming in concepts .
Although after going through their explanations given for various questions on gmatclub I was impressed by them but thats it ..... dnt expect much from their paid services .Pluss they dont have any tests of their own , then no way to test urself .

Crack verbal ..... Ohh boy !! where do i begin .... i have attended their classes ....complete trickery or rather sophistry is the right word i believe.
During the free intro classes they discuss very complex examples which make u believe that ur sooper dumb and then once when u enroll u realise that they dont have much to offer , probably the introductory class was the best class in the entire course . THeir claims of sending people to LBS, Stanford and others Ivys are of people who already had a stellar profile and just needed a touch up on their essays . Dont be fooled by the fancy website . their material is very basic and not much informative . No test series of their own again ! ...... the thing is they claim to teach u shortcuts fr RCs and CRs . The ugly truth is there are no shortcuts . U cant game the exam , no matter what they say . U have to improve ur English !! ...period . which takes time .

So what should one do !! ....... practice practice and practice by urself from as many books as u can.Buy Kaplan Manhattan and different books see the questions and learn from them . Because take it from me in writing there are no tricks or shortcuts for verbal . U have to read dense material and improve ur English and simultaneously practise. Watch Manhattans Thursdays with Rons they are a pot of gold ! when it comes to building concepts....

Do lsat verbal questions for more practice . Atleast RC and CR can be covered . Pluss LSAT has pretty decent questions . Read Opinion pages of nytimes , guardian et al . Daily practise quant fro 1-2 hr and verbal for 1 hr . Use the gmat prep tests very wisely . They are the closest u will get to giving the real gmat exam . Manhattan's 6 gmat test are also good but wayy tougher than the real exam . Do give them . Also search for solutions for each and every OG question in google . ROns explanation on their blog r pretty accurate .
The gmat exam also is evolving the old tricks which these coaching centers purport to teach no longer apply . Take it from a guy who gave gmat twice .

WHO AM i to give this advice?? --- a guy who gave GMAT twice -- 1st attempt - 700
2nd attempt - 720

Got in two Colleges with 50% fellowship . DOnt believe me go ahead waste 20k or more on these coaching guys . ALL the Best bro !!

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Your opinion/suggestion will be definitely helpful - Starting today Aug 14th 2015
All major US business schools have their 2nd round application deadlines in the 1st week of Jan and I am here starting my first day on the GMAT. Though I don't have to worry about the GMAT format as I have read it before, I would like to begin with the math refresher course made available by GMATClub, thanks for that !
It's been almost 14 years now that I graduated from engineering, currently working as a PM for a Tech firm. I won't proclaim that I am doing anything extraordinary that what any other tech PM would do, but have some important Project Mgmt, technical certifications as a value add to my job responsibility.
At this juncture I feel I need to delve deeper into the organizational business wing and for doing so felt a need for a formal business training for which GMAT came to my mind. I know I am 37, but still want to give it a try and apply for good B-schools after getting a decent GMAT score.
Friends, I know I have a long way to go and will keep sharing my experiences... My GPA in college was 3.0, so what according to you will be a decent GMAT score for application to full time universities?

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14 Aug 2015, 06:36

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A lot of great tips in this thread.
Just wanted to add a few very small, and often ignored, but crucial points.

1. Quality over Quantity: While doing practice questions, it's important to spend enough time in analyzing your performance. It's not just enough to get a question right. You must be 100% sure about why the other 4 options are wrong. As you know, you will never get any of the questions that you are doing in the actual GMAT. What you will gain from the practice questions (hopefully) is the ability to identify what rule/strategy is being tested in a question.

2. Do it 'right': A lot of you will study from books. But don't forget that the GMAT is a computer test. So, when you are studying from books, do not write or underline (especially in RCs). Do as many of your practice questions online as possible. Also, once you start taking full length mock tests, instead of paper and pencil, use laminated scratch pads and markers similar to the ones that you will get on the test day. On the day of the GMAT, the fewer adjustments you have to make, the better.

3. Importance of taking full length tests: I am sure all of you know how important it is to take full length tests. Your GMAT prep is incomplete unless you take atleast 4-5 full length mock tests. Oh, by the way, full length means full length! It's not "full length" if you are skipping the AWA and IR sections :lol:

Also, the last three full length mock tests should be taken in exactly the same time slot as the actual GMAT - so that your brain gets acclimatized to working hard in that time slot. As I said, on the day of the GMAT, the fewer adjustments you have to make, the better.

Hope this helps!

All the best :good

jubi22dash

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15 Aug 2015, 03:52

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Hi

I hope to start my prep from today. I have to start my prep from scratch.. OG 2016 alongwith OG for verbal & quant delivered. Planning to signup for GMAT Pill online course by today evening. Any kind of advice will be highly appreciated. Also, Plz suggest me as to when should I schedule my GMAT exam so that I am able to apply to B-schools this year and also for scholarships (if I can get a decent score

)?

Regards
jubi22dash

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Hi guys,

A bit frustrated with my GMAT prep. I've been preparing for a couple of months now. Started with Manhattan thinking I better start with the tougher stuff. After 3 demotivating tests, I switched gears and moved to GMAT prep software and OG. My GMAT prep test scores have been between 700,720,720 and 740 (Quant between 74th percentile to 84th and Verbal between 83rd to 96th). I was fairly happy until I started taking Veritas Prep tests. The Quant on VP seems to be focussing on a few areas-my weaknesses-absolute value inequalities, combinatorics and set type questions (A,B,C like apples, oranges, grapes etc.). I'm pretty okay on RC but mess up CR often. My VP scores fluctuate so far between 600 to 650. While I do acknowledge that my pacing is a bit off sometimes, which causes me to rush through questions at the end of the sections, I'm a bit confused as to where my actual level of preparation is. Can anyone help/motivate?

Many thanks,
Akhil

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30 Aug 2015, 19:21

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I plan on studying for the Quant section this first month. After studying, the guide suggests to take the quant section of the tests. How can I do that? If I just take the quant section, will I be able to do the verbal section later in other day? I'm clueless to how test this section after studying for a full month.

Thanks in advance!

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Hello All,
I am a first time GMAT taker and have not started any preparations yet.
Could you please advise what are the best online coaching / classroom coaching options in Bangalore.
I am targeting the April 2016 admissions in one among the top 20 business schools in the US and hence aim at scoring accordingly (730 and above)
I need a lot of help with Quant and some help with Verbal.

I talked to a few coaching centers in Bangalore and they advise that I should target taking GMAT in Dec so as to target April 2016 admissions.
I was thinking of taking GMAT by mid Jan or Jan end. Will it be too late?

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09 Sep 2015, 22:49

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Also, an important thing to consider according to my experience is to constantly work on one's problem solving methodology. In addition to detailed evaluation of each and every question and categorizing them into error types, it also beneficial to train your thinking in terms of which is "NOT" the correct answer. :-D

jubi22dash

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Hi.. even I have started now only and plan to take the exam in Dec.. I have purchased Gmatpill. I have gone through SC & RC sections so far and I am liking it so far.. Its simple & easy to grasp & I prefer that coz I dont have much time to delve into grammar now..

Regards
Darshana

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20 Sep 2015, 07:08

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Hi Dear All,
Took CAT today, 480 ((
Very disappointed. Expected at least 550+ in order to be able to have it over 650 in exam after 2 weeks.
Have used mainly Manhattan books, OG and GMATClub resources...

What should I do to get 650+ in real exam?

I have taken 8 days off to make final review (yeah, as if I have already attained 650+ on average and now anticipating 700+ :D ).

ProKiller

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22 Sep 2015, 00:20

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Hello All,

This is my first post on GMATClub forum.

*very excited*

I am planning to take GMAT in early Jan 2016 and targeting 720+ :twisted:

.

About 1 month back, I took the GMAT Prep 1 mock and scored 620 (QA: 47 :idea:

, VA: 29

).

Here is my incomplete study plan till now:
1. Give GMAT Prep 1 mock - done.
2. Start with OG (after reading bb's post, I am wondering why is that wrong :roll:

).
3. Start practicing questions and give mock/full-length tests.

To be honest, I know I can get there, but don't know how.

Please help.

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