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balthazar98
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Good luck and God bless! nothing is impossible :) do your best!
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EMPOWERgmatRichC
Hi balthazar98,

Many GMATers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so giving yourself 6 months of potential study time is a really proactive choice. Many of those same Test-takers find the Quant, the Verbal or both to be challenging - so you're not alone. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

Since it sounds like you're just beginning your studies, then it would be a good idea to take an actual FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test/mock; you can access 2 for free at mba dot c o m (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a little studying first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic content and question types, then that's okay - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses (under Test-like conditions) and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 3.5 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have that Score, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) Are you planning to take the At-home GMAT or are you planning to take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
2) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat


Hi Rich!

Thanks for the information. To respond to your questions:

1) I plan to take it at a test facility
2) I can consistently put in 2-3 hours each weekday and 5 hours each weekend
3) I plan on applying for the fall intake in 2024. This is owing to 2 reasons: First, that I need at least 3 years work experience to apply to most of the programs which I will only achieve in February 2024. Second, that I want to dedicate 2023 to strengthening my holistic profile(eg., join an NGO or charity to do volunteer work, focus on my other hobbies, etc.). I already have a decent holistic profile but I feel that it could be improved more and updated.
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balthazar98
So, to begin with I am a 23 year old male(Asian origin). I would like to advance my career and have decided to take my GMAT in 6 months time(Sometime in mid-late December 2022). I did my first mock exam yesterday(as a diagnostic) using the GMAT 2020 OG and consistently scored average/below average in all the sections. Even the section which I consider my "strong point" ie., verbal was pretty bad. I'd say that my gmat score right now is about 400-420, but I want to get at least 720-740 in my gmat as I feel that it would get me a good chance of getting into my dream MBA school.
Hi balthazar98,

I wouldn't worry too much about the OG diagnostic test "score" (ratings) if I were you. Take one of the official practice tests when you feel you're ready (you don't have to do this immediately). That'll give you a much more reliable score estimate.
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Hi balthazar98,

I've sent you a PM with some additional notes and suggestions.

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

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com
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balthazar98
So, to begin with I am a 23 year old male(Asian origin). I would like to advance my career and have decided to take my GMAT in 6 months time(Sometime in mid-late December 2022). I did my first mock exam yesterday(as a diagnostic) using the GMAT 2020 OG and consistently scored average/below average in all the sections. Even the section which I consider my "strong point" ie., verbal was pretty bad. I'd say that my gmat score right now is about 400-420, but I want to get at least 720-740 in my gmat as I feel that it would get me a good chance of getting into my dream MBA school.


Looking at the sheer amount of topics I need to cover, I feel scared because of how much I need to learn in such a short amount of time. The fact that I need to score 720-740 has also put me under additional pressure as I know that there will be higher competition within my ethnic group(I am indian) wherever I apply, and having a very good GMAT score will put me ahead of the competition. I do possess certain traits which not many others have(living & studying in various countries abroad, being multilingual, etc.) but none of those will matter to MBA schools if my GMAT score isn't good.

Hence, I'm writing this post to ask anyone out there if they've been in the same position as I am in right now, and how they managed to achieve their goals. To anyone reading, please let me know of the following:
1) How were you able to achieve your desired GMAT score in 6 months time? What steps did you take to study(eg., how many hours each day did you study, did you get rid of distractions, etc.)?
2) Is it possible to go from a 400-420 score like mine to a 720-740 score? What study materials do I need to achieve this? I should note that I have the GMAT 2020 OG, 2020 verbal OG, and 2020 quants OG. I am also on a free trial with gmatwhiz.


Thank you in advance,

-balthazar98

Hi balthazar98,

Do not take this score too seriously as it's just to assess your current level without any preparation. Generally speaking, it can take around 300 hours (give or take) to prepare from scratch. This includes everything from concepts to mock tests. Of course it depends on a number of things such as your target score, your strengths and weaknesses, your structure of preparation, the resources you use, your pace of learning etc.

I have a couple of articles for you which can help you understand the right way to prepare for GMAT.

How to start your GMAT Preparation?

How to effectively plan your studies for GMAT?

The 3 key skills you need to develop to score well on GMAT

I would suggest you to choose a resource that can help you:
  • Learn the concepts
  • Learn the methodology (Most important)
  • Practice questions
  • Analyze detailed solutions
  • Follow a study plan
  • Work on your weak areas

Make sure you choose a resource that can help you with the above factors. You can check out the below article to know more about the factors to consider while evaluating an online course.

Key factors to consider while evaluating the right course

Having said that, you would want to choose an online course which can help you with a study plan. Because if you are clear of what to study on any given day, it makes life easier for you. But a person who can spend 4 hours a day for studies cannot have the same study plan as a person who can spend just 2 hours a day. So, the study plan has to be personalized, that is, the study plan has to be according to the number of hours one can dedicate for studies.

As you have already signed up for the free trial of GMATWhiz, you must be experiencing the personalized study plan it provides along with a AI driven learning platform.
GMATWhiz rightly helps you with all these things as it follows a structured way of teaching things. We help you to apply concepts accurately & efficiently with our application-driven online GMAT course through progressive learning concepts and setting up clear milestones & deadlines i.e. easy achievable targets and regular reminders to keep you on track. Knowing how to reason through and analyze information is the key to a great GMAT score. Your process of working on your weak areas becomes a lot more effective with GMATWhiz, as the course analyses your performance after every topic and if your performance is not really great, it automatically suggests additional improvement modules for that topic. This way, you don’t have to spend additional time in identifying your weak areas and sorting them.

You can checkout how Hardik scored a GMAT 740 (Q48, V44) in 1st attempt in less than 90 days while working full time:

And if you wish to have a detailed discussion regarding the study strategy, you can get in touch with me using the below link:
Click here to schedule a call
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Hi balthazar98,

Regarding how to go about your prep, here is a great article you can check out:

The Best Way to Study for the GMAT

Regarding resources, 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.
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Dear balthazar98,
my started score was almost a few hundreds points less than yours:) if you are good at self-studying then reading the Manhattan guides is preferable option. In other case, you cat take the online course. There are variety of platforms from which you can choose the best one. I use the TTP service to ameliorate my verbal score, because its well structured study plan and unique approach already helped me to improve my quant score.
I have not consummated the Verbal module yet, but what do I say is that its curriculum not only covers all general topics but also provides step by step guide to cement the acquired knowledge.

If you have not read the Dala post yet, try
https://gmatclub.com/forum/530-point-gm ... 56872.html
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Hi!

It is important to understand where you stand by taking a mock test on mba.com because it provides the closest experience to the real GMAT.

There are few good free resources available online like the Manhattan booklets, Powerscore which you could start with. For practice, you could solve OG qs, GMATClub Qs.

The major distraction for me has been selecting the right material. I did waste a lot of time going through a lot of average material online. Try to avoid doing that. Dedicate some hours to understand what could be good for you and follow that.

I wanted a more structured approach to my preparation and found it difficult to jump from one material to the other, so I signed up for Target Test Prep. They prepare the plan for you, all you have to do is religiously follow the study plan. The course is so detailed that all your concepts will be crystal clear once you are through the course. They offer the best value for your investment in terms of the content provided. You will not regret it.

All the best!