HOW TO START, HOW TO IMPROVE, WHAT MATERIAL TO USE?

Step - 1 : Familiarize yourself with the concept tested in GMAT (use Manhattan strategy guides or other books which ever suits you)
Step - 2 : Practice a few questions of each topic you cover every day
Step - 3 : Once done with above, take a test to assess where you are ..(by this time I think you should be into 4th week of your preparation)
Step - 4 : Fine tune week areas by revising those concepts and practicing as many questions as you can (another 2 weeks)
Step - 5 : Only practice official questions and take 2-4 tests in last 2 weeks ...

Hope this gives you an outline you need ...

Hit Kudos

Hi Exceptional,

Before you jump into your GMAT studies at this point in time, it's important to define when you plan to apply to Business School. Your Official GMAT Score is valid for 5 years. You've stated that you're about to finish your 1st year of undergraduate studies - and I'll assume that the rest of your studies will take another 3 years. Most Business School Programs expect applicants to have 2-5 years of quality Work Experience before they apply to School. Unless you're planning to go directly into a 'specialty' Program that doesn't require that type of Work Experience, then your GMAT score would 'expire' before you could properly use it. This is meant to say that it might be in your best interest to push back your GMAT studies so that you have a greater 'window' in which to use your Score.

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Thanks for the advice everyone!

EMPOWERgmatRichC I'm a student in the UK (with a semester in Singapore), so the course is 3 years long. I want to do a Masters degree in Europe, specifically in Economics and Business. These courses don't require experience at top schools (contrasting with MBAs) but advise applicants to take the GMAT. I have 8 weeks when I finish first year until I have to go to NUS (Singapore). The summer in my second year will (hopefully) consist of an internship, and straight after that finishes I'll be in my final year and applying to grad school. So, it's only another year and a half before I'd be applying anyway.

Hi Exceptional,

Thanks for clarifying your plans; now the option to take the GMAT in the near term makes more sense. As far as your 8-week study timeframe is concerned, it's worth noting that many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores. In addition, the 700+ score is essentially the 90th percentile - meaning that 90% of Test Takers never score that high regardless of how long they study. This is all meant to say that you will likely need more than 8 weeks to hit that goal, so you might want to consider pushing back your Test Date.

Since it sounds like you're just beginning your studies, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com (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 and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

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

I would suggest you take a practice CAT to determine your baseline score. You can use the FREE GMAC software that comes with 2 free tests. Take the full test to familiarize yourself with the sections and question types. You can then plan based on your baseline score.

Hi,

Get Manhattan GMAT Strategy guides for learning each and every concept of GMAT
Start with the quant after completing each guide practice its related question which may be 50-70 question from OG Guide
Get OG Guides for practice
always time your practice, review your wrong answers and make an error log
continue this practice till the end of each guide
Dont study more than 2 hour in one sit, best time for daily study is 3 hour (1.5 hours and 2 sessions)
After completing each guide Take some CATs
review each wrong questions and practice again your weak areas

Good Luck
Cheers

Hello all!!!

Thanks for taking the time to read/post suggestions!

Started my studies with Kaplan in person - by the time my exam #1 came i was scoring 550-580 on my practice Cat's. My goal score here is 550 ( I know most people on here think it's a pathetic score and consider it low). But when I sat for the real one I scored a 320.. Took a week off studied for another two month's using Kaplan's live online course. Sat for that exam and scored a 420. 50 Points higher in 2 months. So fast forward to now, again putting two months of studying in but however I have decided to use Magoosh. I haven't gotten through all the topics yet but plan on hitting at least 2-3 more topics this week (geometry, powers roots, and word problems) after this week I think i'm going to start just reviewing all sections and just practicing problems. Anyone have any suggestions as to how I should proceed or anything that's really going to bring my score up. As much as I'd love a 550 I think realistically I'd love to get a 500.

Thanks in advance.

Vito

What are your quant score and verbal score? Since you got score report, you should know which part is your weakness. Then you would know how to improve your score.

Attempt #1 20V 21Q total score 370
Attempt #2 23V 25Q 420

Your quant score and your verbal score are the same, so I dont know which one is your strength and which one is your weakness. In my opinion, improving quant score is easier than improving verbal score. Hence, you could focus on quant section first.

I see that you've already taken Magoosh course. Just follow their course and try to understand every concept in math. Spend more time in praticing. You could search every sub-600 level questions in this forum by this link
https://gmatclub.com/forum/search.php?s ... tag_id=217 (for PS part)
https://gmatclub.com/forum/search.php?s ... tag_id=223 (for DS part)

I think that your quant score will increase soon.

Hey guys,

I have been preparing for GMAT for some time now and have rescheduled the exam 3 times. But not able to improve score in practice tests. I prepared 3 yrs ago as well and was able to score around 620 without complete preparation but for some reason couldn't take exam. Now after 3 years i don't know what i am doing wrong but my best score so far is 540.

I am feeling totally demotivated after seeing my score. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
KM

here is my story and how i prepared, along with all the study materials i used. https://gmatclub.com/forum/should-i-ret ... 37714.html feel free to ask me any questions.

trust me, im an idiot. if i can do it, anyone can. just requires time and dedication.

ive noticed that the farther im out of college, the weaker my math skills were getting. im a banker, but i dont deal with shapes and word problems all day. that could be the case for you.

lebron23Goat Thanks for quick reply.. working in accounting so numbers are not a problem i guess.. lacking in time management, mostly in understanding the question and i have found myself choosing the trap answer choices more than the right ones.. It's been happening over and over

i wouldnt say working in accounting is a bonus for the gmat. id even say its a negative. accounting math has nothing to do with gmat or standardized test math.

for each question in your error log, it is important to know the right answer, why its right, but also its important to understand exactly why each other option is 100% wrong. doing this in your review will help you better identify traps on future questions.

reviewing is something i am not doing a lot or spending time on. That makes sense.. I hope it helps improve the score.. Thanks..

general rule of thumb i use: for the amount of time it takes you to do a problem, you should spend a minimum of 3x that amount reviewing the problem.

Hi Km2014,

In prior posts, it looks like you were studying for the GMAT back in November - with the goal of taking the GMAT in February. Since you haven't taken the Official GMAT, have you been studying consistently since November (meaning the last 7 months)? Before I can offer you any additional advice, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) What study materials have you used?
2) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
3) Did you take the FULL CAT each time (with the Essay and IR sections)/

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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