Need suggestions on how to restart studying after a long gap

Question

Hey you all, *I am in dire need of some good suggestions*. Many of us might have been through the situation I am going through. I started studying for GMAT back in October 2017, had a routine which I followed like anything and just when I was beginning to gain some confidence, something happened after which came a long period of unproductivity. I restarted my studies many times but after a month or so, some or the other distraction pulled my mind off the track. This time it was job hunt, now everything is fine, I have got the kind of job I was looking for but I have no clue how and where to start from for GMAT. I am back to square one that too with a lot of guilt and frustration. I really need to take the exam ASAP. Please help.

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Sent from my Moto G (5S) Plus using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

GyMrAT · Answer

Check out this post by  bb

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-plan-217827.html

I think that's all you will ever need to guide you in your prep. You should go back to this post whenever you feel lost.

Thanks,
GyM

adkikani · Answer

Hello nisha236 Congrats on your job appointment. You can start with basic manhattan guides or enroll for an online course. You can then move on to OG with wiley option, if you could afford. Also try to give a Gmat prep early on in this stage so as to know the depths of water you are in. If you are one who prefers group studying, here is an option for you.

I am afraid these two emotions if not handled correctly may lead to procrastination and make matters worse for you. Try setting up small chunks of time say 1-2 hrs in weekdays and cluster of max 20-30 questions so that you can have a sense of achievement every day. You can build up your castle of dream score on this foundation. Also do not forget to mix your passion: movies / dancing / sports : whatever you prefer to help you rejuvenate in your prep. Hope this helps.

akela · Answer

Hi  nisha236 ,

What worked for me was consistency. Start with 1 hour and study 1 hour a day no matter what. Steadily increase the time you study.

Hope this helps!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi nisha236,

Many GMATers lead busy lives - and disruptions to study routines are known to happen - so you're not alone. That having been said, many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so you'll likely need that time of time commitment too. 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:

Studies:
1) What study materials have you used so far?
2) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)? When was the last time you took a FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections)?

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

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

nisha236 · Answer

Thanks a lot to all of you, I will begin from today, will keep trying all the suggestions one by one. You all are really helpful and supportive, thanks again

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi nisha236,

I understand your pain and have worked with so many students over the past 15 years who have struggled to consistently study for the GMAT, as life has constantly gotten in the way. With that said, if you can make it a point to make your GMAT study as much of a number 1 priority as possible, you will be able to make some gains in your prep.

While there is a lot more advice I can provide, it would be helpful to know your baseline GMAT score. Are you able to take a practice exam from MBA.com and report back with your score breakdown? Once I have a better idea of your GMAT score, I can provide some further advice.

You also may find it helpful to read my article for more information regarding 
 how to score a 700+ on the GMAT .

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

Good luck!

GMATPill · Answer

My recommendation is to ease into it. If time is not an issue for you, allocate 2-3 weeks of casual studying.

This means going through online question banks such as this one and going through a few questions at your convenience. Make a goal to do at least 10 questions per day in varying sections and be sure to review what the answers are and why are they are the answer:

https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-test

After some casual studying, allocate serious studying - this means your mind is 100% focused. Try to resolve any other lingering problems in your life before this time so you can stay focused during this time.

During serious studying, follow this structure - the timing can be condensed or expanded, but the general structure should follow as such:

https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... study-plan

We also recommend a "Divide and Conquer" approach first.

That is - focus on specific sections - like Sentence Correction. Dedicate an entire day - heck, dedicate multiple consecutive days dedicated ONLY to sentence correction.

For example: tomorrow is "Sentence Correction Day" - and don't move on until you feel you've made a significant improvement and have results to show.

If you operate with that kind of work ethic - and apply that process to RC, RC, PS, DS, etc. -- then you will have individually made good progress in each section.

Then from there, it's about mixing and matching different verbal and quant questions - just as you would see them on the actual test. So take practice tests to simulate this mental switch between different question types under time pressure.

For practice, we recommend the practice tests from mba.com as was from supplemental resources such as this one from GMAT Pill:
https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... ctice-test

To learn more about GMAT Pill - read our stories at https://www.gmatpill.com/testimonials

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Here is a Study plan for you

Resources

For Concept Learning

Manhattan Quant Guides
Manhattan Verbal Guides
For CR: The Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible
For RC: Aristotle RC Grail

For Practice

The Official Guide for GMAT 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2015-18

You can start with Quant or Verbal which suits you. If you have started with Quant then Start with the Arithmetic but if started with verbal then start first with Sentence correction. One month for learning Quant concepts and one month for practicing question and same practice for Verbal. During you Practicing question don't forget to make an error log to track your weak areas after practice. Once you know your weak areas revise your Concepts related to those areas and do some more Practice. 6-8 CATs are enough for practice the real tests. Make your Stamina for sitting 3 hours in the test and don't study more than 2 hours in one sit and 4 hours per day

Top CATs for Practice

1. Official GMAC CATs
2. Manhattan CATs
3. Kaplan CATs

Good Luck

rohan2345 · Answer

Hi nisha236, You should dedicate around 3 months to study for your GMAT. I would encourage you take one of the two GMAT PREP practice test. You can know your weaknesses and work on them. If you are willing to study dedicatedly for that period, you are sure to achieve your goal. I believe you may benefit from taking a GMATPREP course. If you are willing, there are some great GMAT prep companies that can help you with your preparation. In order to make an informed decision I would highly encourage you to go to their websites and try on their free trial and decide for yourself which one do you like better. You can try out free access to EmpowerGMAT, Magoosh and Optimus Prep as they have great reviews on GMATCLUB. Also for verbal, I would highly encourage you to consider e-gmat verbal online or the e-gmat verbal live course. They are both amazing courses especially designed for non-natives. They offer almost 25% of their courses for free so you can try out their free trial to decide which one you want to go for. Plus the e-gmat Scholaranium which is included in both the courses is one of the best verbal practice tools in the market. You can easily track your progress in that you can identify your strengths and analyze and improve on your weak areas. You can also try out the MGMAT guides they are phenomenal and cover the entire syllabus really well. MGMAT foundation of GMAT Quant anf foundation of GMAT verbal will particularly help you solidify your base. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in Quant; a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them. Further taking multiple mocks might help. Apart from the GMATPREP, Manhattan GMAT tests and Veritas Prep Tests in my experience have good verbal and Quant section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas. Further another advantage of taking many mocks is to build up your stamina. Apart from the GMATPREP tests, taking practise tests of any major GMATPREP company ought to do that. I would also encourage you to purchase the latest version of OG and the verbal review for some great additional practice. Here is a link that will help you with your decision. https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... ml?fl=menu Lastly, you can check out a very interesting article by Mike McGarry from Magoosh detailing a 3 month study plan https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-g ... -students/. You will find it very helpful as it gives out a study plan as per your needs. Hope this helps. All the best.

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Need suggestions on how to restart studying after a long gap

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