New to gmatclub - Opinions for study resources needed

Question

Hi All,

I am new to gmatclub. For prepping for the GMAT I am planning on purchasing the OG 2020 once released (May.7th) as well as Magoosh. What are your thoughts on this? Any other resources would be much appreciated. Thank you,

Kyle

Ps. If you are situated in Ottawa send me a direct message and we can link up to study this summer.

AbhimanyuDhar · Answer

Hi KylevanWyk , Welcome to the world of Gmat Prep. First if you are planning to buy OG -20, I suggest you pre order those books today. I Guess the pre order price of these books is cheaper . https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119576156/ref=emc_b_5_mob_t Second if this your first time with Gmat Prep you want to see what your baseline is . So just take any Gmat Mock exam that will help you determine your levels Devloping Feedback Mecahnism: Know and understand what Error Logs are and how you can customize it for your benefits. Familiarize yourself with experts at Gmat Club: Start Followng people who you want to reach out in case you are stuck somewhere in course of preparation There are many experts in each section .Have a go to person for each section. Buying Officail Material: Somewhere down the time you would want to buy Officail Exams . Before you do that give a thaught of buying Premimum Membership at Gmat Club . They offer discount codes where in you can save couple of bucks when you are planning to buy Officail Test Prep Exams . ( I wish I knew that) Connect to local Study Partner: You can find a study partner here on gmat club or you can search in social sites for study partner . It helps a lot . Lastly, all the best with your preparation. Posted from my mobile device

Gmatsaiyan · Answer

Follow the following study plan:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-p ... ml?fl=menu
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-self-pr ... tml?f=menu

Courses that can help with your prep:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-co ... ml?fl=menu

Best books for Quants:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ma ... ml?fl=menu
Best books for Verbal:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... ml?fl=menu

mangamma · Answer

Hi, Welcome to the GMATClub. Apart of OG, I suggest try to prepare TTP for Quant, Manhattan and eGMAT for Verbal. All the best

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KylevanWyk,

When it comes to studying for the GMAT, there are lots of different study materials that you might use. Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at our website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one(s) that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

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 take 2 for free at 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 3.5 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.

I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi KylevanWyk,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. Before you decide on a prep course, it may be a good idea to take an  official GMAT practice exam . The results of that exam will give you a bird’s-eye view of your strengths and weaknesses, and indicate how far you are from your score goal.

Once you complete the exam, feel free to report back here, and I can provide some further advice. Also, check out some of the  success stories of past GMAT students  as well as reviews of  various GMAT prep courses  to see what prep materials have worked for other test-takers.

Lastly, you may find it helpful to read this article about 
 how to score a 700+ on the GMAT .

Feel free to reach out with further questions. Good luck!

DavidTutorexamPAL · Answer

Great questions! 
Before directly answering it, it’s important to ask ourselves : what exactly is the GMAT testing, and why is it difficult?
 What is the GMAT?
 Let’s start with the basics:  The Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) is a standardized test which many MBA programs around the world require as part of their application process. It measures skills in the fields of English, Mathematics and analytical writing and takes 3.5 hours to complete.
 Why the GMAT is Different
 
The GMAT is sometimes referred to as the GMAT CAT. CAT stands for Computer Adaptive Test. Two of the exam’s four sections (Quantitative and Verbal) are computer-adaptive. This means that during those sections the test adapts to your level of ability as you go.
What does it mean that the test is adaptive? Well, it means the GMAT is no ordinary test. It doesn’t measure your knowledge, it measures your “mind flexibility”. Therefore, if you wish to excel in the GMAT, it’s essential you work on sharpening this cognitive capability. By breaking down the GMAT experience, we can better understand what “mind flexibility” is. GMAT asks us to provide quick answers to unfamiliar questions.
Each question serves up a different twist: a different level, uses a different set of tools, has a different length, tells a different story, can take from a few seconds to a few minutes to solve. But, most importantly, it presents us with questions that can be solved in many different ways. Unlike your high school teacher, the GMAT is not interested in learning how you solved each question.
You just have to be fast enough and answer correctly if you want to have a chance to solve as many hard questions as you can in the limited time you have (hard questions generate higher scores!). You must be fast and correct.

Studying Right - for you 
All that being said, what counts in acing the GMAT is finding the tools that work best for YOU. The most common mistake is doing things the other way around, that is, starting test prep without looking for the solution tools that work best for you.
The point is, if you haven’t studied all the possible question-solution tools and researched all questions to learn more about how to figure out which tools can be used in which questions, you cannot accurately choose the right tool.
There’s no choice when there aren’t any options. You’ll find yourself doing only what you are used to doing or what you’ve been doing since high school. So how to do that? One approach would be turning to online computer assisted customized learning. This is a new format, developed by examPAL. Instead of reproducing the teacher-in-a-classroom experience online, the site uses personalized machine learning to bring the best out of each student.
 Study Plan
 So how to start? I suggest starting off with making yourself a study plan, consisting of these steps:
 1) Familiarize yourself with the exam – What is the test structure? What are the formats of the questions?
2) Focus extra practice time on your areas of weakness – What matters is getting to the correct solution, fast: the problem is that just solving lots of questions (with practice tests or coaching) is not sufficient in terms of improving mental flexibility. Actually, the opposite is true. Solving thousands of questions without improving your mind’s flexibility will only cement the wrong thinking patterns.
3) Train yourself to find YOUR best solution approach to answering GMAT questions – The GMAT measures your ability to flex your mind. There is often more than one way to get to the correct answer - the trick is figuring out which is that way that is FASTEST for you.
4) Researching your errors is even more important than solving new questions – Which tools am I using betters than others? What are the main reasons for my mistakes? Which other tools should I learn to apply better? And when it comes to verbal questions, it is also crucial to analyze the answers: why is the correct answer correct? What is wrong with the wrong answers?
5) Practice test should be used as tools for improvement, not just to see “where I stand,” which means that you should allow 4 hours of research for every test, and not take two tests in one day, one after another, so as to allow yourself some time to strengthen your weaknesses and prepare for your next opportunity to improve.

Bottom Line - how Long to actually study?  
 Depending on your level of English, 100 to 120 hours of effective learning should suffice.The optimal time is between 6 to 8 weeks, but this amount of hours can alternately be spread out over a longer amount of time. Less is not sufficient, and, on the other hand, if you give yourself too long, like 3 to 4 months, you’ll start forgetting what you learned at the beginning. This is important, because all the knowledge is interconnected.
2 months is the study plan I would suggest - if that's what you decide to go for, you may want to  check this out

Finally, you mentioned using the OG. Good!  Here is my recommendation on how to best use it

Hope this helps! Good luck ..
That’s my answer in a nutshell, but I’d be happy to go further into it with you and answer any follow-up questions you may have.  Talk to me here  (in the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner). Waiting to hear from you!

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