GMAT Study Plan - How to Start your GMAT Prep

first time found this forum and this post, really helpful content, thanks for sharing

Hi,
I am a complete newbie so I hope this is the right part of the forum to post this question. I took my first practice gmat today with absolutely no practice and about 3 years without any math classes (I refrained from even reviewing basic math rules/formulas before to get a more accurate starting point) and only got a 560 (q33,v35,IR4). To me that seems relatively equally spread, so should I focus on both sections equally while building my study plan? Also, would a 700+ be attainable? I have about 4 months, my exam is scheduled for september 11th.
Any advice would be welcome

Great post!!! I think MG guide book series are brilliant for starters and for ones who want to review the concepts!!

I am not through with the actual GMAT test but i have read alot of threads on this forum, i would suggest you to make a guess after eliminating options based of provided data in the problem.

I started my GMAT prep about a month back. Am not giving any practice tests but studying all the sections so that am familiar with all the areas and it will also help me brush up my basics. Am planning to give practice tests regularly after I complete my studying.

Would this be a good idea?

Untill you give any mock test, you will not get to know your weak area so i would suggest you to give mocks.

Hi andyplaz,

It's absolutely a good idea to NOT to take tests until you are ready to take the CAT with your full efficiency because the good CATs are limited and we never prefer to waste them just for practising when we are not even completely ready to take the tests.

However, NOT taking Full length tests at all is certainly a bad idea hence you must take Full length tests (atleast 10) after you have gained command over all the necessary concepts and fundamentals of GMAT test sections and topics so that you are aware about all the factors like fatigue, Concentration and problem areas before you take the actual GMAT test.

Also Taking tests takes you no where to improvements without proper test analysis. Hence the best way to utilize the tests is to DEEPLY ANALYSE the mistakes and Improvement areas that the Test performance represent.

Don't take the test scores on the face value as many test series don't represent the real projected test score. Your score of GMAT PREP can only be considered reliable.

Prosper!!!

Thank you so much for the useful post
Good Luck

Thanks for sharing.
I am preparing for GMAT and given it exam one time but not successful.
Thanks for sharing your study plan.
I will prepare according to this.

Am 10 days away from my test and the last test score on Kaplan Premier free CAT is 650. I want a 740. Not sure, how I can scale up to meet that expectation.

Great.. Thanks to share it. Its very helpful GMAT prep details.

The best way to start is...... to start.

Amazing post!My quantitative section is pretty strong as compared to my verbal section.So I think I should start with that.I am using the official guide 2016 and MGMAT to prepare.I am planning to keep a error log too.Would you suggest anything else? Also one more thing how do I prepare for AWA? I find it to be the toughest. Should I start writing essays directly or do something else? Please help!

Discipline and determination. The GMAT is a sacrifice and you have to really want it.

A lot of it is not so much learning material but getting the rhythm of answering those questions under 2 mins. That takes a lot of practice, there aren't that many shortcuts for the GMAT.

Here are my 2 cents of advice:

1. Most quant problems have several different ways to solve them, pick one you are comfortable with and stick to this method. You will become a pro after going through many problems and attacking them using your chosen method.

2. Don't be afraid of problems that seem difficult. Make an effort to understand them, get a tutor, whatever it takes. Once you nail these you will smile when you get a similar problem in a practice test or even better, in the real thing.

3. Data sufficiency is your friend. These problems are quicker to solve, they just seam daunting because it's a completely foreign type of question. Some of the problems you can solve just by estimating and discarding the answers that are way off. When your running low of time, DS questions are often easier to guess. Memorize what all the letters mean, so you don't have to look at this during the test.

4. You should take some of your practice including all parts of the exam, not just verbal and quant. The reason for this, is that you want to measure what real exam conditions are like. By the time you get to the verbal section you are already tired and your reading comprehension abilities are not perfect. If you do just the verbal and quant, you are tricking your brain into believing the exam is a lot shorter than it it.

Finally, if you want to take a study break but still do something productive towards your MBA: try pymetrics. pymetrics is a neuroscience game-based career assessment test that reveals your cognitive and social traits. pymetrics is a great resource for internships and full time jobs after your MBA. It will give you a sense of the different career possibilities you have and companies you should be in the lookout for. It also puts you as a candidate in the radar of these companies.

it's free, fun and incredibly accurate.

https://bit.ly/1JxEviS

Hello guys,
I have the official GMAT review book for 2015 which I intend to sell for really cheap. Let me know if any of you are interested.

Hi

I am planning to adopt the self study approach using Manhattan guides and OG. If i need to complete the aforementioned material apart from taking the CAT's do you think 3 months time is sufficient?

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)?