How to Proceed with Studying for the GMAT

Thanks for all of the advice! I essentially took it under test conditions, except for taking a one minute bathroom break in the middle of the Quantitative section. It seems like the next logical step is to go through the Manhattan Prep Strategy Guides and potentially buy a book for the 600 and 700 level questions. What are the best resources for these higher level questions in quantitative and verbal?

In answer to Rich's Questions:

1. My goal score is around a 740.
2. I plan on going to business school in 2 years.
3. I haven't really decided on particular schools, but I would definitely be interested in University of Chicago, Stanford, Columbia, UCLA, University of Virginia, etc.

Hi drewjr28,

Your question pre-supposes that you should be working primarily out of a book (or books) during the next phase of your studies, but that might not actually be the best option. If you're looking for additional Official questions, then there are two Subject-specific OG books (the Quant-only and Verbal-only books); you could also work through the books that you've listed. I suggest that you study as you see fit for the next 1-2 weeks, then take a new, FULL-LENGTH CAT. That score will help to define the accuracy of that first Score and whether your current method of studying is leading to improvement or not.

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

Hello drewjr28

Best Books

1. Manhattan GMAT Quant Guides
2. Manhattan GMAT Verbal guides
or
Aristotle Verbal Guide for CR critical reasoning bible is best book with 300+ pages of comprehensive Data

Strategies

Start with Quant, learn the concepts tested on GMAT. After learning, practice your learned section with timed practice. You can also take quizzes to meet the pace of GMAT. 1 Month for learning concepts and 15 days of practice and same with the verbal. When completed all the concepts learning and handsome practice. Take full lenght CATs, know your estimated score. Analyze the result with Correct/incorrect questions, pacing analysis trace your mistakes and learn from them, make an error log to know your mistakes in the previously attempted questions

Best Mocks

1. Official GMAC (50+50$)
2. Manhattan GMAT (49$)
3. GMAT Club Quant CATs (80$)
4. Veritas CATs (49$ but you can buy at 15-20$ During sale period)

Good Luck
Cheers

Hi drewjr28,

6 months is a good enough time to prepare for GMAT. It's a good thing you have taken the practice test once. You now know your weaknesses and can work on them. If you are willing to study dedicatedly for 6 months, 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 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.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, the verbal review and GMATPREP QP 1 for some great additional practice. Here is a link that will help you with your decision.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... 68383.html

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.