Sawbenon15 wrote:
Hi All,
I am officially beginning my GMAT journey and want to be sure I am approaching the task as efficiently and effectively as possible. The following are some relevant details:
1. Undergrad in Finance, 3.98GPA
2. Goal GMAT score is 750 plus
3. Goal MBA program is HBS
4. My goal is to schedule my first exam in roughly 9-12 months
5. Willing to take prep courses, purchase materials, or anything else that will aid me in getting to my target score range
6. I’m currently operate an analytics department of a commercial bank, so I cannot reasonably expect to get more than 25 hours of studying done per week.
To all my high scoring friends here:
1. What was your ideal preparation method?
2. How many hours a week is reasonable to score at this level?
3. Do you suggest taking a prep course? If so, which one and at what stage of preparation?
Any other advise is welcome! I am doing my best to fully understand the path to this level of scoring and want to be sure to allocate the proper time and resources to insure my success moving forward.
Thanks for you time,
Sawyer M. Benson
Hi
Sawbenon15First congrats on lofty goals, like HBS and GMAT score of 750+
25 h of studying per week is enough.
Thats like 5h x5d or 3.5h x 7d or 4h x 6d per week.
Working more than 5h per day would be counter productive, so you are set with your time allowed.
There is no ideal prep method, everybody are different and have different preffered styles of studying and start with different background of previous knowledge, but ideally you should combine prep books and online prep course.
Prep books that I recommend are :
Official guides, all three of them.
Manhattan prep books
Veritas prep books
Online courses that I recommend:
Manhattan prepTarget Test PrepVeritas
e-GMATFor Mock tests I recomnend:
Official GMATprep software
Manhattan prep mocks
e-GMATGMAT Club testsIf you google or search here, you will find study plans if you feel you need daily/weekly guidance, but if you purchase one of mentioned above complete online courses, which I encourage, they will provide you with their study plan.
Of course you can always devise your own study plan based on study materials that you will decide to use, divided with some time frame ( I suggest 3 months study plan) or modify some of existing plans to your needs.
If you decide to use 3 months study plans, thats 12 weeks, I suggest you to take every 2-3 weeks mock test, for instance on weekend, to see how you progress according to your goal of 750.
Also if you already didnt, you should take one mock test now, to see where you stand and how far are you from your goal.
Dont freak out if you score "low" thats normal, you are just starting.
Furthermore, go to mba.com to get familiar with test structure and topics tested, also visit their online store and what ever you can afford to buy there like books, practice questions, online tests, will pay you best possible ROI in your prep.
They are creators of the test and those practice questions/tests are retired from previous years and are best possible tool that will give you clear sense and approximation how will you score on exam day.
Nobody can mimic better real testing conditions in terms of content, than them.
Now, you have all necessary information and tools to score 750+ !
Happy prep and keep us posted with your progress and application status !
close
18 Jun 2018, 10:15
