Starting off my GMAT journey!

I am fairly new to GMAT club and this is my first post. (I did dwell around here for some practice questions previously)

About half an hour back I took my first GMAT practice test and got a score of 400 on it. (V19 Q27 IR1).

I am not the brightest student. You could say I am slightly better than an average student.

'Preperation' I did for the above was: (20 days: 17 days for quant & 3 days for verbal)

- This was after going through the GMAT Club Math Book and doing about 6-10 practice questions on each topic. (Not maintaining an error log and revisiting, just getting a feel of them and moving on)

- For English, I just read some ways to approach RC and CR like making notes and / or writing premise and conclusion. For SC I didn't do anything really ran through the GMAT club
grammar book for like an hour and covered like 20%, though didn't apply anything. So mostly winged it here.

- IR I didn't touch or had any idea what to expect or to do so just marked random answers

- Skipped AWA


My experience of the practice test by the way, Quant seemed pretty easy (guessing as I was answering incorrectly) but even though I didn't remember much of the formulas and stuff, I did know I could solve them with practice and some tricks and tips which come with certain type. At the end of the math section I was left with some 4-5 mins too.

For Verbal which I royally screwed I just marked random answers for the last 6 questions (Including 1 long RC) as I was short on time. So basically I didn't manage time properly at all easily needed 12-16 extra minutes in the end.


Now, writing here to understand better what does this reflect for me and how to move forward from here. I aim to get 750. (Yeah I know it sounds funny but I'm sure I can do it with the right approach and mindset and aiming a bit high never hurt anyone)

So I plan to take the GMAT in sometime mid-September. So I have solid 3 months for hardcore preparation.
Now, historically, I have not done much self preparation and mostly done tuition and had a structured way to study which got me good results.


I have narrowed myself to below 2 approaches to study:

1) Self Study:
Recognized that the best is the MGMAT books for self study which have everything one needs for GMAT including practice questions. Over and above that I have a question bank of 700+ difficulty practice questions from some friends across quant and verbal. And obviously GMAT Club question bank is there.

2) GMAT Course
Have recognized E-GMAT for verbal and Math Revolution for quants for the respective subject and manage self study for IR and AWA.


Now, historically, I have always taken tuition for schooling but non for college and did everything on my own (BBA course) and I am not the brightest tool in the shed. Although I know with some tips and tricks, LOTS of practice, time management and clear concepts I can score well on this test.

What I am confused with is should I go ahead with buying the MGMAT books and start from there and then see my growth or dive into one the courses directly, will they be good for providing structure (as opposed to structure I would need to create on my own with those books).

Is buying the books and the courses BOTH a good idea? Though this will have higher cost implications too plus will they even make sense?

Do these courses give enough questions for a good score? How much is too much?

Any advice, comments, motivation, reality checks and frank opinions are all welcome.

(Apologies if this post was long!)