Study Plan

Hi Akakibedoidze,

A 550 is a solid initial CAT score (the average score on the Official GMAT hovers around 550 most years) - but you will have to make some significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections before you will be able to consistently score 700+. With 4 additional months of potential study time, you could potentially improve a great deal, but you will have to be focused on learning and practicing the proper Tactics. The OG books are great sources for practice questions, but they're not designed to teach you Tactics, patterns or the little 'secrets' behind the GMAT - for those, you'll need Course-oriented materials.

In addition, you have to be careful about confusing "quantity" of study with "quality" of study. I've never asked anyone to study 30+ hours a week - and while it's great that you might have the available time to study that much, with that number of study hours, you would run the risk of 'burning out' before Test Day (and that is something that we want to avoid). If you are going to try to study that much, then I suggest that you take one hour "off" for every two hours of study. For example, you could study for 2 hours, then stop for an hour, then study for another 2 hours, then take an hour off, etc.

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) Over the last month, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) Do you currently have access to any additional study materials besides the books that you mentioned?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Hi

Your quant score is quite good but it seems you have a lot to work on for verbal. However, since you have a good amount of time, it seems doable. I would like to understand your current approach though - what resources have you used, what structure of prep have you followed?

I would suggest that Manhattan verbal guides may not be the best for you since they are more targeted towards native english speakers. Furthermore, you may find that the explanations given in their solutions might not be very well detailed and hence you may find them lacking.

I would recommend going for a course that teaches you not only the concepts but also the application of said concepts. For example, when you solve a math question, you follow a specific approach and take it step by step. This way, you know the answer is correct. This is the same approach you need to follow for verbal section. Each question type in the verbal section type tests a particular skill, and once you know how to tackle that, you can confidently solve it. For example, for SC questions you need to follow a meaning based approach - a technique where you try to comprehend the intent behind the sentence and then solve it.

You could check out these video links to get started ->



If you look for an online course, try and find one that follows this approach. You could start with the free trial of GMATWhiz ->


I'd be happy to get on a call and guide you in more detail. You can do that here ->


Best of luck !

Hi Akakibedoidze,

From what you've described, your studies so far have been "book heavy" - and much of your future study does too; unfortunately, many GMATers who study in that way end up getting 'stuck' at a particular score level. Even the best books are limited in what they can teach you; they also can't force you to approach questions in a certain way and their explanations are often one-sided. You might be okay using the combination of study materials that you've named, but there will likely be some conflicting ideas in terms of how you should approach certain types of questions - and that might slow down how quickly you improve. You still have plenty of time before October though - and if adjustments are needed for your approach, then you should have time to make them.

As an aside, many of the skills that you would develop for the TOEFL would likely help you to perform better on the GMAT, so you might consider focusing on the TOEFL first, then working on the GMAT afterwards. If you choose to continue with the GMAT right now though - and you already have a number of those resources - then you should study as you see fit for the next 2-3 weeks, then take a NEW CAT/mock. Make sure to take it in a realistic fashion that matches-up with what you will face when you take the Official GMAT (take the FULL CAT - with the Essay and IR sections, at the same time of day as when you'll take the Official GMAT, if you will be at a Test Facility, then wear a face mask, etc.). Once you have that Score, you should post back here (or you can feel free to PM me directly) and we can discuss the results and any adjustments that you might make to your studies.

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

thanks for your reply,

this course seems better in quant section... Is it worth it in verbal?
Also it would be great for me to suggest the best free materials to improve verbal score, thanks in advance.

Try Egmat/Gmatwhiz course for verbal prep .

Hello EMPOWERgmatRichC
Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it

I will tell you the whole story: I made my mind 2-3 months ago to study MBA in US. I'm 24 years old, I run my own small business, and I can shorten the amount of time I used to put in my business, so I can invest that time in studying and preparing applications (for some kind of scholarships and universities). i have never used English in my every day life (just in watching movies and so and so on). As I see the main problem in verbal for me is to understand passages (when i did that practice test I felt like I was reading but could not understand anything, only 50-60% I understand... . i got 10/13 correct on SC, and all other mistakes i made in RC and CR, also i skipped 1-2 CR test because i invested too much time in RC)

Last month, I used to study 4 hours on average each day, but I was focused on verbal section more. i completed OG 2021. i study 2-3 hours in the morning, and then 2-3 hours before i go to sleep. as you already mentioned i also agree that I have to be careful about confusing "quantity" of study with "quality" of study, that's why I'm thinking about what plan would be best suit for me. I have math/finance background (from school and undergraduate university), when i saw my mistakes from prep test (where i scored Q46), i felt that most of them were either stupid mistakes, mistakes because of lack of time or mistakes because i could not understand the meaning of problem. I will tell you what is my current study plan that I'm thinking of would be good for me:
1. I'm planning 2-3h study gmat in the morning, 2-3h before i go to sleep. watching video guides and practicing tests.
2. Study gmat vocabulary, so that will help me in understanding passages and in CR. (i think so)
3. I'm planning to redo the mistakes that i made in OG, redo them in gmatclub, and see the explanations of each of them here.
4. on my free time I'm going to plan my applications, and read 1 or 2 books on English, abt business.

For this plan, right now i have these materials:
1. OG 19-20-21
2. Manhattan 5-6-7th edition.
3. Magoos Videos.
4. Planning to get e-gmat materials also (like explanation videos.)
5. Also for vocabulary i use magoosh apps (Vocabularybuilder in gmat/gre, gmatidioms). Also Read4GMAT app. and try to excerpt all the unknown words from the practice tests.

To improve my quant, Im planning to use magoosh videos and then complete manhattan 7th edition advanced quant book.
To improve my verbal, I'm planning to use magoosh videos and then redo my mistakes in gmatclub and see explanations of all that problems here. also maybe get some e-gmat material for verbal improvement. And study vocabulary every day +20 words...

I'm planning my Gmat exam on 28th October and TOEFL exam on 7th November, after these exams I'm planning to send applications to US Universities on MBA, my wish is to crack the GMAT exam so i will have the chance to get the top ranked universities and get some scholarship, but it won't be easy thing to do.. So the business schools are depended on the scores i get, and on my chances where i can get scholarships.

Last thing about the risk of 'burning out' before Test Day, i also consider that problem and to avoid this i try to do some kind of activities that refuels my mind and energy, i truly want to become GMAT assassin, because study in US business school is my top priority nowadays, so each and every advice from you is very meaningful and important for me.

Thanks in advance

Hi Akakibedoidze,

Since you are looking for advice regarding a study plan, here is a great article for you to check out:

GMAT Study Plan: The Best Way to Study for the GMAT

If you need any advice after reading through the study plan, feel free to reach out.