Study plan advice

Question

Hello everyone,

I have recently started studying for the GMAT. After going over the basics, I passed my first mock exam and had 640. I would like a stronger score, and therefore I identified my weak spots and moved on to work on them.
However, I am wondering if I should  organize my study plan by month  (example : 1 month verbal, 1 month quant) or if I should  organize my study plan by day  (example : day 1 verbal, day 2 quant etc). I am a bit confused as I have seen both ways being recommended by the experts of the forum.
Which course of action would you recommend?

Russ19 · Answer

Studying both verbal and quant every other day can assist to remember things well. For the study plan, you can check the link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-p ... l#p1680625

Gmatsaiyan · Answer

Follow the following study plan:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-p ... ml?fl=menu
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-self-pr ... tml?f=menu

Courses that can help with your prep:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-co ... ml?fl=menu

Best books for Quants:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ma ... ml?fl=menu
Best books for Verbal:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... ml?fl=menu

Best Gmat practice tests:-
https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-gmat-pra ... ml?fl=menu

poojakhanduja3017 · Answer

I'd say there is no fixed advice here and not everything works the same way with everyone. 
The above mentioned links can definitely help you get a good sense to see what has worked for others. But ultimately, we have to discover our weaknesses.  So how is 640 divided will also give a great insight on what needs to be done more than the other. '

Concept files are mandatory but again, different things seem to work for diff people. I do questions first, and when I see that I dont' know this concept, I go to the concept file and revise that topic.

StaySafe · Answer

If you fixed June for only quant anf July for only verbal, and when you will study verbal on July you may forget most of the terms of quant after July. It is better to study quant in day 1 and verbal in day 2.

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi  MOBO28 ,

Let me share some tips from my end to help you understand how to go about improving your score from a 640.

Ideally I would not recommend either of the two strategies that you mentioned because an ideal study plan has to make sure that you do not lose touch with the various topics and at the same time allow you to focus on your weak areas. Switching between Verbal and Quant on daily basis is not ideal because sometimes you're better off by focusing on one area for a longer period. Similarly, dedicating a whole month to either Verbal or Quant is not ideal either because once you move to Quant from verbal there are high chances that you might lose touch with the Verbal topics you learnt in the previous month.

As you have already gone through the basics, your study plan must focus on :
 • Identifying the weak areas
• Identifying why you’re weak in them.  Identify the core problems 
• Working on them to get better

My recommendation is to devote 60% of the time for the above things and 40% of time for overall practice that includes both strong and weak areas. The goal here is to ensure that you're not just solving questions on your weak areas, but rather focusing on them precisely to identify the core problem. The idea is to clearly segregate whether you're struggling with concepts or application of concepts or both. This step is very important as it will help you improve much faster. If you would like to discuss your strategy one-on-one with me, you can schedule a free consultation call with me using  this link .

Once you're done working on the weak areas (something that should take around 1 month time), take up mocks every week and identify where your score is headed. Apply different test taking strategies to see which ones fit you best!

Hope this helps. If you still have any queries, feel free to get in touch.

Piyush Beriwala
GMAT 740 (Q50, V41)

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