Study plan advice: 6m to prep - makes sense to start now?

Question

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and I have a novice question

I aim to take the GMAT in the near future but I have no rush for it - concretely, let's say i would like to do the test in 6/7 months. I was wondering if it makes sense to start preparing now at 'low intensity' (few hours per week), and then start putting in some hard work in the 3 months leading to the test? Or low-intensity + too in advance wouldnt be that useful (I would 'forget' things)? I was planning to start anyway with some quant and verbal basics (MGMAT Math Foundations and GMAT ULtimate Grammar) and then move on with more 'advanced' books after summer holidays (when actually) I will not spend time on any book

Would be great what suggestions others have for people in my situation - does starting now make sense or the only effective way to go is 3/4 intense months? thanks in advance

Vercules · Answer

Hi Joe00,

Whether you go low intensity first or high; you have to study high intensity 2-3 months prior to your GMAT. If you have made up your mind to take the test after 6-7 months then you are doing the right thing - starting with the basics of quant and verbal. Doing something is better than doing nothing. This will prepare you well to understand the advanced concepts and questions later in your preparation. I suggest that you take one mock GMAT test (almost all the test prep companies offer one free test) to have a rough idea about your zero level performance and the look and fell of the test. GMAT is an application based test, so if you do not practice the questions you may forget a lot of important rules and applications. Thus, if you start low intensity, make sure to be consistent in your prep.

If you plan to start high intensity then it is better to finish off the test in the next 3-4 months because 6-7 months of high intensity study will be an over kill and may deter your performance on the test.

Hope this helps,
Vercules

Joe00 · Answer

Thanks Vercules,

I have some spare time from work at the moment, that's why I wanted to start studying, while probably in the next months (after summer break) will be quite busy (60-70h per week if not more..).

I wanted to wait to take a mock test after studying quant basics, as I feel particularly weak there and without knowledge of some basic concepts (algebra, geometry) I figured out I would just waste time on some questions (ie ski them without trying to solve them!)

thanks
joe00

Vercules · Answer

Hi joe00,

If you feel you need to brush up some basic concepts then do so. Try to finish the basic stuff and take the practice/ diagnostic test; this step will kick start your GMAT preperation. Then set your intermediate and final target scores. Suppose you score 560 in your first mock test and your target is 720 then set intermediate targets of 600-> 650-> 700+. You have plenty of time and it is good that you are serious so early in your prep. Be consistent and do not lose focus and you will achieve your target score.. All the best..!!

Vercules

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Study plan advice: 6m to prep - makes sense to start now?

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