Tips for studying for GMAT

Question

Hello everyone.
Like all of you I am also preparing for GMAT. I plan to take the exam in JUNE-JULY 2019. I took a practice test without any preparation and got a score of 400. But my aim is 700 +. Could you all please guide me. How should i go about it?? . I have no idea about integrated reasoning ans AWS section. Math and English I can still do. And if you all could recommend me some books it would be great. I will be grateful.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Sparkle3009,

If you're not planning to take the GMAT until NEXT June, then you have plenty of time to study and improve - which is good. Raising a 400 to a 700+ will be a challenging task though; it will likely require at least another 3 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

1) What study materials do you current have access to?
2) How many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
4) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

philipssonicare · Answer

I feel that others downplay the time needed. I needed longer than 3 months to improve just my quant, and even then I don't feel it improved enough. My first, completely cold, attempt scored 650.
I've read about 200 point jumps, but not 300. Good luck

AjiteshArun · Answer

You could start by going through  this post . If you're looking specifically for books, you could go through these ( 1 ,  2 ,  3 ) posts.

Sparkle3009 · Answer

Thank you so much everyone, I will definitely put my best in this exam. However my concern is can I score 700+ because I am planning to apply for MIM course at London Business School. I will be applying in the month of August 2019 , so will be able to ace it up till then or should i change my aim????. Thanks again to you all.

Gagoosh · Answer

you may consider giving the exam a bit early. with deadlines in august, giving the exam in july may be cutting a bit too close (speaking from personal experience.)

CAMANISHPARMAR · Answer

Hi! You have sufficient time to prepare. Some of the aforesaid replies above have given you a comprehensive list of resources you could use and strategies you may follow.

I would like to add to this that spend more time on Quality than on Quantity. Official questions are most reliable and try to exhaust them before embarking on from other sources.

Regarding AWA you may like to go through the following post:-

https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6 ... 64327.html

For AWA & IR, which is a combination of Quant and Verbal, you may make it a point to do these sections religiously when you are doing mocks.

If you have additional queries then feel free to revert.

All the best!!

AjiteshArun · Answer

Don't worry about your target score right now. Get started with your prep, and take some more tests when you're more comfortable with the concepts.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Sparkle3009,

Since you have so much time before you plan to take the GMAT and plan to apply to School, you can approach your studies any way you choose (and if your initial study work does not help you to improve, then you will still have plenty of time to adjust your studies, try new products, etc.). The question is how much work are YOU willing to commit to at this point? For example, you could start off 'light' and do some general content review for a month or two before committing to a more structured study plan or you could jump into a full Study Plan right now if you think you can schedule 3-4 months of consistent study into your routine. If you'd prefer to lock up a strong GMAT Score sooner rather than later, then that will impact your decision.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi

You should better focus on a solid study plan with sound strategy. Here is a study plan for you

Best Books

For learning Concepts

Manhattan Quant Guides
Manhattan Verbal Guides
For CR: The Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible
For RC: Aristotle RC Grail

For Practice

The Official Guide for GMAT 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2015-18

Best Courses

1. Empower GMAT
2. Math Revolution (Only Math)
3. E-GMAT (Only Verbal)

You can start with Quant or Verbal which suits you. If you have started with Quant then Start with the Arithmetic but if started with verbal then start first with Sentence correction. One month for learning Quant concepts and one month for practicing question and same practice for Verbal. During you Practicing question don't forget to make an error log to track your weak areas after practice. Once you know your weak areas revise your Concepts related to those areas and do some more Practice. 6-8 CATs are enough for practice the real tests. Make your Stamina for sitting 3 hours in the test and don't study more than 2 hours in one sit and 4 hours per day

Top CATs for Practice

1. Official GMAC CATs
2. Manhattan CATs
3. Kaplan CATs
4. GMAT Club Quant CATs

Good Luck

rohan2345 · Answer

Hi Sparkle3009. Welcome to GMATCLUB. You have sufficient time to study for your GMAT. You should dedicate around 4+ months to improve your score. It's a good thing you have given your GMAT Mocks. You now know your weaknesses and can work on them. If you are willing to study dedicatedly for that period, you are sure to achieve your goal. I believe you may benefit from taking a GMATPREP course. You need to work on solidifying your base and clearing your concepts. If you are willing, there are some great GMAT prep companies that can help you with your preparation. In order to make an informed decision I would highly encourage you to go to their websites and try on their free trial and decide for yourself which one do you like better. You try out free access to EmpowerGMAT, Magoosh and Optimus Prep as they have great reviews on GMATCLUB. Also for verbal, I would highly encourage you to consider e-gmat verbal online or the e-gmat verbal live course. They are both amazing courses especially designed for non-natives. They offer almost 25% of their courses for free so you can try out their free trial to decide which one you want to go for. Plus the e-gmat Scholaranium which is included in both the courses is one of the best verbal practice tools in the market. You can easily track your progress in that you can identify your strengths and analyze and improve on your weak areas. You can also use MGMAT guides for your preparation. MGMAT guides are phenomenal and cover the entire syllabus really well. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in quant; a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them. Further taking multiple mocks might help. Apart from the GMATPREP, Manhattan GMAT tests and Veritas Prep Tests in my experience have a good verbal and Quant section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas. Further another advantage of taking many mocks is to build up your stamina. Apart from the GMATPREP tests, taking practise tests of any major GMATPREP company ought to do that. I would also encourage you to purchase the GMATPREP QP 1 for some great additional practice. Here is a link that will help you with your decision. https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... ml?fl=menu Lastly, you can check out a very interesting article by Mike McGarry from Magoosh detailing a 3 month study plan https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-g ... -students/. You will find it very helpful as it gives out a study plan as per your needs. Hope this helps. All the best.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Sparkle3009,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. So, you have successfully completed the first step: taking a diagnostic to get a baseline score. As I’m sure you know, since you are 300 points from your score goal, you need to give yourself plenty of time to study (even up to 6+ months) to improve your GMAT score by such an amount. The good news is that you don’t have to apply until August 2019, so you have plenty of time. That being said, as Gagoosh mentioned, you should consider taking your test earlier than July so you can leave yourself plenty of time to prepare your application and also retake the GMAT if necessary.

Regarding study materials, since you need a 300-point improvement, you may consider something more robust than books alone, such as an online self-study course. So, take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses .

Regardless of which course you select, my advice is that you follow a study plan that allows you to learn linearly, starting with the foundations of each topic and progressing to more advanced concepts as you build your foundational knowledge. If you’d like more specific advice on how to study quant and verbal, feel free to reach back out.

You also may find my article with more information regarding
 how to score a 700+ on the GMAT  helpful.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

AjiteshArun · Answer

I'm glad that helped. A little bit of research before starting something is usually a good idea

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