2 month full time GMAT prep - how to go about it?

Question

I have 2 months of full time study in which to do the GMAT - how do I prep for it?

I have thought out the following -

1. Tests online every Sunday - free tests from Manhattan, Princeton, etc. etc. etc. 
2. OG from 2009 end to end first complete - all questions. 
3. OG from 2019 then complete end to end
4. Keep polishing your concepts using Manhattan and GMATclub
5. Do hard Quant and RC questions from a question bank.

This is what I can do without paying money for any classes or crash courses or the like.

The other resources I have - free - are the Ron Pureval videos on YouTube for RC, and Quant.

egmat · Answer

Hi  houstonrice

Thanks for reaching out on the forum, it feels good to see you coming out and asking for advice.

The plan you are suggesting is very thought out but it misses one very key aspect of the preparation. Majority of students falter in their GMAT exam because they start their preparation with solving questions.

This is a major mistake because if you start your preparation by solving OG questions, you are skipping to practicing questions without learning the concepts. This is a trial-and-error based preparation methodology which cause a two-fold problem:

1. It increases your preparation time by up-to 5X. 
2. You tend to miss out on concepts even after solving many questions.

We have helped more than 25,000 people in last 1 year in achieving their target of a good GMAT score. Maximum people attributed their success to the structured process which we suggested them. I suggest you break your preparation into 3 stages and follow the below plan:

Stage – 1 --> Learn the concepts
Stage – 2 --> Cement the concepts by practicing a sub-section in Isolation
Stage – 3 --> Become test ready (practicing all the sub-sections together)

If you follow the above approach you can expect your preparation to get over in a timeline of 2-3 months with 18 hours of preparation time per week.

Prawee  (550 to 740) used all the books and local coaching classes but was unable to improve her GMAT score beyond a certain point. She changed her approach and finally scored 740 in her 5th attempt and got a $180,000 fellowship cumulatively from 3 top business schools. She is currently pursuing MBA from Kellogg. Kellogg was once not even on her radar.

7 Steps – How to score 700+ on the GMAT

You can start your preparation by giving a mock to test your current ability.

Hope the above strategy get you to your target score

e-GMAT strategy Expert

HoneyLemon · Answer

Whatever you prepare , make sure you understand the underlying reasoning . Since Gmat is an higher order reasoning test .

poojakhanduja3017 · Answer

Seems like a good plan. 
You can also use other free resources from GMATCLUB such as GC tests, even mocks by earning Kudos and Points.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi houstonrice,

Since you are just starting out with your prep, I’m happy to provide some general advice on how to improve your GMAT quant and verbal skills. You should first  familiarize yourself with the GMAT , try a few  sample questions , and then take an  official GMAT practice exam . Your experience taking that test will give you a good idea of what to expect on the GMAT, and the results will serve as a baseline GMAT score.

After completing your initial practice test, you will need to devise a solid preparation plan. Since you’re starting from scratch, you should follow a study plan that allows you to learn linearly, such that you can slowly build GMAT mastery of one topic prior to moving on to the next. Within each topic, begin with the foundations and progress toward more advanced concepts. Following such a plan will allow you to methodically build your GMAT quant and verbal skills and ensure that no stone is left unturned.

Let’s say, for example, you are learning about Number Properties. First, you should develop as much conceptual knowledge about Number Properties as possible. In other words, your goal will be to completely understand properties of factorials, perfect squares, quadratic patterns, LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, and remainders, to name a few concepts. After carefully reviewing the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions, practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties. When you do dozens of questions of the same type one after the other, you learn just what it takes to get questions of that type correct consistently. If you aren't getting close to 90 percent of questions of a certain type correct, go back and seek to better understand how that type of question works, and then do more questions of that type until you get to around at least 90 percent accuracy in your training. If you get 100 percent of some sets correct, even better. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills.

Follow a similar routine for verbal. For example, let’s say you start by learning about Critical Reasoning. Your first goal is to fully master the individual Critical Reasoning topics: Strengthen the Argument, Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, etc. As you learn about each Critical Reasoning question type, do focused practice so that you can track your skill in answering each type of question. If, for example, you get a weakening question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize the specific question type? Were you doing too much analysis in your head? Did you skip over a keyword in an answer choice? You must thoroughly analyze your mistakes and seek to turn weaknesses into strengths by focusing on the question types you dread seeing and the questions you take a long time to answer correctly.

When practicing Reading Comprehension, you need to develop a reading strategy that is both efficient and thorough. Reading too fast and not understanding what you have read are equally as harmful as reading too slow and using up too much time. When attacking Reading Comprehension passages, you must have one clear goal in mind: to understand the context of what you are reading. However, you must do so efficiently, so you need to avoid getting bogged down in the details of each paragraph and instead focus on understanding the main point of each paragraph. That being said, do not fall into the trap of thinking that you can just read the intro and the conclusion and thereby comprehend the main idea of a paragraph. As you read a paragraph, consider how the context of the paragraph relates to previous paragraphs, so you can continue developing your overall understanding of the passage. Furthermore, as you practice Reading Comprehension, focus on the exact types of questions with which you struggle: Find the Main Idea, Inference, Author’s Tone, etc. As with Critical Reasoning, analyze your incorrect Reading Comprehension answers to better determine why you tend to get a particular question type wrong, and then improve upon your weaknesses. Keep in mind that GMAT Reading Comprehension passages are not meant to be easy to read. So, to better prepare yourself to analyze such passages, read magazines with similar content and style, such as the New York Times, Scientific American, and Smithsonian. 
 
Sentence Correction is a bit of a different animal compared to Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. There are three aspects to getting correct answers to GMAT Sentence Correction questions: what you know, such as grammar rules, what you see, such as violations of grammar rules and the logic of sentence structure, and what you do, such as carefully considering each answer choice in the context of the non-underlined portion of the sentence. To drive up your Sentence Correction score, it is likely that you will have to work on all three of those aspects.
 
Regarding what you know, first and foremost, you MUST know your grammar rules. Let's be clear, though: GMAT Sentence Correction is not just a test of knowledge of grammar rules. The reason for learning grammar rules is so that you can determine what sentences convey and whether sentences are well-constructed. In fact, in many cases, incorrect answers to Sentence Correction questions are grammatically flawless. Thus, often your task is to use your knowledge of grammar rules to determine which answer choice creates the most logical sentence meaning and structure.
 
This determination of whether sentences are well-constructed and logical is the second aspect of finding correct answers to Sentence Correction questions, what you see. To develop this skill, you probably have to slow way down. You won't develop this skill by spending under two minutes per question. For a while, anyway, you have to spend time with each question, maybe even ten or fifteen minutes on one question sometimes, analyzing every answer choice until you see the details that you have to see in order to choose the correct answer. As you go through the answer choices, consider the meaning conveyed by each version of the sentence. Does the meaning make sense? Even if you can tell what the version is SUPPOSED to convey, does the version really convey that meaning? Is there a verb to go with the subject? Do all pronouns clearly refer to nouns? By slowing way down and looking for these details, you learn to see what you have to see in order to clearly understand which answer to a Sentence Correction question is correct.
 
There is only one correct answer to any Sentence Correction question, there are clear reasons why that choice is correct and the others are not, and those reasons are not that the correct version simply "sounds right." In fact, the correct version often sounds a little off at first. That correct answers may sound a little off is not surprising. If the correct answers were always the ones that sounded right, then most people most of the time would get Sentence Correction questions correct, without really knowing why the wrong answers were wrong and the correct answers were correct. So, you have to go beyond choosing what "sounds right" and learn to clearly see the logical reasons why one choice is better than all of the others.
 
As for the third aspect of getting Sentence Correction questions correct, what you do, the main thing you have to do is be very careful. You have to make sure that you are truly considering the structures of sentences and the meanings conveyed rather than allowing yourself to be tricked into choosing trap answers that sound right but don't convey meanings that make sense. You also have to make sure that you put some real energy into finding the correct answers. Finding the correct answer to a Sentence Correction question may take bouncing from choice to choice repeatedly until you start to see the differences between the choices that make all choices wrong except for one. Often, when you first look at the choices, only one or two seem obviously incorrect. It may take time for you to see what you have to see. Getting the right answers takes a certain work ethic. You have to be determined to see the differences and to figure out the precise reasons that one choice is correct.
 
To improve what you do when you answer Sentence Correction questions, seek to become aware of how you are going about answering them. Are you being careful and looking for logic and details, or are you quickly eliminating choices that sound a little off and then choosing the best of the rest? If you choose an incorrect answer, consider what you did that resulted in your arriving at that answer and what you could do differently in order to arrive at correct answers more consistently. Furthermore, see how many questions you can get correct in a row as you practice. If you break your streak by missing one, consider what you could have done differently to extend your streak.

As with your Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension regimens, after learning a particular Sentence Correction topic, engage in focused practice with 30 questions or more that involve that topic. As your Sentence Correction skills improve, you will then want to practice with questions that test you on skills from multiple Sentence Correction topics.

You also may find it helpful to read this article about  how to score a 700+ on the GMAT .

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi houstonrice,

From your post, it's not clear whether you have done any prior studying for the GMAT or not. Since it sounds like you're just beginning your studies, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can take 2 for free at www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a little studying first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic content and question types, then that's okay - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 3.5 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can discuss the results and how you might best proceed with your studies.

As an aside, many GMATers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so if you are going to limit your studies to just 2 months, then there will likely be a limit to how much you can improve.

I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

StaySafe · Answer

take test everyday can't help you. it is just a bad thing. take test after every 10 days and see the weakness. 
manhattan is good enough for concept. 
practice from ONLY official questions. Don't touch a single question from unofficial resources. 
if you are not good at low level question, practicing from hard question is a waste of time, probably!

houstonrice · Answer

Brief background - have prepared for the IIT JEE many years ago and thus have a okay understanding of base level maths. English is okay. But GMAT English is more technical than not. I don't have the technical English idea...the sentence completions are all technical.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi houstonrice,

Sentence Corrections are 'technical' in nature (they are similar to how Geometry questions require knowledge of formulas), but the GMAT only tests a handful of major rules (although there are lots of potential idioms that could appear on your Exam). This is meant to say that you need to know the rules really well - and spot when they apply - to score higher in this category. As with any other aspect of the GMAT, you CAN train to score at a higher level, but you need a consistent, organized approach to your studies.

In my prior message, I asked a few questions about your timeline and goals - and those details are important to putting together the proper study plan for you:
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi, our blog article on  GMAT preparation Plan  should answer most of your questions.

houstonrice · Answer

750 is the target score
August 17 2020
Next year

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 ... tml?fl=men

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi houstonrice,

The 750+ score is approximately the 98th percentile - so clearly most Test Takers never score that high. Thankfully, NO Business School requires a score that high - so it's important to realize that the score that you "want" and the score that you "need" are not the same thing. If you are going to restrict your studies to just 2 months, then you're going to have to be really efficient with that time. In a prior message, I suggested that you take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test (so that we can properly assess your current GMAT skills) - so you might want to take that Test sometime soon (perhaps this weekend). Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can discuss the results and how you might best proceed with your studies.

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

houstonrice · Answer

On a recent Veritas Prep GMAT test - I scored the following -
Quant Score / Percentile Verbal Score / Percentile 
 45 / 55 31 / 61

Q45/55 and V31/61
Don't know about the scores

houstonrice · Answer

Details it's 58% answers correct for maths and 75% for English verbal

Posted from my mobile device

houstonrice · Answer

Target score 600 and it's hitting 600 as per veritas

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi houstonrice,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize - and it takes into account more than just the number of correct and incorrect answers. The Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores (in this case, a Q45 and a V31) are how you scored in each section - and would give you a total Score in the low-600s on the Official GMAT. If that's your first CAT Score, then that is a solid initial performance (the average score on the Official GMAT hovers around 550 most years), but raising that Score to the point that you can consistently score 750+ 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.

There's certainly no harm in planning to take the GMAT in 2 months, but if you're going to keep studying until you score at that higher level, then you could potentially save some time, money and stress by pushing back that planned Test Date.

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

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

houstonrice · Answer

Can study Full time. Am on a break. Thanks. This is with one weeks study. Will have to brush up on number theory probability and all since it's important. You're right about postponing the exam for a month.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi houstonrice,

When you state that you can study "full time", it's not completely clear what that means (in terms of the total amount of time that you plan to spend each week). That having been said, you have to be careful about confusing "quantity" of study with "quality" of study. I've never asked anyone to study 40+ 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.

In addition, a number of your posts imply that you're going to try to study by using only 'free' study materials. If that's the case, then there might be a limit to how much you can improve (and how quickly). There's no harm in beginning your studies in that way, but with a Score Goal of 750+, you would likely find it beneficial to invest in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led).

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

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