Can I prepare for GMAT in 1 month?

Question

This question may sound a little dumb for starters but I am really concerned about it right now. So here's my story:

I want to apply to Stanford. I am a computer engg. and have 2 years of work experience. I have heard that its best to apply in the 1st Round when applying to Stanford which gives me not more than a month to take my GMAT exam.

I have taken some Verbal and Quant tests and found myself scoring average(disappointing) scores as of now. I have Kaplan's Guide for my reference but checking some reviews of the same here at GMAT club I am totally confused. Going through the various posts where people have taken more than 2 attempts to reach a respectable score that too after spending more than 2-3 months in preparation, I am feeling quite low.

I need help in charting my path for the next month and believe that the score(hoping for 700) is achievable. Need to be sure if I am taking the right steps as I do not want to waste my money spend on the GMAT exam. I need to know how I should go about preparing for the exam keeping in mind that I have a full-time job to tackle.

From various threads, I have found out folks here to be very helpful and forthcoming, so hope I am not asking for a lot. I am planning to register for the GMAT exam this weekend, so help me come to a decision and let me know how should I go about this.

Thank you all in advance

HaasEWMBA2015 · Answer

I think scoring 700+ with a full time job will be very difficult within a month. Based on reading others who have posted their experience, they average between 100-200 hours of study time before taking the exam. Granted, that's a big variation however they all come from different starting points.

As for round 1 or 2, many say you have an equal opportunity of being accepted to both. Round 3 is usually more difficult.

As for round 1 or 2, many say you have an equal opportunity of being accepted to both. Round 3 is usually more difficult.

nravi4 · Answer

If you are good in both Quant & Verbal, you can!!! Take GMAT prep1 exam and see where exactly you are. The GMAT prep software can be downloadable from www.mba.com. All the best Cheers! Ravi

cano · Answer

Some years ago bb posted this: a-study-plan-1589.html#p8283 I think it's a good 1 month study plan.

piyushagarwal · Answer

Yes, even I feel that it would be difficult to achieve and also keeping in mind that I will have to work on the application/essays for Stanford. Been browsing through various posts all day and I still am not able to figure out if applying for R2 would be a bad idea...

piyushagarwal · Answer

@nravi - I do not think I am that strong in Quant or Verbal so 1 month idea seems not so very achievable.

Went through the plan. Thanks cano, seems interesting but still not so doable. Anyways will start studing rigorously through my Kaplan Guide from today.

agnok · Answer

Try a practice test and see.. one thing I have seen in my experience is I tend to score atleast 50 points lower on the real GMAT

intellijat · Answer

well....with a right approach anything is possible...see this two-week-study-plan-99080.html

akaydee · Answer

There's a book by Brandon Wu that claims you can do well on the GMAT in 30 days. https://www.30daygmatsuccess.com/about-the-author/ He got a 780 on the GMAT and went on to do his MBA from Marshall School of Business, USC. However, I think for most people doing well on the GMAT in 30 days is really stretching it. His book even sells on Amazon.com https://www.30daygmatsuccess.com/special-offers/

kissthegmat · Answer

Yes, You Can! Read the debrief of people who did this in a week! If you can devote full one month you can do this..

bb · Answer

You can prepare in a month but it is hard to improve more than 50-100 points.
A few prep companies have intensive courses if you want to look into it. Veritas Prep is the only one that comes to my mind - they have a 7 day course.

piyushagarwal · Answer

Thanks a lot guys, all your posts have been very helpful for me. I also went through numerous threads here at Gmat Club and decided to go against the 1month plan. The major reason being, I personally know I need more time.

I have already taken up a date for GMAT exam in Nov, which gives me 2.5months of preparation time. Will be applying to all the univ. in the 2nd round.

PranavChamp · Answer

yeah as bb says it's hard to improve more than 50 pts in 1 month prep.
and the thing to notice here is that stanford has higher avg GMAT score than other top ranked school..Stanford's avg is somewhere around 730 (if I'm not wrong)...so if you are getting 680-700 on MGMAT and GMATPREP test then you can go for it.

and for b schools,any round is same whether it's R1 or R2 or R3. 
bschool adcoms suggest for international students to apply in either in R1 or R2 and try to avoid R3 is because financial loans and visa issues of applicants.

piyushagarwal · Answer

Thanks Pranav, that was helpful...

I have another question for all here, How important is it to appear for TOEFL. I have seen some univs. mention that it is not required if your study medium has been in English medium but being from India, I am not sure...

Also, keeping in mind that my exam is toward NOV end, and I will have send out my applications by Dec end...what all should I be prepared with starting now in order to file applications?

PranavChamp · Answer

1 
Indian students are considered under International Applicants. and almost all bschools are asking for TOEFL if international applicant did his/her under graduation (college ) from non-English medium. so if you've done your UG from English medium then TOEFL is not needed.

2 
school's R2 deadlines will start from mid-December so to avoid procrastination what you can do is:
-start research on your desired bschools
-pick schools of your choice and check their app criteria 
-Start drafting essays,SOPs,Recomm letters etc

Keep 1 day per week for essay drafting and bschool app related stuff.

PranavChamp · Answer

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