When I should Apply for GMAT??

Hi Dhwanil7,

I am happy to provide some advice but would first like to learn some more about your GMAT experience and goals.

1) What is your GMAT score goal?

2) Have you taken any official GMAT practice exams? If so, can you provide us with the dates and score breakdowns from those practice exams? When you took the practice tests, did you take them under realistic conditions (e.g. in a quiet environment, no extended breaks)? Did you complete the entire CAT, including the IR and Essay sections?

3) Describe your study routine. What resources have you been using to study? For how many hours a day have you been studying? For how many months?

4) What are the MBA programs to which you plan to apply?

I want to apply for GMAT in September. But i am afraid that i am not ready for it. My aim is to get 700+ score. I dont have a specific routine for studies but i do study everyday. I want to appear for exam in sept only. I am studying for the modules given by my institute from where i completed GMAT course. I am good at quant but i dont have good command on verbal. I always guess the answers. Please suggest me the best book and how to complete and be confident to appear. Sorry to say but i think that i dont know anything about it.. please explain me in detail.. its the worst situation i ever had.

Hi Dhwanil7,

Since you have not taken one yet, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). 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 4 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 come up with a study plan.

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

Hi Dhwanil7,

Scoring a 700+ on the GMAT is no easy feat. In fact, it takes some students 300+ hours, over the duration of many months, to obtain a 700+ GMAT score. To you help determine whether you will be prepared for a September GMAT test date, you might consider taking a full-length practice exam from MBA.com to determine your current GMAT score. When taking the exam, try to replicate the test day experience as much as possible: Go to the library instead of taking the test in your house or apartment. Be sure to complete all sections (AWA, IR, Quant, and Verbal). Only take the allotted breaks. The results from that exam will help you determine how far away you are from your goal score, and provide us with the information we need to give you some more detailed advice.

From you posts, it seems that you have not gotten into a focussed study mode yet.
The first step should be to take an official mock CAT and identify your current standing. You can download 2 for free from mba.com and purchase additional 4.
For the August 2017 intake, you should target the Round 2 deadline that fall in January. Hence you should take the GMAT no later than Mid November.

You need to build the concepts/fundamentals before you jump in solving the problems. You can do so by choosing one of the following ways:

1. In person classes/private tutoring
2. Online classes
3. Self paced online preparatory course
4. Book heavy approach

Whatever you choose, make sure that you choose one. Because GMAT tests you on some concepts and fundamentals that you can learn from a course. Most of the preparatory companies including ours offer a free trial of our course. You can take the trial and see if the course suits your needs.

In addition to the preparatory material, buy the Official Guides(both the Official Guide and the Verbal Review), Question Pack 1 and the 4 official mock CATs. They should be an indispensable part of your preparation.

You need close to 3 months to prepare well for the GMAT.

1. Understand the concepts and fundamentals before jumping into problem solving
2. Solve full length CATs including AWA and IR. You can get two free GMAT Prep mock CATs and can purchase two more from mba.com
3. Make sure you solve the official questions from the Official Guide

Thank You all for such a good piece of advice.. i will take one mock and will report back to you ASAP..

I took the online prep4 GMAT test and the image describes my score.. Please have a look and give me advice regarding my preparation..

IR 4 out of 12
Quant 25 out of 37
Verbal 16 out of 41

Hi Dhwanil7,

To start, just because you "want" a 700+ score doesn't mean that you "need" a 700+ score to get into Business School. This is an important distinction - since the ACTUAL goal is to get an MBA from a School that will help you to achieve your career goals. That having been said, raising a 360 to a 700+ (or even to a 600+) will take some significant time and effort. You'll likely have to spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time to achieve that goal. You'll also likely find it beneficial to invest in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led). This is all meant to say that you'll have to rethink your overall timeline and plans.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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

Hi Dhwanil7,

Going by the mock scores, I would recommend you to study for at least 3 -4 months and then take the GMAT. You scores shows a clear lack of concepts and before taking any test you should focus on building them.

You can refer to my previous post to know about the various methods of preparing for the GMAT.

Hi Dhwanil7,

Based on the results of your practice GMAT, you may need around 6+ months of study time to reach your score goal. Additionally, you may consider studying 1 to 2 hours each week day and 4 to 6 hours each weekend day. With that said, you also have to select GMAT prep materials that work well for you.

When selecting those materials, keep in mind that the GMAT is such a challenging exam because there are relatively few questions asked in a given exam, yet those questions come from a huge topic pool. Thus, the best way to get a great GMAT score is to have a thorough understanding of all the topics that may be tested on the exam. To develop such mastery, you want to strive for linear and targeted learning and follow that with focused practice.

When studying verbal, focus on learning one section at a time: reading comprehension, sentence correction, or critical reasoning. For example, when learning about critical reasoning, you want to be able to learn about all aspects of critical reasoning: strengthen and weaken the conclusion, resolve the paradox, find the conclusion, must be true, etc. Follow up your learning with focused critical reasoning practice, so you can determine your specific weaknesses within that topic. Do the same with sentence correction and reading comprehension.

Follow a similar routine for quant. For example, if you are learning about Number Properties, you should learn everything possible about that topic: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. After that, be sure that you practice with a lot of questions (50 or more) just on Number Properties.

To allow for such focused learning and practice, you may consider using a self-study course rather than a book. In comparison to GMAT prep books, self-study courses typically provide detailed study plans and have granular analytics, so you can easily track your progress as you move through the course. By being able to track your progress, you will remain more engaged, and you’ll be able to forecast when you are ready to take your real GMAT. If you would like to learn more about what online resources are available, check out the verified course reviews on Beat The GMAT. After doing some research you should be able to find a course that is a good fit for you.

Lastly, here is an article that provides some actionable steps that you can follow to help achieve a 700+ on your GMAT.