Where do I start?

Question

Hello,
I want to give the GMAT at the end of July and have bought the official guides for preparation. I went through all the material but confused about where to start. Can someone suggest a good study plan? Also how many months of preparation is ideal for a 700+ score. 
Thank you.

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KarishmaB · Answer

Check out these two posts to know how to create an appropriate study plan for yourself. https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2015/0 ... tudy-plan/ https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2011/0 ... -schedule/

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi SucharithaSaravanan,

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 download 2 for free from 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 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.

I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

rbsusa · Answer

Hi, Preparation time typically vary from 3 months to max. 6 months.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi 3-4 month is pretty enough time so you can start with Best comprehensive material Best Books 1. Manhattan GMAT Quant Guides 2. Manhattan GMAT Verbal guides or Aristotle Verbal Guide for CR critical reasoning bible is best book with 300+ pages of comprehensive Data Strategies Start with Quant, learn the concepts tested on GMAT. After learning, practice your learned section with timed practice. You can also take quizzes to meet the pace of GMAT. 1 Month for learning concepts and 15 days of practice and same with the verbal. When completed all the concepts learning and handsome practice. Take full lenght CATs, know your estimated score. Analyze the result with Correct/incorrect questions, pacing analysis trace your mistakes and learn from them, make an error log to know your mistakes in the previously attempted questions Top Mocks 1. Official GMAC (50+50$) 2. Manhattan GMAT (49$) Good Luck Cheers

rohan2345 · Answer

Hi SucharithaSaravanan, You should dedicate around 4 months to prepare for GMAT. You should start by giving GMATPREP to learn more about your performance. You can then know your weaknesses and work on them. If you are willing to study dedicatedly for 4 months, you are sure to achieve your goal. I believe you may benefit from taking a GMATPREP course. 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 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 and they are both within your budget. 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 try out the MGMAT guides they are phenomenal and cover the entire syllabus 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 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 latest version of OG and the verbal review for some great additional practice. Here is a link that will help you with your decision. https://gmatclub.com/forum/best-gmat-ve ... 68383.html 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.

abhinav770 · Answer

All the best for the test! (Assuming things went as planned below).

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi suchi2312,

It has been almost 5 months since we’ve heard from you. How did things end up with your GMAT?

suchi2312 · Answer

Hey Everyone, Thank you so much for all the suggestions. I have my test scheduled on 5th September. Just in time to apply for R1. Hope to score well.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi suchi2312,

It's been almost 6 months since your original post - and with a September 5th Test Date, you now have a little less than 6 weeks before Test Day.

1) What study materials have you used so far?
2) How have you scored on EACH of your practice CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

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

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