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I received a PM asking me to respond. Good advice up above.

The answer to your question is maybe. There's no way to know for sure, but most people take about 3-4 months to study for the exam. Part of whether you can hit a particular goal in a particular length of time will depend upon how far you are from that goal to start, how much work you do to get to your goal, and whether you do the right kind of quality work to get to your goal.

I agree with other posters above that the best thing to do first is take a practice test. You need to know what your starting score is to get a sense of how much time it might take to reach your goal.

I agree that GMATPrep is the best practice test out there, but I don't think it's the best *first* practice test to take. GMATPrep gives us no data beyond the correct and incorrect answers. The biggest value of a first practice test is the data on strengths and weaknesses. Otherwise, how do we know how to set up the most appropriate study schedule for our own needs?

So I would take a practice test from a prep company for the first one. Make sure that the test is adaptive and that the results will include: timing data (how much time you spend per question), answer explanations, and difficulty level data. Most companies let you take the first test for free, so just ask around and see what tests people like the best. (I won't comment on specific tests because I have an obvious bias, as an MGMAT representative!)

One other thing. 720 is a *very* high score. I know everyone wants a 700, so it doesn't seem like 720 is so high, but only a small percentage of people ever score 720+. That doesn't mean people shouldn't try to get such a score - you should try! - but recognize that, in doing so, you're setting a very difficult task for yourself, and not everyone achieves such a goal. In other words - reach for your goal but don't forget to be realistic about it.

Good luck - let us know how it goes!

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Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

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I am not sure how this topic made it back up to the top! Must be a ghost in the machine since it looks like the last reply was from 2009!

Anyway, I thought I should mention some things on this subject since it has been on my mind lately.

I am working with a tutoring student who has been studying for months. I would almost say years. He has done everything out there, Official Guides, Supplements, GMAT Preps, classes, books, etc.

And yet when we were working on a few example questions we found out that there are some very important strategies that were never shared with him throughout this entire process. Some simple things that make a huge difference in how you look at questions, in what you focus on, in how you make sure to catch any errors you might make, etc. It is almost as if all that studying was the equivalent of running on a treadmill.

A 720 is the 94th percentile. It is much harder to achieve than a 700 which is the 90th percentile. Getting a 720 is not about the length of time that you study! It is about HOW you study. It is about learning from every question, not only the ones you miss, but the ones you get correct as well. Ask yourself, "Why is the correct answer correct? and then ask, "Why do people miss this question?" "What is attractive about the wrong answers?" What helps to hide the right answer?" "How will I recognize this type of question in the future?" and so forth...

I feel like a student could be prepared for the GMAT by carefully doing just 100 questions of each type so long as the student learned everything there is to learn from each question.

So it is not a matter of the length of time spent, or the number of hours, or taking a practice test a day, it is the quality of the study.

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David Newland, JD, MA, MAE
GMAT Instructor, Tutor, and Author
Veritas Prep