The 60-Day GMAT Study Guide

Hi all,

So I took the GMAT for the first time last May. I was scoring in the upper 600s on all my practice exams and ended up with a 580. I was pretty disappointed and have been avoiding taking it again. I did try the 60 day study guide for a few weeks after the exam but wasn't motivated at the time.

I'm ready to start studying but wanted to know if anyone had any insight on the 60 day plan and how much it has helped.

Thanks so much!

Thanks for your response! I am on Day 3 and so far it seems to really break the exam down well. I am planning on only using the 60 day guide since it seems to cover the OG guide in length. Would you recommend using it as the only study guide or as a supplement?

Thanks Eric! This is a huge help!

Hi Eric/BeattheGMAT forum,

Can you recommend a good 45-day study plan instead of the 60-day for myself with the use of Manhattan GMAT materials, not Kaplan Premiere 2010? I scored 500 (Q38,V21) on my last official gmat, and as you can see, I need help in verbal. Specifically, I need to learn some better strategies to reduce the amount of time to complete CR and RC questions. I already own the MGMAT 8-book collection and PowerScore Bible for CR. I found that drawing T accounts kill me in timing, cutting into a minute or a minute 15 seconds. First, I plan to review all OG problems that I previously completed and recorded on my error log. Second, I'll review materials before I take another GMATPrep. Please advise. Thanks.

Hey there,

So sorry, but we don't have any 45-day plans! However, here's some advice: you have some of the best books on the market, so if you use them well you're sure to get the score you want! The thing is, I'd do the theoretical review first and focus on problems after getting a solid concept base in place. Your plan seems to be more about practice problems than theory/concepts, which is where I think you might get it wrong. It's still an awesome idea to review stuff you got wrong though!

I am new to this site and have started the 60 day plan as of today. I have all the books (in fact i have had the OG for a few years now) and am ready to hit them hard (although i am skeptical that i may not be able to keep the pace). My goal is to get as high of a score as i can while realistically aiming at a 720+. After taking the Diagnostic test in the OG this will certainly be an uphill climb. My scores were "Average". I was actually expecting at least to get above average but it has been quite a while since ive worked on math like that. My aspirations are to be accepted into MIT's masters in real estate development program in the next few years and it is a very selective program (although not as much so as the top MBA programs) so i need to DESTROY the gmat. I will use the 60 day guide to get me going but i dont plan on taking my test for about 6 months. I figured that i will complete the 60 days and see where my test scores are coming in at to guage how much more i need to study for a 720+. I have glanced at some of the posts on this site and there are certainly some bright people on here. I hope to exploit you all for your knowledge! I will keep posting throughout my 60 days. I figured it will keep me motivated and plugged in. I also hope that i can offer others some insight as well.

I would like to hear of others success with the 60 day plan if anyone out there has had any luck....

Hey and welcome to our community!

I don't have any specific post to point to, but I can say that in the feedback forms I've usually seen high 600's and 700's scores (even quite a few 99th percentile scores), so the study guide is pretty effective. Good luck!

Hi DanaJ,

Has anyone used this study plan with only Manhattan GMAT materials and given good feedback? Do you have any advice for me if I've been using MGMAT guides and studying verbal for the first 23 days of the study plan? Thanks.

I don't remember seeing anyone give feedback about the study guide, using only MGMAT guides. The thing is, as long as you study the concepts that are listed in there, it's OK to use pretty much any book, be it MGMAT, Kaplan or Veritas... I think each email has a detailed list of concepts that you should study and it's quite easy to find these in your average GMAT book.

Andreweng wrote:Hi DanaJ,

Has anyone used this study plan with only Manhattan GMAT materials and given good feedback? Do you have any advice for me if I've been using MGMAT guides and studying verbal for the first 23 days of the study plan? Thanks.

I have heard some good thinks about the MGMAT series. I bought the 2 that are required for the 60 day course but I may purchase others if I feel that I am lacking in areas as I go through the 60 day plan. A lot of people say that they are more in depth especially on the harder quant problems. Kaplan is apparently more basic and is good enough for a 600+ score while the MGMAT can get you over 700. Just what I read.

Just got done with day 2. Not so bad. I actually did better on the verbal diagnostic than i did on the quant. I never would have guessed that was possible. I actually was "average" for reading comprehension and "above average" for both critical reasoning and sentance correction. It took nearly 2 hrs to take the test and review my mistakes. To be honest i was seriously anxious to finish when going over the last few explanations (something that will, I am sure, fade as I continue to put in the hours over the next few months). I am ready to start getting in to some quant principles to improve my score. I have breezed through the Kaplin text and I will need every bit of the math refresher. Lets see what day 3 brings!