How to beat GMAT in 1 month?

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by [email protected] » Wed Apr 08, 2015 7:47 pm
Hi asultana_80,

Most Test Takers need far MORE than 1 month of study time to achieve their goals - most spend 3 months (or more) on the process.

I'd like to know a bit more about your goals/plans and why you're trying to do all of this in 1 month:

1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) Have you done any studying so far?

4) Is there any specific reason why you want to get through this whole process within 1 month's time?

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by asultana_80 » Thu Apr 09, 2015 7:41 am
Actually I am unemployed currently and looking desperately for a job .I don't have much choice for choosing a school due to the cost . I am planning for a part time evening program at Bauer Business school at Houston . I am targeting 600. If I can make above something 620+ that would be fantastic . I want to apply for fall so that I can apply for internship in summer(if I am still unemployed). Fall deadline is June 1st . I already checked current GMAT curriculum .Looks like it has similarity with GRE . I already appeared for GRE almost ~8 years back so know it . I think challenging part for me will be IR,Data sufficiency ,Reading comp,Critical reasoning .
Please let me know any advise /comment !

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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Thu Apr 09, 2015 7:59 am
The first step is to take a practice test and give us a breakdown of the results. The free GMATPrep tests can be found here: https://www.mba.com/us/the-gmat-exam/pre ... tware.aspx
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by Rich@EconomistGMAT » Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:32 am
Hi asultana_80,

The best way to identify where you stand and where you need to focus your attention most is to take a practice exam. Here's a link to sign up for a free 7-day trial of GMAT Tutor: https://bit.ly/1bPAHuW

However, I have to agree with Rich. Most test takers give themselves at least two to three months to prepare for the GMAT. Although you've taken the GRE, 8 years is quite a long time, so you'll definitely want to give yourself a good amount of time to prepare for the GMAT. There is some overlap, but they are two very different tests. We recently posted on our blog about choosing between the GRE and GMAT, while also laying out some of the key differences: https://bit.ly/1CunD3F

I know you're aiming to apply to business schools for the fall, but these are just a couple things to consider before trying to cram all your GMAT prep into one month.

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by [email protected] » Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:11 am
Hi asultana_80,

Many Business School accept the GMAT or the GRE as part of the application process, so you should check with the School to see what your options are. If you have an option to take either Exam, then you might want to take whichever is 'easier' for you (given the limited timeframe you're working under).

Your GMAT score goal is modest, but we don't know your current "level" of ability yet. It's important to get a sense of your strengths and weaknesses early on in the process (so that you can define them and work to improve them), so it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT test sometime soon. You can download 2 for free from www.mba.com. A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to do so in one sitting. You will likely find certain parts of it to be challenging, and you might have pacing problems, but all of that is okay for now. You might also want to do a little bit of studying before you take the CAT, so that you can familiarize yourself with the question types.

Once you've decided on which Test you'll take and have a practice CAT score to review, you should post back here.

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by asultana_80 » Thu Apr 09, 2015 12:55 pm
Thanks everyone for advising .
I just tried today for GMAT .And my scores looks like this
IR -> 8 incorrect out of 12
Quantitative--> 16 incorrect out of 37
Verbal --> 21 incorrect out of 41
Total score 400.
One thing I found was I became really tired while reading comprehension . I need to exercise patience for 4 hours !

I am thinking to study avg 5hr everyday -Will that may work?
What about essay writing section ?How does that one evaluated ? The practice test does not evaluate that .
Any suggestion/comments ? Thanks to everyone in advance

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by Rich@EconomistGMAT » Thu Apr 09, 2015 1:21 pm
Hi asultana_80,

I know you're under a tight deadline, but be careful not to burn yourself out with that much studying everyday. 5 hours is quite a lot, so just monitor how productive you actually are every week. You might find that you don't actually need that amount of time.

As for the AWA prep, The Economist offers you the ability to submit a sample to one of our experts for review. Here's a link to sign up for a free 7-day trial: https://bit.ly/1bPAHuW

Best of luck,
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by [email protected] » Thu Apr 09, 2015 8:51 pm
Hi asultana_80,

Now that we have a 'baseline' CAT score for comparison, we have to talk about your 'big picture' plans. You can take the GMAT in 1 month's time, but it's highly unlikely that you'll be skilled enough to score 600+ in such a short period of study time. A 200+ point improvement is a BIG task. It's not impossible, but it would probably take you 3 months to achieve it (and even after 3 months, you might still need more time). Even if you don't have much additional time, ANY extra study time would be beneficial.

You mentioned that the application deadline was June 1st, so if you still want to make THAT deadline, then you can push your Test Date back, study for a longer period of time and work on your applications (along with whatever else you have going on in your life) at the same time. I know that hearing this probably does not make you happy, but the larger goals are all dependent on you scoring at a certain level on the GMAT. Without that score, the other parts of the plan likely won't be successful.

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