Hey arpgoyal,
Here's a plan you can follow for the next 60 days
Material needed: Only official material - The Official Guide to the GMAT 13th edition, The Quant Review and The Verbal Review.
Step 1: Go to
https://www.mba.com/india/the-gmat-exam/ ... tware.aspx and download the free full-length official GMATPrep test. Take the test as a diagnostic for the following reasons:
A. To give you a feel of the real test - how it feels to sit through a grueling 3.5 hours. Now you know what you are up against!
B. To gauge where you are starting out - in other words, what is your Level Zero? This will help you understand how much further you need to go.
This is when you need to decide whether you need to attend a GMAT training program. If your GMAT score is less than 600, it may be a good idea to attend classes, which can give you a focused and streamlined approach.
Step 2: Start practicing from the Official Guide. Make your practice sessions similar to a test environment in order to improve your test taking stamina- start solving batches of questions (rather than one by one) and in a timed manner. Avoid all distractions during this time (including mobile and internet!) For instance you can begin by solving 30 CR questions in a row (approx. 1 hour). Then spend time reviewing these. Increase the rigor and duration of your prep sessions to 2-3 hours with time.
Step 3: Analyze each question to identify
A. Which is your weakest section: SC, CR or RC in Verbal, and PS or DS in Quant?
B. Within each section, which concept is tripping you up? For e.g. within SC, is it modifiers or tenses? or anything else?
C. What kind of mistake are you making? Conceptual (completely lost!), Timing (took more than 2 minutes and still got it wrong) or Silly mistakes?
Maintain an error log as you practice. You can find a simple one here:
https://www.crackverbal.com/nailed-it-mi ... crewed-it/
Step 4: Once you complete the OG, the Verbal Review and the Quant Review, take another test. (using the same GMATPrep software) You can gauge your improvement from the first time to the next. Don't forget to review this test too!
Step 5: Ideally, you should be close to your target score now. But if not, go back to your weaknesses and work on them.
Step 6: Once you cover your basics, take practice tests, no more than 2 per week. Make sure you analyze your performance on each. Do remember not to take them too early, as tests are only a way to gauge your progress and by themselves may not help you improve your score unless you have timing issues. (in which case practice does help!)
Other useful resources:
Tips from top scorers:
https://www.crackverbal.com/gmat-prep-methods-19-ways/
Make your GMAT prep more effective:
https://www.crackverbal.com/effective-gmat-prep/
Let me know if you have specific questions. Would be glad to help.
