GMAT Preparation Discussion: Important

This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:18 am
Followed by:1 members

GMAT Preparation Discussion: Important

by gautamverma » Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:38 pm
Hi everyone,

Am a fairly regular visitor to this site. If words don't fail me, I've been wanting to take the GMAT for a long time now but due to lack of preparation, I've not been able to do so since the past two years. I took the GMAT once in 2007 however with a little over 3 weeks of prep, I scored a measly 620! I determined to re-take the test then however, have been chickening out since then on some a/c or the other.

Anyways, I have the following material for the GMAT however, am not too sure which ones to follow:
OG 10/11
Kaplan Premier 2007 & Kaplan 800
Manhattan SC 2005 and Manhattan CR 2009
Online tests - Powerprep, GMATprep, 800 Score tests, Kaplan CD, Princeton tests

I need assistance w/ the following:
1. I need someone to seriously guide me on the material/s I should follow.
2. Need someone to give me a simple and effective strategy to study for the next 6-7 weeks and take the test end of May'09.

I don't want to dilly-dally this test any later than end-May and fully intend to study and take it seriously in May. Hence, I want some experienced people to guide me here.

To tell you a little of myself, I'm in the corporate world for the past 7yrs now and am an engineer by qualification. I want to do my MBA to upskill myself desperately. Being a little low on self-esteem due to the past aborted attempts at taking the test, I'm managing myself on the brink of losing it yet another time. I seriously want some guidance on the points I've mentioned above.

Hope I'll hear from someone soon.

Thanks & Regards,
GV
Source: — GMAT Strategy |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Site Admin
Posts: 6778
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 1249 times
Followed by:994 members

by beatthegmat » Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:12 pm
Thanks very much for this post, and welcome to the community!

If you are looking for a study strategy and guidance, you are in the right place. There are many people here who are in your same shoes, and we're very helpful folk here. :)

A couple resources I recommend to you:
  • Beat The GMAT Blog - This is my original study strategy when I took my test a few years ago. You will find guidance on materials I studied, down to the page numbers each day. Many members have followed this exact strategy for their own prep.
  • GMAT Resources Directory - Aggregation of top free GMAT resources on this site and on the web.
  • I just Beat The GMAT forum - Tons of success stories here, with great debriefings.
Let me leave you with some parting words on your general prep strategy. Focus on OG materials for your practice, since these books are most representative of the actual test questions. Take time to thoroughly analyze all practice problems and tests you take--you should be spending orders of magnitude more time in analyzing your results than actually going through problems. And finally, take lots of practice tests (one per week). It takes time to get used to the computer-adaptive format, so get used to it now!

All the best and ask lots of questions here! Good luck and keep your head up!
Beat The GMAT | The MBA Social Network
Community Management Team

Research Top GMAT Prep Courses:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/gmat-prep-courses

Research The World's Top MBA Programs:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/school