I took the GMAT last year and scored a 640 (V36 Q42) with about 6-7 weeks of preparation. I only used the official guide and Princeton Review's Math Workout. Most of my prep was doing practice problems. With regard to quant, I did not feel like I had a good understanding of the underlying fundamentals. My only prep for verbal came from doing the practice problems in the official guide. I believe the majority of my errors came from SC. My strategy for SC was to choose whatever I thought sounded correct. Horrible strategy, I know. I was one of those kids who did not pay much attentioin in my MS and HS english classes, which is why I do not know the rules. On the other hand, I consider myself to be an above average writer (received a 6 on awa).

Anyway, I plan on retaking the GMAT this November (probably around the 15th), which gives me about 3 months. I have purchased the MGMAT math guides and MGMAT SC correction guides (do not feel like I have a problem in the other verbal areas).

Any advice on how to get started? How many hours should I study per day (I am free all day)? When should I start taking practice tests?

Also, I realize that this is an extremely difficult question to answer, but I'll ask anyway. By how much should I be able to raise my score given my previous score and time frame?

Thanks for the help.