GMAT Strategy

I decided to take the GMAT and have done zero preparation. I plan on taking the test in 3 months. I have spent the past two days developing an understanding of the test format and material, how people have gone about preparation, which review books are best, tutor or no tutor, basically trying to get an understanding of the most efficient way to tackle the exam. I found a ton of information but nothing that provided a step by step guide on how to prepare. I would like to know if you were starting right now, how would you go about preparing for the test?

Would you start with an adaptive diagnostic test, if so, who is the exam provider? Would you purchase review books based on your weakness or head straight to a tutor. Who makes the best review books? Have you found that the company that writes your favorite quant book makes a lousy verbal book or vice versa?

Do you review the OG books after you have a comprehensive knowledge of the prep material?

When would you use the first of the two GMATPrep exams?

Hi,

Thats the good post. I should have done it before I started my preparation. No regret. I started with OG12 and figured out that I need more assistance. I read few articles and compiled the list of books I need to buy. Master GMAT 7 days free trial was very inviting and jumped in to the offer. I was excited with the course and registered with them.

I worked on Master GMAT prep course, books and beatthegmat.com forum questions. I was exhausted and it was my worst strategy for preparation.

In the sum, either buy books or join the prep course (may be you can have 1 or 2 books to support). Complete the study materials and start giving the test.

Good Luck.

Hi newtoogmat,

1. I'd get a system in which I study "material" and then use OG questions as practice. In my particular case, I use MGMAT (which does it like that), but I'm sure the other companies have similar systems. The idea is that the OG is invaluable since it's a stash of "real" problems, but you don't really learn from them, you just "train" with them. For your learning, you need a very different book, a prep book.

2. I'd get a diagnostic test only if you believe you will get paranoid later that your prep company isn't helping much. Otherwise, there's no use for a diagnostic test. You'll need lots of those later.

3. I found the MGMAT tests to be the best at mimicking the real thing -but still FAR from perfect. The one I found to be the worst was the Princeton Review CAT -although I must say I only took the free one.

4. About GMATPreps. I'd use them at the very end of my study timeline (last month). You can get 4 of them if you install both the new and the older version of the software -it takes a bit of tweaking, but you can do it. These are EXTREMELY accurate, so you really want them to give you a realistic idea of whether you're ready or not, more than for practicing timing.

In my blog I have a couple of posts about my study strategy.

Good luck!

Thanks hcueva.

Do any of the resident "experts" care to chime in?