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First time taking the GMAT

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First time taking the GMAT

by Ja132 » Sun Jan 19, 2014 6:29 pm
Hey guys,
So I'm taking the GMAT for the first time and so far I've been studying:
GMAT quantitative review 2nd edition.
the 13th edition GMAT review Guide.
And the GMAT verbal review guide.

Honestly i just feel overwhelmed looking at all the posts here about different study strategies and wanted to ask if there were any other books i should buy before attempting the GMAT.

My target score is 700 at least since my dream school as an Ivy League.
I'm an international so i need to do well enough to excuse a mediocre GPA from a AACSB accredited business school.
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by [email protected] » Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:31 pm
Hi Ja132,

If you can provide a few more details, then there are plenty of people here who can offer advice (myself included):

1) Do you have a GMAT Test Date yet? If so, when?
2) How much time do you have available to study?
3) When are you planning to apply to school?
4) Which schools are yo planning to apply to?

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by kravindran7 » Wed Jan 22, 2014 3:41 am
Hi Rich,

I too have the same kind of question. Could you please answer

1) Do you have a GMAT Test Date yet? If so, when? - Not Booked. Planned in April
2) How much time do you have available to study? - Daily 1- 2hrs(weekdays) Weekends - 4hrs
3) When are you planning to apply to school? Starting from June 2014
4) Which schools are yo planning to apply to? ISB, NUS, IIMs (India)

I have MGMAT and OG 13 with me and signed for SelfStidy 60days Prep. will that be enough?

Karthy
Last edited by kravindran7 on Thu Feb 06, 2014 5:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:56 am
Ja132 wrote:Hey guys,
So I'm taking the GMAT for the first time and so far I've been studying:
GMAT quantitative review 2nd edition.
the 13th edition GMAT review Guide.
And the GMAT verbal review guide.
The various Official Guides are great resources for official practice questions, but they're not very comprehensive when it comes to instruction. To perform well on the GMAT, you need to learn all of the core concepts AND you need to learn GMAT-specific strategies for answering questions quickly and accurately. In my opinion, the Official Guides do not provide this level of instruction.

There are several good resources offered on this site (books, videos, classroom courses). It's up to you to choose the one that best suits your learning style.

In addition to developing strong quant/verbal skills you'll need to develop solid test-taking skills (endurance, time-management, anxiety-reduction, etc). If you're interested, we have a free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by [email protected] » Wed Jan 22, 2014 2:10 pm
Hi Karthy,

Brent brings up a good point; one that I absolutely agree with: practicing with the proper materials is an important part of the process (and you want to make sure that you have enough resources). However, if "your way" of doing things doesn't help you to hit your goal, then the solution will likely involve working with an expert (through a self-study course, classroom course or tutoring). A good way to gauge your progress is to take a practice CAT every 1-2 weeks to get a sense of how you're improving. If you get "stuck" at a particular scoring level, then you're going to have to make some adjustments to hit your goal.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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by Ja132 » Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:07 pm
1) Do you have a GMAT Test Date yet? If so, when? I have 1 in mind but i might push it off, "march 14th"

2) How much time do you have available to study? I can promise myself at least 2 hours a day

3) When are you planning to apply to school? i want to apply to the 2015 class, that way i can submit my papers as an early decision

4) Which schools are yo planning to apply to? Since i would only have 1 year of work experience before class starts, i can only apply to:
Yale, Chicago Booth, Columbia, Duke, and penn state.

I just registered for Magoosh since it was on sale and hoping it would give me an edge.

I really liked the tricks that you can learn from the economist selfstudy program, the thing is, as a student a can't really afford to shell out a few hundred to get anything more than the trial period.
I'f i have to get it to get myself into the 700+ range, i would, but thats pending on hearing amazing reviews for it and against how I'm studying ...
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