Ask a Manhattan Prep representative

Dear All,

I am a frequent visitor to this website and need some advice on my current situation. This will be my third attempt at cracking the GMAT.
My previous scores were:

- 480 (wrote it in Jan 2008)
- 600 (wrote it in Aug 2008)

I will be writing it again on 5th Jan. I am much better prepared compared to the last couple of times (thanks to MGMAT books) but wanted to know how long should i wait before i start writing the practice exams. I have taken two weeks off before the exam.

Thanks and Regards,

Raj

Hi riturajdas,

What's your score goal?

Generally, I would say continue to study the way you until 2 weeks before the test - then take a practice test, use our Assessment Reports to analyze your weaknesses, and continue studying those weaknesses until just a few days before your test. Then, take a GMATPrep exam from MBA.com to see where you are going to score on test day. Then, work on some timing drills before the test.

Most importantly, make sure you time yourself when answering practice questions! Otherwise, when you answer real questions, your timing will be off and your score will be negatively affected.

I hope this helps.

Best,

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your emal. I am looking at scoring between 680 - 720. Please let me know if i need to change my study schedule?

Regards,

Raj

Hi riturajdas,

If anything, I would say that studying the content takes an even larger priority over taking practice tests because the increase you're looking to make is quite significant! In fact, it's entirely possible that with frequent studying, you might not be able to improve so drastically within such a small time. At this stage, it's important to keep an open mind about your performance on the test while maintaining high goals. This is because you don't want to place so much pressure on yourself on test day that you don't do well out of sheer nerves. Additionally, you don't want to approach the process in a lackadaisical manner because you want to put some type of pressure on yourself to perform. All things considered, I would say that finding a balance for your mentality going into the test combined with increase content review is the way to alter the plan I outlined above.

Hope this helps!

Best,