pscher31 wrote:Hey Everyone,

I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer living in Uganda and working in Micro-finance. I'll be completing my service in August 2014 and I want to be able to start at b-school in the fall of 2014. So, I've got a solid 2 years to study. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on whether I should start studying now? I would like to take the GMAT twice max, would love to take it once. I'm planning on getting the Manhattan series off Amazon because they can ship them here. Any other book recommendations?

Thanks and Regards,

Patrick Scherer

2 years is a long time. My advice would be to chalk out a solid strategy before taking the plunge.
Can you foresee whether you will be relatively free in the next 4-5 months? If yes, you can start now. In any case, don't postpone it to the year you are applying to schools.

Give yourself enough time to explore different aspects of the test and study intelligently. If you are good at quant, you may need anywhere between 8-10 weeks of thorough study to get a solid score. If not, give yourself a few weeks more. You should be able to nail it in the first attempt itself.

PM me if you have any specific questions.

Good luck.