GMAT Strategy

I met a guy who studied gmat in 3 months, 12 weeks all manhattan and official guides, studying 4 hours a day on weekdays and 8 hours each on weekend so that 36 hours a week. 36 hours * 12 weeks = 432 hours and he got 730 in gmat.

I also met a student who studied gmat on a full time basis for 3 weeks, 21 days 18 hours a day, not working just studying.

My question is that I I follow 2nd student option as I've exam on April 25, will it produce result of 730.

Thanks Kevin, you gave me a very detailed reply. I appreciate that.

Is it difficult to score between 650-670 range as I have test on April 25 and just starting manhattan and official guides not prepared anything so March 20 is first day of study.

I'm a full time student. Just at home.

Yes, Rich and Kevin have it right. Take a GMATPrep CAT diagnostic as soon as possible. That will tell you your starting abilities and whether the scores you are aiming for are achievable in the month or so you have before your currently scheduled test date.

Improving 100 points in a month is certainly doable with intense, focused, efficient prep, so if you score a 550 or above on your diagnostic, you can probably reach that 650-670 range by April 25th.

Okay GMAT Easy - Reality Check! I have to agree with the guys above - you need to take a diagnostic. Where you start from is more important in the short term than it is in the long term.

I feel like I need to address something that you said so that it does not give other people a false and even a dangerous impression.

I also met a student who studied gmat on a full time basis for 3 weeks, 21 days 18 hours a day, not working just studying.

My question is that I I follow 2nd student option as I've exam on April 25, will it produce result of 730.

I am not sure what you mean?

Studying for 18 hours per day for 21 days is not possible. Not even on a bet. Not even as a joke.

And if it were possible to do nothing but study, eat, and sleep (and less than 5 hours of sleep -at 18 hours studying and 1 hour for meals - That is not advisable either) why would you???

Let me tell you about someone else. He registered for the LSAT took two practices tests, studied for a total of 10 hours and scored in the 99th percentile, which is the equivalent of a 760 on the GMAT.

You see some people are just very good at these exams. The person who studied for 18 hours a day, may have been good at exams and that is why she/ he scored a 730. This person likely did not need a fraction of the time spent "studying" since much of that time was undoubtedly wasted. With an appropriate study schedule this person may have scored a 750 or 760 in many fewer hours of studying.

I can tell you one thing. If you try to study for 18 hours per day you will not be doing yourself - nor your GMAT score any good.

Just for example, please read the following articles on exercise. If you study for 18 hours per day you are clearly not exercising during those three weeks. Scientists agree that exercise is the only way to build new brain cells and protect the old ones and three weeks of not exercising is literally mentioned by researchers as too long to go without exercise.

https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2013/12 ... mat-score/

https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2013/12 ... t-anxiety/

https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/05/ ... e-the-gmat


Listen, bottom line here...You can really "study" for about 5 hours per day. One 3 hour session and one two hour session. By "study" I mean learn something new. I mean attempt challenging problems. I mean really concentrating and really trying. 5 hour per day of that, for 20 days is 100 hours. According to GMAC, the average GMAT test-taker studies less than 100 hours.

Anything beyond five hours per day on a consistent basis has to be something else... like doing problems you are already good at. I mean I could 10 hours per day of critical reasoning and reading comprehension, if for some reason I had to. That is because that would not be studying. I scored a perfect 51/51 on verbal and had 20 minutes left on the clock. When I do verbal questions on the GMAT that is not studying it is just having fun.

What you need to think about is not the number of hours. There is nothing magic in more hours of studying. I have been an expert on Beat the GMAT for 4 years now and there are students who have been studying for that entire length of time - literally thousands of hours. There is no magic to more hours. It is what you do with those hours.

PEOPLE take the GMAT not computers. You need to take care of your body and your mind and you need to learn how to think like the test maker. This is not a matter of putting the data into your brain to get the result you want. Be careful what advice you follow. Much of it is worse than no advice at all.

David thanks for the reply.

How can I finish Manhattan and Official Guides in 100 hours and I've 26 days to study all 12 books and then do 10+ Cats.

I should've studied earlier but due to procrastination I ended up to this situation.

What should I do, please help. I've Manhattan and official guides how should I study as my exam is after 40 days.

Great question!

Let me say that 10+ CATS in 26 days is too many. I have a schedule below that includes 7. This is probably the most you should do. You use practice tests to see where you are in your studies - kind of like a track meet is how people see how fast they are. You do not become a better runner at a track meet. You improve before and after. CAT's are the same way.

You can test your knowledge of subjects, your techniques, your timing strategy and your ability to perform under pressure. Then you analyze that test and see what you need to do in order to improve.

You will need several days to take the tests, see what you did wrong, study those areas and take another test.

As far as CATs go -- I say take one now to see where you are. Then study for a good 10 days to really learn a few things and then begin your CATs. I have a little example below that gives you 2 or 3 days between CATS and has you take 6 of them (in addition to the 1 now). I assume you have access to the M-GMAT Tests so I include 2 of those and the FREE Veritas Prep Test in addition to 4 GMATPrep.

SO CAT 1 = now (GMATPrep 1)
CAT 2 = 10 days (GMATPrep 2)
CAT 3 = 13 days (M-GMAT 1)
CAT 4 = 16 days (GMATPrep 3 - from the Exam Pack add-on)
CAT 5 = 18 days (Veritas Free Test)
CAT 6 = 21 days (GMATPrep 4 - from the Exam Pack add-on)
CAT 7 = 23 days (Re-take GMATPrep 1 - you will not see many repeats and will likely have forgotten them).

TEST DAY = 26 days

(DO NOT take a test the day before the GMAT.)


Some of what you need to do might not be so intense. So maybe you can do more than five hours. For example, if you plan to read all of those study guides and do all of those official GMAT questions perhaps you can structure it this way:

(1) A 3 hour session that involves basically reading a book, or strategy articles. Not so intense.

(2) An intense 2 hour and 30 minute session of challenging problems. Your cell phone should be off and no other windows open on your computer during this session (or your computer closed if you are working from a book). This is a great time to do official questions and build stamina by really trying. You should pretend every day that this is the exam and only take an 8-minute break halfway through.

This is session is the length of an exam and this is the session to take the practice test in. In fact, this session should be at the same time of day as your exam. This session will expand to 4 hours when you take the entire exam including IR and AWA. You should take these sections on as many practice tests as possible so that you are prepared for the nearly 4 hours of the actual exam.

(3) A moderately intense 2 hour session that involves analyzing your practice exam from earlier in the day or that involves problem sets on subjects that are not as taxing for you or that simply involves working through a lesson.


That is 4.5 hours of what I would call intense studying and another 3 hours of reading articles or books for a total of 7.5 hours per day. Your brain needs sleep in between learning things - in fact sleep IS how you learn. So 7.5 hours per day is better than than trying to study for 10+ hours on any particular day.

In addition do not forget to get the right amount for sleep - this is generally from 6 to 8.5 hours (depending on the person) - and exercise frequently. You will be under some stress and only sleep and exercise are proven to lessen stress and reduce stress hormones.

You should also try to do something that you enjoy -- every day. 26 days is a long time to not have any fun!

Finally, remember to try to focus on studying when you are studying and to not be distracted. Distracted thinking is a score-killer. Please see the attached articles on so-called "multi-tasking." (You can take a few minutes out of your 3 hour reading block to read the articles below!)

26 days is tight but if you develop a schedule and stick to it, you might just make it!

https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2014/02 ... mat-score/

https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2014/02 ... e-part-ii/

https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2014/02 ... mat-score/

Thanks again for so detailed and professional explanations.

1 thing I've 26 days to study and another 13 days for cats and 1 day to relax for a total of 40 days.

GREAT! So extend that schedule out a little. You could conceivably take more of your M-GMAT CATs if you need to. Take 3 days between tests so that you have two days to analyze and improve before you take the next test.

With 40 days you really can do this is on 7.5 hours per day. You could even take a day off - or at least partly off - each week (I would recommend doing something fun to keep you going for what is essentially 6 weeks)

40 days is very doable. The Quality of the time you put it in is more important than the number of hours. So FOCUS on the GMAT when you are working on the GMAT. AND when you are not working on the GMAT, when you are having fun, with friends or family, exercising, etc. don't think about the GMAT. This is your job for the next 40 days. When you are at work (i.e. studying for the GMAT) then be at work and really put out the effort. When you are not studying then you are off work and you need to relax and recharge for another day of your "GMAT job."

Treat studying professionally and you will get the best results that you are capable of earning.

Thanks David.

I agreed with your points.

Now I realize why you won teaching awards etc in Veritas because you can read student minds and you gave very detailed instructions.

Thanks again for reminding me that I need to put efforts when I sit as in my case I was not using the time wisely when studying and keeping so many other thinking alive in my mind.

I was also thinking about GMAT all the time even when not studying.

Thanks David professor, you're a genius.

David has some great points on how to structure your limited time. Taking a bit of a step back here, why the extreme time crunch? The deadlines for Round 1 applications are far off and its quite getting late to apply Round 3 at most schools. If possible, I would recommend pushing your test date back and taking a more balanced, spread out approach to your prep.

The GMAT is a challenging test and deserves adequate prep time. I think you will find that cramming is not effective. Looking at the big picture of your application goals and your GMAT prep right now is healthy before you dive into self-study.

I wish I can have more time but due to some personal matters, procrastination, and i see lots of failure in past and was not able to start my gmat studies therefore.

I want admission in Master of Accounting programme and need 650 gmat for that only.