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GMAT Prep- How should I spend my time most wisely?

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GMAT Prep- How should I spend my time most wisely?

by joel.flesher » Sun Jan 30, 2011 1:40 pm
Hey All,

I am a recent business graduate and just successfully completed a political campaign. I am taking 10 weeks off from working while applying for new jobs to study hard for the GMAT. My goal is to reach a 700-720 and I scored a 550 on my first Kaplan CAT.

I have ample time to study and am enrolled in the Manhattan GMAT online course. So far I am hitting the suggested homework pretty quickly, as I am spending 6-8 hrs a day studying. I also am working out of Kaplan 800 for advanced students.

I feel that I should use my time to study more than Manhattan GMAT homework is suggesting on a daily basis since I have so much time on my hands. Can someone who has scored a 700 or above please suggest a DAILY study strategy that would allow me to hit both MGMAT prep and other sources of prep. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Joel Flesher
Buckhannon, WV
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by Superduperstudent » Sun Jan 30, 2011 5:45 pm
Hi Joel,

Congratulations on the political campaign! It's great to have a lot of time to study for the GMAT, and I'm certain that with your attitude you can reach your goal of 720.

When I prepared for the test, I had about six weeks. I had a lot of time off, too, so I was able to make a few mistakes. Fortunately, I was able to correct my preparation mistakes and score 750 at my first attempt. Here's what I'd advise you to do:

1. Immediately buy the Official Guide for GMAT Review.
2. Based on your initial score, decide whether you can make the most gains in the quantitative or the verbal section. Then also buy either the Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review or the Official Guide for GMAT® Verbal Review.
3. Buy the Kaplan GMAT Premier book.
4. Line up a bunch of tests that you can take to measure your progress. Once a week is good. I thought the 800score.com tests were tough but pretty accurate score-wise. You can also buy old paper tests online at mba.com. Taking tests really helps!
5. Start studying the Kaplan book for tips and tricks and general information about the GMAT format. Work your way through the entire book before you study or practice anything else. This should take you about a week to ten days.
6. OK, now you're ready for the real stuff: practicing real GMAT questions. Use the official guides and start getting comfortable with actual GMAT problems (this is the part I delayed too long. Don't waste time looking online for GMAT questions, don't waste time buying other publishers' guides. Just start solving real GMAT problems!).
7. Check out my blog posts about timing yourself and about how you know when you're ready to take the test. Also, if you find your practice test scores leveling off, consider hiring a GMAT tutor to give you that push across the 700 barrier.

I hope this helps! Don't hesitate to contact me if you need any help!
Go to www.superduperstudent.com for GMAT tutoring and MBA application support!
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