GMAT Strategy

Hi,

I recently started my full time study for the GMAT Exam(not working). I am targeting my exam date for end of July 09. Is this adequate time?

This week was Week 1 for me where I touched and practiced both the verbal and quantitative review of the exam to get myself familiar with the exam. I have not touched the essay writing section yet.

I stumbled upon this website last week and found some very useful and practical advice.
So I would like some kind of study guide and road map for myself: As to how to prepare myself for this exam?

How many hours should I put in daily or/and weekly?
How should I divide my time to each section?
I don't have the money to a afford Kaplan or Manhattan GMAT courses
So i will be studying mainly on my own without distractions or work.( ok fine, some minor distractions)

The books that I have are:
1. Official GMAT Guide 11th edition
2. GMAT Official Quantitative review
3. GMAT Official Verbal review
4. Kaplan GMAT 2004
5. Cracking the GMAT Princeton Review 2004 with CD (4 practice exam)

Which books should I tackle first? and what order?
Are there any other books that I should purchase.

All advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Baberm

If you're studying on a relatively low budget, have a look at GMATFix Live classes. Many of them are free and others are low cost.

As for a full time study plan, I'd suggest looking through the I just beat the GMAT sub forum where people have posted what has worked for them.

Personally, I think that your study time should be split by specific topics. During my own study I split the GMAT into about 16 quant topics and 14 verbal topics (don't remember exactly) and selected 3 topics to review each day. To see details, have a look at my debrief where I also talk about the strategies that were not helpful (www.tinyurl.com/gmatpost)

In addition to the materials you've listed, you should get the GMATPrep Test preparation software

Now 'till July is a LONG time to study full-time. That is certainly more than enough time to do well - I'll just caution you not to burn out and make sure you take time away from studying every day, and preferably give yourself a day or two off each week. Otherwise, you'll go crazy before July.

I advise that you start studying the prep guides first, then tackle the OGs. The explanations in the OG aren't usually the best, and you'll want to have a solid foundation in the "easier" ways to do problems before you start confusing yourself with OG explanations. Also, take a practice test so that you can narrow down your specific weak areas and get a baseline score right off the bat. Here's a link to the (free) Veritas test:

https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat-prepara ... tice-GMAT/

I think you have plenty of books - remember, it's quality, not quantity, when it comes to studying.

Good luck!

It's probably a good idea to devote enough time to challenge yourself but not burn out. You're the best guide as to how much time you are able to study constructively. You will be able to see how much time to devote to each section by how well you do.