Study intensive plan - 12 weeks? - The Beat The GMAT Forum - Expert GMAT Help & MBA Admissions Advice

Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?

Expert replies

joanap: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 1; Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 8:31 am

by joanap » Wed Apr 11, 2018 8:33 am

Hello All.

I have just initiated my study plan for GMAT and would very much appreciate your comments on that please.

Just for you to have a preliminary idea: I had 400 on my Diagnostic Test, with 0 experience on the test mechanisms/timings and also unexpected anxiety.
My background is Law, although my Master was in Management. This meaning that I am lacking some of the Maths's foundations and feel very insecure about that. My GPA is very high, and studying habbits are not a problem at all to me.
My aim is to apply for the top 5/10 business schools in the world next summer, so I scheduled my first official exam within 3 months (end of June).

Bearing all this in mind, my plan is to study for 12 weeks intensively (6 to 8 hours/5 days a week), according to the following plan:

Weeks 1-4: Going through the 5 Quant. Strategy Guides (manhattanprep), accompanied by Foundations of GMAT Math
(I am assuming studying 1,5 book / week. Is this doable considering I am 100% focus on this? Could this be enough considering by background?)
Is it a good idea to attack only Quant on the first month? Or should I mix it with other parts for motivation purposes?
How could I take care of my "Maths defficiencies" besides this?)

Weeks 5-6: Going through the 3 Verbal SGuides,
(Apparently when I pay due attention to questions, this part should not be a problem to me.)

Week 7: Going through the last SG on IR and Essay.
(Is this too little? On the Diagnostic Test, I got all stressed/nervous because of having to integrate such different infos on IR...
In relation to the essays, is there any way I could score them? Or someone/somewhere I could send them?)

Weeks 8-11: Practise, review, etc.
(This will obviously be adapted, depending on how the previous months go... But how do you think I should organise this last month before test day?)

What do you think about all this? Please let me know your thoughts.
Best regards and thank you very much!

Like this post

Source: Beat The GMAT — I just Beat The GMAT! | Wed Apr 11, 2018 8:33 am

GMAT/MBA Expert

[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:49 pm

Hi joanap,

When it comes to studying for the GMAT, there isn't a 'one size fits all' Study Plan - and many GMATers end up adapting their studies as they become more aware of their particular strengths and weaknesses. This sometimes involves investing in new study materials.

Based on what you've described, so far, I have a few suggestions to consider:
1) I suggest that you actually do 'some Quant and some Verbal' each week (as opposed to the "all of one, then all of the other" that you're planning). You'll likely find it easier to retain everything overall if you're doing a mix of subjects.
2) Studying 6-8 hours each day might be too much (and you might run the risk of 'burning out' before Test Day), so you have to be mindful about scheduling in the appropriate break time each day.
3) To score at a high level on the GMAT, you have to have a variety of skills (more than just content knowledge) and the only way to properly assess whether you are properly developing those skills or not is to take FULL-LENGTH CATs under realistic conditions AND at regular intervals.

You could potentially improve a great deal with 3 months of consistent study time. To that end, I have a few questions about your timeline and goals:
1) What is your goal score?
2) If you ended up needing more than 3 months of study, do you have the flexibility to push back your Test Date?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

Like this post

GMAT/MBA Expert

ceilidh.erickson: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2095; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pmFollowed by: 247 members; Thanked: 1443 times

by ceilidh.erickson » Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:35 am

There are several things you should change / modify about your study plan. Here is the plan I recommend to anyone with the Mprep books: https://www.beatthegmat.com/materials-a ... tml#787892

A few specific notes:

joanap wrote: Weeks 1-4: Going through the 5 Quant. Strategy Guides (manhattanprep), accompanied by Foundations of GMAT Math
(I am assuming studying 1,5 book / week. Is this doable considering I am 100% focus on this? Could this be enough considering by background?)
Is it a good idea to attack only Quant on the first month? Or should I mix it with other parts for motivation purposes?
How could I take care of my "Maths defficiencies" besides this?)

You should definitely mix it up. Interleaving your studies is much better for retention: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... hat-means/

You should also be weaving OG problems in as you study each topic. Don't wait to do OG's until you've finished the guides. Doing that, 1 book per week is probably more realistic than 1.5.

Weeks 5-6: Going through the 3 Verbal SGuides,
(Apparently when I pay due attention to questions, this part should not be a problem to me.)

Again, mix this in with the Quant. Spend 7-8 weeks covering all the material, quant and verbal, topic by topic.

Week 7: Going through the last SG on IR and Essay.
(Is this too little? On the Diagnostic Test, I got all stressed/nervous because of having to integrate such different infos on IR...
In relation to the essays, is there any way I could score them? Or someone/somewhere I could send them?)

You probably need to spend very little time on these. The prep you do for quant and verbal will be sufficient for the content tested on IR; you'll just need some practice with the question structures. And if you're proficient in writing in English, don't worry about the essay at all.

Weeks 8-11: Practise, review, etc.
(This will obviously be adapted, depending on how the previous months go... But how do you think I should organise this last month before test day?)

Don't wait until week 8 to start taking practice tests. As I outlined in my first link, you should take one at the start, then at the 4 week mark, then 3, then 2, then 1. You need to be building the muscles of time management and decision making WHILE you're learning the content - it's harder to do afterwards.

Good luck!

Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Like this post

Post new topic Post Reply

• Page 1 of 1

GMAT Course Reviews

560 reviews

1168 reviews

431 reviews

359 reviews

147 reviews

5/5

5 Star (560 Reviews)

"Target Test Prep is the closest to the official version of the GMAT exam, about 99% accuracy in terms of the quality and quantity of information. The course has excellently created singular sets of focused lessons and tests for every possible topic that one could come across in the official GMAT exam."

"The TTP course maximizes the efficiency of the time you spend studying. It will take time and effort but I could almost guarantee that if you complete the course exactly as it is laid out you will get an amazing score. They also have a very responsive team willing to help with any questions you might have."

"TTP has two things that I think no other test prep company offers: A teaching approach that reinforces understanding and an attitude that will give you the mental preparedness needed to succeed on the test. TTP gives you a deep understanding of the concept you need to know while teaching you how to think."

Write a Review