GMAT Strategy

Hi All,

Brand new member to this forum, but I see that it has a ton of resources so I can't wait to dive in and get well versed in this community.

I took the MBA.com gmat test to see where I stood (without any prior preparation) and I got 36 on the quant, and 28 on the verbal with a mean score of 540.

I've been out of my undergrad (BBA) for almost 3 years now so I'm very rusty on a lot of the math concepts, and haven't traditionally been too strong at English.

My plan, so far, is to go through the official guide. I'm doing the diagnostic tests now and debriefing by going through the solutions and creating a log of the areas where I am weak so I know where to focus on during the review sessions. I also have the extra quantitative and verbal books (official). I've also ordered the Manhattan Strategy Guides to help narrow my focus once I've tackled the official guide.

I'm still in a full time job so I plan on studying maybe 1-2 hours during the week per day, and 2-3 hours per day on the weekend. Can anyone comment on where I may be able to strengthen my study plan? I'm hoping to get 700+ when I write (late April, early May).

I know you all get questions like this every day so thank you in advance for your patience and sharing your expertise!

- Jason

Considering that you have a good part of 5 months for study and that you already scored 540, you should get around 700, if not more. Go through the OG well. Read the explanations well. Same with MGMAT guides. Give the GMAT prep many times to gauge where u stand. Good luck!!

How often should I be doing practice tests? Other than doing the MBA.com provided tests what are some other good recommended sources for doing practice tests, since I'm guessing there isn't an unlimited amount out there!

Give one test a week if you can. Give gmat prep as many times as you want. Just uninstall the software, download it from mba.com frequently and install that software. MGMAT CAT's are good and those ll be free for you as you have ordered MGMAT guides. Leaving these two, there are other prep courses which offer one diagnostic CAT. So there is a good amount of CAT's available.