GMAT Prep general advice needed

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GMAT Prep general advice needed

by jmn012 » Tue May 16, 2017 7:59 pm
Hello Everyone!

I'm new to these forums and honestly a little overwhelmed at all the information! I am about to start applying to schools to get my Masters of Accounting. I am wanting to get into UT's MPA program so getting a high GMAT score is very important. I am planning on taking the GMAT at the end of August (3 months from now) and I have a couple questions hopefully someone can answer.

Is 3 months sufficient time to score a 700 or above? I could push taking the test to September or October but don't want to be too rushed in case I need to retake it. (Want to have all my applications in by December).

I have purchased the official GMAT books (The Overall Guide, the Quantitative Review, and the Verbal Review) and signed up for the 60 Day study plan through this site. I have also downloaded the GMAT prep app that supplies a lot of practice questions. I cannot afford any fancy classes but am planning to attend a daylong GMAT "boot camp" held at a college in my hometown this summer.

I have finished the diagnostic test and have started reviewing the problem solving portion but my knowledge of this type of math is a little rusty.

Are there other free reviews or lessons available online for the quantitative or verbal sections that would be useful?

Also if anyone has any advice on the Data Sufficiency section I would greatly appreciate it, this was my worst section in the diagnostic test.

Is this enough material to prepare me?

Is there anything else I could do to help prepare me? Are there other resources for complete practice tests or will the practice tests in the book be enough?

I saw in one forum the person was saying they were reading fiction and The Economist to help prepare them for the test. Although I keep up with the news and read occasionally should I begin reading more intensively?

Sorry for all the questions, feel free to ignore if you want lol I know most people are probably rolling their eyes because they've been through this already.

Thank you to anyone who can help and good luck to everyone studying!

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by [email protected] » Sat May 27, 2017 2:24 pm
Hi jmn012,

You ask a number of good questions. Unfortunately, there is no approach that will guarantee a 700+ score (that score represents about the 90th percentile, meaning that 90% of Test Takers never score that high regardless of how many times they take the GMAT). Since it sounds like you're just beginning your studies, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a little studying first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic content and question types, then that's okay - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can discuss your study plan.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
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