1 month prep

[zoomer]

I just finished my undergraduate degree, and have 1 month until I start my full-time job. I am just beginning my studies, and I signed up for the GMAT on the last Friday of June.

I know one month is a short time to prepare, but since I have a month between school and work, I have a large amount of time (all-day, every day) I can devote to GMAT prep. I consider myself a well-rounded student; I scored 33 on the SAT math, I read the Wall Street Journal daily, and I was designated as the best writer in Honors undergraduate finance classes.

I have the OG12 and the official practice CAT's but that's it for materials. I'm not sure if I should get any other materials for my 1 month prep, or the best way to attack this thing. The goal is 700+.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[VP_Jim]

It sounds like you're a pretty bright guy/girl, so it seems on the surface that you're in good shape. However, there is only one way to find out - take a practice CAT as soon as possible. Your study strategy will depend on the results.

As for the books you have, the OG might be enough, but I'd also recommend picking up a prep guide from one of the reputable companies. Since I'm clearly partial to Veritas, I'll let others advise you which they like best.

Taking the GMAT straight out of college is a great idea - kudos, and good luck!

[4score20]

The Manhattan GMAT series is a good source for prep. Kaplan is great for students aiming for 500-650.

[zoomer]

I just finished reviewing my first official practice CAT that I took yesterday. Score was 660, 42 in quantitative and 40 in verbal.

Thanks for the replies! I think I will improve in the math just with more practice. I need to brush up on those skills. I aced everything in the verbal minus the sentence correction, and I feel like I missed most, if not all, of those questions. Any thoughts on the best way to study this in a relatively short time frame?

[VP_Jim]

For sentence correction, pick up a prep guide to learn the main GMAT grammatical errors. There are, of course, lots of grammatical rules in English, but only a relatively small fraction of them end up on the GMAT. If you're an avid reader with a strong verbal background, it should be pretty straightforward stuff - you just need to get tuned into seeing key words etc. on the test.