Gmat Study Plan

[november22]

I'm working 3 days and next 4 days I study. In these 4 days I study 35 pages per day. By August 2015 end I'll be done with 9 Manhattan & 3 Official Guides.

Then my Plan is to do Kaplan Premier just solve once complete book and review 9 Manhattan & 3 Official guides along with 13 cats I'll do between September - November.


December, I'll write my game exam.

How is this plan.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

It's tough to answer your question without a few pieces of key information.
- What's your target score?
- How are your GMAT skills currently?

Have you taken an official practice test yet? https://www.mba.com/the-gmat/download-fr ... tware.aspx

It may be the case that you're already scoring above your target score, in which case you may not need to prepare at all. Or you may only need to boost your Verbal or Quantitative score, in which case you can modify your plan significantly.

I always encourage students to take a practice test VERY early in their studies (within the first week of preparing). I do this for several reasons:
- Students should know, as soon as possible, exactly what they will be preparing for over the coming weeks and months.
- The results of this test help students gauge the amount of work required to reach their target score.
- These practice tests help build confidence, since scores inevitably improve as the student prepares.

Cheers,
Brent

[november22]

I'm not one of those students who can write exams without preparing anything as I dont think I can score great without preparing.

My target is 700. 4 days when I study I study 35 pages and there are 12 books for manhattan and official guides.

My question is should I just go for 9 manhattan and 3 official study and review all. Should I do kaplan premier guide and its cat's.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

I'm not one of those students who can write exams without preparing anything as I dont think I can score great without preparing.

Interestingly enough, I wrote an article (https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/tak ... st-already) around that exact response to taking a practice test early in one's studies.

My response (as quoted from the article): Unless you have a remarkable history of mastering every activity (skiing, tennis, golf, guitar, piano, etc.) on your first attempt, you're probably familiar with the less-than-perfect outcomes that most mortals experience at the beginning of ANY new endeavor. The GMAT is no different.

My question is should I just go for 9 manhattan and 3 official study and review all. Should I do kaplan premier guide and its cat's.

I could recommend that you to purchase every GMAT guide and every CAT that's available on the market, or I could recommend that you hold off on purchasing the Kaplan guide, or I could recommend something in between.
To provide a reasonably good answer, I'd need to know where you currently stand with regard to your GMAT skills.

Cheers,
Brent

[[email protected]]

Hi november22,

To build on what Brent mentioned, it's a good idea to take an initial FULL-LENGTH CAT early on AND then take CATs at regular intervals. Keep in mind that you probably won't score at a really high level on those first few CATs no matter what approach you take. By taking those CATs earlier (rather than later), you can learn a lot more about your strengths and weaknesses. That information will help you to properly adjust your study plans and discover any minor problems you might have. Waiting to try to 'fix' any problem areas until the end of your studies is NOT a good idea.

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

[november22]

Gmat instructors told me in Toronto that Manhattan and official guides are enough and no need to purchase kaplan guide and they also say not to attempt any unofficial cats like vertias, kaplan and to some extent manhattan as they say MBA cat's are real representation of game day result.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

Gmat instructors told me in Toronto that Manhattan and official guides are enough and no need to purchase kaplan guide and they also say not to attempt any unofficial cats like vertias, kaplan and to some extent manhattan as they say MBA cat's are real representation of game day result.

That's true; the official practice tests are the best. So, make your first practice test an official one (and do it before you spend any more time crafting the "ideal" study plan)

Cheers,
Brent

[[email protected]]

Hi november22,

Can you provide the names (or the websites) of the GMAT instructors who gave you that advice?

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

[november22]

No one really likoe to say which guides are better as they all are sponsors. I spoke with 1 GMAT tutor whoe has gmat institute in Toronto, he told me in less time its better to do manhattan and official guides.

[Rich@EconomistGMAT]

Hi november22,

While the advice your instructors gave might have worked for people in the past, each test-taker is unique and requires a different study plan to cater to his or her needs. This is why taking a practice CAT early on is an important way to start your prep, as everyone here has mentioned. It's clear that you're willing to put in long hours to prepare for the GMAT, but it's crucial that you identify your weaker areas so you can focus more of your attention on improving your grasp on those concepts. My concern here would be that you spend too much time on areas you're actually comfortable with because you're not 100% clear on which areas you need to improve in most.

Best,
Rich

[november22]

I'm not good in any dear. Studying after long time means I need to know each topic and each book very well.