New to GMAT!!Need Guidance

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New to GMAT!!Need Guidance

by MickeyMouse » Thu Apr 07, 2016 9:14 pm
I am IT professional with 6+ years of experience.I want to prepare for GMAT and eager to give the best of my effort.But I am confused on where to start and how to start the preparation.I am targeting to appear GMAT within next 6 months.Any guidance for the preparation will be highly appreciated

Thank you in advance :-)
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by diegocml » Thu Apr 07, 2016 11:42 pm
Hi MickeyMouse,

I believe you should take a FULL practice CAT under real exam conditions and then the experts in this forum would be able to better guide you based on your results.

Good luck with your studies!

Diego
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by [email protected] » Fri Apr 08, 2016 9:06 am
Hi MickeyMouse,

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 come up with a study plan.

I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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by ceilidh.erickson » Fri Apr 08, 2016 9:21 am
Here's what you should do:

- Diego is right - the first thing to do is to take a full, timed practice test. You can take an Mprep one for free here: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/free ... tice-test/

- Analyze the practice test you've taken in a lot of depth. Which areas were you weakest? Strongest? Fastest? Slowest? Decide which topics and question types need more of your time and attention. Be very aware of your timing as well.

- post your results on this forum to get targeted advice, and browse through the advice given to other students.

- Use Strategy Guides from some major company (I obviously recommend Mprep, but they'll all contain the same material, just presented in slightly different ways)

- Study topic-by-topic in those guides, then practice each topic with OG problems. For example, read the chapter on SC subject/verb agreement, then go do a set of 8-10 problems in the OGs that relate to that subject. You can find problems by topic using GMAT Navigator: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/stor ... navigator/
Do this for each chapter in the Quant and Verbal strategy guides. Aim to do this in 8-10 weeks.

- Make sure you are tracking all of the OG questions you do, and timing yourself while you practice. Hold yourself to strict 2-min time limits per question! (I highly recommend using Navigator to track your OG problems)

- Alternate between Quant and Verbal. Don't just focus all on quant!

- Keep a record of any mistakes you make, so you can locate patterns in your errors: https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -studying/

- Once you've covered all of the topics, practice your skills with random timed sets out of the OGs. Set the timer for 20 minutes, for example, and do questions 1-10 (skipping any you've already done).

- Take a practice test after 4 weeks, then every 2 weeks after that. Increase to a test every week for the last 2 weeks before your real exam.

- Analyze your data from the random sets and practice tests, and go back to any topics that need extra work.

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

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by mosisbraun » Sat Apr 09, 2016 1:46 am
Hi


I want to say that that you have to take full practice and if you don't understand that where should you start practice so i will suggest you that you will join GMAT preparation classes or online classes or courses of GMAT like gtmexico.com.mx, www.braunprep.com and testpoint.com.mx
these are one of best online training institutes

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by MickeyMouse » Sat Apr 09, 2016 8:37 am
Thank you !!so much for the overwhelming replies.I have taken the CAT and have done fairly poor in the that:

I am attaching the scorecard for reference.It would be really helpful if you can please suggest me the way to start the preparation.

Since I am working I would prefer to have a routine self study
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Diagonistic Test-GMAT.png

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by [email protected] » Sat Apr 09, 2016 8:42 am
Hi MickeyMouse,

Many Test Takers are unhappy with their initial Diagnostic Scores, but you really shouldn't be. That score is just a measure of your current/"starting" abilities and you're going to improve on all of those skills over time. 6 months is plenty of time to practice, hone your skills and score at a much higher level, but you have to define your goals so that we can come up with the best overall Study Plan for you.

1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) Do you know which Schools you plan to apply to?

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by MickeyMouse » Sat Apr 09, 2016 9:00 am
1) What is your goal score? :740+
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School? :By September 2016
3) Do you know which Schools you plan to apply to? :Kellog School of Business,Booth

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by [email protected] » Sat Apr 09, 2016 9:10 am
Hi MickeyMouse,

Now that you've defined your goals, you're going to have to put in some serious work to increase a 400 to a 740+. Thankfully, you don't necessarily have to score that high to get into the Schools that you named, but since both of those Schools are really competitive, you should certainly do your best to score at as high a level as possible.

To raise your scores 340+ points, you'll likely need to invest in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led). When it comes to studying for the GMAT, there are a variety of different options. Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at out website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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