8 weeks till GMAT-Strategy?-HELP!!!!!!

[Lmircea1]

Hy!

I would like to take the GMAT just before Christmas so that I can send an early application to the universities. I want to fallow a Master in Finance so GMAt is crucial.

I started preparing 2 weeks ago. I already bought OG 11, Kaplan 800, and Kaplan Premier Program.
I have a really easy schedule at the university so I can study 6 to 10 hours a day.

So can anyone suggest a proper strategy for just 7 weeks?
Please help!1:)

[wickely]

Seven weeks is plenty of time, but 6-10 hours a DAY is way too much. If you do more than 3-4 a day you will burn out bigtime. Quality over quantity, my friend.

I would also take back the Kaplan materials and get something else. They're much harder than the real test and the scoring is way off. People here are always freaking out about their Kaplan scores (seriously, scroll through the forum...at least one post a day about it, sometimes more).

The OG 11 is a must for practice questions. Did you get the official tests too? They're free and you can download them from www.mba.com. They're called GMATPrep. Must do those!!!

Instead of Kaplan I would use Cracking the GMAT from Princeton Review. It has the best overall review of the test and it's an easy read. I thought the strategies were very useful when I got stuck and couldn't solve the problem. The tests are also much better than Kaplan's; they are adaptive like the real thing and the scoring is much closer.

While you're prepping be sure to carefully review your mistakes and understand what went wrong before moving on. Don't do too many tests, but again, take time to analyze them. People who do question after question and test after test without really understanding the results don't see much improvement. But seven weeks is enough time to do it if you're methodical and diligent.

Good luck!

[VP_Jim]

I agree with the above: seven weeks is plenty of time, and anything over (I'd say) even 3 hours a day is too much. There is no way you'll be studying the way you need to study if you work any longer than that, as you'll be burned out.

The OG is the best place to start, followed by the supplements to the OG. Honestly, I don't think you should plan on doing more than that unless you take a prep class. That's about 1,500 questions, plus practice tests and study time.... more than enough. As above - quality over quantity when it comes to time spent studying.

Also, since you're applying for finance, you'll want to make the quant score as high as possible - make sure you really focus on nailing down your math basics.

Good luck!