2 Months to a 700+ score!!

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2 Months to a 700+ score!!

by rjfNC » Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:14 am
This covers the 2 month study strategy I have used. It is collected from a number of various sources and I can attest to its success. Everyone's maximum GMAT score is dependent of two things, that person's preparation time and focus, and his or her capacity for performance under pressure. Both these factors can be influenced by time, comfort level (familiarity with the test), and the proper strategy to learn how to take the GMAT.

The first thing you want to remember, there is NO question on the GMAT you cannot answer. The questions are not difficult, some just take more time than others. The challenge is to answer all the questions, with reasonable accuracy, in the time alotted.

With this philosophy in mind, you can organize the preparation process into two sections. 1) Learning the GMAT and 2)Timing the GMAT. Each section is coverd below, with resources used and timeline, with any luck it can help you beat the GMAT. NOTE: these two sections are not chronological. The preparation process, described below, include self assessments, and reviews that help you baseline your progress.

Step 1 - Baseline Test(2)
Resource: www.mba.com FREE, TIMED, practice test
Time: 3-4 hours
Download the practice test software and install it on your computer. The program has TWO free practice test, with the auto-adjustment programming included. Take one for the baseline, but DO NOT STUDY PRIOR. This is going to hurt, but you will learn alot about the test and yourself. Review the 'flagged' questions and the incorrect answers. See you errors and remember them throughout the study process.

1) Learning the GMAT
Resources: The Official GMAT Review, GMAT 800
Time: 1-1.5 months
This is when the studying starts. You ego is hurt from practice test 1, and you are serious about what you need to attack. You can pick quantitative or verbal first, it doesn't matter. My approach was pretty simple: do question after question after question. And when you want to do questions, go straight to the source. The Official GMAT Review covers actual GMAT exam questions and a short review of information tested in the beginning of each chapter. Do is cover to cover and you will be in a good place.
Time requirement is up to you. The questions you are using to study should not be timed. You are trying to learn the style of question, not putting exterior pressure to force incorrect answers (that will come later). Go through the questions and review your answers. I spent anywhere from 30min to 2 hours studying a night. Whatever you have time for, the point to you are CONSISTENT. Keep the material in the forefront of your mind and you will continue to develop your skill as you study.

Step 3 - RE-Test #1 (2)
After you finish the Official GMAT Review, take another test! Rebaseline and see where you are. Don't expect to blow out the test now, you haven't accounted for time errors or calibrated for question type. But you should see your score improve based on avoiding incorrect interpretations or missleading answer options.

1) Learning the GMAT AGAIN
Resources: The Official GMAT Review, GMAT 800
Time: 4-6weeks (start looking for a scheduled test date)
This round of GMAT studying covers the GMAT 800 book put out by Kaplan. This book is GREAT for charecterizing the GMAT Type of question. It takes the experiences you had in The Official GMAT Review and puts them together. You will be able to organize your thoughts and optimize your methods to attack each question. A note of caution, this book is marketed at 'the hardest questions in the GMAT, for the top scores.' This is true, the questions are harder, but none of them are unanswerable, and ALL of them are written by NON-GMAT Writers! This means you have the possibility of different question styles, and grammatical structure. I noted a lot of differences in the way Kaplan words a question and the way The Official Review words questions. Either way it is very comprehensive review and I highly suggest it.

Step 5 - RE-TEST #2 (2)
This test you should really attack. The questions should be familiar and your methods should be firmly rooted in experience. You know what questions they ask, and what to expect are you take the test. Remember, as you do well the questions get HARDER. This means you should become EXCITED when you get to the end of the exam and the questions are more complex. This test you should attack, but you haven't moved to the performance portion of the study program so don't be surprised when you find yourself running out of time on sections.

Step 6 - Timing the GMAT (2)
Resource: ww.mba.com Retired exams available for purchase ($25)
This is an understated resource. Not only do you get more, official, questions, but they are broken up into sections with a suggested time. Sit down for the section time and get used to taking the test under a time limit. Learn to plug through the questions, and work faster. You should have a date in mind for the actual test and have a goal to perfom on that day.

Test Day!
Show up early, bring your passport, have a snack and water for your breaks. Keep fresh on a full nights sleep. Beat the GMAT

Hope this helps!

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by beatthegmat » Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:36 am
Fantastic work, rfj! Good luck in your apps!
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