GMAT Strategy

OK, this thread is directed to those who are working on a full time job are trying to have a live with their loved one AND are attempting to study for the GMAT as much as possible …. HOW DO YOU DO IT?

I am at the point of wanting to lower my goal of reaching 700! Just because I feel like I don’t get enough quality time to study for the GMAT.

During the week after I come home from work, I get to study at most 2 hours, but these 2 hours are not really very productive. I am tried from a long day at work and hungry and not in the best mood. On the weekend, the Saturday and Sunday is my best bet for a good study session.

Here is my big problem though, and I wonder if other people are having this problem too: I feel like whatever I learn on Saturday and Sunday, is like taking 2 steps forward, during the week, however, my study sessions are rather useless and I feel like I am taking one step backwards again. This vicious cycle gets even worse, when a weekend gets lost for other important activities, such as Easter, last weekend.

How do you manage your time, working people? HELP ME!
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I am facing the same situation. Because I cannot commit some time daily, I did not make a detailed plan as most people do. I just work at improving the understanding of one area at a time. I am able to give maximum of an hour per weekday to sit and study (mostly browsing through Kaplan/Manhattan books). I take a practice test every weekend. And I browse through beatthegmat every time I get the opportunity.

Overall, I am not regretting that I am not able to devote much time. I am ok with whatever time I spend on it. I have tamed some tougher exams in the past and I have confidence that I can do it again.

Moreover, the subjects covered in GMAT is nothing new or tough. It only requires some familiarity with the type of questions and practice on how to eliminate wrong choices. I am getting better at it with time.

I'd try to cut back on weeknights to just an hour...do just one question type a night. Don't hit the books as soon as you get home. Do something to boost your energy or refresh yourself. Take a walk or a shower; eat a high-protein, low-carb dinner.

I'm not nearly as organized in my life as I used to be, but when I was, I'd get home from work, throw on some workout clothes, grab a compilation tape with fast music, and powerwalk through the neighborhood (the fast music helped me keep the pace, even uphill). I'd come back energized, and make a light dinner while doing laundry or other stuff, and then would be sharp and productive the rest of the night. Now that I'm married and a homeowner, there always seem to be bigger things to worry about, so I'm not as productive anymore, but if you can find something that will refresh you physically and mentally before you sit down to study, it will help.

Thanks for your answers so far. That helps a lot. I am glad to hear about people in my situation.


Another thing that I have noticed, and that can be the case for anyone, whether you have time to study during the week or not:

If you have a goal set on when you want to take the GMAT, do NOT let that time frame pressure you to the extend that it impacts your learning. If you recognize that you need more time, give yourself those extra weeks (months).

My issue was that I had the feeling I could not reach my goal of finishing the GMAT this summer, and every time I was studying i noticed that the thought about how far back I was and the fact that I just don't have enough time to study during the week, took my concentration away from learning the material. Big mistake. So if I can't get it done before the summer, oh well, the schools are not running away.

I'm with you. I am just gathering materials and starting to study, but I will be doing it as a married homeowner with 3 kids at home and a part time job. Maybe I am nuts, but I want this really bad and I'll make it work!

gothedistance wrote:I'm with you. I am just gathering materials and starting to study, but I will be doing it as a married homeowner with 3 kids at home and a part time job. Maybe I am nuts, but I want this really bad and I'll make it work!

I agree with you, there is no doubt about that. We will make it work!
Best wishes and 'hard working brain cells' to you!

Seb

Thanks! Luckily, my husband got his MBA in 2003, and I was his support. He says I get to go now, whoo hoo! He is very supportive and will help me on my way. now if only I could explain it to the kids....

I soooo know what you guys are going through. I'm the exact same way. I take the test this Saturday and I'm just hoping to get over 500. I gave up on the practice tests because they were so discouraging (430 & 470) I have also been trying to set aside 2 hours a night during the week and then hitting it whenever I can on the weekends. That lately hasn't even been happening. But I've pretty much gone over each type of problem.....

And I have a new mindset about it now....I'm just going to give it my best on Saturday. I have come to realize that it is rare that people take this test just once.

And it is extremely hard to juggle it all. My husband lives/works 4 hours away so there are lots of phone calls, and I work 50+ hours a week, and take care of a house and yard on my own. I love it, it's great but it's hard when you add in something big on top of it all.

But we can do it.....just hang in there!

I know exactly what you're talking about-believe me I do! I'm working f/t plus taking six units at community college (including a statistics class- I want to show the Admissions Committe that I'm not a total "poet"). The way that I'm working this is that I wake up at five a.m. and head off to the nearest cafe, so that I won't be tempted to roll back to sleep

I've been spending the last few days just trying to come up with a schedule that I can stick to: no wondering this or that- it's right there on paper. That's what I need, and what works for me. If I leave any room for my just "going with the flow", well, no studying is going to get done, that's for sure!

Hope that helps, a little anyways...

I know how you feel, as do many of the forum members.
What works for me (which might not necessarily work for someone else) is to study 1 hour per day on weekdays, mostly i try to answer questions that are posted here on the forums and review some math (I like kaplans book math review) and read essays that got a good score in AWA (I got some from the gmat resources right here in this forum).
In the weekend i send 2 hours in the morning trying to solve problems (from books, gmatPrep or the forum) and in the afternoon i try and do 1 gmat exam (not always a full exam, sometimes only the quantitative or only the verbal).
Pace yourself, how long do you have until your exam?
I found that sometimes I score very well in one particular exam and in the next I score poorly, try not to let this get to you, it's normal, it depends on the source of the exam (kaplans are known to lower your scores).
Best of Luck

I work anything between 6-7 days a week so for me making time to study is pretty difficult. I am also taking the GMAXONLINE course so I get up real early in the morning ( 5am to be precise) and sit for a class. That's 2hrs of studying straightaway.I'm usually in bed anytime between 11 and 12. The advantage of taking a course is that its structured and you know before hand how much you have to complete. i'm sure if i wasnt taking the course i'd be struggling too. I get about 5-6hrs done on a holiday.

I would recommend making a study plan and sticking to it. Dont be too rigid about it but dont be so flexible as to not follow it completely.

I work 40 hours/week and go to college full time, including taking classes this summer, which are out for 6 weeks before class starts again. Not to mention I am married. Not only do I have to take the GMAT but I also must take the LSAT because I am applying to do a JD/MBA. I am applying to University of Chicago and Northwestern so am shooting for scores in the 700+ and 170+ ranges.

When I first took diagnostic tests about a month and half ago I was a little disheartened because I scored 590 and 149. I decided that to meet my goals I would need to find the best books and develop a structured study plan and stick to it. Since I am taking the LSAT first and it is considered the harder test and more of its sections overlap with the GMAT I have studied for that first. I set aside 4 hours each weekday except Friday and 12 hours on the weekend to study and purchased 5 of the highest recommended books targeting different areas and studied for about 6-10 hours for each of the 4 sections of the test, I then wrote notes of everything covered in the material that I wanted to internalize to use on the test and reviewed by going through a different book that covered all sections of the test. I then started doing 1-2 practice tests every day, focusing on using what I had learned and then gradually taking the tests under timed conditions.

After three and a half weeks of serious studying I have been scoring in the 168-170 range on practice tests now, which would be about like going from a 540 to a 720 on the GMAT. I haven’t taken a sample GMAT recently, but plan to in about one or two weeks as I change to studying for the GMAT to make sure I am scoring highly on the verbal from practicing for the LSAT.

Getting into studying was really hard at first, but once I got into the habit of studying for 4-5 hours every day it was easy to study more and more. There hasn't been time to do much else, but I at least do something fun every Friday or Saturday, and it will all be over in 5 more weeks.

I do not think studying for a few hours on the weekend. If you really want to improve I think you need to study at least 4 days per week, try and cover studying for a single section of the test in 1-3 days together and do many practice problems for that section so you understand how the section works well, then move on to a different section.