GMAT Preparation in 6 Months

Month One

Aim

• 20 hours of study
• Finishing 10 – 20% of the program

Adapt yourself to the official site of GMAT (mba.com) and learn about the GMAT score and other details. A crucial task is to create a list of B-schools you’d like to study in and figure out their GMAT cut off. This way set your target score, Harvard’s GMAT cut off is around 729 for instance, if the school you’re aiming for also has similar scores then you know what to aim for. But always aim for higher than the demanded score.

If you’re new to GMAT syllabus, take a preliminary test which will provide you with a diagnostic score witnessing which you can determine:

• Your strong and weak points;
• The difficulty level of the exam;
• If time management was a problem;
• If focusing constantly an issue;

Time-management: Don’t worry about the timings during this time, you’ll have ample time to determine the exact time that should be allotted for solving each answer.

External Resources: The GMAT official guide is of great use as it comprises of authentic materials.

Note-taking: From this time onwards establish a habit of note-taking and reviewing things. For instance, if you are commencing with GMAT Verbal – Reading Comprehension you can put all the subject-verb agreements question types/topics in one segment along with the rule and examples of each kind and make it a flashcard.

Month Two

Aim

• 20 hours of study
• 20 – 35% of the program complete

Now when the introductory part is done of both verbal and quant, let us get into details. It can be anticipated that the GMAT data sufficiency part can be handled, which is considered the most dreadful section.

In the GMAT verbal section, you’ll be properly understanding the three sections and:

• Dealing with more than the fundamental grammar skills for sentence correction;
• Learning how to break an argument in GMAT critical reasoning;
• Design your reading structure and deal with the general and specific question types

Tutor assistance: It may happen that you will need extra assistance while learning about the above 30% program and taking assistance from a tutor is advised.

External Resources: practise questions are the best way to go and at this time practise only the GMAT verbal – RC and CR questions. Don’t jump to an uncovered segment.

Note-taking: Constantly keep a track of your notes, review summaries and categorically arrange your notes depending on your need.

Time-management: You don’t have to extremely cautious about the time taken yet. Though keep a watch on how long the questions are taking and which particular questions are taking more time.

Month Three

Aim

• 20 hours
• 30 – 45% of the program complete

This can be termed as one of the most pivotal section that requires extra care. This section deals with the hard questions that most of the candidates are fearful about. practise all the moderate to hard questions of GMAT quant and verbal. If you’re facing issues with anything spend more time solving it.

Tutor assistance: This is the time when most of the test-takers seek help as the questions can be really tricky just like the GMAT exam.

External resources: Keep on practising as this is the time which requires the most practising. In the same manner, don’t answer questions which you haven’t covered.

The note-taking and time-management tips will still be the same.

Month Four

Aim:

• 20 hours of study
• 40 – 60% of the program complete

GMAT AWA Section: This month the focus will be on the GMAT AWA section where you will need to produce an essay and get it checked by one of the expert who will be marking it based on the scoring guidelines. After receiving back the essay, based on the comments put, write down the next one. This way continue writing the essays based on the recommendations and guidelines stated by the expert. Though AWA is not such an important section but certain B-schools consider it for examining the language proficiency of a candidate.

practise Test: After completing 50% of your program, it is time to indulge in another full-length practise test. This particular test will teach you how to manage time, how you feel while taking the exam in a real-time manner, how you’re going to manage during the exam and more.

Time-management: By this time, test takers will learn numerous GMAT time-management tips and implementing them in the practise test is the way-out. Now, they need to strictly calculate the time they are spending on each answers. Though it is never recommended to hurry to abide by the ‘have to finish by 2 minutes’ rule.

Month Five

Aim:

• 30 hours
• 60 – 75% of the program complete

By this time, most of the academic syllabus is covered and you’ve absorbed quite some knowledge. The extra time in this month should be religiously spent on practise tests, reviewing, explanatory videos, writing essays and working on external resources.

After completion of 75% of the course, you’ll have finished all the theory portions and will only engage in practise tests. Reviewing will consume time as the amount of knowledge is in abundance. Don’t expect overnight progress as you’re going in a steady pace and engaged in practising.

practise Tests: During the closure of the month 5, the last two weeks should be completely devoted to practise tests one per week. This is extremely beneficial in understanding the stage you’re in, the problem-areas (if any), analyse the practise test and also time taken.

Tutor assistance: During the month five, you’re probably going to need a time-management session from your tutor, go ahead and arrange the same.

AWA Essays: Write few more GMAT AWA essays and get them scored

External Resources: Engage in all kinds of questions and take mini-tests. Like,

Month Six

Aim:

• 25 – 30 hours of study
• 90% of the program complete

Preservation Mode: This is the time when you’re in preservation mode – only practising the older and newer set of questions.

AWA Section: Get two to three essays graded.

practise Test: Take two to three practise tests per week preferably from mba.com and also from other authentic sites you find.

Tutor Assistance: Speak to your tutor one or two weeks before the exam about time-management and other necessary strategies.

Day Before the Exam – Relax !