Hello - welcome to GMAT Club.

If you are new to GMAT and looking how to start and dip your toe in the
water - this is the right place to start.
Step 1: First, You should familiarize yourself with the GMAT structure and
principles if you have not done so already - see GMAT FAQ for details.
You can also visit m http://www.mba.com m and poke around. While you
are there - go ahead and download GMATPrep - 2 practice tests released
by makers of the GMAT. These 2 tests contain real GMAT questions, follow
real GMAT principles, and are the best at estimating your GMAT score at
any point in time.
Step 2: Take a practice test to find out how far you are from your
target . Many believe it is a good use of one of the free GMAT Prep tests
(I'll tell you to actually get more than 2 tests out of the package later).
The main reason it is a good use is that you can see your starting point
(now) and then compare it against the ending (taking GMAT).
Alternatively you can use any other computer adaptive test from
Princeton, Kaplan, Manhattan, or others and then use GMAT Score
Estimator/Calculator to find your real GMAT equivalent. If you are
offered to write an Essay (AWA) - skip it. For listing of all available GMAT
tests - see l all-gmat-cat-practice-tests-links-prices-reviews-77460.html l
Step 3: Find out what GMAT score you actually need. Just to give you an
idea - You need 700 for Top 10 schools, 680 for Top 20, and 650 for Top 50
to pass - meaning your score should not be an issue and you will need
something 50 points higher to actually stand out. Most people are able to
improve between 50 and 150 points - that should give you an estimate of
what you can count on based on the diagnostic test you just took.
Step 4: Identify your weaknesses - take a look at your practice test score
and note the raw score distribution (you will get one three digit score
such as 600 and 2 two-digit scores such as 35, 40 - those two are your
raw scores for each of the sections. They have corresponding
percentiles). See how you rank in each. Also, do a basic mistake analysis
and understand which question types are the most challenging for you.
The options are PS, DS, CR, RC, SC and potentially even more detailed
such as probability, or assumption questions, etc. Don't only look at what
questions you got wrong, but also why. Why did you make a mistake? You
can also take a diagnostic test - GMAT Club offers a Quant Diagnostic test
and eGMAT offers a verbal diagnostic. Use this information to build your

study plan.
Step 5: Design your study plan - finally!
You need to build up your toolkit and get some ammo for the GMAT. You
will need books or a course (online or in person) to refresh/learn
fundamentals and then test taking strategies. You will also need GMAT
tests to practice those strategies and also evaluate your prep level. See
these links for: GMAT course reviews, GMAT Books reviews
For collection of all GMAT Tests available today: l all-gmat-cat-practicetests-links-prices-reviews-77460.html l
Finally - chart/plot/graph your study plan - use this calendar format
Step 6: Avoid typical GMAT prep mistakes and pitfalls.
Here is the most common one I see - jumping into questions and tests
completely unprepared and expecting results/miracles. GMAT consists of
several layers and it is important to master each one before moving on to
the next - think of it as of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. There is no use in
satisfying your social needs before you can take care of basic needs such
as safety and food. The same is here, if you don't know the underlying
principles that GMAT is testing (such as grammar, arithmetic, etc) there is
no use in solving hundreds of questions or taking multiple GMAT tests.
This means that if English is not your native language, you should not
work on the RC strategies if you can't understand half of the passage you need to get comfortable reading long passages of text before moving
on. To illustrate this principle, consider the following hierarchy for the
GMAT:
Attachment:
gmat pyramid.gif [ 12.6 KiB | Viewed 1701184 times ]

In the General Knowledge stage cover basics for a chapter/section/area

In the Question Strategies stage start practicing questions either for the
area you just covered or for an entire section but don't attempt questions
for sections you have not covered yet
In the Test Strategies start taking full length tests and practice on
putting questions and knowledge together
Step 7: Commit to excellence and doing the best job possible. Think
about what you can do to improve your score is it creating your own
notes? Is it not moving to the next chapter until you are able to get 90%
of the questions right? Is it reading a lot of fiction to get comfortable
reading? Is it shifting your schedule to wake up at 5 AM and study till 8

before work? Is it investing in the right books, courses, and tests? You get
the idea

Here is the most common GMAT study plans used by

GMAT Club Members:
If you study best with books, get the full collection of the MGMAT Guides
or Veritas Prep Guides + OG 13. The book bundles come with everything
you need and both are fully all-inclusive in terms of what you need. My
only other suggestion is to get the MGMAT Roadmap which serves a
collection of study-related tips. This is a reliable/proven approach with
good results. The cost will be $150-300.
If you prefer an online study option, use the Magoosh, GMAT Pill, or
eGMAT (verbal only) online courses. Like books, they come with
everything you need, including practice tests and quizzes. In addition,
online courses provide constant feedback and instructor support and you
also get GMAT Club tests free of charge with GMAT Pill and eGMAT. These
Courses offer a free trial and a score improvement guarantee. E-GMAT in
particular is very popular with non-natives. Your cost may even be less
than with books ($99 - 300)
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Month 1
Start with Math section first and focus just on math alone (you can
do both math and verbal but I suggest you put all attention into one).
Both MGMAT and Veritas Prep have numbered books, so all you have to do
is open Book1 or Book0 and just follow along. Plan to spend 4 weeks on
it.
Start using an Error Log - keep track of your mistakes and guesses
-this will become your study guide in Month 3.
Optional Step: If you are feeling the load is too heavy and you are
really weak in Math - get MGMAT Math Foundations book; it is great in
providing a more general overview of math concepts.
At the same time, start reading GMAT Fiction (see below for details
on what it is for)
Get involved with the Math Forum - you will learn a lot esp. when
you try to teach someone or explain something
After you are done with the math section - start taking the math
portion of the tests you have.
Evaluate results and decided if you need to spend more time in
Math and patch up certain weak areas or move on to Verbal. This

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decision will be based on your target GMAT score. If you are looking for
high 600's and 700's, I would not move past Quant unless I was able to
score around Q44 and possibly higher. Quant scores have been inflated
recently with Q51 (highest possible quant score clocking a mere 97th
percentile and Q49 is 81st), so make sure you are up there. Do not leave
a chapter or a section unless you were able to solve 90% of the questions
correctly in the allotted time. Dont run away from your mistakes
sooner or later they will catch up; the better strategy is to address them
right there and then and make sure you never see them again.
If you need additional help in Quant - refer to the Math Resources
on GMAT Club or the GMAT Math Books section. Another book you may
consider is the PR 1012 - it contains targeted GMAT practice questions,
which could be helpful in honing one's skills.
Though may seem attractive, Advanced Quant book from MGMAT
has received mixed reviews from the users - many feel it is really too
hard and is not representative of the GMAT's difficulty. We did attempt to
go through it and even for yours truly, it proved discouraging and painful.
Unless you are really bored, it may be a book better left for another
time.
If you are comfortable with Quant but want to get to Q50+, use the
GMAT Club Tests - they contain only hard questions and were designed as
practice for high-level math scorers. You can purchase them, earn a free
subscription by earning 25 Kudos, or sign up with a partner course
(almost all come with GMAT Club tests as a bonus)
Another worthwhile resource for you may be this quant-focused
discussion: how to get from Q44 to Q50
Sidebar
At this time you will probably be wondering about questions such as how
many can I get wrong and still get a Q50? and other questions which
really do not have answers. If you find yourself wondering about these
things at night, head over to the following discussions:
GMAT algorithm how does it work?
What-If analysis of the GMAT Prep
How are GMAT scores calculated and what is a raw score?
Has anyone scored an 800? Yes, he has.
Month 2
Start working on the Verbal section. You can start with any
question type, but my suggestion would be to tackle Sentence Correction
first as it is usually the most straightforward

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Error Log!
Sentence Correction Optional Step: If you are not a native speaker,
you will need a good grammar book or a verbal-intensive course such as
the SC course by eGMAT that focuses on concepts for non-native
speakers. Several grammar books are recommended on the Forum ( l
best-gmat-grammar-book-for-international-students-79934.html l ). We
have created a book specifically for this need - Ultimate GMAT Grammar
(it covers all of the tested grammar topics on the GMAT, plus a bit more
concepts that international students seem to struggle the most (articles,
etc). The best thing of all is that it is Free ). Other books to consider
are Kaplan Verbal Foundations and MGMAT Verbal Foundations. This is for
you to decide how much help you need or how much time you have. Also,
take a look at GMAT Club's Verbal Resources for many copies of study
notes.
If you are short on time and cant cover the MGMATs SC book, you
can use the Kaplan Verbal Workbook - it has good strategies and I have
personally used it to prepare, so it does work, though it is not as
complete as the MGMAT or Vertas Prep books.
Critical Reasoning Optional Step: If you need additional help with
Critical Reasoning - Do not get both PowerScore CR and Manhattan GMAT
CR - the books are virtually identical (not really but kind of). Instead, you
can get an inexpensive online course such as SC eGMAT or GMAT Pill's CR
Pill. You can also use the PR 1012 book for targeted practice with
Assumption or Conclusion questions or you can go very heavy weight and
use LSAT books, but that's a tad too hardcore and usually unnecessary.
See BMs review of the LSAT resources.
Reading Comprehension is often the hardest area to conquer.
Unless you strongly feel that Reading is your forte, I would recommend
you pick up a reading habit for the time being. I have written a large
post on what I call GMAT Fiction and its benefits - take a look. I felt that
reading books was a big contributor to my SC and RC abilities and gave
me a 96th percentile in Verbal (not too shabby for a person who spoke
zero English until 12). There are no downsides to this really - worst thing
possible is that you would have read some great books. And yes - make
sure you read them during your low productivity time (at night, during
transit, etc).
Verbal forum should be your hobby by now and we have a great
feature GMAT Club Forum Timer. Use it! If you have not discovered it
yet, you should the timer will keep track of all your practice and even
more it will suggest you questions (every day Monday through Friday)
that are at your level, and after about 10 questions in SC and CR, it will
even give you a daily estimated GMAT score.

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Verbal Advantage you may have seen badges and posts about it
make sure you use this initiative. Every year for about 3 months, GMAT
club teams up with the best verbal prep companies to bring you the best
experts, articles, and questions. You can use these resources at any time
and benefit from the previous years of work. Verbal Advantage 2013 and
also the first season Verbal Advantage 2012
Take the verbal-only portion of the tests to evaluate your progress
(compare to how you did in the diagnostic test).
Another worthwhile resource for you may be this quant-focused
discussion: how to get from V30 to V40
Month 3
This month should be spent on 2 things: taking full length tests
(polishing your test taking techniques, timing, stamina) and Reviewing
your error log (going through your weaknesses, making sure you
understand why you keep making mistakes and how to solve every
problem you encountered). You can start using Error log earlier than this
by the way - the earlier the better.
You can also use this time to prolong your prep (we assume most
will run about 4 weeks late and will need this time) or you can use it to
spend on digging deeper in some areas.
Schedule your test if you have not done so already.
Start taking full length tests (including AWA and IR ) - this is
important for your test stamina. Plan to spend a Saturday on this and
then subsequent test review.
Spend a few weeks taking tests and drilling down into your areas of
weakness. Create a "black list of questions" that you continue to struggle
with and find a way to solve them with minimal mental effort.
For IR, there is always the big question of, how important is IR
really, and the answer, clearly, is nobody knows. We expect that it will
be more definite in 2015/2016 years when the first IR test-takers have
graduated and GMAC can trace patterns. Meanwhile, go here for IR
resources and practice.
The BIG Day and Final Thoughts
Make sure you take a look at these before you take the GMAT:
What to do 30-14-7-1 days before the GMAT?
What to expect at the test center and 8 things not to do
Analysis of Patterns among those who scored 750+ and what they
did
The best of GMAT Clubs debriefs get inspired!

Common Mistakes with GMAT preparation

1: Rushing to take tests before learning anything - waste of tests
2: Starting with the Official Guide - waste of official GMAT questions
3: Giving GMAT the worst time of the day - studying after a long day
4: Skipping basics and rushing to advanced topics
5: Moving through material too fast or too slow
6: Starting to prepare with poor English proficiency

How long should you prep really?

The study plan above suggests 3 months, and that's probably 10-15 hours
per week (2 hrs/work day and 5 hours on the weekend).
Over 3 months, that's about 120 - 180 hours, which includes reading some
books, so the true study time is probably 80 - 120 hrs.
What if you study 2x or 3x of that and take 9 months instead of 3, can
you triple your improvement? No, actually, your performance will be
MUCH worse if you spread out your prep over a time period great than 5
months. Long study stretches are demotivating, hard to keep fresh, and
ultimately ineffective as after 6 months, you start forgetting material
faster than you can learn it and the time you will have to spend 75% of
your time on refresh. It is much more effective to spend 3-4 months, and
thats what I would encourage you to do.

How do you Measure Improvement and what

if you are not seeing any?

Many test-takers waste a lot of tests and precious time by taking unneeded CATs. As a matter of fact, you should be able to get away by
taking no more than 10 CATs during your GMAT love affair. The question
you may ask then is how do I measure improvement and keep track of
my score?
A number of ways actually:
Make sure you are hitting a certain percentage of the questions in
each topic/subject. Set a goal such as 90% of questions have to be right
in exercises, OG, or wherever. E.g. if you just covered Geometry, there is
no reason to take a whole quant CAT since you will only hit 3-4 Geometry

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questions tops (perhaps as few as 1-2) and it will be a minimal impact on

the score, while you will waste a few hours, waste a test, and more
importantly, grow discouraged.
Use short quizzes and exercise. Lets say you covered that same
Geometry chapter in the book and only hit 50% on the quiz at the end of
the chapter. Do 2 things: 1) Analyze your mistakes, read the explanations
how to solve questions, and make sure you can solve each one of them 2)
Go back to the chapter and using the mistakes you just made reread/learn (make notes, create PPT, etc) of the areas you are still
lacking. Then you can use OG, GMAT Club tests, Kapan Quiz bank, or
whatever you want to do real short/quick checks to see if you have
improved.
At this point in time, it does not matter what your overall Quant
score is, it only matters what percentage of the types of questions
ALREADY covered is.
You can use the GMAT Club Forum timer. As long as you take about
10 questions in PS and DS, you will get a quant raw score estimate and as
soon as you do the same in SC and CR, you will get a verbal score
estimate (note that RC is not evaluated). Learn more about the amazing
and free GMAT Club Forum Timer and Workbook here.
Finally, once you have covered ALL of the quant topics, it is time to
take the Quant CAT and similarly when you have finished the Verbal
section, it is time to take the full Verbal CAT. (This is the reason GMAT
Club tests have split quant and verbal CATs we dont think you really
need to take a Full CAT until the very end when you are working on
improving your stamina and test-day strategy, and at that point, you can
just Quant and Verbal CATs with an 8 minute break).
What if No improvement? My suggestion would be to
understand why, what needs to change, and how. You need to answer this
yourself. If you cant, post it on the forum, though I have to warn you, it
is a hard one to answer from afar. A much better option is to get a tutor
for an hour or two (thats all you should need) to get you back on track.
Any decent tutor can spot most of the issues after one session and you
can use the second session to answer any questions and draft a
personalized plan for the rest of your prep. You can also take a course
thats become an especially popular and cheap alternative with the
online offerings from EGMAT, Magoosh, and GMAT Pill, many of which
have courses for less than the cost of books (as long as $59). Many of the
courses are interactive and adapt to your needs. Online adaptive courses
often are much more effective than books since they are audio visual,
provide constant feedback, and provide instructor support.