Wednesday, December 19, 2007

How should I go about preparing for the GMAT?

This is what I would call a good schedule:

1. Buy OG and Kaplan Premier Program. Read through their description on the GMAT for authentic info on what the GMAT actually is.
2. Do some online research for at least a week. Read through as many online discussion forums as possible - mind you, I am talking about general discussion forums; do not peek into the ones that discuss specific problems and answers. At least not yet. This is to give you a wholesome view of the GMAT.
3. Then take the GMATPrep test 1. Since you are doing this without any preps, your score will tend to be on the lower side. This is just to see where you stand before preps.
4. Then take the diagnostic test alone in OG to analyse your section-wise strengths.
5. Then start your actual preps with Kaplan Premier Program. Complete the exercises section by section. As you complete each section, look up other related resources online. This is when you should get into discussing specific problems and solutions related to the section you just completed. Also, go through the various notes and docs available online - if your online research was proper, you would have got these by yourself. Else ping me. I will send them to you. (some hints: there are some docs on scoretop.com called "1000 series". These are sets of 1000 questions in the verbal section.)
6. Once you complete all other resources, start with the OG. Complete all the exercises in this book.
7. Finally, just a week before the day of your actual GMAT exam, take GMATPrep test no. 2. The score you achieve now would more or less be the same score you would get in actual GMAT (My GMATPrep Test 2 score was 10 marks less than my final score). The one week is just to give you some buffer time to prepare in case your GMATPrep Test 2 does not go well.
8. Rock GMAT!
Meanwhile, you would have some full length tests in Kaplan's CDs and any other tests you might have got from the net. Distribute these tests over your schedule so that you keep writing full-length tests at regular intervals. This is to get yourself used to sitting in front of the computer for almost 4 hours. When you take these mock tests, your essay sections would not be evaluated. But DO NOT skip them. Write them in spirit, if at least to get adjusted to the marathon test-writing experience.

This is just my suggestion. Do go through Pagalguy forums. GMAT-acers regularly put up posts there on their preparations strategies.

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