GMAT 3 Month Study Plan
Three months is enough time to see all of the material on the GMAT. It’s also easy to waste that time if you study haphazardly. If you have about twelve weeks before your test date, this step-by-step GMAT study guide will help you make the most of your time.
1) Take a GMAT practice test.
Yes, even if you haven’t studied at all!
Imagine a college class where you got to preview the final exam on the very first day. For the rest of the semester, you’d know exactly what to pay attention to in class and what to practice. By taking a practice test early, you prepare your brain for the task ahead.
Before your practice test, read these pages, which outline the time limits and question types:
Here’s where to get your first practice test for free: Manhattan Prep Free Practice GMAT
2) Gather your GMAT prep resources.
If you choose a Manhattan Prep GMAT course or GMAT Interact, we’ll provide the materials, the syllabus, and plenty of guidance. So, this study plan assumes that you’re studying for the GMAT on your own. Here’s what you’ll need.
- GMAT Official Guide: Over 900 official retired test problems
- Manhattan Prep’s All the GMAT: Content Review: Covers all of the GMAT Quant, Verbal, and Integrated Reasoning content; Includes 6 computer adaptive practice tests that simulate the GMAT experience
- Optional: Manhattan Prep Foundations of GMAT Math and Manhattan Prep Foundations of GMAT Verbal: Purchase either or both of these guides if you want extra practice with the basics before you start studying harder GMAT material
- mba.com: Sign up for an account on mba.com for two free practice tests and a set of practice questions. You can also purchase more questions and four additional practice tests.
3) Create your GMAT study calendar.
Create a calendar to manage your GMAT journey.
Start by putting your official test date and your practice tests on your calendar. Plan a practice test every other week, ending at least one week before your official test. A practice test requires about 5 hours of work in total: 2.5-3.5 hours to complete the test (depending on whether you include the Analytical Writing Assessment and Integrated Reasoning sections), and the remaining time to review. Schedule a review day on your calendar after every practice test.
Schedule at least one rest day every week to refresh your brain. Be realistic about when you may be unable to study, as well. You might have good intentions of studying while on vacation, but when the time comes, it’ll probably be tough to hit the books.
4) Plan some review days.
The most important study session is the review session. When you do a review session, there are a few different things you might be doing. You could quiz yourself with flashcards, reread a chapter you’ve already read, analyze your error log, or—most importantly—redo old problems. Learning doesn’t happen in the heat of the moment, when you’re under pressure to quickly solve a problem you’ve never seen before. It happens later, when you revisit that problem calmly and with an analytical mindset.
Schedule one review session per week, and don’t blow it off! This is the most important studying you can do.
5) Schedule your next two weeks of GMAT prep.
A good study plan has balance. Efficient studying finds a middle ground along a number of different dimensions:
Here’s how that could translate into your first two weeks of studying:
This study plan is likely to be successful for a few different reasons.
- It includes days off, but also has 8 to 9 hours of smart, structured studying every week.
- It focuses on a handful of different topics across both Quant and Verbal.
- It includes a review day every week.
- It has a mixture of learning new information and practicing actual problems.
If the first two weeks of your study plan look like this, you’re on the right track.
6) Think about the big picture of your GMAT prep.
I’ve recommended planning two weeks at a time because you should take a practice test approximately every two weeks. Analyzing each practice test will give you more information about your strengths and weaknesses, which will give you new ideas about what to study.
However, you can lay out the broad strokes of your study plan well in advance.
- For the first 6-8 weeks (depending on where you’re starting), focus on learning and practicing new material.
- For the following 2-4 weeks, focus on strengthening your performance. There may be a little bit of content left to study, but you should spend most of your time working on official GMAT problems.
- For the 1-2 weeks before your test, focus on review and mindset. This is a good time to practice mindfulness, visualization, and anxiety reduction techniques.
During the first 6-8 weeks of your plan, here’s what a study week might look like.
During the following 2-4 weeks, here’s what a study week might look like:
And here’s what you might do the week before your test:
7) Use your study plan wisely
Here are a few last-minute tips for building, maintaining, and using your GMAT study plan:
- The point of a study plan is to never waste time wondering what you should do next. Take the time to create and maintain it so you can use your time efficiently later.
- Start with an eight to ten hour study week, then adjust upwards or downwards depending on your needs.
- Plan the times you’ll devote to studying, as well as the dates. For instance, plan to study from 6:30 to 7:30 every Monday morning, or from 1pm to 4pm every Saturday afternoon.
- Quality beats quantity. There’s no rule that says you have to do every Official Guide problem.
- Trust the process. If your practice test scores stay the same or even drop, it doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t learning. Your performance might be lagging behind your knowledge, so try reviewing material you already know and working on your timing and scratch work.
- Appreciate your GMAT study experience. Studying for the GMAT can be a means to genuine personal growth, not even necessarily related to your business school career. When you study, you’re actually changing the way you think. That takes time and hard work, but can be profoundly rewarding in the end.
Chelsey Cooley
is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington. Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170Q/170V on the GRE. Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here.