How to formulate a study plan

[SaurabhK172]

Hello Stacey,

I am a newbie to this community and looking for advice on strategy for a serious preparation.
What would be the ideal strategy for a student who is working full time in a demanding job.
Q1: Now I have strategy guides. How to utilize those to the best of my ability?
Q2: Can you guide me which topics should be studied first and from where to practice from ?
In student center, do we have section wise tests like that given in strategy guides ( For e.g. do we have section tests on FDP guide etc).
Q3: I can see lots of information on the student center as well as the strategy guides. What should be the order of preparation of MGMAT guides along with questions at study center. With such vast amount of information residing here, I am not sure from where to start first.
Q4: Please consider my current level as of 450 on a actual test scenario. My only worry is that I should not regret at a later stage that I missed something earlier that could have improved my score.


Thanks !

[StaceyKoprince]

I literally just published a new series about exactly this! See here:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2016/08/ ... study-plan

Take a look through that and then let me know any questions about any of the steps. (It's long. Try to concentrate on just one step at a time. )

I'll add two things:
If your current scoring level is 450, then you will need to start with Foundations of Math and Foundations of Verbal. Did you buy those strategy guides as well? Not sure whether you got the complete set or just the 10-set.

Given that you're working full-time in a demanding job, you'll probably need more than the average time. I'd aim for a 4 to 6 month timeframe instead of the more common 3 to 5 months.