The Best Plan for Studying

[ncabraloff]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to get some color regarding how I should be studying for the GMAT. I'll start the 9-week course next week, but I have been studying on my own for the last 2 weeks. I feel as though there are a lot of books (8 strat, 3 official, etc) and I'm not sure how to make the most out of my studying time.

If anyone has a set structure that they used for studying, please share. Thanks in advance.

P.S, I took a practice CAT and received 490, with verbal much stronger than math (which is odd because it was the opposite from SAT, due to me forgetting a lot of stuff).

[StaceyKoprince]

Great question - I'm glad you're getting a head start on this.

First, have you already received the syllabus for the course? We do have a set syllabus, and you're generally going to follow it, but you're also going to prioritize based upon your strengths and weaknesses. Your teacher will talk about this on the first day of class.

In order to get a better idea of how to structure the study time you spend without your teacher (which will be most of your study time, of course), take a look at these articles:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... study-plan
You already have a syllabus that comes with the course, but this article still gives you an idea about all of the "moving pieces" to consider.

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/09/ ... your-study
This article will help you set up your individual study sessions in a productive way.

After you take your first practice test, read this article and do the analysis described:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23 ... tice-tests

And then use this series of articles to help you review any test or other practice problems you do:

Main article (read first):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm

By question type (examples of how to use the main article):
SC: http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/GMATprep-SC.cfm
CR: http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/CR-assumption.cfm
RC: http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... estion.cfm
PS: http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm
DS: http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm

Finally, this article touches on a major skill that's taught in the first class. After that class, read this article; it will help reinforce the lessons:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/09/ ... t-problems
(Note: do wait until after the first class - this article doesn't provide the full lesson taught in the class, and it's better to get that first.)

Finally, if you want to continue to use the forums as a resource (and I highly recommend it!), read this article:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/05/ ... the-forums

Note that I wrote that last article for another site, Beat the GMAT, but the general principles apply to any forums on which you want to participate.

Good luck!

[ncabraloff]

Great thank you! Appreciate this.

[StaceyKoprince]

you're welcome!