Guide for GMAT exam preparation in 3 months

3 months is the best time window to get ready for the GMAT test. Not at all like tests. GMAT strikes a harmony between the degree and depth of what it tests. Thus, you don't require anything over 3 months of preparation to perform well and score upward of 680 in the GMAT test.

Week 1: Survey the landscape

Task 1 : Take a full length test available at the official GMAT website. Take a not of your score and understand the score before starting the prep. Do not worry much about what your first score is. Important things is to get a first hand idea about what exactly is tested in the GMAT. You need 4 to 5 hours to complete this task.

Task 2 : Check out for various preparation options available. Take help from any friend or classmate or colleague who has aced the GMAT for reference to test preparation companies, private tutors, online GMAT preparation courses. If you are weak in a particular subject, let’s say quants, focus on quantitative material. There are a lot of course options available including free resources.

Task 3 : Demo classes / Trial sessions. Ask for a demo class if you are choosing an offline course. Take trial sessions if it is online. If you think that you can prepare by yourself, try and gather course materials and every book that you may get. You should complete this task by the end of week 1 and get ready to start your prep.

Weeks 2 to 8: Core Learning Phase

GMAT tests quants and verbal topics that are taught at high school level. However, GMAT puts a lot of emphasis on the why and what of each concept. Just studying the topics would not be enough. You would need to understand conceptually. For example, you would learn to factorize a quadratic equation in 45 mins but the would you know what is the geometric representation of that same quadratic equation? What do the roots of the equation represent on the x-y plane?

The idea is to focus on the why and what as much or more than just the how.

GMAT quant has about 20 topics. And the break up is 40% arithmetic, 40% algebra and 20% geometry.

Whatever I have mentioned about quants will work for verbal as well. For instance, when it comes to GMAT Sentence Correction, grammar is important. But that is not all what is tested. GMAT SC focuses on communication - so knowing grammar rules is necessary but not sufficient.

Use your time and effort in these 7 weeks grasping as many concepts as needed. If your fundamentals are strong, you will definitely be acing the test.

Weeks 9 and 10: Section tests

Take topic wise tests. Taking  timed tests in each sub section is critical in acing the exam. If you are working, try to take one section test in quant and one in verbal each day. Schedule your time is a way that you spend about an hour of testing and another hour analysing the tests to plug in the gaps in preparation. During weekends you would need to double your efforts.

By the end of this phase, you should have taken about a couple of dozen tests, each in quant and verbal.

Weeks 11 to 13: Take Full length practice

Take full length tests. You have about 3 weeks left before the big day. You should plan to take anywhere between 6 and 9 full length tests before you take the real GMAT. More than taking tests, analysis of the test is more important and the quality of analysis is more important. Maintain a log of areas that require attention and create a timeline to address them and keep a tab on these tasks. Go through the error log before every subsequent test you take - it will help you stay vigilant during the test and avoid some of the avoidable mistakes.

Get help : Do not try to do it all yourself. Find a mentor. Find a study partner

Your objective is to reach your target score.

1.Try to find a mentor within the framework of your GMAT prep course or outside it to help you along the journey.

2.It would be amazing if you can find a study partner. If you have a study partner whose target score and intensity of preparation is similar to yours Ideally someone who can complement your strengths and whose target scores and intensity of preparation are closer to yours. He/she can help you stay focused and motivated.

Ace the Test!

If you manage to stay the course as outlined for the next 3 months, you would have no problems in reaching your target score. But please note that, do not expect miracles on the test day. If the maximum you have scored in your mock tests is 650, then it is very unlikely that you would get lucky and score a 700+ score on your final test.

What you need for a stellar score is to stay committed and dedicated and keep at it.

Best wishes for your GMAT prep.

Hello Bimala,

GMAT is a hard examination to crack and at times while preparing you might get demotivated and loose hope, however the biggest help you can get is to not get demotvated during trivial times. Certain tips for you to prepare effectively are:

• Before you start with a proper and well defined GMAT preparation you should learn all about the examination, the sections it tests you on, the format of the test and the resources you can use in order to prepare effectively.
• Look for an ideal place or perfect spot where you can effectively study in for the next three months. The place you select should make you feel comfortable, should have bare minimal distractions (your phone should be silenced and kept away from you), should be quiet so that you can concentrate on the task at hand and should have all the resources you will need to prepare.
• Be clear about your goals. Select a few target universities where you want to study in, look at their basic GMAT score requirements and study accordingly.
• Start you preparation by taking a diagnostic test. This will help you gain clarity about the amount of preparation you need, it will give you a brief idea about your strengths and weaknesses and it will most importantly give you an idea about the areas you primarily need to focus at.
• Start with basics. Go through the online guide for the sections like quant and verbal. Keep revising the basics as you keep going further as the theoretical and practical applications you learn here are going to be repeated at all times.
• Take mistakex you have made very seriously, keep checking the mistakes and correcting them so that you do not make them again. This will reduce half of your work. Treat your mistakes as opportunities and research about all of them.
• Keep taking 2-3 practice tests every week in order to see how much have you progressed and how far are you from the main goal you have set. Maintain a section wise progress record to know about which section needs attention.
• Keep working on your weaknesses, solve questions and reason it out properly.
• Keep increasing the difficulty level of the questions you are taking up as the weeks pass by. This way you will be well adepted to answer all sorts of questions.
• Do mathematics and verbal everyday for at least 2 hours so that you get a good grip of it by the time you have to give your main examination.
• Time all your practice tests, take breaks between sections if necessary. Timing will give you an idea about how much time you are spending on each section and how much time you should ideally spend on it in order to meet your set goal.
• Read as much as possible, whether it be reading the newspaper for half an hour everyday or it be reading a novel you like, but just read in order to get a grasp of the language and areading will also enhance your vocabulary.

All the best!

I hope this helps!

Do revert back in case of any doubts.

hello bimla,

forsure you can prepare for GMAT examination on 3 months but the is quite diffcult but not impossible thing. As nothing is impossible, you just need to give your full time for gmat preparation sincerly.

as GMAT exam is occur for students who want to do mb and get admission in a good college.

Every one need a good college but for this you should score a good marks in your entrance and clear the eligibility criteria but firstly you need to set your goal that for which college you are looking for and you need to check its eligibiity criteri alast year cut off as well so that yo can prepare accordingly to achiever your goals efficiently.

Now to prepare for GMAT i musyt suggest you to purchase a 10 year for gmat exam an d go through all the question , that what type os question are there and what is the criteria for the exam. you need to go through the latest general knowledge questions as well as the previos year general knowledge question also, they can ask you anything in the exam, so prepare accordingly.

And i must suggest you to hire a tution or tutor for your entrance this may help you a lot, as they have an experinece they teach many students every year and mak ethem clear ther entrance exam with a good rank and score. as they know how the questions may come , because they got idea by their experience. so you must join the coaching classes.

Keep in mind that for which college you are going for , because it gives you an idea that  atleast what score you need or rank need to get admission in that college. so set your goals and prepare hard, just invest all your tiem for 3 montsh in GMAT. go through the syllybus practice logical reasoning questions and all practical quesions. try all type if questions. this will definitely help you out in cracking the exam.

I hope this information helps you out in solving your queery. all the very best have a great future ahead.