GMAT Study Schedule = GMAT Success
Want help with a GMAT study schedule? Here goes. We are going to create an 11 week GMAT study schedule broken down one day at a time. Below is an example of a private tutoring student’s GMAT schedule:
Google Docs is a great place to keep your GMAT schedule so that you can access it wherever you are. Ready to rock? Here’s Week 1 of the ultimate 11 Week GMAT Schedule. Otherwise read more info below on how to use the schedule.
GMAT TIME
Take a look at your calendar and schedule your GMAT study sessions for the next 11 weeks. No joke. Think back to college. You had a schedule for your classes right? Imagine that your classes had a random schedule that changed day to day. Now imagine that not only did the class times change but also their durations. Imagine even that the ending time for a class could change during the class. So a lecture could be 10 minutes or 10 hours. Nightmare! This is how many people approach GMAT studying. I know, sounds crazy. So pick the days and times when you will study. Set them in stone so that you can get into a rhythm. Seriously: this works.
EXPECTATIONS
This GMAT schedule is based on the idea that you will work on the GMAT 6 days a week ( 1 weekday off). Your weekday study sessions will be 2 hours. Weekends 3-5 hours. Many students do well studying for an hour or so in the morning before work. You are fresh at that time. That leaves only an hour or so to get done post work when you are a bit drained. 100% of people that have taken this route felt that doing work in the morning was extremely helpful and made GMAT studying much easier. If you are unable to work this much then this schedule may take you longer than 11 weeks. If you can work more than you might be able to finish your preparation sooner.
GMAT MATERIALS
Gather your materials. Descriptions of all official GMAT materials are here. You do not need everything all at once. You can see in the GMAT Schedule when you will need certain materials. The first things to buy are the Official Guide 13th Edition, the Official Guide for Quantitative Review 2nd edition, the Official Guide for Verbal Review 2nd edition, and Question Pack 1. Ideally buy all the books as kindle copies so that you can do all of your work using a screen as the GMAT is a computer adaptive test and you should always practice with that in mind. This might be a great time to invest in some kind of tablet device so that you can have all of your books with you on the go. While you are at it consider buying The Elements of Style. It has some gems for sentence correction. It is a very short but worthwhile read. The other non-GMAT activity that really helps: Reading. Go ahead and read one challenging article per day. I suggest the Economist. Here are a few tips on how to approach your reading: Economist Reading Comprehension. For general GMAT Quant practice tune in to GMAT Question of the day and the GMAT Sample questions. Both of these resources will teach you a ton of GMAT Quant. Both archives are worth reviewing twice. Lastly, get one of these simulated test pads. You don’t have to use it for all of your practice but certainly use it for all of your CATs.
Official GMAT Materials:
Official Guide for Verbal Review 2nd Edition
Official Guide for Quantitative Review 2nd Edition
GMAT Paper Tests
LSAT Prep tests: 10 More Actual LSAT Preptests, The Next 10 Actual LSAT Preptests
Non-Official GMAT CATs
GMAT Forums:
I do not use/endorse any of these books however if you are studying on your own you will probably need some teaching material. You can use these materials to follow along with the schedule. If an assignment focuses on number properties then go ahead and read the GMAT Club or MGMAT chapter on number properties. You can also search the forums for any specific questions.
GMAT Books:
Power Score Critical Reasoning Bible (for LSAT)
GMATClub Quant Book
Ready to get started???? Here is Week 1 of the ultimate 11 Week GMAT Schedule