GMAT Roadmap: Your Trajectory up GMAT Mountain, Part 1

8/3/2019 GMAT Roadmap: Your Trajectory up GMAT Mountain, Part 1

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Determining Your Trajectory up the GMAT Mountain:

Developing a GMAT Study Plan

Abby Pelcyger & Stacey Koprince

Tese days, almost everyone preps or the GMAbut surprisingly ew actually planhow to prep in order to maximize the chance or success. Prepping or the GMA

without a plan is like climbing a mountain without a trail map. You may be just start-

ing out or taking a second crack at the ocial test, but whatever stage you are at, you

need a plan. Its our hope that this article will help guide you on your way to develop-

ing your own personalized study plan.

What to Expect During Your Climb

Studying or the GMA, like mountain climbing, has three phases: reaching base

camp, climbing the mountain, and preparing to summit. Each phase has dierent

goals and involves dierent strategies to help you achieve those goals.

Reaching Base Camp

I you are planning on climbing a mountain, you frst need to be sure that you have

the appropriate toolsyou wouldnt want to be halway up Everest beore realizing

that you orgot your ice pick. aking the GMA is no dierent. Our GMA Strategy

Guides (and our classes) assume a basic knowledge o math and grammar, as outlined

in our Foundations of Math and Foundations of Verbalbooks. I your CA score is

below the 40th percentile in a content topic, we recommend that you review the corre-

sponding Foundations book beore diving into the Strategy Guides or a 9-week course.

Climbing the Mountain

Climbing the mountain is mastering the material, not including a comprehensive fnal

review. For most people, this will take 8 to 16 weeks, though it may be a bit shorter i

youve taken the test beore and youre not aiming or a signifcant score gain. I you

take a class, your primary study period will be at least the duration o the class.

Preparing to Summit

Once you have mastered the relevant material, you will need time to review beore youtake the test. Tis review period is key to ully developing your timing strategy. Most

people spend 2 to 6 weeks on a comprehensive review.

InstructorInsights


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Outside Constraints

You need to actor in external constraints that will aect your study time-rame:

Te application deadlines o your preerred schools. You have to work

backwards rom these set dates. Optimally, get the test out o the way

well beore you have to start flling out the applications themselves.

Your GMA score is valid or 5 years, so you can get started very

early!

Allow yoursel one month o buer time to ensure that you can take

the test a second time i you decide to try or a better score.

You may also want to add in a couple o extra weeks as an additional buer,

just in case. Work gets busy, you get sick, you procrastinate things happen.

Picking the Path Thats Right for You

Just as the t ime you need to climb a mountain depends on the mountains height,

where you start, and your pace, the time you need to prep or the GMA depends on

your target score, current ability level (in terms o content knowledge and standardized

test know-how), and your study style.

Target Score: How High Am I Climbing?

First, you need to know the score level that will make you competitive at the schools

to which you plan to apply. Many business schools post the average GMA score o

incoming students on their websites, oten in the admissions or requently asked

questions (FAQ) section. Alternatively, several companies publish Best BusinessSchool-type books that list the statistics or incoming classes.

Current Ability Level: Where Am I Now?

Content: How long has it been since you studied grammar, ound the prime ac-

tors o a number or critically analyzed a reading passage? Whats the ormula or the

area o a trapezoid? When did you last write an impromptu essay?

Te average MBA applicant works or at least a ew years ater college beore returning

to school. Depending on your job, you may or may not have kept up with the content

tested by the GMA. Most o us dont. Knowing how much you dont know is key toestablishing your prep plan.

Use the results rom your frst CA to help estimate your current ability level. Gener-

ally speaking, the larger the desired improvement, the more likely it is that you will

need more time and/or more outside help.

TIP

You are only allowed

to take the GMAT once

every 31 days (and 5

times a year).

TIP

If you conduct your re-search via books, be sure

to use those which have

been published in the last

year or so.


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Standardized Tests: When you took the SA, did you do better than, worse than,

or about the same as people expected based upon your perormance in school? How

stressed did you get when you took any kind o exam? Did your exam grades mirror

your overall class grade? In a nutshell, do you tend to thrive or alter when you are in

high-pressure testing situations? I you underperormed on standardized or other high-

pressure tests in the past, you may require more in-depth prep than those who did verywell.

Dont orget that the GMA CA has an extra complication: you must take it on a

computer. I youre not used to taking tests on a computer (and most o us arent), this

could negatively aect your perormance. o acclimate to computerized testing, make

sure that the practice tests you take are computer-adaptive tests taken under ocial

conditions (75-minutes per section, 8-minute breaks between sections, etc.) Also, when

completing practice questions out o a book, prop the book up vertically on your desk.

Doing so will orce you to look up and down while you use your scrap paperjust like

on the real test!

Study Style: Whats my pace?

Are you someone who can study or hours on end, or does the book page begin to look

like a Jackson Pollock ater the frst hour? How much prime time concentration can

you realistically dedicate to studying each day?

Do you struggle to memorize ormulas and need to review content oten to keep it

resh or do you have a photographic memory? Does it take you a long time to process

and truly understand a new math concept, or can you read a concept once and imme-

diately apply it?

Documents

GMAT Roadmap: Your Trajectory up GMAT Mountain, Part 1