Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is an abbreviation for Graduate Management Admission Test. Millions of students around the globe take the GMAT. The GMAT is a prerequisite for studying in foreign educational destinations. Therefore, students must be prepared in advance to give this exam. Ideally, students must be aware of the question format of this highly competitive exam.
GMAT is usually accepted in universities offering management programs, like MBA, MIM, MSc in Marketing, Masters in Finance, and many others. Usually, students must devote at least 15 hours every week a month. So we can say it requires around 7.5 hours in a week for half a month or 15 days to prepare for the GMAT exam.
Study Plan to prepare for GMAT in 15 days
You must understand the need to start planning for the GMAT at least 1 to 2 months prior to the exam. Students must begin by understanding the exam format and collecting relevant study material, GMAT preparation software, sample paper from previous years, etc. Some of the books you can refer to include:
- The Official Guide for GMAT Review
- GMAT prep test software (free download from GMAT website)
- Manhattan GMAT Complete Strategy Guide Set
- GMAT Premier with 6 Practice Tests from Kaplan
You can purchase these books either online or from a nearby bookstore.
Study Schedule for the 1st week
- Step1: Take the GMAT preparation test: Here, you will glimpse the questions and what skills you need to answer them. After giving one GMAT preparation test, you will be able to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. This, in turn, will help you formulise a plan to cater to your pain points so that you can focus on these later. One of the most concerning parts for students is the quantitative section. So, students must concentrate on sharpening their mathematical skills to be a pro in the quantitative area.
- Step2: Create a GMAT account: An AGMAT account is necessary to access the
essential details about the exam. Moreover, you need to schedule an appointment to book your GMAT exam date. After the exam, you can also check your test results on your GMAT account. - Step3: Practice 2 GMAT sample papers: Now that you know about the basic exam structure, you can dive deeper into the finner aspects of the GMAT test. Now you can pick sample papers from different study materials to check your preparation level. In this step, you must emphasise reviewing your mistakes during the exam. You must also look at the drill questions from the official GMAT Guide. Here, you must aim to solve a set of 10 questions in each section of the exam. Moreover, you must practice at least 15 questions for the verbal section of the GMAT.
Study Schedule for the 2nd week
- Step4: Pinpoint your weak areas: You must complete a set of 500 questions by now. Here, you need to figure out the sections that took you maximum time to solve. Now understand the reason for the extra time taken and focus on strengthening your skills in that section.
- Step5: Create additional drill questions: Once you have identified your pain point, work on generating additional questions to address them. This can be quickly done by the Manhattan or Magoosh practice sessions, where questions are auto-generated by the computer with an in-built timer to assess your speed.
- Step6: Take the GMAT preparation test: Finally, after all the hard work, you can check your progress from the first week. Also, you might be able to evaluate how much you have improved on your weak areas and what can be done further to perfect them.
Conclusion
Preparing for GMAT can be exhausting. So, it is advisable to start well in advance to avoid last-minute rushes. Nevertheless, students can follow the above study plan to ace their GMAT.
