How to study for the GMATS 101

October 24, 2008 7:28 AM

Thinking of taking the gmats in a few months - how should I study?

Looked through the gmat tag didn't see this exact question. Thinking of taking the gmats in a few months, how should I study? What's the best test prep book, etc...? Are the books pretty much worthless/do i need to take a class?

I'm open to anything pretty much as long as the cost isn't too prohibitive. I do well generally on standardized tests like the SAT, LSAT, and I am a pretty good self-motivator.

What directions should I be looking in?

Thanks!

posted by jourman2 to Education (4 answers total)

I'm taking the GMAT in December, and I've been studying every day since the end of August. I started out by messing around with a few practice tests online, which helped familiarize me with the test format. Then I bought The Official Guide for GMAT Review, and started going through just a few questions every day- maybe 10, at the most, checking my answers afterwards to see if I understood why I was getting things wrong (or right!). I was able to pick up a lot of things just by doing that. After I finished that, I made a map of all the things I got wrong to see where my weaknesses were. My weak side was the quantitative side, so I bought The GMAT Math Bible from Jeff Sankman over at GMATHacks.com, and I've been working through 1-2 lessons a day (more on weekends)- I'm also still working through some of the qualitative stuff in The Official Guide, which I've been studying a little less because I have a pretty good handle on those questions. I've taken a few full-length practice tests, and I'm in the range of where I want to perform. I think the two main things you should keep in mind for your studying are these

*You need to study every day. Trying to do one big cram session a week is not enough.
*You need to use official test prep materials as much as possible. I've glanced at some other books, but after studying The Official Guide, I can feel that their stuff isn't quite in line with the official stuff, and in the end, only the official stuff matters. Get your hands on as many questions from official materials. The questions in The GMAT Math Bible mimic the questions in The Official Guide very well.
posted by mylittlehipster at 8:09 AM on October 24, 2008 [2 favorites]

I'm taking VeritasPrep, which is expensive, but very good.
posted by onepapertiger at 10:53 AM on October 24, 2008

I used Kaplan, I got into three top 10 schools.
posted by echo0720 at 2:04 PM on October 24, 2008

Regularly and without distraction. One pro-tip: make study a part of your weekly/daily schedule NOW instead of it being something you know you should do when you get a chance.

The class may be a good idea because it will force the above result, but if you have the mental discipline the books alone are fine (IMHO.)
posted by oblio_one at 5:46 PM on October 24, 2008