I finally decided that I’ll be self studying for the GMAT versus taking a prep course. The motivation behind self study mostly comes from wanting (and needing) to save money. In these days of blogging, there is so much free useful info from people who have been there and done that [self studied] that paying a company over $1K just doesn’t make sense if one can muster a whole lot of self discpline and patience.
It’ll also be a more rewarding experience IF I’m able to get the score I’m aiming for. There is a critical need for me to do well on the GMATs for the simple fact that my undergrad GPA isn’t exactly stellar. Testing 700+ will help mitigate some* of this glaring weakness so I’ve made it a goal to test at least that high. No pressure! As a UCLA adcom put it, 700 is “golden”. If I’m able to summit that precipice by studying on my own, then it’ll be a golden day when I walk out of the testing center. Or it could be a dark, cold, lonely, and furious day.
* The Bschool app is composed of more than just GPA and GMAT. There are other parts that are equally, if not more important components that will need work, ie essays and letters of rec.
Some background on the test. The GMAT is composed of three sections: Verbal, Quant, and Writing. The Verbal section consists of reading comprehension (RC), sentence correction (SC), and critical reasoning (CR). The Quant section consists of problem solving (PS), and quantitative reasoning (QS). The writing section consists of two essay questions: one is an analysis of an issue, the other, an analysis of an arguement. I’m not going into the deeper details of each section since that info can be found on the GMAT site <clicky>.
Alright, onwards with the plan. My plan was conceived with the help of GMAT debriefs from the Beat the GMAT site. I took the lessons learned from other people and tailored it to fit my own needs and schedule. As these next couple of months move along, I’ll definitely be adjusting the plan as needed. Just like software plans, this plan must stay agile. HA HA.
The average amount of time it seems most people spend on prepping for the test is 2-3 months. This lot of time is more than enough time to get ready. Some people suggest not to study more than ten weeks (roughly two months) but since I know I’m going to probably procrastinate here and there, I’m alotting myself 3 months of study time. This amounts to about 12 weeks of “religious” studying that I’ve broken down into the studying phases below.
Phase 1: All math review. (2 weeks)
Phase 2: All verbal review (2 weeks)
Power Prep Test 1: This is the diagnostics sample test that comes free when you sign up to take the GMAT. The idea here is to gauge what areas I’m weak at and work from there.
Phase 3: Verbal weaknesses. I’m gaurunteeing that my verbal score is going to be lower than my quant so I’ll be tackling this beast first. (2 weeks)
Practice Test 1: Taken after Phase 3 is complete to gauge progress.
Phase 4: Quant weakness. Hopefully most of my weakness will be in making stupid mistakes. Data sufficiency is pretty tough so I figure I’ll probably be spending some time here as well. (2 weeks)
Practice Test 2: Taken after Phase 4 to gauge progress.
Phase 5: Writing. Oh brother. I hate writing. (2 weeks)
Practice Test 3: SOS as PT1 and PT2
Phase 6: Review everything that I still suck at after PT3 (2 weeks)
Power Prep Test 2: This is the second diagnostics test that comes free. Hopefully I’ll be satisfied with this final practice test and not have to do anymore hardcore studying.
For now, I’m thinking ~8 hours a week of studying should be plenty. 4 on the weekend, 4 over the weekdays. I’m reluctant to lock down specific days since my schedule is influx so I’d rather stay agile and study when I can.
Damn. Now that this is written down, it does look intense. What am I thinking.
Kickoff to Phase1 is in 30 minutes. Time to get dressed and hit the caffine IV.