MBA admissions consultants

When it comes to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this weekly blog series, Manhattan GMAT’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.

Help! I need to get ready for the GMAT—where do I even start?

You need to make a few major decisions at the beginning, starting with this one: do you want to study on your own, take a class or work with a private tutor? Each path has its advantages and disadvantages; this article can help you decide.

Next, if you take a class or work with a tutor, then your teacher will give you a study plan, at least for the length of time that you are working together. If not, you will have to devise your own study plan. This will take some effort, but it is not rocket science—if you are thoughtful and thorough, you can put together a very good study plan.

I want to point out a couple of highlights from the Study Plan article. First, you need to know your goal and your starting point; if you do not know what level you are at right now or what score you are trying to achieve, then putting together a good study plan is impossible.

Second, you are going to need study materials that fall into three broad categories: (1) test content and methodology (what to study and how to study), (2) practice questions (best source: Official Guide and other official practice question materials) and (3) practice tests.

Finally, make sure that you know how to study/learn in an efficient and effective manner. Hint: doing 2,000 practice problems does NOT equal “efficient and effective.” Nor does taking a practice test every three days, or even every week. Read the article for more!