Tag Archives: GMAT study plan

Learnist: 7 Ways to Make Studying for the GMAT Fun!

(No, really!) Here’s how to dance, snack, and gamify your way to a 700+ GMAT score.

Tip #1 – Use Music As Motivation (Exhibit A: The USC Marshall School of Buiness doing the “Harlem Shake”)

In this video the MBA candidates of the Class of 2013 and Class of 2014 at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business decided to do the Harlem Shake.

And while you may not want to waste a precious study-hour making your own Harlem Shake dance-video with your GMAT study group (but by all means, please feel free to do so!), you CAN and SHOULD use music as motivation while you study for the GMAT.

If you’re someone who needs to have background noise as you study, assign a genre of music to each GMAT question-type. Planning to do 20 minutes of Sentence Correction? It’s Britney Spears and Katy Perry! Moving on to Data Sufficiency? It’s Macklemore-time.

Check out Tips #2-7 on Learnist to learn more ways to make studying for the GMAT fun!

10 Ways to Study for the GMAT in Just 30 Days

It’s possible to get a great GMAT score after only 1 month of study, but it requires hard work and discipline. In the middle of applying for scholarships and filling out MBA applications, you’ll need to devote a good amount of time to your GMAT practice as you’ll be cramming what is typically a 2-3 month process into just one! There are excellent GMAT resources online: from free GMAT practice tests to great Test Prep articles. Follow these GMAT study tips to maximize the free GMAT resources for better scores in just one month!

1. Start with the Official Guide. Learn the format, content, and do a general overview of the GMAT test itself using the OG 12th editions. Make sure to go to MBA.com and

2. Study every day, and don’t procrastinate! You will need to be disciplined about your studies. Work backwards from your test date. Don’t cram on the weekends only! With only one month to study, you’ll need to do at least some GMAT every single day.

3. Use MGMAT SC & Powerscore CR to supplement your materials. After the OG, these are two Verbal books that can take your score to the next level.

4. Join Grockit, and Beat the GMAT. These online GMAT sites are vital to building your comfort level with the computer-based format of the GMAT. Practicing in the test-format will only increase your chances of doing well!

5. Study in short, intensive blocks. GMAT study blocks that are too long will ultimately wear you down. Make sure to rotate your study topics often and abide by it, even if you’d like to squeeze in a few more hours. Staying up all night to complete yet another practice test is not always the best choice.

6. Track down success stories to get inspired. If you have a 600 and are eyeing a 700+ score, there are many people out there who have made that leap. Success leaves footprints. Find out what strategies are commonly used by 750+ students, what study plans they keep, and how they build their content-knowledge. Beat the GMAT is an excellent tool for this!

7. Create an Error Log. Re-take quizzes and practice tests from the very beginning of your GMAT studies. Do you find yourself getting the same questions incorrect? This can be a sign that you haven’t learned the content you think you have. Be honest with yourself about what is “sinking in” and what is not. Use an Error Log to assess. You can find many templates online

8. Review all questions. Use the 40/60 rule. 40% of your time should be spent actually answering questions. At minimum, 60% of your time should be spent reviewing.

9. Take at least 1 GMAT practice test per week. Don’t take your practice tests sitting cross-legged on you bed. Utilize your desk and scratch pad as you would on the actual test. Your body needs to adjust to what it feels like to take a 3+ hour test. Because you only have one month to prepare, you should plan to take 4 practice tests, although 6 would be ideal.

10. Use a strategy for each question type. Not only do you have to choose a strategy that works for you, but you have to implement it every time, practicing enough so that is becomes second-hand. Ballet dancers practice a pirouette millions of times, so that when they perform onstage they don’t have to think about it. You want to do the same thing for GMAT.

Learnist: How to Study for the GMAT in 30 Days

GMAT_30daysNeed to cram for the GMAT in only a month? Here’s how to get the most out of 30 days of study-time!

There’s only one “Official Guide,” so whether you have 30 days or 6 months to study, you’ll definitely want to pick up a copy! Learn the format, content, and do a general overview of the GMAT test itself using the OG 13th edition. Make sure to go to MBA.com and take advantage of the official prep material provided there!

Study every day, and don’t procrastinate! You will need to be disciplined about your studies. Work backwards from your test date. Don’t cram on the weekends only! With only one month to study, you’ll need to do at least some GMAT every single day.

If you need a bit more structure, Magoosh offers a free 30 Day Study Schedule that you can amend to your needs.

If you struggle with GMAT Verbal and really can only emphasize one of the three question-types, you’re better off memorizing the tested-concepts for Sentence Correction:

  • Among/Between, As/Like
  • Correlative Constructions
  • Diction
  • Forms of Comparison
  • Fragments and Run-on sentences
  • Grammatical Construction
  • Idioms
  • Logical Predication/Modification
  • Mass/count words
  • Noun-verb agreement
  • Parallelism
  • Passive vs. Active Voice
  • Prepositions
  • Pronouns
  • Rhetorical Construction
  • Verb Form
  • Wordiness/Redundancy

If you can spot these errors, you’re likely to move through the SC questions quickly, and thus you’ll have more time to analyze the Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension passages. Learn more 30-Day Study Tips on Learnist!