Did you just begin your studying or have you been at it for weeks? Maybe you have taken the official test already but you want another chance. You need a plan, irrespective of what stage you are at. That’s the topic for this week: How to create your own individual study plan. Begin by getting a note book, opening a word file or even blogging and record everything.

First, what is your current score? What score do you need to get into the schools you want to apply to? Doing this will give yourself and indication of how much you need to improve and how much studying you have to do or if you will need help. (In most cases, the bigger the required improvement, the more likely it will be that the student will require longer studying time and / more help from the outside.) Make a note of this in your journal.

If you haven’t done so already, simulate exam conditions as much as possible and take a practice CAT test. Yes that includes doing the essay! (Even though you don’t care about what you get on the essay, you do want your overall CAT score to be good and writing a good essay will make a difference. After the essays, take an 8 minute break and then another one after the quantitative section. Eliminate distractions, turn off your phone and only eat during the 8 minute break – make it as real to exam conditions as possible.

You have a wide selection of practice exams from various publishers, but the exam needs to do several things. First, like the real exam it has to be adaptive. Second, it needs to record the time spent on every question since timing is critical in the GMAT. Third, it needs to provide a comprehensive score report with lots of data that shows your strengths and weaknesses. The makers of the actual test, GMATPrep, provide sample exams however they do not provide the 2nd and 3rd items on this list therefore they are not suitable for this exercise. Use the GMATPrep when you are closer to the actual test.

What Are My Strengths and Weaknesses?

Now, take advantage of the results to determine your strengths and weaknesses regarding both content and timing. Again record this in your journal.

Additionally you have to determine your optimal learning style. Go back to undergrad. Did you perform your best in a small class of comrades with whom you shared the adventures of studying? Or perhaps you did your best when you studied on by yourself, or maybe met one on one with your professor or TA? On the job at present, will it excite you to work with a team or would you concentrate much better with one-on-one connections? Do you rather perform the majority of your projects by yourself or with a team?

Once you answer these questions you will know if you should study on your own, study with a group of other students or with a private tutor.

What’s My Schedule?

Now you know your strengths and weaknesses use that feedback to determine:

·  Most of your time will be spent studying and mastering the material, not including the final comprehensive review. Most people will take 8 to 16 weeks for this process. It could be shorter if you have taken the test before or don’t need a 50+ point improvement. If you are taking classes, study time should be a minimum of the length of the class.

·  The comprehensive review should take 2 to 6 weeks before the test, once you have mastered the material.

Two other factors that affect your study timeframe are:

· If you need to take the test a second time, you have to factor in the buffer time. GMAT only allows you to take the test once in a 31 day period and a maximum of 5 times a year.

· The application deadline for your schools of choice. You will need to work backwards from these drop-dead dates. It is always better to do the test early and get it out of the way before filling out college applications. (Remember that GMAT scores are valid for 5 years so the earlier you get started the better!)

NOTE: You might want to add a few additional weeks for a buffer if needed. Life happens; we get busy, sick and we put things off so the extra time will be handy.

What Resources Do I Need?

You will discover numerous tools designed to enable you to prepare for the GMAT. When you take a training course or attend a structured program, the supplies should already be identified for you. If not, you’ll need to determine exactly what is best suited for you.

Usually, you have 3 leading groups of required resources:

Test content and methodology. These types of materials will show you the what and the how: what’s on the exam and the best way to take the examination. They arrive from an exam prep company (here is what exam preparation providers do!).

Practice questions. While you’re mastering the real material tested on the examination and the way to deal with the various kinds of GMAT questions, you should also evaluate yourself to determine if you’re improving. The best training tests are the officially published previous exam problems from GMAC (the creators of the GMAT). The most recent 3 publications are Verbal Review 2nd Edition, the Quantitative Review 2nd Edition and The Official Guide 12th Edition. The latest online issue is GMAT Focus (for quant only).

Practice tests. You should aim for a mixture of practice test: GMATPrep the real test producers and some previous tests from test prep suppliers. While the GMATPrep is virtually the real thing, they don’t offer explanations or analysis of the answers. If you want explanations and analyses, go with test prep company CAT.

The Plan

Okay, you have identified your target score, you understand your strong points and weak points, and you’ve collected your resources. It’s time to create your unique plan. Select a period of time (usually 2 to 3 weeks) and figure out what weak points you intend to strengthen within that period of time. Begin with your greatest weak spots in sections which are often examined on the GMAT. In the event you’re uncertain which sections are most often examined, ask the specialists on the messages boards.

On your calendar set aside 2 hours per day for 6 days, you get one off day a week. Note in your journal what the focus of the first 6 study session will be. Note: The 6th day is always a review day; you can do random problems, review the first 5 days, tackle some exercises from your strong areas etc.

Throughout a two-hour study period, if you happen to be reading through lessons and then working on non-official-GMAT practice problems within that related area, be sure to commit roughly 50% of your time performing these two activities. When you are doing and then reviewing collections of practice problems, you probably should devote around 40% of your efforts carrying out certain questions and 60% of your efforts reviewing those questions.

After the end of every study period, take note of everything you did for that day, the things you thought went well, and the things you think you need to work on. If a specific thing didn’t proceed in a way you’d hoped, then simply fine-tune your calendar. After the end of the 6 days, go over your journal and establish your plan for the upcoming 6 days. Do it again until you think you’ve made sound improvements and are prepared to test yourself on a CAT once more. (This should normally take around 2 to 3 weeks!)

Once you take the next CAT, don’t concern yourself with the total score. Specifically look at the sections on which you’d been focusing for the preceding weeks. Have those sections improved? Are you able to proceed to further subjects or question types, or do you have items you have to strengthen? Should you need guidance on how to get better, check out the community forums once more!

After that, do the total test evaluation once again (the identical thing you performed on the 1st test). Determine what your newly created focal points are, establish your 6-day strategy, and replicate the entire procedure for a number of weeks until you think you are prepared for another test.