How to Plan for a 99%ile in GMAT Focus

In this post, we will give you some guidelines on when and how to prepare for GMAT Focus.

Let’s start by answering this question:

“How long does it take to prepare for GMAT Focus?”

or in other words,

“When should you start your GMAT prep?”

“Optimum Prep Time” varies tremendously from person to person depending on multiple factors. These are some of those factors.

• How long has it been since you completed High School?
• Did you study well in those years, or did you just do enough to pass the courses?
• Does your current college work/job involve work with numbers (basic Math)?
• Do you read quality publications regularly?
• How aware are you of the world around you in topics other than your core skills?
• Do you like to try your hand at logical and reasoning puzzles/challenges you encounter in your day-to-day life, or do you prefer a set of guidelines to follow?
• How many hours can you put toward your GMAT Prep every day?
• What is your target score?

How do Various Factors Impact Time Required to Prepare?

The core skills tested on GMAT are the ones you learned in 9th/10th grades / High School. Here are some ways in which these factors can affect your “time required to prepare for GMAT”:

• If you never liked Math in school years, you might find Quant and DI challenging.
• If you liked Math and did well in those years but have forgotten most of it now, you will need some extra time to brush up your basics, but you will get those skills back.
• If you already use basic Math in your day-to-day life, you will need less time.
• If you are an avid reader with a penchant for logic and reasoning, Verbal will be cakewalk. If not, you could struggle with that section.
• If you are generally a curious person and know how things work in other fields (through newspapers, books, movies etc.), you are likely to face less trouble in all sections, especially Verbal.
• A lower target score, of course, needs less time. Those who look for a set of “rules” or “guidelines” to make it easy to answer questions will need twice the time – they will waste first half of their prep in learning that rules do not work, only logic works.

All these factors will weigh in to give you an optimum, realistic timeframe. It could vary from 1 month to 6 or more months, or even more (especially for those who do not read at all and are aiming for the 99th percentile). Mind you, this is consistent prep time. If you take breaks in between, then you might need to start all over again, though it wouldn’t take as long the next time around.

I would say that if you read regularly and didn’t hate Math at school, half the battle is already won. I suggest learners to take GMAT while in their last year of college. You are still in the academic mindset, have more time on hand say, during your vacations etc., and the score is valid for 5 years. Often test takers need about 3 months of prep at this time.

If you are currently working, you will need to commit hard and have unwavering discipline. You can allocate fewer hours per weekday for your study, but you must put in the allocated hours. Let study time be early in the morning and you can read for an hour before going to bed. You can select a study plan based on parameters suitable to you, but you MUST follow the plan once you select it. Obviously, the prep is a more dragged out activity in this case, sometimes lasting years because of breaks due to work commitments, family commitments etc.

If you are not good at Math to begin with, you must first review the basics from your high school books –

• Number System – fractions, decimals etc.
• Ratios, Percentages
• Algebra – identities, linear and quadratic equations etc.
• Geometry
• Statistics

Then you should start with a GMAT prep course.

Next, let’s discuss this:

What steps should one follow for a high GMAT score?

Here is the six-step approach that you should follow:

Step I:

Take a look at the Official Guide – the topics tested, and the brief theory given for each topic. You should be able to finish this over a weekend. This will help you review the very basics before you take the diagnostic, which will then give you an accurate assessment of your current skills.

Step II:

Take a diagnostic – either a free practice test of a test prep company or the diagnostic test at the beginning of the Official Guide (not the practice test of mba.com).

• A poor performance here likely means 6+ months of prep time is required.
• A mediocre performance means about 3 to 6 months of prep time is required.
• A good performance means 1 to 3 months of prep time is required.

Step III:

Depending on your requirement, sign up with a test prep company and select the study plan you would like to follow. Personalize the study plan as per your requirement or get the test prep to personalize it for you. If you are our subscriber, write to us at admin@anaprep.com and we will personalise the study plan for you.

Step IV:

Follow the study plan. If you lag at some time due to office or home commitments, ensure that you make up for it over the weekend. Avoid social commitments as much as possible during this time so that you are able to stick to the plan. Make do with the bare minimum expected out of you socially – it is a matter of a few months only.

Step V:

The study plan will include test taking weeks. Use official practice tests 1 to 6 from mba.com as needed. As important as it is to take the practice tests, it is equally important to analyze them properly. Spend at least 2 days analyzing every question in detail.

You can take test prep practice tests too for additional practice during this time but ignore the score you get in those. Just focus on identifying your weaknesses and working on those.

A consistent 725 – 735 in official practice tests 3 to 6 shows that you are ready to hit the big leagues.

Step VI:

Set up a test date and keep practicing. Stop all full-length practice tests when you have 5 days remaining for the actual test. In the last 3-4 days, just review, revise and revisit concepts you already know. Do a few practice questions a day and generally relax.

Here is a post on what GMAT Focus study plans look like – ANA PREP Study Plans