Deciding when to begin your GMAT preparation is a critical step toward achieving your desired score. While it might seem simple, several factors must be considered, such as your current skill set, knowledge base, target score, and the time you can dedicate each week to studying.
With over a decade and a half of experience in guiding students through their GMAT journey, one thing our instructors at APEX have consistently observed is that those who commit to a structured study plan are more likely to achieve their target scores, and in a shorter amount of time. Many people fall into the trap of extending their preparation unnecessarily, often losing focus and momentum for the sake of perceived “completeness”. With a well-structured preparation strategy, achieving a highly competitive GMAT score over a 3-month timeframe is achievable for most people.
Are 3 Months Enough for GMAT Preparation?
The answer largely depends on individual circumstances such as your prior academic background, work-life balance, and test-taking proficiency. However, a well-structured 3-month GMAT study plan works well for most people who have a basis with the fundamentals of high school math and reading, even if it’s been years since you’ve cracked a book.
This condensed GMAT preparation time does require dedication. Depending on your balance of skills and timeline, ten to fifteen hours of preparation per week should be sufficient. Bear in mind that this should be spread evenly each day. Just like going to the gym, trying to study eight hours each day on the weekend to make up for missed workouts during the week is a recipe for disaster and burnout. Remember that high-yielding time and contact density with the materials is as important as hours put in.
Note: Critical Reasoning questions and Reading Comprehension questions may need extra focus due to their complexity. Many of us don’t routinely practice active reading skills to the extent required by the GMAT.
A structured study schedule should include reviewing study materials, completing practice questions, and taking full-length practice tests to mirror the real GMAT experience. A well-rounded GMAT study plan should also include reviewing answer explanations to understand mistakes, determine strengths that can be utilized on other parts of the exam, calibrate timing decisions, and help master different question types. Finally, no GMAT study plan is complete without rest days and best practices that build in good sleeping habits, exercise, and a balanced diet to ensure that your brain is performing optimally.
Use quality GMAT prep resources and tailor your prep time to cover areas that require the most improvement. Together with diligent review sessions, this targeted approach can make a 3-month prep timeline both feasible and effective. Coupled with a goal to improve your overall cognitive skills, the process can also be rewarding, and sometimes even fun as you begin to see your goals achieved and your thinking improve on GMAT problems and in other walks of life.
Check Your University Requirements
Most business schools consider the GMAT to be a required part of the admissions process, and your target GMAT score should depend upon the admissions history of those MBA programs that you’d like to be accepted into.
Begin your GMAT journey by researching MBA programs you’re most interested in and note the average GMAT score for their recently admitted candidates. Your goal should be to beat that score but understand that half the people admitted don’t have the score, so realistically being within 30-40 points of the average gives you a fighting shot at admission, especially if you’re coming in with a stronger professional or academic profile. Next, gather information regarding their application deadlines. This will give you a better idea of when to schedule your exam and how to adjust your GMAT preparation plan accordingly.
How to Create a GMAT Study Schedule
Creating a precise and structured study schedule is pivotal to hitting your target GMAT score. It necessitates focusing on several key factors. Here’s how to map your preparation:
- Assess How Ready You Are: Gauge your initial skill level. Take a practice exam to better understand where your strengths lie and what question types need more of your attention.
- Hours Per Week: Commit to a regular schedule, aiming for around 10-15 hours per week, or 90 minutes each day, which can be a one off, or two to three shorter study sessions peppered throughout the day. Break this down into daily study session goals, blending various study materials for a holistic approach. Check our time management guide for extra tips.
- Study Materials: Accumulate reputable GMAT preparation materials. In general, the best materials are those offered by the GMAC, such as their Official Guide.
- Weekly Progression: Each week, target improvement in different areas, progressing from easier material to higher difficulty levels. On a weekly basis, take stock of your achievements. If you find that certain goals aren’t being met, take the time to analyze where the gap is, and if you can’t find it speak with one of our instructors. By no means should you continue doing the same thing if it’s not producing results. Working harder without a concrete plan is just an excuse not to grow.
- Practice Tests: About halfway through your prep, begin to schedule regular practice exams under real GMAT conditions to monitor your performance and adapt your study plan accordingly.
- Review: Spend considerable prep time reviewing answer explanations to understand your mistakes, particularly in verbal questions and integrated reasoning questions. Don’t ever settle for a single explanation. Very often, especially in GMAC and third-party materials, the answer explanations are at best incomplete, and leave out more efficient solution paths, or those that may be more optimal for you. You can learn more about solution paths with this GMAT Percentage Problems post, and how Apex works with them to enhance performance and raise GMAT scores.
With a disciplined approach to your preparation schedule using the right prep resources, achieving your GMAT aspirations within a 3-month period is within reach.
Example of a GMAT 3-Month Study Plan
Now that you know what’s important in creating a study schedule and understand your target universities’ requirements, let’s dive into an actual 3-month GMAT study plan. As mentioned earlier, a well-thought-out study plan can make all the difference when preparing for the GMAT. It’s essential to start with a clear understanding of your goals and the time you can dedicate to studying.
The key to a successful GMAT study plan is having a reliable strategy. At Apex, a core part of our offering is providing a framework to help you understand how the GMAT operates, the way it asks questions and modulates complexity, and how it leverages its structure to differentiate high-achieving individuals from those who are more run of the mill. Integrating an expert turo into your study planning enhances your whole GMAT experience and helps you self-prep much more effectively. The GMAT isn’t about knowing how to solve a set of problems, rather it’s all about approach.
| Month | Focus Area | Details |
| 1 | Diagnostic Assessment | – Begin by familiarizing yourself with the problem types and structure of the exam. Of particular importance are more esoteric problems like Data Sufficiency. Once you’re familiar, perform a comprehensive diagnostic test like the ones on mba.com. Don’t worry about the score, the goal here is to ascertain where you feel comfortable and where to allocate your study time. – Use this information to fill in the blanks below to personalize your study plan by focusing on areas that most need improvement. Here at Apex, before we even begin with tutoring, we conduct an assessment to identify strengths and weaknesses. Our assessment session, conducted for every client, is a highly interactive one-on-one meeting lasting about two and a half hours. During this session, we evaluate your academic history and graduate school goals to advise on which exam might be more suitable for you. |
| Quantitative Skills | – Focus on understanding GMAT’s quantitative section deeply, rather than just memorizing formulas. Start by reviewing the basics; you’ll be astounded at how much depth and complexity the GMAT can wring out of arithmetic. Note places where your understanding is incomplete and allocate extra study time accordingly. – Practice viewing problems as riddles with multiple solution paths to develop flexibility in your approach – The GMAT quantitative section tests problem-solving skills, not just math knowledge. It’s important to understand the exam’s adaptive nature and how it evaluates your ability to handle unfamiliar problems. Success requires recognizing structural cues and finding efficient solutions. | |
| Verbal Skills | – Work on critical reasoning and reading comprehension by practicing scope calibration. Focus on understanding the right level of detail in passages and arguments for GMAT’s verbal section – Be sure to practice active reading. If you’re finding the passages and arguments too complex, incorporate some daily reading of magazine articles focused on science, business, or economics into your daily routine. – For non-native English speakers, the verbal section tests logical reasoning and comprehension, not just language skills. Understanding the appropriate scope of a passage is crucial. | |
| 2 | Targeted Practice | – Perform an audit of what you’ve done so far and identify achievements and places for continued improvement. Many times these will overlap. – Incorporate timed practice sessions to improve your ability to answer questions efficiently. If the first month is navigating to solution paths that are efficient and comfortable, the second month should be about practicing them until they can be employed effortlessly. – Preparation should focus on developing new habits and understanding the exam’s structure. Using official materials is recommended, but be cautious with third-party resources. Personalized preparation is key to achieving a high score. |
| Quantitative Reasoning Section | – Practice problems using the Official Guide and Apex’s materials. Emphasize finding the most efficient solution paths – Avoid extensive calculations; look for quicker, more intuitive approaches to problem-solving | |
| Verbal Reasoning Section | – Engage with complex reading passages and arguments. Practice prioritizing information and handling subtleties in text. – Utilize Apex’s strategies for calibrating scope and identifying opportunities for inference to understand the appropriate level of detail required for each problem. | |
| Data Insights | – Familiarize yourself with Data Sufficiency, Multi-Source Reasoning, Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation, and Two-Part Analysis. For example, to solve data sufficiency problems, you’d need to focus on identifying necessary information rather than solving the entire problem – Practice synthesizing information from various sources to make informed decisions about the other types of questions in this section. | |
| 3 | Full-Length Practice Tests | – Take full-length, timed practice tests to simulate the actual exam experience. Again, don’t focus on the score. Use the exams as an opportunity to calibrate your timing decisions and take risks with new solution paths in a timed environment. The point isn’t to do it perfectly, it’s to make mistakes now, rather than on the actual exam. – After each practice test, thoroughly review your answers, to understand both the correct solutions and the reasoning behind them for the questions you got wrong. – Pay attention to not just the scores but also the trends in your performance. Are you consistently struggling with a specific question type or section? Address these patterns systematically in your preparation. |
| Strategy and Review | – Refine your test-taking strategies, focusing on time management and question prioritization. – Review key concepts and strategies regularly to ensure they are fresh in your mind. | |
| Mental and Physical Preparation | – Ensure you obtain adequate sleep and maintain a healthy diet. Incorporate relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, or other exercise to manage stress – Avoid cramming. Instead, reinforce what you’ve learned and maintain a calm and confident mindset. That’s the best way to deal with any test anxiety that may prevent you from performing well. |
Work with a GMAT Tutor for More Efficient GMAT Prep
At Apex, we consider a preparation window of three months to be a good rule of thumb when you’re just starting out. This is due to the fact that the brain takes time to adapt to new approaches and new frameworks, so even if you have little to learn on the content side, budgeting enough time to develop fluency is essential. Bear in mind that timeline and amount of study are two different things, and that your preparation at the end may be lighter than at the start. Students who lack a quantitative background might need a bit longer, while many of our clients do it in less than three months. However, three months is a good benchmark
At Apex, each client receives a customized study plan tailored to their unique learning patterns and scoring goals. This personalized approach ensures that you address your specific areas of weakness and enhance your strengths, maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of your preparation.
Many students have significantly improved their GMAT scores after working with Apex tutors. Our track record of success speaks to the effectiveness of our personalized and strategic approach to GMAT preparation. What’s more, many clients report being able to transpose the skills they’ve learned with us into their graduate studies and professional roles, even years after working with us.
Talk to an expert GMAT tutor and set yourself on the right path from the start.