Without a
doubt, the GMAT is an incredibly important exam that will influence the rest of
your academic career. However, even those of us with the best study plan
intentions aren’t always able to follow through. Taking 3-6 months to dedicate
40 hours a week to your study prep sounds great in theory, but sometimes life
gets in the way.

Don’t lose
hope! It is still possible to thoroughly prepare in only a month; you’re just
going to have to be smart about creating your study plan. That’s why we’ve
created this guide to help you figure out the best way to approach your GMAT
test prep. Good luck!

Step 1: Figure Out Your Target Score

This will
give you a goal to shoot for, as well as an idea of how many hours you’re going
to need to dedicate to your studies. If you’re going to be using a GMAT
tutoring program (which is recommended given your time limit) then you can take
a full-length practice test to give you a base score. From there, you can
figure out how much you need to improve. On average you want to give yourself
an hour for every point you want to increase. For example, if you want to
increase your score by 50 points then you should plan on needing approximately
50 hours of study.

You can get
an idea of a good target score by looking online at the official GMAC
website or at graduate schools you plan on applying to.
Most schools will have a list of generic requirements and average admittance
scores, GPAs, etc. that their incoming students have. If you have a couple of
dream schools you plan on applying to, then look at their stats to figure out
what you’ll need to be an ideal candidate.

Step 2: Find Your Best Study
Materials

This step
will be a little bit easier if you’re working with a GMAT tutoring program, but you can
still do this on your own. You can find many kinds of study materials online
that are either for free or for a fee. However, be careful not to try to use
too many study sources. Too many sources can lead to you spreading yourself
thin trying to fit in all of the material, so instead find 3 to 4 high-quality
resources you can go through thoroughly.

Step 3: Write Out Your Study
Schedule

Your new schedule should include specific study times for every
day between now and your exam. Every day/week/month you should list what
material you’re planning on covering as well as what goals you want to reach.
This will help make sure that you stay on track and don’t accidentally miss
anything important.

You should
also make sure to schedule in plenty of sleep, exercise, and rewards for when
you hit certain milestones. GMAT prep can take a lot of energy, so you want to
make sure that you’re taking good care of your body as well as your mind. If
you don’t, you run the risk of burning out before you reach your exam date.

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