Can you prepare for GMAT in 3 months? Yes, you definitely can. Three months is enough time to successfully prepare for GMAT and achieve a competitive score. But this is not a walk in the park. It takes hard work, commitment, consistency, and strategic studying.
This guide will teach you how to prepare for GMAT in 3 months. It provides not only a step-by-step process but also helpful tips and a sample of an effective study plan.
Are you ready? Let’s delve in.
Step-By-Step Guide on How To Prepare For GMAT in 3 Months
Here are step-by-step instructions on how to make the most out of your 3-month study schedule:
Step 1: Understand the GMAT Focus Edition Format
The first step is to understand the GMAT Focus Edition Format. Many candidates make the mistake of ignoring this step or paying little attention to it. In the end, they fail to grasp the most important foundational information and this invariably translates to a low score. But with a proper understanding of the GMAT syllabus and test pattern, you know what to expect.
Step 2: Conduct a GMAT Diagnostic Self-assessment.
Next, take a full-length, realistic GMAT practice test to establish a baseline and find out how good or bad your scores are. Note that the essence of taking a diagnostic test is not just to determine how high or low your score is but to recognize the areas that need improvement. Also, a GMAT practice test helps you to familiarize yourself with the test format and time allocation.
Step 3: Set Up Your Study Schedule
Setting up a study schedule and sticking to it is not always as easy as it sounds, especially if you have been out of school for a while. To set up a study schedule, look over your general schedule for the next 3 months and see what times will be most convenient.
Endeavor to study 5-6 times weekly for at least 3-4 hours. Research shows that when you study more times, your brain retains more than when you try to cram a week’s worth of study in 1 to 2 days.
Step 4: Design Your Study Plan
Now you know when to study, the next question is how you should study. An effective technique is to study the GMAT book or GMAT course first to learn the contents after which you would follow up with a short practice test to evaluate how well you understood the contents.
What should you study? Well, this depends largely on the outcome of your practice test. For the first month of study, it would help to pay the most attention to reviving basic knowledge and to materials that you struggle with.
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Sample of a 3-Month GMAT Study Plan
This study plan below is designed to help you prepare for your GMAT in three months. Go through it carefully and feel free to modify it to suit your specific needs.
Month 1: Lay the Groundwork
Goal: Refine fundamental knowledge of the 3 core subject areas.
Week 1: Diagnostic and Basic Skills
Time: 12 hours
| S/N | Tasks | Time | Content |
| 1 | Diagnostic Test | 2 hours | Carry out an initial diagnostic test to evaluate your level of knowledge. |
| 2 | Quantitative Reasoning | 4 hours | Focus on basic concepts such as fractions, ratios, and percentages. |
| 3 | Verbal Reasoning | 3 hours | Study basic grammar, sentence structure, verb tenses, and verb agreement. |
| 4 | Data Insights | 2 hours | Start with reading and understanding simple tables and charts. |
| 5 | Review | 1 hour | Spend the last hour reviewing the results of the test. |
Week 2: Enhance Fundamental Knowledge
Time:14-16 hours
| S/N | Tasks | Time | Content |
| 1 | Quantitative Reasoning | 5 hours | Tackle Algebraic concepts; inequalities, linear equations, and basic word problems. |
| 2 | Verbal Reasoning | 4 hours | Read comprehension passages to understand the main ideas and answer questions. |
| 3 | Data Insights | 3 hours | Practice mixed graphs and how to extract data from tables, charts, and graphs. |
| 4 | Mock Test | 2–3 hours | Take a mock test, allocating 30 minutes to each section to mimic the conditions of the actual test. |
Week 3: Develop Intermediate Skills
Time:15 hours
| S/N | Tasks | Time | Content |
| 1 | Quantitative Reasoning | 5 hours | Start working on more complex algebraic equations and word problems. |
| 2 | Verbal Reasoning | 4 hours | Concentrate on critical reasoning, understanding argument structures, and strengthening and weakening statements. |
| 3 | Data Insights | 4 hours | Work on problems that combine verbal and quantitative analysis. |
| 4 | Review | 2 hours | Review results of practice tests. Concentrate on the areas where you made mistakes or need more time. |
Week 4: Full-Length Practice Test
Time: 18 hours
| S/N | Tasks | Time | Content |
| 1 | Full–Length Practice Test | 4–5 hours | Take a Full-Length GMAT Practice Test under a condition very similar to what you will experience on the actual test day. |
| 2 | Quantitative Reasoning | 5 hours | Work on the weaknesses you identified during the practice test. Progress to more difficult word problems and algebra. |
| 3 | Verbal Reasoning | 4 hours | Practice more comprehension passages. |
| 4 | Data Insights | 3 hours | Study questions that require interpretation of more complex data. |
Month 2: Strengthen and Refine
Goal: Work on improving correctness and speed.
Week 1: Advanced Quantitative and Verbal Topics
Time:18 – 20 hours
| S/N | Tasks | Time | Content |
| 1 | Quantitative Reasoning | 6 hours | Introduce angles and properties of shapes, and work more on mixed problems. |
| 2 | Verbal Reasoning | 5 hours | Solve some stimulating problems, focusing on advanced grammatical concepts. |
| 3 | Data Insights | 4 hours | Practice questions that assess your ability to retrieve and interpret data in graphs and charts. |
| 4 | Mock Test | 2–3 hours | Take a full-length practice test and evaluate yourself to identify those areas that need improvement. |
Week 2: Time Management and Speed
Time: 18 – 20 hours
| S/N | Tasks | Time | Content |
| 1 | Quantitative Reasoning | 5 hours | Work on a mixed problem set while focusing on speed and accuracy. |
| 2 | Verbal Reasoning | 4 hours | Practice reading and answering comprehension questions, focusing on speed and accuracy. |
| 3 | Data Insights | 3 hours | Tackle some Data Insights problems under a specified amount of time. |
| 4 | Mock Test | 2–3 hours | Take another timed practice test to assess your ability to manage time under test conditions. |
Week 3 & 4: High-Difficulty Questions and Targeted Revision
Time: 18 – 20 hours per week
| S/N | Tasks | Time | Content |
| 1 | Quantitative Reasoning | 7-8 hours | Focus on tackling high-difficulty problem sets, including complex word problems. |
| 2 | Verbal Reasoning | 6-7 hours | Work on high-difficulty critical reasoning questions and problems. |
| 3 | Data Insights | 4-5 hours | Practice mixed question types and complex data analysis exercises. |
| 4 | Mock Test | 4 hours | Take a full-length practice test to track your improvement and put the finishing touches on your strategies. |
Month 3: Perfect and Polish
Goal: Focus on polishing your exam strategies and preparing for test day.
Week 1 & 2: Section-Specific Focus
Time: 22–24 hours per week
| S/N | Tasks | Time | Content |
| 1 | Quantitative Reasoning | 7-8 hours | Continue working on weak areas identified from previous tests. |
| 2 | Verbal Reasoning | 6-7 hours | Read and attempt advanced comprehension and critical reasoning questions under timed conditions. |
| 3 | Data Insights | 4-5 hours | Review past tests and focus on improving your response under timed conditions. |
| 4 | Mock Test | 4 hours | Take a practice test. Review your study plan for the last week using results obtained from this last test. |
Week 3: Full-Length Practice Test
Time: 20–22 hours
| S/N | Tasks | Time | Content |
| 1 | Full-Length Practice Test | 4-5 hours | Take a final practice test. After this test, take extra care to review your mistakes, identifying the key areas you need to refine. |
| 2 | Quantitative Reasoning | 6-7 hours | Solve problems that you struggled with in the full-length tests again. This time, focus on speed and accuracy. |
| 3 | Verbal Reasoning | 6-7 hours | Review weak areas identified in the practice test. |
| 4 | Data Insights | 3-4 hours | Review your Data Insight mistakes and practice again. This time, focus on speed and accuracy. |
Week 4: Light Revision and Final Preparation
Time Commitment: 15–18 hours
Tasks:
- Review all the key concepts, formulas, and grammar rules.
- Finalize your strategy for the exam.
- Make time to relax and manage stress.
- Take one last practice test to track progress and put some finishing touches on your strategy.
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Time Management Tips
Time management is a big factor that will determine your performance in this test.
Before GMAT
- Make time to create a detailed study schedule. This schedule must contain your daily and weekly goals. With a study timetable in hand, you are more likely to show up for your study time.
- Focus on high-yield topics. These are topics that have the most impact on your GMAT score. During the review of your diagnostic tests, focus on these areas and allocate more time to them.
- Always practice under timed conditions. This will teach you early enough to answer questions while being time-conscious. You will also learn how much time you might need to allocate to each section.
- Break tasks into manageable chunks and out time to rest or engage in other light leisure activities in between studies.
- Endeavors to set out time each week to evaluate yourself and review your study plan. Ask yourself how much you have learned within the week and how well your study schedule has worked. If you are still lacking in certain areas, you might need to make adjustments.
During GMAT
- It is not advisable to distribute your time equally. Questions at the beginning of your test have a greater impact on your test score than questions at the far end. Therefore it would be more reasonable to allocate a little more time to questions in the beginning.
- Be time conscious. This doesn’t mean you should check the time every minute but you need to check often enough to recoup if you are being too slow or too fast. A nice strategy would be to check the time after every five questions.
- The three-minute rule. This rule stated that you shouldn’t spend more than 3 minutes on any question. If after 3 minutes you are yet to figure out the answer to a question, you are most likely not going to.
- Utilize all your time. There is no extra credit awarded for finishing your test earlier. However, you are more likely to make silly mistakes when you do. One way to utilize all your time is by observing the one-minute rule. If you answer a question in less than one minute, go through it again.
GMAT Study Resources
- The Princeton Review GMAT Premium Prep
- Manhattan Prep All the GMAT
- GMAC GMAT Official Guide
- GMAT Prep Book
- Kaplan GMAT 800
- GMAT Official Practice Question
- Magoosh GMAT
Common Mistakes To Avoid (The Don’ts)
- Do not be quick to write off mistakes without reviewing them properly. If you fail to address your silly errors and the reasons behind them, you are most likely to make a bunch of them on your test day.
- Do not stress yourself to the point of complete exhaustion. Studying consistently for long hours is ineffective because it leaves you stressed. A more effective way to study is in bits with breaks in between.
- Do not be too eager to rush through the official practice GMAT Focus Test. There are only 6 of them in existence and a better approach would be to spread them across your study plan.
- Do not devote so much time to topics like probability, and combination. The chances of encountering these topics are rather small. Instead of obsessing over them, focus on more common questions.
- Do not bing-study. GMAT questions, especially critical reasoning and comprehension passages, require thoughtful and balanced studying. Even topics that you can learn quickly are less likely to stick if you rush through them.
- Do not rely so much on non-official GMAT materials, they are not nearly as accurate as the official ones. However, you can use non-official well-crafted quant questions to complement your preparation.
Conclusion
Knowing how to prepare for GMAT in 3 months is the first step. It just requires a lot of hard work, commitment, discipline, and a strategic approach. The key is to understand the GMAT Focus Edition Format, identify your strengths and weaknesses, set up a study schedule, and stick to a study plan.
If you are going to try this approach, do let us know how well it works for you in the comments section below.
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