GMAT Preparation Timeline

Take the GMAT well ahead of when applications are due. You need time to prepare, register and take the GMAT so that you get your score in time to meet the application deadlines. It will likely surprise you how far in advance of starting classes this timeline is.

For example, these are the application deadlines at Stanford for applying for the class of 2011 (classes start September 2009):

   Round 1   Oct 29, 2008
   Round 2   Jan 7, 2009
   Round 3   Apr 8, 2009

 

Common advice is that you need 2 to 3 months to prep for the GMAT. I suggest you add a buffer of at least another month or two.   The prep work becomes a grind.  Work and life always find ways to interfere with your best intentions.  Moreover, the GMAT is not something to cram for.

I found that my studying and test taking skills were terribly rusty because I had been out of school and in the workplace for 10 years, using much different skills.  I needed extra time to re-learn how to study effectively and how to take standardized tests. This was a big surprise to me.

My Prep Experience

Can’t decide which prep book to get. Buy one (tips for picking a prep book)

Crack open book

Get disillusioned

Read about GMAT prep on the web

Open book again and pick a section. Verbal or math? Look at a few questions from each section. Oh, boy. Where to start?

Read about business schools on the web; resolve to get back to prep

Work on verbal section. Realize that my study skills are out of practice. Discover that test questions are foreign to my brain.

Egads, work has gone crazy, no time for prep for 3 weeks

Try setting aside 45 minutes a day after work to study

Am so brain-dead after work that studying is minimally effective. Plan to set aside 3 hours on Saturday and Sunday for prep time. This proves to be such a drag, but is more effective. My brain is more engaged.

Sick of studying. Procrastinate, don’t want to read anything about the GMAT or b-schools.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Take some online GMAT sample tests

The holidays interrupt all good intentions. Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, Christmas travel.

After the holidays, get back to studying. Find that I have much better study skills and test questions are not so foreign.

Take sample tests; prep like a dog …

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Assess my weaknesses and work on improving them. I also find that I need to work faster at some types of questions.

Finally, the day to take the GMAT arrives. If nothing else, at least I will be able to move on with my life.

Another GMAT Prep Story

The alumni magazine from my school recently published one student’s story about being laid off and wanting to enroll in an MBA program that was about to start in “a few weeks,” but he had not taken the GMAT. He said he spent a few weeks of intense GMAT study. He networked, wrote his essay, filled out an app. He said it was part luck that a spot was open. But he started classes just a few weeks after deciding to try to get an MBA.

My point is there are all sorts of stories. Go for it. Do not let my detailed timeline story derail you. I applied during a serious economic downturn. The b-school I attended accepted only 1 in 10 applicants then. When times are tough, many people want to go back to school. Do what you need to get your best score and beat out the competition.

Tips for Setting Your Timeline

  • Most people (myself included) begin planning their timeline in terms of when MBA classes start. Focus on the application deadline to establish your timeline.
  • Allow yourself to take a break from the prep. Things will sink in better. Consider this in your timeline.
  • Allow a buffer for work or personal life to take over.
  • Be prepared for the GMAT. Do not rush your timeline.
  • If you have been in the work world for more than a few years, allow yourself extra time to get back into studying and re-learning how to take tests.
  • Find out the application deadlines for the schools you are interested in and work back from there to establish your timeline.