Starting to Prep
Hi, all, and welcome to my inaugural post on the MGMAT blog. I’m really excited to join Andrew in talking about All Things GMAT. :)
As we gear up for the fall 2009 admissions frenzy (for admission in 2010), a lot of people have been asking how they should plan their GMAT prep. So I thought I’d post some ideas about how to get started. People prep in a variety of ways but there are three big categories in general: self study, private tutoring, and classes.
There is no one right way to prep, but there are some things to keep in mind while you decide which path is the best one for you.
Self Study
The biggest benefit of self-study is the cost: this is generally the least expensive of the various options. Self-study is also very flexible; you can set your own schedule and work at your own pace. There are tons of resources available for free on the web (such as our forums or Beat The GMAT) and there are also lots of resources that cost only modest sums of money (books, practice exams, diagnostic tests, and so on).
If you choose to study on your own, the ideal situation is to study with another person (or a small group). This can help you to stay motivated and stick to your planned schedule, and you can also teach and learn from each other! I know I have mastered a problem when I can explain all aspects of it to someone else (that “all aspects” is a good topic for another blog post, actually), so working with someone else is a great way to test yourself.
And that leads us to the drawbacks of studying alone: it’s often hard to stay motivated and stick to your schedule. If you know you’re prone to procrastination, think very carefully about whether you should study on your own. When studying alone, it can also be more difficult to work through your weakest areas (unless you have a friend who both is a whiz in those areas and knows how to teach those things effectively to you). It can also be tougher to diagnose your strengths and weaknesses so that you know how to prioritize your study.
Private Tutoring
The biggest benefit of private tutoring is the personalized game plan and feedback: you focus on exactly what you need to work on with an expert who is devoting his/her time and attention entirely to you. Tutoring is very flexible; you and your tutor can (and should!) develop your own study plan, tailored to your strengths and weaknesses, and you can also set your own schedule in terms of when to meet and how long to take to prep for the test.
The biggest drawback, however, is a steep one: all of that personalized time and attention typically come at a pretty steep price. For some people, price is no object, but for most of us, we do have to think carefully about how much money we can commit to private tutoring.
I sometimes advise people who are considering tutoring but concerned about cost to follow a hybrid approach. First, study on your own and master whatever you can without the help of a tutor. Then work with a tutor only on those areas that you weren’t able to improve on your own. (And if you do work with a tutor, make sure to be prepared for your lessons – do your homework and have lots of questions prepared. Make the most of the time you have with the tutor.)
Classes
Classes combine some of the strengths of the other two options while minimizing the weaknesses. Classes are structured, with a set syllabus and meeting times, to keep you on track and motivated. You can set up study groups outside of class with your fellow students. You will get some personalized attention and feedback from your instructor (though not as much as you would via private tutoring, of course). Finally, while classes are generally more expensive than self-study, they are nowhere near as expensive as tutoring.
As you decide which of the above options is the right one for you, spend some time thinking about how you learn best. We all learn differently, so think back to college. What worked best for you then? That can help you to decide whether self-study, private tutoring, or a class will be the best way to approach things for the GMAT.
One last tip: no matter how you decide to prep, I strongly recommend taking a full-length practice test very early in the process (even before you start studying anything at all). Don’t worry about your initial score – that doesn’t matter! Do pay careful attention to your strengths and weaknesses, however: you need to know these in order to develop an effective study plan. Ideally, choose a first practice test that gives you data on your performance, not just right and wrong answers. (For example, don’t take GMATPrep as your first test. Though it is the most accurate practice test out there, the test gives you absolutely no data to assess your strengths and weaknesses. Save GMATPrep for later in your prep process.)