Creating a GMAT Study Schedule
Written by Manhattan Prep Powered by Kaplan experts, reviewed by Stacey Koprince. Stacey Koprince is a 99th-percentile GMAT, GRE, and EA instructor and the head of Manhattan Prep’s content and curriculum department.
Studying for the GMAT is a serious time commitment. Most people looking for a competitive GMAT score study for 80 or more hours, usually spread over 3 to 6 months while working full-time. The time commitment can vary depending on several variables, including your:
- Goal score
- Starting score
- Work or school schedule
- Family or life obligations
The GMAT is not a test that you can cram for because it’s not really a “math and verbal” test (though it does test those skills). At heart, the GMAT tests your executive reasoning skills—your decision-making, your ability to logic your way through new set-ups, basically how you think.
Because the GMAT tests your critical thinking and analytical ability, it takes time and practice to push these skills to a competitive scoring level. Do yourself the favor of giving yourself at least three months to study for the GMAT.
GMAT Self Study Plan vs Prep Course – Pros and Cons
You can develop your own study plan or use a comprehensive prep course put together by a company. The tradeoff, as always, is time vs. money. In general, you’ll spend more time, but less money, putting together your own study plan. The decision is similar to taking your car to the mechanic or fixing it yourself.
| Self Study Plan | Prep Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Study materials | Determine what materials to buy and from which sources | All materials included in program |
| Overall study plan | Research and plan for yourself | Fully mapped out study plan provided |
| Daily / weekly homework | Plan for yourself at the beginning of each week | Follow the study calendar in your online platform |
| Practice exams | – Determine when to take – Analyze questions afterwards – Determine how to aggregate and analyze the data | – Take as assigned – Analyze questions afterwards – Review data analytics and insights provided by platform |
| Cost | Usually less expensive | Usually more expensive |
A comprehensive program will provide all of the resources that you need to study as well as a detailed study calendar. You really just need to log in each day, complete the assignments that your study calendar tells you to do, and, if you’re taking a live class, come to class prepared to participate. But you will likely pay more for the privilege of not having to plan any of these details yourself.
If you devise your own study plan, you’ll need to determine what materials you want to use (sometimes from different sources) and how you want to combine them into a cohesive study plan. You’ll also need to plan what you’re going to do every day for the duration of your studies. But you will also save money by doing these things yourself.
Tips for Creating a Detailed GMAT Study Schedule
First, do some research. Business schools post their average GMAT scores for admitted students, so gather some data from your target schools to get an idea of your goal score.
Next, take a week to learn the very basics about the GMAT (use free resources) and then take a free official practice exam. Now you know your starting point.
Mark specific study appointments on your calendar 4 to 5 days per week—and keep them! It’s easy to procrastinate, so find a way to stay accountable. Some ideas: a study buddy, calendar reminders, a reward after each study session.
Aim for 30 minutes to 2 hours for a single study session. On work days, you might do two 30-minute sessions (for example, morning and evening). On non-work days, you might do 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. If you’re going to study more than 2 hours in a day, make sure to give yourself a good break—when your brain gets tired, it doesn’t learn as well.
If you are devising your own study plan, at the beginning of each week, take half an hour to decide what you want to do during each study session that week, based on your GMAT prep books and whatever official GMAT materials you’re using (we highly recommend the Official Guide and the official practice exams).
Every 3 to 4 weeks, schedule a practice test; you’ll need 2 hours 15 minutes to take it. Plan to spend about twice that amount of time reviewing it (spread this across several study sessions). Use your analysis to help prioritize your study sessions in the following weeks.
Initially, you’ll be focused on mastery of the different question types and topic areas. You’ll also want to incorporate time management and mixed practice as you get deeper into your studies.
What GMAT Topics To Focus On
The Quant and Data Insights sections test certain quant topics, many of which you’ll also need to know for business school. The major categories are Algebra, Statistics, Number Properties, and Fractions, Percents, and Ratios.
| Quant Category | Quant Topics | Frequency | Used in B-school? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algebra | Exponents and Roots | Common | Exponents |
| Linear Equations | Common | Yes | |
| Quadratic Equations | Medium | ||
| Sequences / Formulas | Common | Yes | |
| Inequalities | Common | Yes | |
| Statistics and Stories | Average, Median, Mode, Consecutive Integers | Common | Yes |
| Weighted Average | Common | Yes | |
| Standard Deviation | Medium | Yes | |
| Correlation (Positive, Negative) | Common | Yes | |
| Rates, Work, Overlapping Sets | Common | ||
| Fractions, Percents, Ratios (aka Business Math) | Fractions | Common | Yes |
| Percents | Common | Yes | |
| Ratios | Common | Yes | |
| Digits, Decimals | Medium | Yes | |
| Number Properties | Divisibility, Prime | Common | |
| Positive/Negative, Odd/Even | Common | ||
| Probability | Medium | Yes | |
| Combinatorics/Counting | Medium |
Certain math topics tested on the GMAT are also commonly used in business school, so your GMAT studies will actually help you get ready for b-school as well, including Statistics, Fractions, Percents, Ratios, and a few algebra topics.
On the “non-math” side, you don’t have to learn specific facts or rules. Instead, for both Verbal and Data Insights non-math problems, you’ll be using a combination of analytical reasoning, logic, and comprehension skills.
For the non-verbal question types, your focus will be learning the common ways that they ask you to analyze, like inferring (drawing a conclusion), finding an assumption or specific detail, strengthening or weakening, identifying why an author included certain info or what role certain info played in the given argument or story.
How Long Does GMAT Prep Take?
Most people looking for a competitive GMAT score study for 100+ hours, usually spread over 3 to 6 months.
| Desired score increase | Study time for 8-12 hrs/wk | Study time for 3-6 hrs/wk |
|---|---|---|
| 30-50 points | 1-2 months | 2-4 months |
| 70-150+ points | 3-4 months | 6-8 months |
If you’re looking for an increase of 30 to 50 points, most people need 1 to 2 months, studying about 8 to 12 hours a week. If you’re looking for an increase of 70 to 150+ points, most people need 3 to 4 months, studying about 8 to 12 hours a week. If you can only study 6 or fewer hours in a week, add another 1-2 months if you’re looking for a 30-50 point increase and add another 3-4 months if you’re looking for a 70-150+ point increase.
Finally, if you’re already at a higher scoring level (645+) and looking for an exceptionally high score (685+), you may need as much as double the time listed in the table . The higher the score you’re trying to get, the more effort it takes. It’s the difference between going on a local hike and trying to climb a real mountain!
How To Find GMAT Study Time
“I can’t find enough time to study!” is a common problem among people getting ready for the GMAT. So one thing a GMAT prep coach might offer to help you with is how to find the study time when you need it most. For example, many test-takers make the mistake of trying to find too much time in one block.
You don’t need to study for 2+ hours in one sitting. Use the time you have! 20 minutes on the train during your morning commute? Use flashcards to drill. Have a lunch break you can spend quietly at your desk? Review approaches to tackling Critical Reasoning questions. Online GMAT prep tools give you quick practice when you have a short break or are on the go. When you have the ability to sit and write, take 30 minutes to dive into GMAT book prep. You don’t have to finish an entire chapter in one sitting.
On weekday evenings, practice with test-like online GMAT questions in whatever study time you have available. Use the Manhattan Prep Qbank to create quizzes for whatever content, question types, and difficulty levels you need practice with. Getting used to answering test-like questions on a computer is essential, since that’s how the real test is given. It’s awkward to repeatedly look up at the problem and then down at your scratch paper. Practice makes perfect.
Take breaks while studying for the gmat
When setting up your study sessions, build in break time. If you want to study for two hours, take a 10-minute break halfway through. Stand up, walk around, and ignore your phone. Have something to eat or drink. Give your brain a true break.
Or follow the Pomodoro method: For every 30 minute block of time, you work (without stopping!) for 25 minutes and then give yourself a 5-minute break.
Schedule a gmat practice test early
Take your first practice test before you feel ready. Seriously! Take no more than a week to learn the very basics (like how each question type works) and then just dive into the practice test.
That test will give you a baseline readout on your strengths and weaknesses. You’ll also be able to see where you might be having time management issues or where you feel extra nervous vs. comfortable. This data is incredibly valuable because it will help you to prioritize your studies.
If you’re devising your own study plan, you absolutely have to have this data just to get started. But even if you’re taking a prep course, this data will help you to predict where you’re going to need to spend more vs. less time as you follow the study plan that you’ve chosen. If Fractions and Ratios are coming up on Tuesday and you already know that this area gives you a headache, you can plan to spend some extra time. And you can get that time from Thursday, which is slated for Critical Reasoning—but you already know that you feel pretty good about that question type.
GMAT Study Plan Tips for ESL Speakers
If English is your second language, you have to deal with an extra cognitive load when taking any test in English. There are two things you can do to help minimize this load:
- Read “academic” English for 10-15 minutes most days of the week.
- Build mental stamina during your practice sessions.
(These two steps are useful even if English is your first language!)
1. Read Academic English for 10-15 minutes a day.
In business school, you’ll be reading academic texts and case studies every day, so get a head start now. Look for dense, business- or science-oriented English publications to naturally improve reading speed, vocabulary, and familiarity with complex English sentence structures
These are good free sources:
- Scientific American
- University of Chicago Magazine (use the Topics filter to find relevant material)
These sources have some free content but require a subscription to see everything:
You may see some “lighter” content in these sources that are more enjoyable to read, but push yourself to read “university” level or more dense articles to simulate what you’ll see on the GMAT and in business school.
You don’t have to read a ton (you don’t even have to finish the whole article). Just read for 10-15 minutes most days of the week and, in 4 to 6 months, your brain will be much better equipped to handle this academic language.
2. Build mental stamina during your practice sessions.
About once a week, sit down for a 1.5 hour block of study time. Spend 5 to 10 minutes upfront putting together a plan for the entire block of time. So that you don’t run out of material earlier than you expected, plan enough content for about 2 hours’ worth of study.
When you’ve got your plan, go without stopping for 45 minutes (the length of one section of the test). Put your phone in a different room, don’t talk to anyone in your household (go to the library if needed!), don’t get up to get a snack. If you finish one activity, don’t spend time deciding what to do next—just go to the next thing on the list you already made. Pretend it’s the real test and you literally can’t stop.
Then, take a 10-minute break (and time it!). During this break, still do not pick up your phone or go online. Stand up, walk around, stretch, have something to eat. Again, pretend it’s the real test and you’re on your break.
When the 10 minutes are up, sit down again and go without stopping for another 45 minutes.
Two mini-tips for this exercise
- Do this on a non-work day or do it earlier in the day, when you’re still more mentally fresh. Make this the first mentally challenging thing you do on this day.
- If you want to study more than 1.5 hours on this same day, give yourself a substantial break (at least 2 hours) before you do any more studying. Clean the house, watch TV, go outside, run errands. Give your brain a break—it’s going to need it.
