Best Books for GMAT Exam Preparation, Study Materials

Students must note that they should not fill their books with too many GMAT books. Do not get swayed away by attractive websites and book covers. It is always advisable to follow a limited number of resources and focus on multiple revisions, practice questions, and GMAT mock tests. These key points will help you determine the right GMAT prep books and resources to tackle the exam:

• Stick to the Syllabus and Pattern: There is a deluge of GMAT preparation material in the market. Before buying any book, make sure that you are thorough with the syllabus and the pattern of the GMAT 2024 exam. Once you go through a book, make sure that this book is in line with the exam syllabus and pattern. Do not buy books just because they look attractive.
• Forming a Perfect Strategy: It is not just about solving complex questions, but also about forming a GMAT preparation strategy that can help you score well on all the sections of the exam. It can be identifying the priority section that you will be solving first, or it can be related to time management. These skills will prove to be handy during exam time. You can also follow GMAT preparation tips given by experts to utilize your time effectively. 
• Practicing Right Set of Questions: The GMAT exam is based on a specific pattern, so, it is always important you practice the right set of questions, which can help you in scoring well on the exam.
• Must Include Answers with Detailed Explanations: The GMAT preparation material and GMAT books must offer answer keys, so, one can understand the correct method to solve different types of questions. The answer keys should give detailed explanations about the correct answer, so, the aspirant can understand the concept behind it.

The following GMAT prep books will help you cover the entire GMAT 2024 syllabus holistically. It is advised that students appear for GMAT 2024 mock tests to track their progress. Moreover, it is extremely important to analyse your performance on these GMAT practice tests.

• GMAT Official Guide: Popularly called GMAT OG, it is the most important book for your GMAT preparation. This book must form the base of your preparation. Do not leave a single page of this book. GMAT OG contains nearly 1000 questions from past GMAT exams. This is as close as you can get to GMAT before the actual day of the exam. A detailed overview of the exam, detailed answers, essays, and an organized order of questions will help you in scoring well on the GMAT. Make sure that you complete this book at least twice during your GMAT preparation. You can get the GMAT Official Guide Bundle ebook and online question band at $81.99.
• Manhattan Prep Complete GMAT Strategy Guide Set: The Manhattan GMAT books cover every aspect of the GMAT exam. The complete set of books comprises ten guides covering each area from analytical writing to integrated reasoning and everything in between. You have the option of buying these books in a bundle or individually. Apart from the books, one also gets one-year access to practice tests and web material. These books will help you in strengthening your skillset to perform exemplary. The study material and guides offered by Manhattan are considered the best GMAT preparation material by the reviewers. In addition, the practice tests available with the books help you prepare as you are giving the actual test. Practice questions also come with a detailed explanation for the answers. You must aim to combine the GMAT Official Guide and Manhattan GMAT guides to cover the entire syllabus holistically. Once you are done with these, only then you should move on to other GMAT books and resources.
• GMAT Official Advanced Questions: Once you have completed the GMAT Official Guide and Manhattan GMAT books, you should move on to the GMAT Official Advanced Questions. It has hard GMAT questions from the past GMAT exams. This book will help you familiarize yourself with the tough GMAT questions. Note that if you keep on answering the questions correctly, the level of questions gets tougher on the GMAT (with an obvious increase in the score). Hence, a candidate needs to practice hard GMAT questions. You can get the GMAT official advanced questions ebook along with the online question bank at $29.99.
• Kaplan GMAT Prep Plus 2023: The biggest advantage of studying from the Kaplan guide is that it provides the perfect content required for the exam and excludes the concepts that can prove to be a distraction. The Kaplan GMAT Verbal Workbook helps you in framing advanced strategies to deal with verbal questions. In addition, the Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook will help you in building strong basics in the quantitative section. This book provides a helping hand to those struggling with quant. The study material by Kaplan is always considered the best GMAT study book by the reviewers.
• Veritas Prep Complete GMAT Course Set: Those looking to enhance their knowledge in each topic should go for Veritas Prep GMAT Set. It covers each topic in detail and the books are also written nicely. Further, the practice questions offered in the books are not only unique but difficult as well. One of the drawbacks of this set is that it comes with only one online full-length practice test, whereas other publishers are offering many more practice tests. Veritas is offering hundreds of practice questions online which can help the aspirants in increasing their score.
• GMAT Online Resources: Apart from the prep books, you can also download GMAT preparation material free online from different reputed forums. Otherwise, you can join different forums like the official GMAT forum and post your query there; it will be answered by the experts. There are numerous (free and paid) online GMAT tests that you can take and enhance your skills. With little effort, you can get free GMAT prep material that can also prove to be useful. We recommend that you take help of the following online resources:

• • Beat The GMAT
  • GMAT Club Forum
  • Thursday's with Ron
  • Magoosh YouTube channel

No amount of books or GMAT prep material will prove to be fruitful until you adopt an extensive study plan, rigorous training sessions, and discipline which are key to achieving a high GMAT score.

Every candidate learns at a different speed, and it is very much natural. Therefore, if your colleagues or friends have achieved their targeted GMAT scores within 3 months or say 5 months then you need not bother about it. Here, we have formulated a 6-month study plan for GMAT that you should follow while preparing for the exam. Some students can achieve the targets set in the six-month guide a little early as they focus full time on GMAT preparation while others prepare for the GMAT exam and manage their job or work simultaneously.

How much you should study per week: Try to aim to study around 5-7 hours a week and you can gradually increase the time as the exam date approaches.

First Month

Hours/ month: 20-25

Checklist:

• If you have not taken the GMAT exam recently, then prepare the strategy on how you will proceed further.
• Take a GMAT mock test to gauge your current preparation level
• Understand the syllabus and the pattern
• Start with GMAT OG and Manhattan Guides
• You should be done with GMAT quantitative review and GMAT sentence correction
• Make short notes of GMAT sentence correction and revise those grammar rules again and again
• Make a list of quantitative review formula and revise them again and again
• Take a full-length mock at the end of the month to see how far you have come

Second Month

Hours/ month: At least 30

Checklist:

• Complete the pending portion of GMAT quantitative review and GMAT sentence correction
• Revise the previously completed part
• Complete Critical Reasoning
• Appear for at least 2 full-length GMAT practice tests
• At the end of the 2nd month, revise whatever you have completed so far

Third Month

Hours/ month: At least 45

Checklist:

• Revise whatever you have completed in the last 2 months
• Complete Reading Comprehension
• By the end of the third month, you must have completed your entire course once
• Appear for 3 full-length mock tests and track your performance

Fourth Month

Hours/ month: At least 60

• Complete AWA and Integrated Reasoning and give a final finishing touch to your preparation
• It is time for your to revise everything once again
• Start with advanced questions
• Appear for as many full-length mocks as possible

Fifth Month

Hours/month: At least 60

Checklist:

• Practice other prep material covering all GMAT question types
• Revise your notes
• Complete GMAT OG and GMAT Official advanced questions once again
• Go for mock tests and monitor your progress
• If you feel that some topic needs extra practice, devote extra time to it

Sixth Month

Hours/ month: At least 75

Checklist:

• You should focus on mock tests and revisions in this month
• Take a break one day before the actual exam

We understand that it may not be possible to study continuously for such a long time; so, you can modify timings according to your convenience and can take breaks whenever you feel exhausted. Also, remember, it is best to study with a timetable and go for one section/lesson once in a time, as dealing with multiple topics might confuse you.

All the best!

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