Congratulations on your decision to pursue an MBA or other graduate management degree, and thank you for choosing Kaplan for your GMAT preparation.
You’ve made the right choice in acquiring this book—you’re now armed with a comprehensive GMAT program that is the result of decades of researching the GMAT and teaching many thousands of students the skills they need to succeed. You have what you need to score higher; the next step is to make the commitment to your study plan, which, according to the GMAT testmaker, averages about 100 hours of preparation for 600+ and 700+ scorers.
Let’s start by walking you through everything you need to know to take advantage of this book and your online resources.
There are two main components to your GMAT Prep Plus study package: your book and your online resources. This book contains:
Detailed instruction covering the essential verbal, math, and writing concepts
Time-tested and effective Kaplan Methods and strategies for every question type
A pretest (chapter 3) featuring full-length Quantitative and Verbal sections, designed to help you diagnose your strengths and weaknesses
Over 350 practice questions, followed by detailed answer explanations
Your Kaplan online resources give you access to additional instruction and practice materials to reinforce key concepts and sharpen your GMAT skills. The following list summarizes the resources available to you:
Five full-length computer-adaptive practice tests (CATs)
Analysis of your performance on each practice test, including detailed answer explanations
Quizzes for the Verbal, Quantitative, Analytical Writing, and Integrated Reasoning sections of the GMAT
A 200-question Qbank for additional targeted practice
Video lessons featuring Kaplan’s top GMAT instructors
The GMAT Strategy Sheet
Studying for the GMAT can be daunting, and with so many resources available to you, it may not be clear where to begin. Don’t worry; we’ll break it down one step at a time, just like the GMAT questions that you will soon be on your way to mastering.
GETTING STARTED
Register your online resources.
Sign up for a free Live Online event.
Take a GMAT practice test to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Create a study plan.
Learn and practice using this book and your online resources.
Work through the five computer-adaptive practice tests to gauge your progress.
Register your online resources using these simple steps:
Go to kaptest.com/booksonline.
Follow the on-screen instructions. Please have a copy of your book available.
Access to the online resources is limited to the original owner of this book and is nontransferable. Kaplan is not responsible for providing access to the online resources to customers who purchase or borrow used copies of this book. Access to the online resources expires one year after you register.
Kaplan’s GMAT Live Online events are interactive, instructor-led GMAT training sessions that you can join from anywhere you can access the Internet.
Live Online events are held in a state-of-the-art virtual classroom in real time, just like a physical classroom experience. You’ll interact with your teacher and other classmates using audio, instant chat, whiteboard, polling, and screen-sharing functionality. And just like in-person courses, a GMAT Live Online event is led by an experienced Kaplan instructor.
To register for a free GMAT Live Online event, go to your online resources or to KaplanGMAT.com and search for a free event. You may be asked for a U.S. ZIP or Canadian postal code Live Online events are available for all locations.)
It’s essential to take a practice test early on. Doing so will give you the initial feedback and diagnostic information that you will need to achieve your maximum score. Taking a full-length test right at the start can be intimidating. Place enough importance on your first practice test—and all of your practice tests—to turn off your cell phone, give the test your full attention, and learn from your performance, but also remember: your practice test scores don’t count.
Your Diagnostic Test is CAT 1, which is found in your online resources. CAT 1, like all of Kaplan’s online full-length tests, is a computer-adaptive test, which is the same format as the actual GMAT. The computer-adaptive format feels and scores differently than a paper test, so the more you practice with CATs, the better off you’ll be. However, for your convenience, we’ve also included a paper-based pretest in chapter 3 of this book. The pretest includes full-length Quantitative and Verbal sections and will give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the various question types. It also allows you to accurately gauge the content you know and identify areas for practice and review.
Review the detailed answer explanations to better understand your performance. Our explanations label each question according to its question type and topic; these labels align with the material covered throughout this book. Look for patterns in the questions you answered correctly and incorrectly. Were you stronger in some areas than others? This analysis will help you target your practice time to specific concepts.
Use what you’ve learned from your initial practice test to identify areas for closer study and practice. Take time to familiarize yourself with the key components of your book and online resources. Think about how many hours you can consistently devote to GMAT study. We have found that most students have success with about three months of committed preparation before Test Day.
Consider the following statistic as you build your study plan: According to the GMAT testmakers, the average 600+ or 700+ scorer prepares for the GMAT for about 100 hours. We recommend you add 20 percent to this figure to give 120 total hours of practice before Test Day. Roughly estimated, if you spend an average of two hours per chapter in this book, that gets you to 40 hours. The five computer-adaptive practice tests are each at least 2.5 hours of testing (and up to 3.5 hours, depending on whether you do the writing section and/or Integrated Reasoning) and then 1.5 hours of review. All told, that gets you to about 60 hours of preparation. That 60 hours may be enough for some test takers, and it will be more than enough to give you an indication of where you stand relative to your GMAT goals. The most convenient way to bulk up your study plan is to enroll in Kaplan’s GMAT Self-Paced course, which includes approximately 160 hours of preparation. For more information on GMAT Self-Paced and the other preparation options (including instructor-led courses) available from Kaplan, visit KaplanGMAT.com.
Schedule time for study, practice, and review. One of the most frequent mistakes in approaching study is to take practice tests and not review them thoroughly—review time is your best chance to gain points. It works best for many people to block out short, frequent periods of study time throughout the week. Check in with yourself often to make sure you’re not falling behind your plan or forgetting about any of your resources.
Your book and online resources come with many opportunities to develop and practice the skills you’ll need on Test Day. Read each chapter of this book and complete the practice questions. Depending on how much time you have to study, you can do this work methodically, covering every chapter, or you can focus your study on those question types and content areas that are most challenging to you. You will inevitably need more work in some areas than in others, but know that the more thoroughly you prepare, the better your score will be.
Remember also to take and review the quizzes in your online resources. These quizzes give you additional test-like questions so you can put into practice the skills you are learning. As always, review the explanations closely.
Initially, your practice should focus on mastering the needed skills and not on timing. Add timing to your practice as you improve fundamental proficiency.
As you move through your GMAT studies, take advantage of the five full-length practice tests available in your online resources. You will learn more about computer-adaptive tests, or CATs, in chapters 1 and 2 of this book. The Kaplan CATs are the most realistic practice tests available, and they are the best way to prepare fully for what you will face on the real GMAT. Take your first computer-adaptive test relatively early in your prep and continue taking them at regular intervals until your Test Day.
Always review your practice test results thoroughly to make sure you are addressing the areas that are most important to your score. Allot time to review the detailed explanations so that you can learn from your mistakes before taking your next practice test.
If you find that you would like access to more of Kaplan’s CATs and quizzes, as well as in-depth instruction on the question types and strategies, look into the variety of course options available at KaplanGMAT.com.
Thanks for choosing Kaplan. We wish you the best of luck on your journey to business school.
The material in this book is accurate and up-to-date at the time of printing. However, the Graduate Management Admission Council may have instituted changes in the tests or test registration process after this book was published. Be sure to read carefully the materials you receive when you register for the test.
If there are any important late-breaking developments, we will post that information online at KaplanGMAT.com.
If there are changes or corrections to the materials in this book, these can be found at kaptest.com/publishing.