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A 2 months GMAT prep time can be your choice or your only option – Whether you’re juggling a hectic schedule, facing tight application deadlines, or retaking the test to hit your target score, you might be curious whether GMAT preparation can be done in 2 months. To find the answer we’ll dive into what the GMAT FE entails, the common challenges students face, and smart practices to help you ace the test with confidence in this limited time.

We’ll cover in this blog:

Types of students preparing for GMAT in a tight two-month window

  1. Working Professionals with Busy Schedules

    • Reason: They may have demanding jobs that allow limited GMAT prep time, their only viable option.

  2. Applicants Facing Admission Deadlines

    • Reason: Some students may realize late that they need to take the GMAT to meet application deadlines for their target MBA programs.

  3. Students Retaking the GMAT

    • Reason: Students who recently attempted the GMAT but want to reattempt quickly to capitalize on their current momentum.

  4. Individuals confident about their Academic Foundations

    • Reason: Some students have a strong grasp of math, verbal, and analytical skills from previous education or work, requiring only focused practice rather than concept learning.

  5. Students with Upcoming Scholarships

    • Reason: Certain scholarships may require a GMAT score as part of the eligibility criteria, prompting students to prepare quickly to meet the deadline.

    This diversity of scenarios demonstrates that many factors, from personal schedules to external constraints, can drive the need for a two-month GMAT preparation plan.

    Talk to our GMAT experts

What is the GMAT Structure and what Skills are Tested?

The current GMAT Focus Edition (GMAT FE) is a streamlined version of the older GMAT. It is designed for testing skills in Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Data Insights. Although It’s a shorter test, it maintains the same rigor and challenge as its predecessor.

Simply put GMAT is a test of your management skills: shuffling Time management, Decision-making and Presence of mind. To be specific, the test includes the following sections and skills tested in each:

  1. Verbal Reasoning

    • Question Types: Critical reasoning, and Reading comprehension,.
    • Number of Questions: 23 questions.
    • Time Limit: 45 minutes.
    • Skills tested:
      • Understanding Argument Structure: Identifying premises, conclusions, and assumptions.
      • Identifying Flaws in Logic and Determining logical conclusions based on given data.
      • Assessing the validity and relevance of provided evidence.
      • Understanding the central theme or purpose of the passage and extending to hypothetical scenarios.

  2. Quantitative Reasoning

    • Question Type: Problem-Solving.
    • Number of Questions: 21 questions.
    • Time Limit: 45 minutes.
    • Skills Tested:
      • Questions assess your ability to apply mathematical concepts to solve subtle and straightforward problems.
      • Concepts of Arithmetic, Algebra, Word Problem Analysis may involve solving real-world scenarios using logical math strategies.

  3. Data Insights

    • Question Types: Data-sufficiency, Multi-source reasoning, Table analysis, Graphic interpretation, and Two-part analysis.
    • Number of Questions: 20 questions.
    • Time Limit: 45 minutes.
    • Skills tested:
      • Understanding numerical, tabular, and graphical data, identifying trends, patterns, and relationships.
      • Synthesizing information from multiple data sources like charts, graphs, and text.
      • Applying basic arithmetic, algebra, and statistical concepts to solve problems
      • Quickly analyzing and interpreting data to make informed choices, deciding which information is relevant to solve a problem.
      • Testing hypothetical scenarios using the provided information.

    4. Suggested Read:Test Prep Basics

What Challenges would one face in becoming GMAT Ready?

Preparing for the GMAT FE is not just about hard work or investing time in studying or collecting information; it’s about adopting a strategic mindset and methodical approach. Here are the most common challenges students face:

  1. Understanding the Approach and Develop a study plan:

    Even if one figures out what to study for the preparation, many students struggle with developing an actionable plan to dedicate the right time to build the right skills for the unique format of the GMAT questions such as Integrated Reasoning and data sufficiency in Data Insights.

  2. Retaining and Using Core Concepts:

    The difference between knowing and the ability to recall and use knowledge: It is possible that you may require revisiting foundational math, grammar, and reasoning concepts, since after years of not using them is tough for many test-takers. Apart from that you also need to find the most efficient and effective ways of utilizing these concepts.

  3. Mastering Time Management:

    Each section of the GMAT is timed, requiring efficient pacing and quick decision-making. You would need to find a pacing strategy for not just each section but also how to maneuver time within each Question. This requires an effective approach to tackle each Question type.

  4. Developing the GMAT Mindset:

    Take the simple example of Reading comprehension: all one needs to do is read a passage and answer some question on the same. Yet most people struggle in making quick right decisions in such questions, devastating the score. The truth is that GMAT isn’t just about reading ability or knowledge of mathematical concepts but about thinking critically, strategically, making educated guesses (on need basis), and – last but not least – working efficiently under pressure.

  5. Score stagnation and Maintaining Consistency in Study:

    It’s easy to lose momentum over a long preparation period, especially when results aren’t immediately apparent. The journey from an average score, to a good one is different from the journey from a good score to an excellent one. Each step requires the right prep and frame of mind. Without a thorough understanding of what is missing and what must be done, the GMAT prep can meet a deadlock.

  6. Balancing Study with Work or Academic and Other Obligations:

    Consistency in prep being a key to ensure success, carving out prep time can be challenging for working professionals or full-time students who have varying schedules to fit in this new job at hand.

  7. Test Anxiety:

    The pressure to perform well can derail even well-prepared students during practice mocks or even the actual exam. It becomes shocking for a good student to see a completely unexpected test result. How to deliver consistency in mocks and test performance is a puzzle, at times an unsolved one for many.

How to Overcome the Challenges within Only 2 Months of GMAT Prep?

With only eight weeks to prepare, the first thing that you need is a Weekly-Study-Plan for each of the 8 weeks. Each week would involve objectives of Concept Learning, Practice, Analyses, Revisions, and Testing for each of the three sections.

Knowing the job that you have taken up, your next steps are to understand how to personalize the GMAT Preparation to your requirements.

Here are 7 common Challenges and Solutions to overcome them:

  1. Limited Time for Conceptual Foundations

    Without a strong grasp of the basics, solving advanced questions becomes daunting.

    Solution:

    Quality vs Quantity: Rather than chasing the Quantity of questions for practice, what really matters is the way you analyze your mistakes or the approach to more efficiently solve questions. With the right analysis methods you can derive more significant learnings from fewer questions, enabling you to climb up the difficulty ladder quicker.

    • Develop a detailed study plan for concept learning, Question pratice, analyses, revision, and practice-tests for quicker question learning.
    • Learn about your strong and weak areas to focus on how to strengthen your approach to the plethora of Questions.
    • Analyze questions to find a strategy to approach them most effectively.
    • Enlist an experienced GMAT Tutor for targeted support.

  2. Finding the Right Preparation Material

    The GMAT preparation market is saturated with an ocean of superfluous practice content: everyone is recommending their content and thus choosing effective resources can be overwhelming.

    Solution:

    Stay with Official GMAT content: It is easy to get confused in what to practice in a sea of available content online. You must not risk practicing questions just for the sake of their availability or popularity. Choose content which is appropriate.

    • Use official GMAT preparation materials only for authenticity.
    • Ensure to use official mock tests for assessing your GMAT prep before writing GMAT.
    • Choose well-reviewed resources for concept-building, practice, guided explanations, and for mock tests, curated only by experienced GMAT Tutors.

  3. Implementing Concepts Learned

    Have you ever felt that cringe moment during a test where you feel you have made a silly mistake? With limited time, GMAT prep students often neglect revision and in-depth-analyses, leading to repeated mistakes. Understanding a concept is one thing, but applying it under timed conditions is another.

    Solution:

    Practice-&-Analysis makes perfect: Build a mental map of your learnings. GMAT prep depends on not just a detailed analysis but also a consistency in your prep.

    • Practice regularly: rather than focusing on the number of hours, focus on the amount of learning in the limited time that you can invest.
    • Practice 10–15 questions per topic immediately after learning.
    • Analyze both correct questions and incorrect ones to discover trends or to assess how to solve them more economically.
    • Balanced Review: Maintain an error log to track recurring issues. Regularly review errors to internalize the correct approach.
    • Dedicate a large portion of study time to reviewing concepts and refining strategies.
    • Take a birds eye opinion from the expert feedback a GMAT tutor can provide.

  4. Managing Burnout

    Are you worried about the stamina required to condense all this preparation into a shorter period? Intense preparation can lead to mental fatigue, diminishing productivity and can become discouraging to continue with the preparation of your GMAT.

    Solution:

    Act the way you Aspire to be: Plan your daily life along with planning your GMAT exam preparation. A balance in time for work, recreation, family, and GMAT prep is something that you will need to develop for now and the rest of your lives.

    • You have the objectives for each week. Now plan your day in advance.
    • Incorporate regular breaks and recreational activities during, before, and after the GMAT prep.
    • Plan your study hours: Do revision for Warmup, Learn new concepts for build up, Practice or Test for Action, Analyse your work, and then take rest.
    • Physical fitness is important too: A healthy mind lives in a healthy body.

  5. Unsteady Mock Test Results

    While writing the GMAT or mock-tests you may feel happy, anxious, or even indifferent about how you perceive the ongoing test performance. Despite that, the end result can sometimes be surprising. Fluctuating scores can be demotivating and leave students doubting their abilities.

    Solution:

    Analyse and Modify Strategy: Treat mock tests as diagnostic tools that reveal your weaknesses rather than score predictors. Doing so shall provide you the opportunity to learn the necessary changes that you need to bring in your GMAT Prep.

    • Focus on analyzing mock tests for patterns in mistakes.
    • Assess and repeatedly revise what reasons led to the mistakes and alter strategies to improve.
    • A GMAT tutor can help identify areas for improvement based on mock results.

  6. Time Management During the Exam

    Do you think 45 minutes in each section of GMAT is enough for the questions to be solved? Struggling to finish sections within the allotted time often leads to leaving questions unanswered which can completely derail the test results.

    Solution:

    Pacing strategy and Efficient approach:

    • During your practice days you must discover the time-efficient methods of solving every question you attempt.
    • Practice solving questions under timed conditions.
    • Develop a pacing strategy for each section to create milestones to cover sets of questions within each section.
    • Learn when to skip or guess to save time for other questions.
    • Choose the order of the three sections in the order suitable for you.
    • If stuck, consult with experienced GMAT Tutors who specialize in teaching time-saving strategies.

  7. Test Anxiety and GMAT’s Adaptive Question Format

    The pressure of an impending deadline and the ticking clock during the test can lead to poor performance. In case you are a retaker who noticed that your mock results differ from your actual GMAT result it becomes frustrating to figure out what went wrong during the test.

    Solution:

    Make everyday the final GMAT day: The decision making skills in time constraint cannot be expected to be suddenly rejuvenated if your demeanour during practice has been more relaxed.

    • On a daily basis, simulate exam conditions by taking practice tests in quiet settings.
    • For both practice days and the GMAT date, use relaxation techniques like deep breathing or mindfulness exercises.
    • Stay confident regardless of perceived question difficulty.
    • Focus on accuracy of the present Question at hand rather than attempting to gauge overall performance mid-test.
    • Consult with GMAT tutors who can provide motivational support to ease anxiety.

Conclusion

The GMAT Focus Edition may seem like a challenge, especially with only two months to prepare, but it’s entirely possible to excel with the right strategy: Personalized Study Plan, High-Yield Focus, Error Analysis and Feedback, Time Management Training, Access to Comprehensive Resources. Identify your challenges and seek expert guidance when needed.

With experienced GMAT tutors by your side, you’ll have the personalized support and resources to ace the test and achieve your MBA dreams. Start your prep journey today, and turn your two-month timeline into a success story!

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FAQs

Yes, with focused practice and smart strategies. Concentrate on foundational skills, avoid overloading yourself, and consistently track your progress. A GMAT tutor can help you build the right approach to quickly improve your weaker areas.

Inconsistent scores can be because of issues in time management, anxiety, conceptual weakness, weak recall of concepts during implementation, or lack of focus. Work on analyzing your mock test errors to identify patterns in your mistakes. Adjust your time management strategy and review areas where you repeatedly struggle. An experienced GMAT tutor can provide holistic feedback on issues which might not meet your eye.

Each of the three sections contribute equally to the score and thus all are important. Prioritize the sections that align with your strengths and weaknesses. If you’re stronger in quantitative reasoning but weaker in verbal, allocate more time to improve your verbal skills. Alternatively, a GMAT tutor can help you identify  and improve such areas with the highest potential for score improvement.