[HoldMyBeerCPA]

Does anyone on the forums have a suggestion on preparing for the GMAT. I have a 6 month window before I start an auditing course en route to returning to school for my MAcc. I’ll be working at a CPA firm starting in July so I’m certain that I wouldn’t be too busy coming out of the gate until Q’s roll around for the smaller SEC reporting companies.

With that being said, what would the folks on here advise on preparing for the GMAT. My goal is to score in the 650’s. Though only 550 is needed to get admitted into an online AASCB accredited program in Utah (Southern Utah University), I would like to score higher than that in case I can attend an on-campus program while working full time in public accounting.

Thanks in advance!

-Shawn

"FACT": The odds of consecutively passing all four sections of the CPA exam on the first try: 7%.

Me: Hold my beer...

FAR (April 2017): 75+

BEC (May 2017): 75+

AUD (July 2017): 75+

REG (September 2017): 75+

Roger + Ninja Audio/MCQ/Notes (BEC & REG)

[taxycpa2be]

If you're weak on quantitative/verbal questions, consider investing in the Manhattan GMAT quantitative or verbal books. They're broken down by section so you can tweak or target specific problem areas. I felt I was decent with verbal and needed to improve on quant, so I bought those books and I was able to spend a month to prepare. Of course, don't forget about the big teal Comprehensive GMAT prep book. That book is the GMAT bible and those questions are excellent for practice.

I personally wouldn't spend over a month (2 months tops) studying for this if all you're looking to get is around a 650.

Hope this helps. Best of luck.

AUD: Pass (WTB)
BEC: Pass (Ninja/Becker)
REG: Pass (WTB)
FAR: Pass!!! (Becker/WTB/Ninja)

DONE!! 🙂 It's SO nice to be able to finally write this. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

[y_u_no_pass]

There are a number of posts on this. I loved the Manhattan gmat materials purchased through Amazon. I went from a starting score of around 650 on my first practice exam to a score on exam day of 710. I didn't manage to finish all of them, but I was just not committed enough. If you put in the time, I am sure you can up your score by 100 points. It is a set of 10 books that works with the official guide. The gmat isn't hard, but you have to prep for it because it is a strange format and requires you to know a lot of tricks. Good luck!

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[taxycpa2be]

Oh I forgot to mention… some schools let you waive the GMAT requirement if you're already a CPA! 🙂 USC has this rule. Not sure about other grad programs.

AUD: Pass (WTB)
BEC: Pass (Ninja/Becker)
REG: Pass (WTB)
FAR: Pass!!! (Becker/WTB/Ninja)

DONE!! 🙂 It's SO nice to be able to finally write this. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

@taxy: I'm assuming you took a practice test at first to determine you're strengths and weaknesses. I have no idea where to focus so I may start there and determine what's best. I've heard pretty good things about the Manhattan Review Course so I may look into that. I'm no CPA, not even close thereto, so the GMAT requirement will not be waived any time soon 🙁

"FACT": The odds of consecutively passing all four sections of the CPA exam on the first try: 7%.

Me: Hold my beer...

FAR (April 2017): 75+

BEC (May 2017): 75+

AUD (July 2017): 75+

REG (September 2017): 75+

Roger + Ninja Audio/MCQ/Notes (BEC & REG)

[taxycpa2be]

The GMAT website has a free tool for you to download and it includes two free practice tests. Download these and do one of them to gauge where you are. Save the 2nd one for the very end after you're done with your review. I went on a GMAT prep forum and noticed that lots of people did that. Hope it will work for you!

AUD: Pass (WTB)
BEC: Pass (Ninja/Becker)
REG: Pass (WTB)
FAR: Pass!!! (Becker/WTB/Ninja)

DONE!! 🙂 It's SO nice to be able to finally write this. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

[y_u_no_pass]

You also get like 6 practice exams from Manhattan if you buy their materials. I didn't even ever use my official practice exams.

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[mkrohmer]

I only studied for 3 days so i don't know if my opinion will count too much. I briefly skimmed the math section and sentence correction topics in the book while taking notes on the math and took a practice exam and got a 540 on day 1. Then I read over the book a little more and watched a bunch of youtube videos. I learned a lot more from the youtube videos than the book. I mostly looked at videos with exam tips/tricks instead of attempting to learn the material in such a short time frame. Then I read over the book a little more on day 3 and took another practice test and got a 560. Exam score was 550 so i would say those are a pretty good representation of what u should expect on test day.

BEC - 83 (1/23/15)
FAR - 80 (4/3/15)
REG - 88 (5/14/15)
AUD - 81 (7/3/15)

[tuanxn]

@taxycpa2be‘s approach is the same thing I would recommend. You have plenty of time so you could use the Manhattan books to brush up on concepts (1-1.5 months) then churn out MCQ's with the Official Guide books (1-1.5 months)

That will give you the chance to sit for the exam and retake if needed.

There's a lot of good information on this forum:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-you-need-for-quant-140445.html

In the meantime, try reading the Economist or the Wall Street Journal to help with reading comprehension.

No matter how much you prepare for the GMAT, there will be questions that completely stump you and you must know when to choose a random answer and move on (so you can stay on pace).

[Author]

Replies