So you’ve decided you want to go back to school… one day.  Congrats – it will not be easy.  I’m talking about both the admissions process as well as school itself.

But lets talk about one thing at a time.  Now that you know you’ll be applying for grad school, you’ll most likely have to take a grad school entrance exam – something like the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc.  These tests can be daunting, especially if you’ve been out of school for a while.  But don’t worry, they’re designed such that, with a lot of practice and studying, you can do well on them.

Below, I’ll provide a gameplan for how to attack these tests.  This is the plan I followed when I took the GMAT several months ago, however it should be applicable to all the other graduate school tests as well.

Step 1: Know where you are

The first thing you should do is figure out where you currently stand.  Take a timed, automated practice test.  If you get a high enough score, take another practice test, and if you still get a great score, then you’re set.  You don’t need to do a lot of studying.

If, on the other hand, you end up in the 50th percentile, like most of us will, then you have some work to do.  Depending on where your score stands, you have a couple of options ahead of you.

Step 2: Commit to a strategy for studying

One of the worst things you can do is go about your preparation in a haphazard way.  Before you crack open any books, do any practice problems, or look at any study materials, you should figure out how you’re going to go about studying.  Ideally, you’ll have given yourself 2-3 months of prep time before you need to take your test.

Your first option would be to take a guided course through a company like Kaplan or ManhattanGMAT.  Generally, these courses will last a couple of months, will provide you with all of the resources you’ll need, and will go over both test taking strategy and content with you.  However, they cost a lot, and you’ll still be expected to do a lot of work outside the classroom.

Your second option is to go at it on your own.  If you choose to do this, you’ll really need to make sure you’re motivated to keep up with your studying.  You should be devoting at least one or two hours per weekday, and at least three to four hours on Saturdays and Sundays, to studying.  I’m going to write the rest of this article assuming you’ve decided to study on your own.

Read ahead: Your study plan»

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