A new year brings with it new goals, new opportunities and new challenges, and for countless business school applicants, 2014 will hopefully bring acceptance and entry into an MBA program.

However, the new year is also the perfect time to reflect on the personal and professional experiences of the previous 12 months, and in this spirit we’ve complied some of our top GMAT blog posts of 2013 to help you achieve your GMAT goals of 2014.

2013’s best GMAT study tips

We’ve sorted through our posts and listed a few of the most popular GMAT guidelines and tips that break down GMAT questions and percentiles, discuss how to prepare for the test and demonstrate simple methods to strengthen your focus on the day of the exam.  Check these posts out in order to start your 2014 study efforts with a kick.

1) How long to study for the GMAT

When you first begin your GMAT prep, figuring out how best to study for this lengthy exam can be as much of a challenge as the test itself.  Some of this difficulty stems from confusion around how long you need to study for the GMAT.  In this post, we discuss the factors that contribute to prep duration and provide guidelines to help you determine how long you’ll need to prepare in order to get your desired result.

2) The most common types of GMAT questions

After establishing how much time you need to devote to studying for the GMAT, it only makes sense to get the most out of your effort by studying the concepts you’ll see most often in test questions.  The GMAT consists of a number of discrete question types that are unique to each section.  These two posts break down which question types and their respective concepts occur most frequently in the Verbal and Quantitative sections.

3) How much can you improve taking the GMAT again

Taking the GMAT two, three or even four times is more common than you may think.  In fact, taking the GMAT at least twice is the norm, and in the eyes of admission offices, this repeated effort can demonstrate commitment and determination on the applicant’s part.  However, numbers released by GMAC show that while common, improvement is often modest and fluctuates given how well a tester scored on the first try.  Get the full scoop on how much test takers typically improve on their second GMAT in this post.

4) The GMAT percentiles of the nation’s top programs

The percentile rankings of recently admitted business school applicants provide a benchmark for your own GMAT efforts and can help you set your goal score.  In this article, we organized the GMAT percentiles of admitted students to some of America’s top ranked programs.

5) Improving your verbal score on test day

Sometimes a lower than expected verbal score can be attributed to mental fatigue rather than a lack of preparation.  In this post, we outline three simple yet effective ways to keep your focus strong at the end of the GMAT by using your brain’s biology to your advantage.

Use the information gathered in these posts to make the most of studying for and taking the GMAT in 2014.  Happy new year and best of luck!