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GMAT Prep - Complete Beginner

by mbsingh » Tue Aug 16, 2016 2:38 pm
Hi Everyone,

I am planning on taking GMAT end of this year mid to late December. It gives me roughly 3 months of prep time with one month of exclusive GMAT focus. If i feel like i am not prepared i'll postpone it to feb next year (most probably).

I have not taken any cat exam , i haven't done any study either. So how do i go around preparing for it. I ordered Official GMAT quant and verbal guides today. I don't even know the terminology that most people use here but i have been lurking around for a month and caught up on few things.

If someone can guide me that'll be helpful. Looking for self paced material and something affordable ( cant get second mortgage for prep material).

Thanks,
Manbir
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Aug 16, 2016 2:48 pm
mbsingh wrote: If someone can guide me that'll be helpful. Looking for self paced material and something affordable ( cant get second mortgage for prep material).
Thanks,
Manbir
Hi Manbir,

You might consider signing up for Beat The GMAT's free 60-Day Study Guide (https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide). Each day, you'll receive an email with a series of learning activities that guide you, step-by-step, from Day 1 to test day. This will ensure that you will cover everything that the GMAT tests.

Here's an outline of all 60 emails: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide-outline

Cheers,
Brent
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by mbsingh » Tue Aug 16, 2016 2:57 pm
Thanks Brent. I'll sign up right away.

Do i still need any books though or just read the material or study according to this 60 day curriculum ?
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Aug 16, 2016 3:04 pm
mbsingh wrote:Thanks Brent. I'll sign up right away.

Do i still need any books though or just read the material or study according to this 60 day curriculum ?
To use the Study Guide, you will need either the free GMAT Prep Now video course or the MGMAT books, as each day's learning activities reference both resources.

So, for example, on Day 8, the learning activities include watching all of the videos in GMAT Prep Now's Powers and Roots module or reading the Exponents and Roots chapters in the MGMAT Strategy Guide. Then, for reinforcement, you're assigned Powers and Roots practice questions from the Official Guide.

So, if you use the GMAT Prep Now course, all you'll need to buy is the Official Guide (https://www.amazon.com/Official-Review- ... 1119253888)

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Brent
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by [email protected] » Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:14 pm
Hi Manbir,

Since it sounds like you're just beginning your studies, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a little studying first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic content and question types, then that's okay - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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by mbsingh » Tue Aug 16, 2016 8:15 pm
Thanks Brent. Makes complete sense. I have ordered the Official Guides from amazon. Hopefully i should get it by thursday and start prep on friday.

Rich - I have looked into empower gmat as well and like what i see so far. Regarding tests i am pretty confident i am 700+ candidate as i have always been a an A+ student and recently took discrete maths with lot of quant like material. I just don't think it would be best use of my time to dive right in and take the exam without even knowing the basics of it.

I hear lot about AWA, IR , CR etc and frankly don't even know what these terms mean.

I am planning on applying next year Round 1. I am graduating this fall with Bachelors in Computer Science with dual major (Web & Mobile development and Human User Interface UI-UX). I am 27 year old Indian male from Canada.
I have over 5 years work experience -
worked for Fortune top 5 company as Technical Analyst.
worked for largest financial institution in Western Canada (3rd biggest in Canada) as Business Intelligence Analyst
Working currently for third biggest consumer product (food industry) company in Canada as Senior Business Intelligence Analyst

GPA - 80% right now in Undergrad (Currently on Dean's honor roll) Studying part time with full time course load while working full time.
Simultaneously did another diploma program on side with 95% GPA , same school.

Extra Curriculars - Play cricket professionally for last 5 years
Volunteer at Educational Institute as Mentor for high school kids
Volunteer at YMCA as youth mentor helping young kids stay away from drugs and gangs (it is a big epidemic in British Columbia with average 5-6 gang shootings every month)
Published a poetry book when i was 20, unveiling done by National award winner.
Finishing up second book to be published on iBooks (first ever Punjabi literature book)
President of Student Club for 3 years and organized events, guided international students with academics and visa related issues. (over 500 active members)

Planning to apply to Top 7 schools in Round 1 and 2 with 1-2 safe schools (All in US)

Thanks
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by MartyMurray » Wed Aug 17, 2016 4:19 am
Hi Manbir.

Here are some things to add to what you have been discussing.

Depending on your current skill level and score goal, the 60 Day program may or may not be enough to get you to your goal, and likely you will only know whether it is once you have completed it. So I suggest planning to leave between when you finish the 60 day program and when you plan to take the test time for more training.

That extra time can be used for performance based training. In other words, once you have finished the 60 Day program you can look at your test results at that point and figure out what, if anything, you have to get better at in order to hit your score goal. In fact, ideally your training should be to some degree performance based all along, and the more you have trained, the more your training should be performance based.

Also, keep in mind, the GMAT is not like a conventional math or language test, in that scoring high on the GMAT is more about learning to use information and logic to get right answers than it is about just showing that you know or understand something. So make sure that your preparation is geared toward getting better at figuring things out and not just about learning a bunch of GMAT related stuff.

Have fun playing the game!
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by mbsingh » Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:08 am
Thanks Marty.

Yes December test date is not set in stone. I will not take the exam until i am confident that i can score in mid 700's. As i am applying next year Round 1 so time is not an issue but better safe than sorry and start the prep as early as possible.

Rich -

I responded to your post but somehow it got flagged as spam, ill send you private message.

Thanks guys for your answers it surely helps
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by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Wed Aug 17, 2016 8:40 am
Since you are just starting out on your GMAT journey, it is a good idea to first familiarize yourself with the GMAT exam and then take an MBA.com practice exam. The results of that exam will provide an accurate depiction of what to expect on the GMAT as well as a baseline GMAT score.

I also welcome you to take my free 37-question quant diagnostic. After completing the diagnostic, you'll be provided with a detailed analysis of your proficiency level on GMAT quant topics as well as an opportunity to discuss your diagnostic results and GMAT plan with me or another TTP instructor/coach.

In regard to GMAT prep options, there are many, ranging from classes (in-person and online) to textbooks to private tutoring (in-person and online) to online self-study programs. If you are looking for a prep program with a study plan, you may consider using an online self-study course. Self-study courses typically provide detailed study plans and have granular analytics, so you can easily track your progress as you move through the course. By being able to track your progress, you will remain more engaged, and you'll be able to forecast when you are truly ready to take your real GMAT. If you are unsure of which program to choose, check out the verified review section here on Beat The GMAT.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions, and we'd be happy to help. Good luck!

Jeffrey Miller
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by mbsingh » Thu Sep 01, 2016 8:11 pm
So i took the first CAT today and scored 490 (Q 32 V 26) IR - 4


I haven't studied a bit and winged most of the verbal section. For quant though when i reviewed the answers apparently i didn't understand the question as much and gave exact opposite answers and remaining questions that i answered wrong were easy if i had known the shortcut to solve (i needed a calculator lets say). So i am pretty confident i can get mid 40's easy with very little effort.

But verbal threw me off. Sentence correction is my weakness.

Strenghts
- Good at quant
- Time management (i finished both verbal and quant in half time)
- Fast reader

Weakness
- Sentence correction
- Didn't know what IR was until i took the test
- average vocabulary (better than non native speaker though)
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by [email protected] » Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:22 pm
Hi Manbir,

Many Test Takers are unhappy about their initial CAT scores, but it's just the first one (of many) and you're going to study and improve over time. It's important to try to be 'academic' with your score results. When used correctly, a CAT provides important information that you can use to hone your skills and improve. To that end, I have a few questions about this performance:

1) Did you take the FULL CAT (including the Essay section)?
2) When you say that you finished the Quant and Verbal sections in "half time", does that mean that there was approximately 37 minutes left on the clock when you answered the last question in each section?

Until you score at a much higher level in the Quant section, it's not accurate to state that you're 'good at Quant." A Q32 means that you made lots of little mistakes, so you have to work to eliminate those mistakes from your 'process.' It's also worth noting that NONE of the questions in the Quant section actually require a calculator for you to solve, so you would likely benefit from learning the proper Quant Tactics (so that you can avoid the long, 'math heavy' approaches that you might be thinking about)

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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by mbsingh » Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:34 pm
Hi Rich,

Yes i took full CAT through GMAT PREP software. There was AWA portion (i guess thats what its called)
12 IR questions
37 Quant Questions
41 Verbal Questions

I understand that there is no need for calculator but i didnt even use paper pen to do math. If i knew the tactics it would've helped but i have quant background (data analysis) so it will be relatively easy.
Verbal is whole different beast.

And yes i finished Quant part with roughly half hour remaining and verbal with close to 20 minutes spare. But now that i think about it my speed could be my downfall.

I am not trying to sound overconfident but i am aiming for a really high score and have made the mindset that i know nothing and have to start from scratch.

Thanks,
Manbir
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by [email protected] » Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:49 pm
Hi Manbir,

As a general rule, finishing a section significantly 'early' is rarely a good thing - it implies that the Test Taker 'rushed' through questions and likely missed out on some 'gettable' points. From your review of this CAT, it sounds like you recognize that there were a lot of questions that you could/should have gotten correct. This is meant to say that you should slow down, take more notes and get in the habit of making sure that you're answering questions correctly before you move on to the next question.

Thankfully, you've given yourself plenty of time to study and improve, which is good. With your score goal though, you're going to have to make some significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections.

1) How many hours do you think you can consistently commit to studying each week?
2) Although you did not actually state whether you did it or not, did you actually spend 30 minutes writing the Essay?

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by mbsingh » Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:54 pm
1. I am applying in R1 next year and planning on taking GMAT in late December or mid January (which can be further delayed if needed). I can dedicate an hour a day to practice and study and 4-5 hours on weekends.

2. I only took 10-15 mins for essay part.


So what i am looking for is a program that i can follow step by step, bit by bit and take CAT on monthly basis to assess my progress/improvement.
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by MartyMurray » Thu Sep 01, 2016 10:00 pm
mbsingh wrote:And yes i finished Quant part with roughly half hour remaining and verbal with close to 20 minutes spare. But now that i think about it my speed could be my downfall.
How about putting it this way. That half hour and those 20 minutes represent huge opportunities to easily increase your score.

The way to score high on the test is to figure out right answers. The GMAT is not really a math or language test. It's a test of skill in figuring things out. You left unused 50 minutes that you could have used for figuring things out and getting right answers. Maybe you would have scored 100 points higher had you used all of the available time.

Unless you are sure that you are choosing right answers to 100% of the questions, finishing early does not make sense.
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