GMAT Strategy

Hi Andre4,

It sounds like you've given your whole situation a lot of thought before you begin your studies, which is good. I assume that you have to take the GMAT by May 2016.

For free math practice and help, I recommend that you set up an account at Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org). The site is completely free and makes the learning a bit more fun and 'game-like' (as opposed to the dry academic approach taken by most books). While the site is vast, you should limit your studies to basic Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry. After spending a little time re-building those skills, you can start your GMAT studies.

Before taking your first FULL CAT, you might want to spend a few days familiarizing yourself with the question types and general content/format, but you shouldn't wait too long to establish your 'baseline' score. You can download 2 free practice CATs (and some additional practice materials from www.mba.com

As far as selecting a GMAT Course is concerned, most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at out site (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

When are you planning to apply to Business School?
Do you know which Schools you're planning to apply to?

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi Andre,
How basic is your math level ? If your math level is really at the beginners level (lower than 30th percentile) you would do well to buy a foundations of GMAT math book (such as Manhattan's). A book like that would help you bring you mental math up to speed. There are also many mental math apps that you can download for you cell phone (for about 2 dollars). You can find an article that I wrote about starting your GMAT studies here:

https://www.vinciaprep.com/en/blog/how-s ... dying-gmat

As for the timing of the class, most companies offer classes at night and on the weekend so that probably won't be an issue.

I agree with Rich in that you should familiarise yourself with the GMAT question types and then take a practice test. However, I wouldn't start with at GMATPREP practice test from MBA.com because they don't have a very good analysis of your results. I would use Veritas, Kaplan, or Manhattan free online test to start off and figure out what your current level is.

Warm regards,