Just opened GMAT prep book for 1st time. How screwed am i?

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i have a 3.8gpa from a good school so i was hoping to get into a top MBA program but i just opened up the book to start studying for the GMAT (supposed to take the test in 5 months) and well i'm sorta freaking out. the verbal part seems pretty easy but that might be because a lot of my major, labor studies and employment relations, has similar stuff, however my major has basically no math courses and the last time i took a math course was years ago. to be honest if i had to take this thing right now i'd probably get like 30% of the questions right on the math sections if that. i'm ready to study my ass off for this thing but i honestly don't even know where to start, it seems to cover so much different material and i'm having a hard time even remembering the basic "math rules".

i was planning on getting a tutor, etc but how much can you improve for something like this in 5 months realistically?
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by FC » Fri Mar 26, 2010 12:08 pm
fstep wrote:i have a 3.8gpa from a good school so i was hoping to get into a top MBA program but i just opened up the book to start studying for the GMAT (supposed to take the test in 5 months) and well i'm sorta freaking out. the verbal part seems pretty easy but that might be because a lot of my major, labor studies and employment relations, has similar stuff, however my major has basically no math courses and the last time i took a math course was years ago. to be honest if i had to take this thing right now i'd probably get like 30% of the questions right on the math sections if that. i'm ready to study my ass off for this thing but i honestly don't even know where to start, it seems to cover so much different material and i'm having a hard time even remembering the basic "math rules".

i was planning on getting a tutor, etc but how much can you improve for something like this in 5 months realistically?
In your case you need a decent stragy guide for math. Since you are not a quant person, get all the Manhattan GMAT quant guides and follow them in conjuction with the Official Guide. 5 months is more than enough.

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by grockit_andrea » Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:20 pm
5 months is more than enough time to get a significant improvement. You really don't need a strong math background to master most of the methods you need for the quant section. I've seen students with no formal math studies beyond Algebra II do just fine on this test. You're in fine shape to begin your GMAT prep, especially if you're already planning to get a tutor to guide you through the material and help you create a study plan. Good luck!
Andrea A.
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