Hi all,
exclamation points drew you in, huh? i knew they would...
not sure if this is the appropriate place for this, but i've decided to keep a log of my GMAT preparation. (don't delete me!) i've noticed that i come to this forum a lot (lurkers, lurkers everywhere) and often in panic when i feel my GMAT preparation is not going well or i am not particularly motivated. so, why not give back a bit and in the style of my beatthegmat hero: Mayonai5e, keep a (b)log of my progress as well as what i've learned.
a little about me:
i rarely capitalize letters so i hope this doesn't get anyone riled up (don't make faces, its been an issue in the past!)
i am taking the gmat 12/18 so 65 days to go, a little over 9 weeks.
i'm an african american male, aged 31, from brooklyn, nyc, usa. i've worked in city government for 6 years and before that got a master's degree in public policy from a city university here in the city, Baruch. i've been thinking about an mba for the past 2 years, but always put it off because i was unsure of my career path and whether it would be useful. and to be honest i was afraid i wasn't up to the task intellectually. but, i've decided entrepreneurship is for me and an mba would help in a career shift towards that purpose. so pox on those low intellectual self esteem issues!
my target gmat score is 700+. i know, very unique. thank you.
i am terrified of math. no, really. when i sit down to do practice quant problems my heart races and i pull out a cigarette. sigh, but demons must be faced on the path to riches and advanced degrees from good schools, so, here i am.
part of the reason i am writing this blog is to help keep myself accountable in my gmat study. its too easy to come home from work, eat, watch some hulu (go GLEE!, uhm i meant The Unit, eat, watch some dancing cats on youtube, look at the clock, sigh, get up, go to study, smoke a ciggie, do a few problems, get frantic b/c it took me a half hour to figure out a problem i solved with ease the week before, log online to read gmat strategies, read beatthegmat in terror, go to sleep exhausted and have nightmares of poverty and repeat the cycle the next night. i'm not exaggerating...
if i don't get into a good business school i don't know what i'll do. i'm too fat to join the circus (and they have age limits can you believe that?!!) and marrying rich is a long shot, despite my oodles of charm (see fatness issue described earlier).
so, here's the study plan:
i'm studying quant and verbal in a 80%/20% split. i am actually very strong at verbal. but i won't sleep on that...
i've got a bunch of stuff from gmathacks: math bible, and his 8 challenge questions sets and one other standard set: rates, ratios, and percents, number properties, arithmetic, geometry, word translation, algebra, problem solving, data sufficiency, and extreme questions (hard questions, supposedly), MGMAT's books,(all), powerscore critical/logical reasoning behemoth, and OGs# 11 and 12 and grockit (on a random whim... are they any good???). i think this is really all i need.
i've gone through the MGMAT books in depth, except for geometry, and have learned quite a bit. they have really helped my basic math and reasoning skills.
i started by doing a bunch of questions from the og#11 guide in the, "do all the questions you can get and you'll get an 800 score" tradition. this did not work. then i turned around and did the questions according to how MGMAT states, first doing the relevant chapter in the MGMAT book and then the corresponding questions in the OG #11, quite a bit better, but i felt i wasn't learning all that i should and my commitment (read consistency) began to lag.
if i'm not learning and progressing then i get depressed, do less, learn less, get more depressed, eat (see fatness issue described above), sound familiar? no, just me? fine...
anyway, then i read on the forums here about error logs and really analyzing and revisiting your questions after you've done them. also looked at stacey koprince's article: https://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/09 ... ce-problem on how to revisit questions, (its got like 1,087 words and she looks so authoritative so it must be good advice!) and decided to incorporate it into my study. by doing this i am bringing down my 30,000+ questions in 60 days to a more manageable 1,400 or so which is a bit frightening but everyone keeps saying quality over quantity, (saboteurs!) so there it is.
i will do 10 questions on three gmathacks challenge questions: currently: arithmetic; rates, ratios and percents; and algebra for two days (a grand total of 30 - 40 questions a day), log detailed questions and thoughts, issues, concepts, etc. each day for those two days and then solidly review the 60 - 80 questions on the third day. after that i will do a new set of questions from those same sets for two days, review, etc.
when that is over i will do the rest of the sets in the same way. finally i will go over the OG#11, all questions after 100, and OG#12, all questions not in #11. after that i will register for the mgmat tests and the gmac prep tests and approach them the same way, (with screen shots of the gmac tests to keep a log) error logging and hitting what i got wrong (and right, stacey!) over and over again, drawing every last detail and lesson to be learned. then i'll take the gmat, get an 800 and start my gmat blog!!! heh. me funny. heh.
so that's where i am now. i am doing a two day new questions, one day full review split. i will post my schedule, the number and type (source) of questions that i am working on, when i take my first test...
no i haven't taken my first test yet. i know, bad test taker! its simply due to fear. b/c i'm convinced that i will receive a 400 and then i won't possibly be able to get a 700+ by the day of the exam 12/18 and the circus is out and i can't marry rich... which i know is silly and i will be taking my first practice test this weekend.
uhm ok, that's enough. see you all tomorrow. any thoughts on what i'm doing right, wrong, etc. more than welcome.
Joel/enturio
exclamation points drew you in, huh? i knew they would...
not sure if this is the appropriate place for this, but i've decided to keep a log of my GMAT preparation. (don't delete me!) i've noticed that i come to this forum a lot (lurkers, lurkers everywhere) and often in panic when i feel my GMAT preparation is not going well or i am not particularly motivated. so, why not give back a bit and in the style of my beatthegmat hero: Mayonai5e, keep a (b)log of my progress as well as what i've learned.
a little about me:
i rarely capitalize letters so i hope this doesn't get anyone riled up (don't make faces, its been an issue in the past!)
i am taking the gmat 12/18 so 65 days to go, a little over 9 weeks.
i'm an african american male, aged 31, from brooklyn, nyc, usa. i've worked in city government for 6 years and before that got a master's degree in public policy from a city university here in the city, Baruch. i've been thinking about an mba for the past 2 years, but always put it off because i was unsure of my career path and whether it would be useful. and to be honest i was afraid i wasn't up to the task intellectually. but, i've decided entrepreneurship is for me and an mba would help in a career shift towards that purpose. so pox on those low intellectual self esteem issues!
my target gmat score is 700+. i know, very unique. thank you.
i am terrified of math. no, really. when i sit down to do practice quant problems my heart races and i pull out a cigarette. sigh, but demons must be faced on the path to riches and advanced degrees from good schools, so, here i am.
part of the reason i am writing this blog is to help keep myself accountable in my gmat study. its too easy to come home from work, eat, watch some hulu (go GLEE!, uhm i meant The Unit, eat, watch some dancing cats on youtube, look at the clock, sigh, get up, go to study, smoke a ciggie, do a few problems, get frantic b/c it took me a half hour to figure out a problem i solved with ease the week before, log online to read gmat strategies, read beatthegmat in terror, go to sleep exhausted and have nightmares of poverty and repeat the cycle the next night. i'm not exaggerating...
if i don't get into a good business school i don't know what i'll do. i'm too fat to join the circus (and they have age limits can you believe that?!!) and marrying rich is a long shot, despite my oodles of charm (see fatness issue described earlier).
so, here's the study plan:
i'm studying quant and verbal in a 80%/20% split. i am actually very strong at verbal. but i won't sleep on that...
i've got a bunch of stuff from gmathacks: math bible, and his 8 challenge questions sets and one other standard set: rates, ratios, and percents, number properties, arithmetic, geometry, word translation, algebra, problem solving, data sufficiency, and extreme questions (hard questions, supposedly), MGMAT's books,(all), powerscore critical/logical reasoning behemoth, and OGs# 11 and 12 and grockit (on a random whim... are they any good???). i think this is really all i need.
i've gone through the MGMAT books in depth, except for geometry, and have learned quite a bit. they have really helped my basic math and reasoning skills.
i started by doing a bunch of questions from the og#11 guide in the, "do all the questions you can get and you'll get an 800 score" tradition. this did not work. then i turned around and did the questions according to how MGMAT states, first doing the relevant chapter in the MGMAT book and then the corresponding questions in the OG #11, quite a bit better, but i felt i wasn't learning all that i should and my commitment (read consistency) began to lag.
if i'm not learning and progressing then i get depressed, do less, learn less, get more depressed, eat (see fatness issue described above), sound familiar? no, just me? fine...
anyway, then i read on the forums here about error logs and really analyzing and revisiting your questions after you've done them. also looked at stacey koprince's article: https://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/09 ... ce-problem on how to revisit questions, (its got like 1,087 words and she looks so authoritative so it must be good advice!) and decided to incorporate it into my study. by doing this i am bringing down my 30,000+ questions in 60 days to a more manageable 1,400 or so which is a bit frightening but everyone keeps saying quality over quantity, (saboteurs!) so there it is.
i will do 10 questions on three gmathacks challenge questions: currently: arithmetic; rates, ratios and percents; and algebra for two days (a grand total of 30 - 40 questions a day), log detailed questions and thoughts, issues, concepts, etc. each day for those two days and then solidly review the 60 - 80 questions on the third day. after that i will do a new set of questions from those same sets for two days, review, etc.
when that is over i will do the rest of the sets in the same way. finally i will go over the OG#11, all questions after 100, and OG#12, all questions not in #11. after that i will register for the mgmat tests and the gmac prep tests and approach them the same way, (with screen shots of the gmac tests to keep a log) error logging and hitting what i got wrong (and right, stacey!) over and over again, drawing every last detail and lesson to be learned. then i'll take the gmat, get an 800 and start my gmat blog!!! heh. me funny. heh.
so that's where i am now. i am doing a two day new questions, one day full review split. i will post my schedule, the number and type (source) of questions that i am working on, when i take my first test...
no i haven't taken my first test yet. i know, bad test taker! its simply due to fear. b/c i'm convinced that i will receive a 400 and then i won't possibly be able to get a 700+ by the day of the exam 12/18 and the circus is out and i can't marry rich... which i know is silly and i will be taking my first practice test this weekend.
uhm ok, that's enough. see you all tomorrow. any thoughts on what i'm doing right, wrong, etc. more than welcome.
Joel/enturio
