Where to begin?

[NeonHotdog]

Hi, guys.

I'm new here, obviously. I've been out of school for about 5 years and I'm now interested in going back for a graduate degree. I was an English major as an undergrad but I work in Marketing now and I'm looking to go back for either an MBA or an MS in Marketing/Management, so here I am staring down the barrel of the GMAT.

I literally have not taken a math course since 11th grade trigonometry. I have a couple test prep books and I've done several dozen practice questions for the quantitative section, but so far I am just bombing on almost every one. What seems to happen 75% of the time is I read through the question, think about it, blink a few times, and then say, "I have absolutely no idea how to even begin to figure this out".

In short, I am totally, totally lost and starting to get frustrated. I can't help but feel like I'm kinda screwed here. Even the explanations to the sample questions often don't make sense to me. I'm still left wondering, "How did they do that?"

I mean, I'm not stupid. I have a college degree. My understanding is that this stuff is really just basic algebra and geometry, which I learned in high school, so why am I so lost? Where do I begin to get ready for this test? Am I too far ahead of myself already by going straight to a test prep book? Do I need to go back and take an undergrad math class or something? Or am I just rusty and need to find a way to shake loose all that algebra from 12 or 13 years ago?

Any insight is much appreciated. Thanks!

[BuckeyeT]

Hey Neon-

If you've taken Algebra and Geometry in that past, you shouldn't need to take a course in them. Many of the prep books give good review sections for concepts you need to know. I would suggest you get a prep book devoted to Math. I've used the Kaplan Math book, and it contains some very good review.

Overall, it just takes time. Don't go for speed to start. Just practice to understand the concepts. Some books do not have great reviews for their questions, so stick to those books that have detailed reviews.

Once you've learned and practiced the concepts, start practicing for speed. You have about 2 minutes to complete each question in the Quant section, so speed counts. What you'll find is that the more you practice, the more familiar questions look to you. You'll know how to break them down quickly just from the experience you have answering similar questions.

Final thing to remember. Some people are just stronger in Quant. Your final score in Quant might not be amazing, but your Verbal (as an English major with Marketing) should be very strong. I'm sure you'll also score well with the essays. So, just make sure to get your Quant score as high as YOU possibly can (don't worry about anyone else's scores). MBA programs are looking for a decent balance of scores.

Hope that helps,
BT