Quick Question.

[hml139]

Hi, I just recently graduated from Penn State at December.

I graduated a semester early and have been unemployed for the last 6 months. Since money was tight, I decided to take my CFA exam and find employment before I even consider trying to apply for a MBA. But after taking my first CFA exam, I realize I probably have enough time and would be in my best interest to start studying for my GMAT.

I had a couple of questions and was wondering if anybody would be able to help me. How hard is the GMAT? Is it a lot harder than the SAT?

I took the SAT total of 3 times. I was able to score 800's on all the SAT math and did pretty terrible by scoring between 600-680 for verbal. I was able to score a 800 on the SAT math level 2 as well. If I start studying for the GMAT now and plan to take it within a year or two, where should I start off? I haven't done any math besides using financial calculators and stats work in college because I was in a finance major. I also didn't take any math classes in college because I had enough AP credits for math. I know I have to brush up my math skills, but how much effort did other people who passed the exam before concentrate on the math part when they did well on the SAT math? And is a year, well actually more like 18 months if I want to take the exam 6 months after my 2nd CFA exam, enough time to prepare my self for the verbal section? As you can probably tell from what I wrote so far, I am pretty bad at grammar and such. I also write pretty lousy essays.

I graduated with 3.79 from Penn State by the way. Is that decent to get into Harvard or Wharton if I am able to get +700 on my GMAT and hopefully have over 2 years of work experience as well as pass all three of my CFA exams by then?

Thanks in advance for anyone that would like to help me out.

I just would like to get some advice on where I should start studying. I know I am weak at verbal than math. But I don't know which book to start from. I rather not take any real practice exams until 4-6 months before I take the test. So should I just start with Princeton review and Kapalan to brush up on basic skills and start reading over the OG(?) after I am done with those? Since time is not really an issue to me since I'm trying to pass my 2nd CFA exam, if I didn't pass this summer for the first exam I'm sure I'll pass it on December, and get 2 years of work experience before I take my first GMAT... What should I do? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Anyway... Since I'm pretty sloppy with summing up things... Below is my timeline for getting prepared for test to give you a better idea about my situation.

June 2009-> If I pass the CFA exam part 1, I need to start around July for the GMAT. If I didn't pass it, I'm hoping to still study for the GMAT while I study for my CFA until October. From October I need to focus on the CFA exam to hopefully pass it on December.

January 2010 -> Start studying for the CFA exam 2.
July 2010 -> Focus on GMAT to take the test on december.

I am planning to take the test only once. I am hoping that I am giving myself enough time to get over a 700 on the GMAT. I remember looking over the GMAT math section in my sophmore year in college and tried only doing the math problems for one of the practice tests my friend was studying for. I think I got 40+ that time. I'm not sure what I will get now, but is that a decent score?

Anyway... Sorry for repeating over and over again the things I already said.

Thanks.

[hk]

And i thought you had a quick question!!!! lol Anyways Please find my suggestions and comment below:

Hi, I just recently graduated from Penn State at December.


I had a couple of questions and was wondering if anybody would be able to help me. How hard is the GMAT? Is it a lot harder than the SAT?

- Very difficult to compare the exams. They are two different exams. Let me just say that since you nailed the SATs you are already on top of things. I think you have a good chance at getting your 700+ score since you are already a good test taker.

I took the SAT total of 3 times. I was able to score 800's on all the SAT math and did pretty terrible by scoring between 600-680 for verbal. I was able to score a 800 on the SAT math level 2 as well. If I start studying for the GMAT now and plan to take it within a year or two, where should I start off? I haven't done any math besides using financial calculators and stats work in college because I was in a finance major. I also didn't take any math classes in college because I had enough AP credits for math. I know I have to brush up my math skills, but how much effort did other people who passed the exam before concentrate on the math part when they did well on the SAT math? And is a year, well actually more like 18 months if I want to take the exam 6 months after my 2nd CFA exam, enough time to prepare my self for the verbal section? As you can probably tell from what I wrote so far, I am pretty bad at grammar and such. I also write pretty lousy essays.

- 18 months is actually more than enough time. In my personal opinion it could also be an over-kill. 3 months is a good amount of time to prepare for a GMAT if you study systematically. So i dont think you will be able to do any better if you extend your studies over 6 months. If i were you I would take care of the CFAs first and then focus solely on GMAT for 3-4 months and then take it.

I graduated with 3.79 from Penn State by the way. Is that decent to get into Harvard or Wharton if I am able to get +700 on my GMAT and hopefully have over 2 years of work experience as well as pass all three of my CFA exams by then?

- Your GPA is good enough for any business school in US. But your GPA and GMAT score is not enough to get into the top schools. Since you yourself mentioned that you are lousy with writing essays - you might want to seriously improve on that or take the help of a Admission consultant on that aspect.

Thanks in advance for anyone that would like to help me out.

I just would like to get some advice on where I should start studying. I know I am weak at verbal than math. But I don't know which book to start from. I rather not take any real practice exams until 4-6 months before I take the test. So should I just start with Princeton review and Kapalan to brush up on basic skills and start reading over the OG(?) after I am done with those? Since time is not really an issue to me since I'm trying to pass my 2nd CFA exam, if I didn't pass this summer for the first exam I'm sure I'll pass it on December, and get 2 years of work experience before I take my first GMAT... What should I do? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

- Getting some work experience is the best thing to do before applying for an MBA. Most schools require you to have atleast 2 yrs of work experience. Since 2 yrs of W.Exp. is lower than most applicants make sure you play an important role in your company and try to do things @ work beyond whats expected of you. B-schools like that a lot.. So getting a job and just doing the same stuff from 9 to 5 for 2 years wont work in your favor.. Also make sure you do something out of work too. For example pick up a hobby or develop your current hobby. Remember adcoms at schools looks for some creativity in your application.

Anyway... Since I'm pretty sloppy with summing up things... Below is my timeline for getting prepared for test to give you a better idea about my situation.

June 2009-> If I pass the CFA exam part 1, I need to start around July for the GMAT. If I didn't pass it, I'm hoping to still study for the GMAT while I study for my CFA until October. From October I need to focus on the CFA exam to hopefully pass it on December.

January 2010 -> Start studying for the CFA exam 2.
July 2010 -> Focus on GMAT to take the test on december.

I am planning to take the test only once. I am hoping that I am giving myself enough time to get over a 700 on the GMAT. I remember looking over the GMAT math section in my sophmore year in college and tried only doing the math problems for one of the practice tests my friend was studying for. I think I got 40+ that time. I'm not sure what I will get now, but is that a decent score?

Anyway... Sorry for repeating over and over again the things I already said.

Thanks.

Hope i answered all your questions!!! good luck..

[hml139]

Thank you for the reply.

Now the only question is...

Where do I start?

Can any one else give me an idea on which books I should start with?

[deckJackson]

To improve verbal, read well written newspapers and periodicals. Also, for CR questions work some Logical Reasoning problems from the LSAT. These problems tend to be more difficult and often provide better practice.

[hk]

The best way to start your preparation is by taking a diagnostic test. This way you will know where your weakness lies and will help you prepare towards this. As for the book, Official guides are the Best for practice. For review prep company books like Kaplan's or Manhattan Gmat's book would be helpful.