What's the best way to study for the GMAT?

cheapie · 08-16-2005, 06:45 AM

I'd like to start my MBA in either Jan '06 or the following fall. I need to take my GMAT this fall and just looked through a study guide. Wow. I totally don't remember how to do the math.

What's the best way to study for it? Are there any really good guides/methods/online resources that you would suggest?

cheapie · 08-16-2005, 06:56 AM

i'm very interested in attending the Broad School of Mgmt at Michigan State. They have a pretty good weekend MBA program. It's about an hour from my place.

brainsmile · 08-16-2005, 09:04 AM

I sat down for a month by myself in a remote part of Oregon (visiting friends) and that worked well. I was in a little town where it closes down at 8pm every night. Nothing to do but hear the crickets and study. I scored very well from it.

cheapie · 08-16-2005, 09:06 AM

but what did you use to prep for it?

gear02 · 08-16-2005, 03:10 PM

Get a good prep book that has several practice exams. I had bought both the official guide for gmat review, published by the ETS (link ) and the princeton Review's GMAT book. The ETS book is good for practice exams and the Princeton Review book is good for strategy and material review.

As for actually studying, especially for you who don't know math, just go through the math section of the PR book and do the exercises. I'm sure it'll come back to you since the math isn't really much harder than SAT math. Then study verbal, then start doing practice exams.

JackHammer · 08-16-2005, 09:33 PM

This is my suggestion. Spend a month going over a prep book. That'll bring you up to speed and get you reacquinted with the topics. After that just spend a month or two doing sample exams. The thing with the GMAT is not the difficulty of the material but the complicated $hit you have to go to to get the answer with the time constraint. The months you spend doing the problems will get you use to seeing the problems and hopefully you'll learn different faster approaches in tackling the different problems.

dbax791 · 08-16-2005, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackHammer

This is my suggestion. Spend a month going over a prep book. That'll bring you up to speed and get you reacquinted with the topics. After that just spend a month or two doing sample exams. The thing with the GMAT is not the difficulty of the material but the complicated $hit you have to go to to get the answer with the time constraint. The months you spend doing the problems will get you use to seeing the problems and hopefully you'll learn different faster approaches in tackling the different problems.

Yup. I agree 100% with this. Take as many practice tests as you can, but after 2 or 3, focus on the time limits and don't cheat. That is as much stress as the questions.

brainsmile · 08-17-2005, 12:02 AM

too bad you didn't post this like a week earlier... I just threw out my 2 books and CD with practice tests.

Jeffbx · 08-18-2005, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheapie

i'm very interested in attending the Broad School of Mgmt at Michigan State. They have a pretty good weekend MBA program. It's about an hour from my place.

Is work reimbursing you for that? I looked into that one & the U of M program, and holy crap are they expensive. I mean, I knew they would be pricey, but I think the U of M program was about $85k for 2 years, and the MSU wasn't much less than that - maybe 60-65k. My generous employer will reimburse up to $2k/year for education (I wonder if I can stretch that program out about 30 years?) So now I'm considering a technical masters instead... maybe an MSCIS or something similar, unless I can find a company to pay for the MBA.

Maarchk · 08-18-2005, 01:44 PM

What kind of score do you need?
I just got handed down a random gmat book from princeton, and i read in for 1 week hard, because i was rushing to get in my gmat and i got a 700. Once you get the basic concepts down, then its just a matter of knowing how to to fill in the right numbers. Oh and just try to be able to semi organize an essay for the writing part.
I'm sure you will do fine. The test is adaptive, and it moves your score up a lot more with the initial questions then the latter questions. So try and take your time and make sure you get the first few questions right. They are the most important in affecting your score.

good luck.

LegendKiller · 08-18-2005, 02:35 PM

Any half-literate person should be able to score well on verbal and essay. The big part for me, since i was a math challenged person, was the quant. I didn't do as well there and that dragged my score down. Post grad school I took a practice exam and I was in the 700's.

If you haven't had math courses (alg, trig, geo...etc) in a while I would spend some significant time working on that.

cheapie · 08-18-2005, 07:48 PM

exactly lk. i graduated 6 years ago and don't remember how to do a lot of algebra and trig.

the 2006 cost will be about 46k and that covers room and board, books, and all fees. my company will likely cover most of the cost. not the R&B, fees, and books.

LegendKiller · 08-18-2005, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheapie

exactly lk. i graduated 6 years ago and don't remember how to do a lot of algebra and trig.

the 2006 cost will be about 46k and that covers room and board, books, and all fees. my company will likely cover most of the cost. not the R&B, fees, and books.

Another avenue you might want to explore is Kaplan. Thats what I did, I did better on quant after when compared to before.

If anything it gets you into the right mind to start thinking about formulas and such. I just wish I applied myself as much then as I do now, Kaplan would have helped a lot more.

Which comes to the final point. If you are going to do this, don't do it half-arsed. I saw way too many people going through the mba course looking for the gentlemans B when they only had to put in a small amount more of work to get an A. I am glad I applied myself and got that A, it at least shows you were dedicated enough to get it right the first time, which helped when I was looking for jobs.

cheapie · 08-18-2005, 08:19 PM

lk.....that's my personal demon summed up nicely. i am intelligent enough to be average-a little above average w/very little effort.

however, it's hard to motivate myself to put in the effort to truly shine.

cheapie · 08-18-2005, 08:44 PM

i did just buy a kaplan study guide. i need to set a timeline for studying and taking the test. you can take it multiple times right?

cheapie · 11-13-2007, 03:27 PM

holy crap. i started looking at doing this in '05? sheesh.

just did it and got a 610. not the best but good enough to get me into the schools i'm interested in.

Jenny · 11-13-2007, 03:35 PM

Congrats.

Nice to see you around again!

brainsmile · 11-13-2007, 03:56 PM

I have a prep program disc. I don't have any books but you can get those locally. PM me

Daedalus · 11-13-2007, 09:16 PM

Just a heads-up for anyone looking for study guides. I used an old Kaplan CD from the '90s that I had and went through the questions. I then borrowed a much more recent Kaplan CD from a friend. The software interface was spruced up, but the questions were the same.

brainsmile · 11-13-2007, 09:56 PM

I agree that the Quant is what separates you. I scored 780 on it and it makes a difference in the school's eyes

cheapie · 11-14-2007, 06:23 AM

780?

makes me look retarded with my 610!

brainsmile · 11-14-2007, 07:19 AM

sorry man...

It was my highest score. I scored 750 on the rest.

Daedalus · 11-14-2007, 10:57 AM

I thought the individual scores were lower, like around 40-50, and only the overall score was 500-800?

Maarchk · 11-15-2007, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daedalus

I thought the individual scores were lower, like around 40-50, and only the overall score was 500-800?

I think its 2 sections, each worth 400. Something simple like that. MMm math... i miss those days...

Stupid essays about why cheese shops suck. hate that essay. Now that i have my mba, little people write my papers for me. Wow its like being a bully.

Daedalus · 11-15-2007, 12:07 PM

An official GMAT score report consists of four parts:

Verbal Scaled Score (on a scale from 0 to 60)
Quantitative Scaled Score (on a scale from 0 to 60)
Total Scaled Score (on a scale from 200 to 800)
Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) Score (on a scale from 0 to 6)

From http://www.testmasters.net/gmat/GMAT...ion/scale.aspx

08-16-2005, 06:45 AM	#1
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	What's the best way to study for the GMAT? I'd like to start my MBA in either Jan '06 or the following fall. I need to take my GMAT this fall and just looked through a study guide. Wow. I totally don't remember how to do the math. What's the best way to study for it? Are there any really good guides/methods/online resources that you would suggest? __________________ 70% of the world is covered by water. The rest is covered by Bob Sanders

08-16-2005, 09:04 AM	#3
brainsmile Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: woah... why is welfareloser here with me so early in the morning and more importantly why am I wearing her clothes?!? Posts: 13,754	I sat down for a month by myself in a remote part of Oregon (visiting friends) and that worked well. I was in a little town where it closes down at 8pm every night. Nothing to do but hear the crickets and study. I scored very well from it. __________________ ********************************** DCM #1 (Founder) "Nobody beats Vitus Gerulaitis 18 times in a row." - Vitus Gerulaitis on beating Jimmy Connors after 17 failed attempts.

08-16-2005, 09:33 PM	#6
JackHammer Commander Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: The Toilet Capital of America Posts: 1,328	This is my suggestion. Spend a month going over a prep book. That'll bring you up to speed and get you reacquinted with the topics. After that just spend a month or two doing sample exams. The thing with the GMAT is not the difficulty of the material but the complicated $hit you have to go to to get the answer with the time constraint. The months you spend doing the problems will get you use to seeing the problems and hopefully you'll learn different faster approaches in tackling the different problems. __________________ "I'm very sorry for your loss. Your mother was a terribly attractive woman." -Royal Tenebaum "Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I would do everything to her, I don't care what she looks like. I would wreck that chick." -Brian from the Family Guy after Peter asked him whether he would have sex with Lois.

08-18-2005, 01:44 PM	#10
Maarchk Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Where the east meets the west. Posts: 3,066	What kind of score do you need? I just got handed down a random gmat book from princeton, and i read in for 1 week hard, because i was rushing to get in my gmat and i got a 700. Once you get the basic concepts down, then its just a matter of knowing how to to fill in the right numbers. Oh and just try to be able to semi organize an essay for the writing part. I'm sure you will do fine. The test is adaptive, and it moves your score up a lot more with the initial questions then the latter questions. So try and take your time and make sure you get the first few questions right. They are the most important in affecting your score. good luck. __________________ "The girl is crafty like ice is cold." "I left my heart in san francisco... And my liver at Moe's Tavern." A real friend is one who listens to you as much as they talk to you.

11-13-2007, 03:35 PM	#17
Jenny Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Kansas City area Posts: 10,947	Congrats. Nice to see you around again! __________________ Check out my spoilers for over 20 shows @ SpoilerFix.com Check out my TV blog, where I post weekly & daily TV schedules, TV news, interviews with TV stars & more! All new TV forums as well @ TV Is My Pacifier

08-16-2005, 06:56 AM	#2
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	i'm very interested in attending the Broad School of Mgmt at Michigan State. They have a pretty good weekend MBA program. It's about an hour from my place.

08-16-2005, 09:06 AM	#4
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	but what did you use to prep for it?

08-16-2005, 03:10 PM	#5
gear02 Admiral Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 7,223	Get a good prep book that has several practice exams. I had bought both the official guide for gmat review, published by the ETS (link ) and the princeton Review's GMAT book. The ETS book is good for practice exams and the Princeton Review book is good for strategy and material review. As for actually studying, especially for you who don't know math, just go through the math section of the PR book and do the exercises. I'm sure it'll come back to you since the math isn't really much harder than SAT math. Then study verbal, then start doing practice exams.

08-17-2005, 12:02 AM	#8
brainsmile Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: woah... why is welfareloser here with me so early in the morning and more importantly why am I wearing her clothes?!? Posts: 13,754	too bad you didn't post this like a week earlier... I just threw out my 2 books and CD with practice tests.

08-18-2005, 02:35 PM	#11
LegendKiller Vice Admiral Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,927	Any half-literate person should be able to score well on verbal and essay. The big part for me, since i was a math challenged person, was the quant. I didn't do as well there and that dragged my score down. Post grad school I took a practice exam and I was in the 700's. If you haven't had math courses (alg, trig, geo...etc) in a while I would spend some significant time working on that.

08-18-2005, 07:48 PM	#12
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	exactly lk. i graduated 6 years ago and don't remember how to do a lot of algebra and trig. the 2006 cost will be about 46k and that covers room and board, books, and all fees. my company will likely cover most of the cost. not the R&B, fees, and books.

08-18-2005, 08:19 PM	#14
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	lk.....that's my personal demon summed up nicely. i am intelligent enough to be average-a little above average w/very little effort. however, it's hard to motivate myself to put in the effort to truly shine.

08-18-2005, 08:44 PM	#15
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	i did just buy a kaplan study guide. i need to set a timeline for studying and taking the test. you can take it multiple times right?

11-13-2007, 03:27 PM	#16
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	holy crap. i started looking at doing this in '05? sheesh. just did it and got a 610. not the best but good enough to get me into the schools i'm interested in.

11-13-2007, 03:56 PM	#18
brainsmile Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: woah... why is welfareloser here with me so early in the morning and more importantly why am I wearing her clothes?!? Posts: 13,754	I have a prep program disc. I don't have any books but you can get those locally. PM me

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11-13-2007, 09:16 PM	#19
Daedalus Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 824	Just a heads-up for anyone looking for study guides. I used an old Kaplan CD from the '90s that I had and went through the questions. I then borrowed a much more recent Kaplan CD from a friend. The software interface was spruced up, but the questions were the same.

11-13-2007, 09:56 PM	#20
brainsmile Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: woah... why is welfareloser here with me so early in the morning and more importantly why am I wearing her clothes?!? Posts: 13,754	I agree that the Quant is what separates you. I scored 780 on it and it makes a difference in the school's eyes

11-14-2007, 06:23 AM	#21
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	780? makes me look retarded with my 610!

11-14-2007, 07:19 AM	#22
brainsmile Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: woah... why is welfareloser here with me so early in the morning and more importantly why am I wearing her clothes?!? Posts: 13,754	sorry man... It was my highest score. I scored 750 on the rest.

11-14-2007, 10:57 AM	#23
Daedalus Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 824	I thought the individual scores were lower, like around 40-50, and only the overall score was 500-800?

11-15-2007, 12:07 PM	#25
Daedalus Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 824	An official GMAT score report consists of four parts: Verbal Scaled Score (on a scale from 0 to 60) Quantitative Scaled Score (on a scale from 0 to 60) Total Scaled Score (on a scale from 200 to 800) Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) Score (on a scale from 0 to 6) From http://www.testmasters.net/gmat/GMAT...ion/scale.aspx

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