Thank you for such a detailed answer.
I forgot to mention to you that there is an MBA program (top 30 according to US News) that I am interested in. Most of the grads go on to work in oil & gas industry. However the program also admits a small percentage of students who are interested in education administration (principal, school superintendent, etc). The program trains administrators to lead schools and school districts as CEOs. If admitted the school pays most of your education (about 90k); it is sort of like a fellowship. This is why I initially became interested in the GMAT actually. I have been in constant contact with the admissions officer at this school and she has been very suppotive and encouraging. She asked that I call her immediately after retaking the GMAT this past Thursday. After telling her my score (and based on my GPA, professional experience, etc), she thinks that I am a strong candidate for the MBA program for THIS cycle but that i need to turn in my essays and application by next week (have already turned in LOR, transcripts, and professional evaluation). However, now that I have a 640, I feel that perhaps I should postpone MBA for another year, aim for a higher score, and consider all my options again in the fall. The problem is that I need to decide now since I do have to turn in the essays asap.
Anyway we have been messaging back and forth and I do not know much about you. Where are you applying to? Are you in banking already?
lb2015 wrote:
Sure! I also used the Manhattan guides. I found them to be really helpful, but I went through them very slowly. I probably spent about 4 months studying for the GMAT, around 5-10 hours a week. With the exception of a few days on verbal (like you, I found verbal to be much easier), that entire time was spent on math. I read each chapter of the
MGMAT books and slowly worked through each problem until I mastered it. On the problem sets from
the official guide, I would time myself with about 1.5 min/question. As I went along, I starred each question where I had guessed the answer. Then I slowly reviewed each question I got wrong and each question I starred, trying to figure out where I had gone wrong and/or if there was an easier way to solve the problem (e.g. those number properties problems with a rule I had forgotten that would make the whole problem simpler). After I had reviewed, I would time myself again on the same set of problems. A few days before the test, I went back and did each problem set again and reviewed each problem set once more.
Some people on this forum would say that the key is to take a lot of practice tests. This wasn't the strategy I used. I took 3 in total, mostly to get my timing down. But the problem I found with practice tests is that it didn't address the "mastery" problem for me because the concepts are all mixed together. I found it much more helpful to work through several problems of the same type--the repetition built an intuitive understanding, which was crucial on my test date. On the actual test, I probably guessed on every other math question, but I think my guesses were more successful because I had that "intuitive" understanding.
Hopefully that is helpful! Some folks on this forum have also used an
error log. Similar concept with more intense tracking:
all-about-the-error-log-11754.htmlAs to being a teacher, I think this could actually help you. So many consultants/bankers apply that we have to take extra steps to differentiate ourselves. You already have a unique--but still accomplished--background, and I really think you could knock the GMAT out of the park if you just spent a few months more on quant catch-up!
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21 Mar 2013, 15:16
