oloman wrote:
Hello, I have been studying for the gmat for more then one year (on and off) and havent seen an improvement in my score.
I have taken the
mgmat online course which I found very usefull but it hasnt paid off (socre wise). I am in central stantdard time and I am considering private tutoring.
Can any one let me know if they would reccomend ir? I feel I need specific help on certain topics and thats why private tutoring came into mind. I have seen the prices of
MGMAT, although they would be a prefered choice they seem a bit expensive, has anyone tried them out? I would have to have the PT online. Please PM me if you have any reccomendations on tutors..
regards
oloman
A few hours of private tutoring can make a world of difference if you are prepared to work for it. A private tutor would have taken GMAT himself/herself and would have scored a 99%ile. He/she would certainly be very comfortable with the subject matter and would have taught hundreds if not thousands of students. Also, we hire people who have a flair for teaching and are capable of explaining tricky concepts easily. So you have the whole package on offer - you need to make the best of it. Would you ask your tutor to explain you how to solve quadratics or would you pick up your high school book and review it on your own? If you do pick up the book, would you do it before you go to meet him or afterwards?
Say you plan on taking a 2 hour Algebra session - You can ask your tutor to explain quadratics, identities, exponents, inequalities, functions and mods. Or you can work on quadratics, identities, exponents on your own beforehand because they are pretty straightforward and available in every book and instead use the two hours to review tricky inequalities, mods and any other algebra questions you might have found hard. A private tutor will work according to your need and can only suggest you the best way forward. If you do not work on the basics of algebra before meeting him for an algebra class, he will not be able to move forward because you will not understand anything. So he will be forced to take the basics first with you which will leave little time for more advanced concepts.
Also your presence of mind will be essential. Has it happened with you that someone keeps repeating something in front of you and you keep nodding but don't really understand. Then one fine day someone else says the same thing and all the pieces fall into place? It's up to you to be mentally alert and not nod your head till the pieces do fall into place. On very few fortunate occasions do we come across students who drain us out of every ounce of mental energy in 2 hrs and who get 10 times the worth of every dollar they spend. At the end of such sessions we feel elated, pat our own backs and go back home feeling that we learnt something too today. If you show your tutor the zeal to learn, he will go out of his way to teach you.
So when someone asks me if private tutors are expensive, my answer to them is that it depends on what you intend to learn from them. They are certainly expensive if they end up teaching you how to deal with exponents but they are more than worth it if you are clear on your inequalities and mods after learning from them.