GMAT Preparation

[dmw16]

I am starting to think about going back to school and will probably go the MBA route. There are lots of different books, classes, etc for GMAT prep, but it's hard to sort through what is BS and what may actually offer some value.

I'm curious what anyone on here would suggest?

Thanks.

 

[coaster831]

It depends on what score you want to attain and how close you are to it. I think the official GMAC site offers software with two free (and pretty realistic) practice tests. Take one and see where you stand... take the second just before you take the real test to see if you're satisfied with your improvement.

For most people, the key is practice -- just doing more and more questions. If you're pretty decent at taking standardized tests and don't need to jump more than 50 points, a book with lots of practice questions should work just fine. Otherwise, you may want to look at taking a class (Disclaimer: I know nothing about the classes).

During your practice, it can also help to simulate the testing environment (sit at a real desk, put on noise-blocking headphones or earplugs -- no music -- and use a white board / markers as your scratch pad -- the whiteboard threw me more than anything else, for some reason).

 

[Aharami]

^ "and use a white board / markers as your scratch pad"

explain this please. never heard of this

 

[coaster831]

^ "and use a white board / markers as your scratch pad"

explain this please. never heard of this

When I took the test (2.5 years ago), we couldn't bring pencil/paper to the test station -- we had to use dry-erase markers and a piece of laminated graph paper (like a piece of whiteboard). There could be different rules at other test facilities, since the place I took the test wasn't solely a GMAT-testing facility.

Either way, I hated using the dry-erase markers for the math portion.

 

[silverpig]

When I took the test (2.5 years ago), we couldn't bring pencil/paper to the test station -- we had to use dry-erase markers and a piece of laminated graph paper (like a piece of whiteboard). There could be different rules at other test facilities, since the place I took the test wasn't solely a GMAT-testing facility.

Either way, I hated using the dry-erase markers for the math portion.

Yep. Just to be clear it's a piece of paper sized thing that is laminated and you have a pen-sized marker. It's not a whiteboard you stand at or anything.

OP: What is your undergrad and work background? Quantitative? Are you a native english speaker? If you have a quant background and are a native english speaker, you can do very well. It is more about brushing up and learning the test than learning new material.

My advice is to get the princeton review's "cracking the gmat" book (I don't work for them, I just used their book and liked it). It comes with some practice tests and a lot of practice questions, but the best part is it tells you strategies on HOW to take the test.

The math is, I would say, really hard high-school math. You don't need to know any calculus or linear algebra, but some of the problems are really difficult, especially when you have ~3 minutes on average to do them.

Verbal is tricky and sometimes obscure, but learn the strategies and patterns and you should do fine.

No one really cares about the AWA (essay writing), so long as you don't get a terribad score, but you have to be functionally illiterate to do really badly on it.

 

[dmw16]

Yep. Just to be clear it's a piece of paper sized thing that is laminated and you have a pen-sized marker. It's not a whiteboard you stand at or anything.

OP: What is your undergrad and work background? Quantitative? Are you a native english speaker? If you have a quant background and are a native english speaker, you can do very well. It is more about brushing up and learning the test than learning new material.

My advice is to get the princeton review's "cracking the gmat" book (I don't work for them, I just used their book and liked it). It comes with some practice tests and a lot of practice questions, but the best part is it tells you strategies on HOW to take the test.

The math is, I would say, really hard high-school math. You don't need to know any calculus or linear algebra, but some of the problems are really difficult, especially when you have ~3 minutes on average to do them.

Verbal is tricky and sometimes obscure, but learn the strategies and patterns and you should do fine.

No one really cares about the AWA (essay writing), so long as you don't get a terribad score, but you have to be functionally illiterate to do really badly on it.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

To this question, I am a native English speaker and my undergrad degree is in aerospace engineering.

I will start with that book and the online sample tests and go from there.

 

[rcpratt]

Native English speaking engineering students should do pretty well. Starting with the practice tests to see where you stand is a good idea.

 

[Delita]

I didn't take one of the courses, but I used the Official GMAT review book which is a great resource. I also used the Manhattan GMAT guide books, which I really liked. They come with online problems and practice tests which helped. Also the GMAT website has a mock test program you can download that has 2 sample tests. You might want to take one to gauge where you stand and then start your studying, then save the other test for later. You don't want to keep taking those sample tests because they are the same and you can really skew how you think you are doing. The trick is really the timing. I found that I was able to do a majority of the problems, but on some of the more difficult ones I would run way over time. You need to get the depth of knowledge to do the problems quickly.

I had some highs and lows studying for the GMAT. I wanted to crack 700, so I did a lot of problems and practice tests. I would do really well on one practice test, then get like a 590 on another a get discouraged.

Here are some site with some good info:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/
http://www.beatthegmat.com/

 

[sactoking]

If you're a native English engineer, I would recommend you concentrate your studying on the verbal portion. Due to the number of engineers that take the GMAT the math curve is skewed much more than the verbal. I scored 97% on math and 99% on verbal with a higher raw math score.

Also, the math has some wonky questions where they give you a scenario, two or three extra pieces of info, and you have to determine if the scenario can be solved with one, two, three, all, or none of the extra info. It's not really math and it's not really deductive reasoning. The easy ones are easy but the hard ones are stupid hard.

Also, the test is adaptively difficult, meaning that when you get a question correct your next one will be tougher and worth more. It's OK to miss a very hard question as you're not penalized too much for it but missing easy questions will kill your score because then you won't get offered the higher-value questions.

 

[Elbryn]

when i took the gmat i just went to the library and borrowed as many books as they had that contained practice tests that were adaptive and relatively recent. read through the quantitative sections as a refresher to the material type and then started taking computerized practice tests. questions i guessed on, i'd mark down to review the answers along with the wrong questions to make sure i filled the knowledge gap.

get real good at screening the answers to rule out obvious wrong answers and weighing the risk/reward of spending alot of time on a question you're not familiar with. if you dont know it, accept it, rule out what you can and move on. there's plenty of other questions you will know how to do that your time is better spent on.

 

[gotsmack]

I took mine like 7 years ago and I had a pencil and a few pieces of scrap paper provided at the test site.

Some schools accept the GRE as well.

You'll need to know statistics. Strong pigeon hole theory comes into play for one or two questions. I forget what it's called but you'll also need to know how to use "!" .

The only way to get good is to do like 2 or 3 practice tests and see where you are weak.

Take your time doing the practice test questions at first. You'll have to do thousands of questions so there will be time to get faster after you have learnt how to do the problem.

I recommend the Barron's book.

Also if you're concerned enough to ask here how to prepare for it I'll assume that you are trying to get into a good program and not just looking to check off a box for your job. So don't bother doing a program unless it is top 20.