Starstruck

Good Evening Everyone...

So I'm a little upset tonight because I don't really care for Taylor Swift but she's winning all of these awards... and I just don't get it.  Clearly Lady Gaga was the breakout artist of 2009, but nooo Kanye West had to go ahead and make Taylor Swift a household name...  ::sigh::

This is where the title comes from, because Taylor Swift looked very Starstruck up there during his acceptance speech.  Starstruck is a Lady Gaga song, for those of you who don't know...

In any event, below is the updated Leaderboard for BTG (BeatTheGMAT).  I will say that at times posting is exhausting!

I'm Money9111

I didn't go out last night because I went out on Friday night.  I had been studying all week and felt that I owed myself a night out on the town with friends.  Last night I just worked through my MGMAT Number Properties Guide and did a couple of chapters.

Today I woke up at 12:30pm and was studying by 1pm.  I studied until about 5pm... took a break... watched one of the Data Sufficiency Labs provided by MGMAT.  It was an hour long but it was good.  It was teaching us how to eliminate the easier questions within a Value DS problem.  If the question stem has an equation in it, then there is no "easy" choice to eliminate quickly, but if it doesn't give you an equation then 9/10 there is.

This will be very helpful because it will enable me to eliminate at least two choices immediately.  You are all familiar with the AD BCE or BD ACE choices.  If not... you probably don't need to be...  but it's all very helpful.  

After the Grammy's I did another chapter in the Number Properties book.  This was the last chapter before getting to the strategic applications.  I'm still figuring out how to lay out my study plan.  I want to get through this strategy guide tomorrow night, but I also have to do two chapters in the sentence correction book before class on Tuesday.

All in all I studied for about 6 hours today.  One thing that I need to revamp is studying smarter!  This is going to be my focus this week...

I go up to visit Yale in 2 weeks... I'm trying to figure out how to get up to Dartmouth to visit the campus.  I'd like to do it now while classes are in session... it's just a hassle getting up there!  Anyone have a chopper?

Until next time folks...

It's so lonely at the top...

Good Evening everyone...  Tonight I just wanted to update you quickly on what's been going on...

I finally made it to the top of the Leaderboard for the GMAT Giveaway prize!  I had to make 46 posts today (including comments)!  I was posting all day, which didn't seem that bad because I was actually being productive!  

Yesterday Osirus0830 was in the lead by A LOT!  I think it's because they were answering a lot of the problem questions because he/she is taking the GMAT (well technically today!)  I wish them the best of luck!  700+ I'm praying for for them...

ME = Money9111

One of the good things about the BeatTheGMAT community is that we're all in it together trying to tame the beast.  Lots of support which is great!

In terms of studying... tonight I did another chapter in my Number Properties book.  I'm doing a chapter a day, while reviewing the previous chapter.  I have to get through 8 chapters before Tuesday night... but  I obviously plan on doing maybe three chapters a day on the weekend.  Then I also have to watch a web video which is an hour long.. and do some official guide problems.

Manhattan GMAT definitely keeps one busy and before you know it... it's class time again.  This will definitely keep me focused.  I added some more notecards tonight, but I'm starting a new batch.

The old batch was for pre-class learning.  Now I'm making a new batch with things I've learned from Manhattan GMAT.  The other night it was Prime numbers...  tonight it was Odds & Evens...

So below are the types of things that I have to memorize from tonight's chapter:

ODD + ODD = EVEN

EVEN + EVEN = EVEN

ODD + EVEN = ODD

ODD x ODD = ODD

EVEN x EVEN = EVEN

ODD x EVEN = EVEN

now when we get into prime numbers, some things may change because 2 is the only EVEN PRIME NUMBER... although the GMAT does consider 0 to be an EVEN number since it's flanked by two ODDs (1 and -1)

So that's a little sample of what I'm dealing with here... the way the class works in MGMAT is for:

Math you learn the basics and material on your own first... then you learn how to apply it in class....

Verbal you learn the basics and material in class... then you apply it yourself when you're studying...

So that's it for tonight folks... I was going to make a special post re: the iPad since I'm an addict, but I decided against it.... need to stay on task!

BOOM BOOM POW

Humbling first Prep Class

First Order of Business that I'd like to address is this GMAT Giveaway contest.  I've consistently been in 3rd, but yesterday I made it to 2nd... only to be pushed back down to 3rd today.

I'M MONEY9111 BTW

So I had my first MGMAT class today...and it was a very humbling experience to say the least. I was very excited to officially get this process started. I consider today the official day of my GMAT prep - even though it's been months and months, preparing for the class.

My class was from 6:30 -> 9:30. It didn't feel long or drawn out either, which was never a fear... but was a concern. There were were about 16-18 students in the class = very diverse bunch. I cant remember how many sets of 2 tables are on the other side of the room.

Tonight we went over the basic GMAT review... and tackled DS...I thought I had prepared well enough hat I would be able to tackle basic DS questions, but that was false. I definitely underestimated DS.

Now I heard that there would be a lot of work... but I didn't realize how much work. The syllabus is available online but it does not give you a sense of how much work there is. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining at all... I'm actually thrilled because I'm willing to put in the time.

Also, I didn't realize how much additional material was available online... ie. hour long topical Lab videos (at least I think they're videos)... They're definitely going to be a great resource. I also get 30 minutes a week of online office hours w/ phone. You just have to sign up online... I'm definitely going to use this as well, because an hour of "tutoring" is quite pricey post-exam. 


The teacher is very good. Very energetic... i don't know if I could personally be 'ON' for three hours teaching this stuff.. but I suppose that's why they get paid the big bucks. If the initial explanations are tough to understand, they're broken down from another angle.

Like I said, we went over DS today, which as we all know is tricky. Everyone has their own mental process in approaching these problems. There was a situation where one person was thinking of an answer from one angle, and someone else the complete opposite from another angle. The teacher was able to get everyone on the same page, by realizing how each person arrived at their answers (one right and one wrong, but neither understood why they were right or wrong). Just this skill alone.. compared to another prep company I checked out would have sealed the deal for me. I think another teacher would not have been able to recognize the students' though processes and would have simply said "no... this is how you're supposed to do it."

Another thing about the class that I like is that, it's not all just a PPT. Sure the basic material and problems are in the PPT, but when working them out they're done on the board. I'm not sure how other prep classes do this but it's very effective.

If anyone would like to know who I am taking a class with.. send me a PM.. just don't want to post the name up here. It was the first class, so I'm sure people need to warm up and feel comfortable enough to ask more questions. Not I though, I don't care haha if I'm not getting something... might as well ask = get my monies worth! 


Hot to Trot!

5'9 isn't short... or is it?

Hello Again Everyone!

I'm just going to jump right into it tonight....  here is the leaderboard:

I don't believe I updated you on my Friday and Saturday evenings...  well I stayed in.  I only left my apartment to get food...  I wanted to study all weekend, knowing that I had to take my first Manhattan GMAT (MGMAT) practice exam today.

My goal was a 600... now to refresh your memories, my ultimate GMAT score is a 710.  Yes I bumped it up from a 700, because with my luck if I aim for a 700 I'll get a 690 and start cursing in the testing center..

I'll get to how I did in a second...  the book that I was going through this weekend was the PowerScore Critical reasoning Bible.  My goal was to get through this book before Tuesday, because that's when my Class starts, but in order to do so, I would have to get through 150 pages tomorrow night.  I can tell you right now that that's not going to happen.  I underestimated the time it takes to get through Critical reasoning.  I find myself having to take more breaks while going through this book.  It's mentally draining.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about... Critical Reasoning gives you a paragraph.. and you have to answer a question based on the information given... so a question could look like the one below with 5 answer choices that follow:

Each of the following, if true, would help to resolve the apparent discrepancy above EXCEPT:

So you can see how after reading a couple chapters of language like this... you can develop a severe headache.  But yeah so that was my weekend...

So like I said previously... I took my first practice exam today...  my goal was a 600 and I got a 590.  This is where the title comes from get it?  haha  5'9 = 590...  so this goes back to why I increased my target to 710.. this seems to be the case with me.. always ending up SHORT on exams.  Even the SAT's... my goal was a 1300 and I got a 1280.

I was pleasantly surprised with the 590 because during the exam, I felt like I was getting every single question wrong.  As you know from this blog, the last month or so has been dedicated to the Verbal section.  I know that I'll be able to increase my Quant score once I begin seeing the questions again.  I was nervous for Verbal and wanted to focus on that.  Turns out I surprised myself, because my split was the same 37/37.  If I get this split in April I'll be devastated... but it's only January and it was my first CAT (computer adaptive test) ever.

At first I was thinking about not taking it... because I didn't think I was prepared, but then I remember that people say to get the first one over with, so you know how much work you have ahead of you.  Well this was good advice.  I now know that this road is going to be long and arduous.  That's alright though... I can do it!  The kind people over at MGMAT recommend that you come into the first class having completed one of the CAT exams, to establish your baseline.  So to that I say... CHECK

My MGMAT class begins on Tuesday - I've done all of the preparation that I can do for now... I'll see how much homework I get from the class before deciding whether or not I'll continue through the PowerScore CR Bible in conjunction with the class.  I may hold off until afterwards...

It's 9 weeks, so this is when my life becomes non-existant.  I have a lot of work to do before this exam.

I thought I had more to say... but I guess not!  Until next time...  love, peace, and happiness
Notecard Count = 129 (notecard count was 117... so I added 12 from tonight which is a 10% notecard increase)

I'll Get You My Pretty and Your Little Prize Too!

Good Evening (Morning) everyone...

It has definitely been a long time since my last post but that's alright... a lot has transpired since then, so we have a long night ahead of us... not really...

So if you are taking the GMAT and have not become a member of BeatTheGMAT.com, then you are not serious about the exam... stop reading this blog... type in the URL... and register...  it will become your saving grace!  It's great motivation.  Anyway...so on BeatTheGMAT they're having a giveaway contest...basically the top 5 users who post "relevant" responses and topics will be rewarded with one of the packages below... 

So the leaderboard reset today, and finally my username came up...  look on the right in 3rd place = MONEY9111!!!  woop woop... maybe me not having a life will pay off!!!!! Going forward I'll just post the leaderboard instead of the contest description.

I don't think I'll have to keep posting 20-30 times a day... but I just have to last longer than everyone else willing to post that much... I'm sorry but if someone is willing to post 30 times a day for 30 days.. they deserve to win one of the prize..  I'll leave it at that for tonight...

Tomorrow is a big day... and I have a lot to catch you guys up on.. I'm warning you now that tomorrow's post will be long...  :-)  I'll even have a notecard count!

I Am Changing - Jennifer Hudson (Effie)

So the title of this blog lends itself (...itself is a reflexive pronoun and its antecedent is the noun blog) to the song that I'm listening to right now, which is I Am Changing by Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls Soundtrack).  

The reason I say I am changing is because I have begun seeing the difference in the following:

MY SPEECH - when speaking in certain contexts, I'm beginning to analyze if I'm speaking properly.  Now don't jump down my throat and say "well you don't type correctly" well just remember that I update this blog after a loooong day.  I'm not paying attention to how I type... for me typing correctly and candidly do not go hand in hand...

MY ANALYSIS - it's beginning to occur more frequently (... frequently is an adverb) where I analyze something at work... send it off to my manager and have her come to me to reiterate or rephrase what it was that I was attempting to prove.  Now I realize that this just be my lack of being able to convey what I really mean, but I see myself being able to dive deeper into the numbers and make assumptions and inferences that I had not done previously.

MY STUDY HABITS - this is becoming a big one... as the GMAT nears I'm beginning to take studying more seriously!  It has hit me that next week I have to drop $1000 ($300 deposit was an X-mas gift from my mother - THANKS MOM)  for my MGMAT class.  I realize that with all of the preparation I've done up until now... it would be very STUPID for me to slack off this close to realizing my goal.

MY VERITAS PREP iPhone APP - I downloaded the Veritas Prep iPhone application prior to taking any classes or reading any books.  I would get the easy questions right but would only stick to Quant - which I knew I could do.  When tackling the Sentence Correction questions, I would go by what sounded correct.  This is not a strategy to be used on the GMAT because we don't use formal english when speaking...  Today I wanted to see if I had learned anything and I got all of the hard SC questions correct.  This surprised me... it's very odd reading these questions now and realizing what the problem is with the sentence before even reading the answer choices..

A couple of times, I couldn't get past the errors because I was trying to correct it in my brain first... this slowed me down but shows that I've come a loooong way...

I'm very proud of myself for this...  Studying for 2 hours a night is definitely much easier than trying to cram on the weekends...  I hope my preparation pays off!

Tonight I began going through the PowerScore Critical Reasoning guide... this one is not as intense as the Sentence Correct guide, where there are a ton of grammar rules to memorize.

I went through my notecards tonight and removed about 60% of them, because I get the answers right 100% of the time...  I want to focus on the ones that I'm having trouble memorizing because they're newer.  Then I'll go back and go through them all...

Until next time folks!

Notecard Count = 117 (notecard count was 93... so I added 24 from tonight which is a 25.6% notecard increase)

Drawing a blank tonight...

So I'm becoming increasingly more excited about my GMAT class... does that make me a geek?  It begins next week, but a couple of things have transpired since my last post.

Last night I had a call with a Dartmouth Tuck Alumni whose background practically mirrored mine.  On the Dartmouth website there's a section where you enter your information, and what you would like to be involved in @ Tuck.  Then they send an email to someone who has a similar background...look at the great job they did.

Me - Undergraduate Degree = Economics

Him - Undergraduate Degree = Economics

Me - currently working for a major retailer's .com

Him - currently working for a retail retailer's .com

Me - I want to be a part of the LGBT club wherever I go

Him - He was part of the LGBT club @ Tuck

Me - previously worked for a digital marketing agency

Him - previously worked for a digital marketing agency

anyway you get the idea...I spoke to him for about an hour and he was very insightful.  The key takeaway was that Dartmouth is like (...I can use Like here because I'm comparing two things) Cheers - everyone knows your name.  He said that he didn't have a problem being out at school, which anyone who knows me knows that's important.  I cannot go back to the days where I'm scared to raise my hand or give a presentation being worried about what people are going to be thinking of me.

If anyone has encountered anyone that has graduated from Tuck, you may remember how adamant they are about their alma mater.  This has left a huge impression on me.  To hear nearly everyone speak highly of their school is refreshing...  Definitely don't hear that from Rutgers graduates... (...graduates is the noun at the end of the sentence... not Rutgers... Rutgers is the adjective describing graduates).

Anyway, he reitterated my wish to go up to the school and visit, so I plan on doing that mid March.  I know I'll have the opportunity in November for the Dartmouth Tuck diversity conference, but I want to experience the school outside of a "prospectives" bubble.  Anyone want to go with me?

As you may remember... I finished the PowerScore SC book last week.  Since then I have just been reviewing my notecards...  Tonight I attended an MBAmission webinar.  This was just basic information about applying to business school.  I didn't learn anything new, but it was good to keep my mind in the MBA mindset for the night...

An hour after the webinar ended, I cracked open the MGMAT Geometry book.  I wanted to add some notecards to my deck regarding formulas...and most importantly Triangle properties...  did you know that if you split an equilateral triangle in half, you get two 30-60-90 triangles?  If you wanted to figure out the area of that equilateral triangle it would be ((S^2)*(3^1/2))/4?  I didn't know that either.. but now I do!

I'm going to go through my notecards once again tonight... and then watch "The American Ruling Class" on Hulu.

Notecard Count = 93 (notecard count was 80... so I added 15 from tonight which is a 18.75% notecard increase)

A + B = See...I told you!

Tonight I had my Fundamentals of Math I webinar, hosted by Manhattan GMAT.  I realized tonight that taking the Algebra Review (...Algebra Review = adjective) class  (...class = noun), was the right choice.    

There were a couple people in the chatroom that just simply didn't understand what was going on... in the beginning I was semi paying attention because I couldn't take some of the questions that were being asked.  So that's where the title A + B = See I told you.. because some of the examples were so basic and people were trying to convince others as to why their Wrong answers were correct!  Like give it a rest... you cant debunk mathematical theories... if you could.. you wouldn't be in this Webinar.. or at the very least you'd be teaching it...

I added two new notecards from that session:

The first is a simple reminder that when I see "There are" in a Quant question, that I should immediately pay close attention to the order of the clues presented... during the practice question, I made a stupid mistake that will NEVER happen again.. lol...easy squeezy

The second tidbit that I picked up was another reminder...stating that when dealing with exponents... try to express one base in terms of the other....simple pimple

Tomorrow after my dance class, I'm going to go hardcore with number property & idiom memorizations.... I don't want to have to attempt to memorize these in tandem with the MGMAT class...

After the webinar I went through my notecards again.  I'm beginning to see the improvement... I've even begun putting some cards aside because I know them 100% of the time!  I'll add them back in later, but for now it's promising!

Woop Woop G'night

Notecard Count = 80 (notecard count was 78... so I added 2 from tonight which is a 2.5% notecard increase)

Finished reading the Bible tonight...

I knew that would get your attention!  The Bible = PowerScore Sentence Correction Bible.  So the book that I started last Monday, I finally finished today.  I'm very proud of myself and you should be too...

The funny thing about relearning grammar is that you be begin to see all of the mistakes you make when writing.  I have a couple friends who know what I'm talking about because I make comments to them on AIM when I have an epiphany about a sentence.

I would like to go through the book one more time to be sure that I have everything down pat.  Before I do this, I must get through the PowerScore Critical Reasoning Bible first.

Tomorrow (today) I have my first Pre-MGMAT class... it's a foundations of math class to prepare me for the full 9 week class that I'll start on the 26th.  I don't think I'll have any trouble with this foundations class... for starters it's an online class, so I'll be laying on my bed...  also, since I took that Algebra Review class, I think I'll be very comfortable with this class.

Again, there aren't any new notecards tonight... I've just reviewed....

Tomorrow I will be putting up my "wall paper" so I can stare at idioms and number properties in my room - YAY!

Adios Peeps

Old Yaler?

Well hello hello... long time no type

As you may be able to tell, I won't be updating my blog on weekends!  Who has time for all that?  I got's parties to attend... people to converse with... shots to do... and liquor to down!  No actually, that was my last weekend of really going out hardcore...  this test is just too important!  So there may be a post or two on weekends...

So why is this post called Old Yaler?  Well it's simple... I've officially added Yale to my list of schools to apply too.  The reason is simple... Blue is my favorite color... makes sense right? Yeah I thought so too...  But no in fact, during my 2nd year of B-school I plan on getting a dog...  If I get into Dartmouth and end up going there, I'm going to get a Puggle and name him Tucker.  At first I was thinking TUCKIE (as that's what Tuck students are called), but then I realized that's OVERTLY CLICHE.

If I named my dog Tucker - people would be like "aw his name is Tucker... that's kinda like Dartmouth Tuck... ooooohhhh i get it now... that's cute!"  but if I named the dog Tuckie - people would be like "....Really Rich... Really?"  and then just think that I was weird... which I am... soo..... I should really name my dog D-Tucks (for Dartmouth Tuck)... it also sounds like Detox, which is something I'm sure I'll have to do up there... b/c drinking is a Dartmouth past time from what I hear....

If I get into and attend Yale, what would I name my dog?  Yale SOM (School of Management) students are called Yalies... but I just don't like that name for a dog... Yaler does have a ring to it...but I don't want to end up shooting my dog at the end of the school year like they shot Old Yeller at the end of that movie...(sorry for anyone who hasn't seen it - actually I'm not)

So if anyone has any cute names leave a comment...

But in all seriousness... the more I research the prospect of Yale... the more excited I become...  The business school is one of the newer ones, but it has consistently risen in the rankings.  On Presidents day,  I will be hopping on a train and heading up to Yale to visit a couple of classes and take a tour.  It's only January, but I'm already excited about that.  It'll be a short hop skip and a train up to New Haven for the day.  An hour and a half isn't nearly as bad as attempting to get up to Dartmouth...  it's so far...  ::sigh::  but I've told myself that in terms of deciding which B-School to go to, I'm going to take Location out of the picture...

I have to go to the bathroom, so that's all for tonight...

There isn't a notecard count today, because tonight was a review night...

Hangover...is inevitable! ::sigh::

Good "morning" everyone...  it's nearly 4 a.m. as I begin writing this post...  (the explanation for the title is at the bottom)

Surprisingly enough, I did not go out tonight!  Aren't you proud of me?  Let me tell you about my most eventful night!  Tonight I had a friend come over and we watched Orphan with that crazy "little" girl!  It was a good movie, but I digress... I should be talking about b-school stuff right?

 Being up this early/late is not uncommon for me at all... this is normal for a weekend, unless I'm drunk...no comments from the peanut gallery because I know my friends are saying "when are you not drunk?"... I'm going in to work tomorrow, yes Saturday, to get some things done.  I didn't want to be hung over which is why I decided to stay in.

Since it was a low key night and it's late, I'm too tired to really study the PowerScore books right now...the night wasn't a total bust, because I opened up the MGMAT Number properties page, and transcribed those properties onto note cards.  Here they are, for anyone interested:

An integer is divisible by:
2 if the integer is even
3 if the sum of the integer's digits is divisible by 3
4 if the last 2 digits are divisble by 4
5 if the integer ends in 0 or 5
6 if the integer is divisible by 2 and 3
7 if the integer is divisible by 7 (there is no rule for 7 - long division)
8 if the last three digits of the integer are divisible by 8
9 if the sum of the integer's digits is divisble by 9

These properties are very important to memorize for the GMAT, so I'm glad that I took the time tonight to go ahead and get this memorization process started...  I also have plans to add "poster wallpaper" to one wall in my room... this wall will consist of those poster boards that we all used for projects while in school... this will become my "blackboard" and will hopefully drill home certain components that I need to remember.  My hope is that if I glance at this wall in passing, I'll pick things up faster...

I didn't really want to do any studying tonight, but I forced myself to go through all of my notecards with these new additions.  It can only help... and I can sleep as late as I want tomorrow, so there's nothing stopping me.  My fear is that if I allow myself to begin slacking off.. the process will continue...

Since I did not go out... I won't be hung over tomorrow... but because it's the weekend, I feel that someone should feel terrible about their night... so I'm going to watch The Hangover yet again...  :-)

Notecard Count = 78 (yesterday's was 71... so I added 7 from tonight which is a 10% notecard increase)

Chigga Chigga...Slim Shady...

So tonight is going to be a fun night to type about... lots going on tonight.  First the title of this post is Chigga Chigga...Slim shady because that's what popped into my head when I was studying.  All throughout my previous GMAT prep, I would continuously hear about IDIOMS and how much trouble they were giving people.  For anyone that has forgotten...Idiom - an expression that does not make literal sense.  To native American speakers, these phrases make sense... but the GMAT is an exam taken globally and is in English... so imagine you learn the literal meanings of everything and then you see:

Hold your horses; I'll be ready in a minute!
That comment was below the belt and you should apologize.
The toddler screamed at the top of her lungs.
The news of their engagement came out of left field.

These generate a lot of confusion to non-native English speakers... so the reason for the Title came from the illustration that followed the above examples.  Our language has all kinds of quirks.  Slim and Fat are opposites, but slim chance and fat chance mean the same thing.

So that's the lesson for tonight...MORE IMPORTANTLY.. I went to a GMAT preview event and after that I picked up my MGMAT (Manhattan GMAT...for anyone coming in late) books.  It wasn't very informative because that was the 3rd one that I've attended.  Yeah, I know I did my due diligence...it was more out of boredom though.  In anycase... tonight I heard the stupidest questions asked about the GMAT.

Now I'm not saying that I knew anything about the GMAT prior to deciding to go to B-School.  BUT, I did research as much as possible online, before showing my face in public asking a bunch of dumb questions... So here are some of the questions that were asked, and why they were dumb (in my eyes).

- The GMAT is computer adaptive.  So if you answer a question correctly... the next question becomes harder.  If you answer a question incorrectly, the next question becomes easier.  With that being said.. the question a girl asked was... "So can you skip a question and come back to it?"  ... now let's think about this people... if the computer needs to know if you got the current question correct, before it gives you the next one.. how in the world can you SKIP it?  I shoulda told her if you wanna Skip It you better go back to the 80's and buy yourself one, and SKIP IT outside on the sidewalk!

hhmm what was another dumb question that I heard?

- Oh... this wasn't so much a question but these two guys kept asking about trying to cheat.  Ok so for you guys who don't know... when you walk into the testing center, you're not allowed anything but your ID. You get your picture taken....finger printed... and get your hand scanned.  These fools were asking all of these "what ifs.."  I'm sitting there thinking to myself "What if I hit you over the head with this pencil?"

- Also... not many people know this but 25% of the questions on the test are experimental... so think back to that adaptive nature of the test... you could be getting a bunch of hard questions and then all of a sudden a really really easy one...  so now you have to think... either those hard questions were really easy ones that i was getting wrong, which made me end up with this easy one... or this may be experimental... granted you cant think of the test like that...

the reason they do this is to test out new questions for the test, on real test takers - makes sense right?  So this girl asked "Can you skip the experimental ones?" - what is up with people asking if you can skip questions... NO NO NO... ok then another person asked .... "do you at least know which ones are experimental?" - again... NO... the test doesn't tell you anything... nothing... nada... zilch...

- I saved the best for last!  ... so at the end of the 2 hour session... he's taking questions...  this guy behind me asked if you know how you answered the previous question, as you're going through the test.  You can imagine my face when i heard this.  So I'm thinking, does he really think that if you answer the first question right it tells you "CONGRATULATIONS YOU GOT IT RIGHT".... and it turns out he meant something to that effect...

Disclaimer - now I know that I didn't know anything about the GMAT at one point in time... but maybe I just don't understand how some people can aspire to go to a top b-school without having done their homework on the exam needed to get them there.  All of those questions could have been answered simply by Wiki-ing (yes I made it a verb by adding *ing*, if it was used as a noun then it wouldn't be called a verb but a Gerund)

So that's my rant for tonight... until next time folks

Notecard Count = 71 (yesterday's was 66... so I added 5 from tonight which is a 7.5% notecard increase)

Caught in a Bad Romance...

So you ask why I chose this Title for the post?

Well..."I wrote a song about it.. like to hear it?  here it goes" (sidenote - if anyone can tell me what famous TV show that quote is from you'll get a prize!)  Anyway... as I sat on my bed, by my window studying with my window open... a car drove by blasting Lady Gaga - Bad Romance... at first I thought to myself "it's 1 a.m. turn that down!" then I just started bopping my head and singing the paragraph that I was reading... of course that wasn't enough so I had to  take a hiatus and throw on the song for some inspiration.

So I'll get into my studies tonight, because this should go fairly quick.  So tonight... I Studied for 2 hours!      I practically got yelled at when I signed onto Facebook because my other friend interrupted me.  Ms. Harris...I am calling you out!  Why are you all up in my business?  Am I not allowed a break every once in a while - I MEAN DAMN!

B-School Inspiration - Tonight I was watching CNBC since it's Tech Week, and tonight's episode was about the AOL Time Warner break up.  I watched this and it reaffirmed my reasoning for wanting to go to B-School.  The downfall of this whole merger was that the CEO of Time Warner didn't understand the internet fully.  To his defense, no one really did at that point, although this was his thinking.  Time Warner relied heavily on a subscription based business model (HBO, Magazines, Cable), so he saw potential in AOL since it was all subscription based.

Now this would seem like a great idea, but what happened is that as the companies merged the AOL execs got the higher executive job functions.  So now what we had was a major company Time Warner, with it's many properties, being heavily influenced and run by these "Internet Folks."

The real issue came when those "Internet Folks" started telling the Time Warner folks how to sell advertising to make money.  Remember, at first AOL was making all of it's money from the subscriptions, but then the advertising dollars kicked in.  So once these "Internet Folks" started dictating to the traditional media folks how to sell advertising... things got messed up.

The whole reason for the merger was for AOL Time Warner to simply do business with itself, but this did not occur.  So as a result, stock prices fell....  then as people started migrating over to faster internet speeds that eliminated the need for AOL, well the rest is history.

So how does this fit in with my B-School aspirations?  Companies are getting excited and antsy about the internet again, thanks to Google/Apple/Microsoft.  In the future I would like to be in the boardroom when major decisions are being made.  Coming from a digital background, I feel that I have a phenomenal grasp on the history...and more importantly... the future trajectory.

It's time for these old heads in the C-Suites to peace out and make room for those who truly understand what they would be getting themselves into.

Tomorrow I have an MBA information session to attend and I'm paying for my MGMAT course... Update to follow....

Notecard Count = 66 (yesterday's was 53... so I added 13 from tonight which is a 25% notecard increase)

Patron... YES PLEASE! Oh Wait...(read on)

So the title of this post has some intrinsic value because it succinctly illustrates my state of mind for the last couple of years.  I'll just hop right into it and then tell you about my day!  It was very good!

I just finished studying for the night.  2 Hours WOOP WOOP.  I'm still progressing through this PowerScore Sentence Correction Bible and got through a couple more chapters tonight.  As I stated yesterday, I started with the previous chapter Who vs. Whom (you didn't think I would do it did ya?)... cut to Adjectives versus Adverbs...

I'm reading the beginning of this practice problem and I read the first word = Patrons, and IMMEDIATELY thought (...immediately - adverb b/c it's modifying thought which is a verb) of the lovely tequila that is Patron!!  Now going further you'll see why that was comical to me...the first sentence of the question was as follows:

Patrons reported that they would visit the restaurant more...

I can sense that no one is laughing but it was funny to me.  The rest of my day went quite well.  I found out that I received an A in my Algebra Review class!  I know some people will think, WELL DUH IT'S JUST ALGEBRA...  but let me remind you of the complexity of Algebra -

...sure you know A^2+B^2=C^2 and we all remember that (1/2)BH= Area of a Triangle... BUT... tell me if you can solve the following problem WITHOUT A CALCULATOR and UNDER 2 MINUTES AND 30 SECONDS:

A rectangle is 8 ft. long and 6 ft wide.  If each dimension is increased by the same number of feet, a new rectangle is formed whose area exceeds the area of the original rectangle by 72 sq. ft.  Find the dimensions of the new rectangle. 

Welcome to Algebra that I learned over 10 years ago!

**if you don't know what the carrots meant above then this blog is not for you and get outta here!!  NO NO I KID I KID, PLEASE... STAY... HAVE A SHOT OF PATRON!

So anyway... let's talk about Business School a little bit.  As you'll see I've added a POLL on the right-hand side of the page.  I would love to see where people think I should go to Business School.  I mean I'm not going to listen to anyone unless they match my priorities (which I will not reveal until later).

As many of my friends know, I'm very excited to be embarking upon this journey.  I've done so much research up until now that I wish I was enrolled already.  I'm currently planning on applying later this year for the 2011 Fall semester.  It definitely seems like a long time away, and it is, but the preparation needed for me to get into the top schools, warrants this much time.  It will go by so quickly so I'm not worried about it.  I'm young! It's 3 years that will positively impact the rest of my life.

To be honest... I've run out of things for today...  so I won't elongate (...verb) this post any more.  Hopefully I'll make it to the gym tomorrow night and then Thursday night I pay for my MGMAT class and attend an information session.   I will update everyone on how those go - is it weird that I'm excited to start another class?  a 3 hour class, once a week, at that!

Until next time...

Notecard Count = 53 (yesterday's was 47... so I added 6 from tonight which is a 12% notecard increase)

Who, Whom, Who Cares or is it Whom Cares? Damn It...lemme review that tomorrow

Hello All!

There is one thing I would like to say as I continue on this journey... as I write I'm going to insert different grammatical terms, this isn't to teach you guys (although hey.. never hurt anyone to learn anything right?), as much as it is for me to begin to notice these components when I write.

So contrary to popular belief I have gotten around to updating this today. I will be upfront about this and say that while I'm very adamant about it now, I won't be updating it daily in the future. (...in the future - is a prepositional phrase).

So just briefly about my day... went to work... then met some friends out at Therapy (bar - didn't drink though, I SWEAR) because one of them is going back to France tomorrow :-( I got home around 10:30 with the intentions of studying for 2 hours and then watching CNBC on Hulu, but of course that was derailed because of a heated AT&T/iPhone/Verizon/Palm (really? Palm?) discussion on Facebook.

...Sidenote - I got an A in my Introduction to Interactive Marketing class... was a good confidence booster!

Anyway, after I WON the discussion I went through my notecards, as I always do, before tackling the material for the night.

I went through a few more chapters of the PowerScore Sentence Correction Bible. The more and more I go through this book the more I realize how the GMAT test makers aren't really trying to trick you... they just want to see if you're paying attention. I will praise this book for the rest of my life because the explanations are genius! There was one question and explanation that really made me LOL...i couldn't ROTFL because I was laying in bed and that would have just been awkward and knowing me I would have broken something! (would have broken = future perfect) The explanation sounded like something I would write...But here's what I'm talking about...

This was about Noun Agreement:

Bill and Lissy believed that if they were coached every day and dedicated themselves to practice, their dream of becoming a professional skater could someday be a reality. [INCORRECT]

To some people this would sound correct, but it is in fact incorrect. The beginning of the explanation is: "How are Bill and Lissy, two people, going to combine together to be ONE professional skater? If they have a fantastic plastic surgeon, this sentence might be grammatically correct." ... now some people may be thinking - duh it's obvious that the sentence is incorrect - but ask yourselves if you would truly have gotten that correct. If you say yes, I don't believe you... well I would believe Sophia (yes girl you got a shout out... mainly to see if you're reading)... but most others would have to think about it.

If anyone is wondering the correct sentence is:

Bill and Lissy believed that if they were coached every day and dedicated themselves to practice, their dream of becoming professional skaters could someday be a reality. [CORRECT]

I have to review Relative Pronouns again tomorrow night... I didn't fully understand them until after I realized I got 75% or 3/4 of the practice problems wrong. No big deal, I'll just start with that chapter tomorrow...

Much Love To All, and to All A Good Night!
Notecard Count = 47 (yesterday's was 37... so I added 10 from tonight which is a 27% notecard increase)

IS THIS THE BEGINNING?

well for anyone who thinks that today is the day that I'm REALLY beginning this process... you're mistaken. I mean really?!? you think that I've thought about going to b-school for 4 days? let me get you caught up right quick...Thus Far I Have:

... decided that I need to get my MBA (i mean duh right?)

... enrolled in the Digital Media Marketing Certificate Program at NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU SCPS)

... completed 3/5 aka .6 (lol getting in the GMAT frame of mind with fractions and decimals...) NYU SCPS classes: Introduction to Email Marketing, Introduction to Interactive Marketing, and Analyzing Consumer Behavior

... enrolled and completed Algebra Review also at NYU SCPS - it's amazing how much mundane things you forget... whatchu know about 30/60/90 triangles?

... become an active member of www.BeatTheGMAT.com message board = PHENOMENAL RESOURCE, even for those who have already taken the GMAT

... attended 3 MBA conferences/information sessions at various hotels around NYC... met some great people that I still keep in contact with!

... attended a Harvard/Columbia/Kellogg information session at Credit Suisse

... attended the NYU Stern LGBT Reception and the NYU Stern Marketing Conference (for prospectives)

... attended the Dartmouth Tuck information session at the Yale club... saw a celebrity in the elevator too on the way out but his name has slipped my mind!

... listened to over 100 MBA/Business school podcasts - mainly from MBA podcaster on itunes. I try to listen to one of these a night as I go to sleep... I've also made my mother listen to them while we were driving back form Myrtle Beach in the car. Hey! I needed to get my fix in! She didn't care and now she knows what Data Sufficiency is!

... read over 7 MBA/Business school books

... attended three information sessions at the Manhattan GMAT offices in Chelsea even though I haven't enrolled in the 9 week course yet - hey they were free so what's that saying? "If it's free... I'll take three!" yup I sure did take three

... ordered Powerscore Sentence Correction & Critical Reasoning Bible

... applied to attend the Dartmouth Tuck Diversity Conference but wasn't accepted because preference is given to those who are applying this year.

... last but not least I have organized all of my notes from the podcasts that I've listened too, books that I've read, and conferences/information sessions that I've attended and put them into a notebook! Yes boys and girls... I can be organized when I want to be! NOW IF I COULD ONLY FIND WHERE I PUT THAT DAMN NOTEBOOK - YOU GUYS HAVE SEEN MY ROOM HAHAHA.. A MESS!

That about sums up my journey for 2009! Like Usher said you're "CAUGHT UP" Congratulations...