44Q tonight! Guess the first wasn't a mistake!

So today was/is a good day.

First on the agenda is a big congratulations to my friend.  She will not be taking the GMAT ever again!  She just took it for the 3rd time and did well!  Now I must follow in her footsteps!  I'll see your score and raise you _____!  ;-)   She's probably laughing right now as she reads that!

In any event, I can't wait until I'm completely done with this GMAT exam.  I seem to be getting closer and closer to that goal and it makes me smile!

Studying for the GMAT has no longer become a dreadful thing.  It's actually quite fun trying to figure out the intricacies of this exam.  I no longer study for 5/6/7 hours a day reading through material doing 1 problem here and 1 problem there.  Working with my tutor has been very beneficial, albeit expensive, but given the opportunity cost it's worth it.  Now when I study it's usually going over mistakes.  I know all of the information - for the most part - now it's a matter of putting it all together...getting faster...and refining my skills.

QUANT

Tonight I took another Veritas quant section and scored a 44!  I think I did a fist pump (I'm from Jersey so it comes naturally!) when I saw the score.  I pressed B for every verbal question so my final score was  a 460 lol, but when I found where the Quant score was I was very pleased.

Number properties is still my achilles heel, but I see that issue fading slowly but surely, although my tutor may disagree.  The next thing that I want to focus on in terms of my Quant score is getting it up to 47/48 consistently.

VERBAL

So yeah.... verbal... not a fan until I figure it out.  I know I'm on the verge of an epiphany but I'm getting anxious waiting for that EUREKA moment to arrive.  I think I've dialed in to what I need to focus on.  My problem is not that I don't understand the premises...I think that before in my prep I was so focused on figure out what the questions were asking and not so much the premises, but now I need to go back to looking into what the questions are exactly looking for.  

I had a discussion with Brandon today after I got my quant score.  He really wants me to take a full practice exam to see where I am this time.  I keep telling him "No... my tutor doesn't want me to do that yet."  I'm really putting a lot of faith into my tutor and I want to do things on my own, but hey you know what?  He just took the exam again and got a 780 when he was sick!  So who am I to override his suggestions?  My job is to simply do the work assigned, which is getting harder I might add.  

After I finish writing this post, I'm going to tackle critical reasoning again.  I'm going to try something different this time and underline the conclusions.  I know that obviously when taking the actual test, I won't be able to draw on the computer screen, but I think my problem is forgetting about the conclusion and then choosing answers that are too broad in scope.  So I'm going to see if this tactic works this go around!

Just a reminder - I will not be posting my exam date on my blog or any forums.  It will be a surprise because I don't want the added pressure of having people wishing me good luck and then thinking about them asking how I did - post exam.

I better get going because even though it's the weekend I still need to get some sleep as per my tutor!  I'm going to be posting a lot over the next couple of days because things are about to get uber hectic!

I'm Getting There... Slowly but Surely

Today I was thinking to myself about what I write about and nothing pertinent came to mind.  Then I went back to studying and figure it would be a good time to let you know how I've been doing on that front.  Let me back up and tell you about my Friday. 

After work on Friday I walked 10 blocks south to meet with my tutor.  The first thing we did was go over my CR mistakes.  The interesting thing here is that the last batch of CR questions I did ended with 14/26 incorrect.  This was a huge blow to my ego so I was anxious to see what he had to say about my performance.  More times than not I could narrow down the answers to two choices, one being the correct one.  It got so bad that I remember saying to myself as I was mulling over two choices 

"Ok... I want to choose this one, but because of my track record, I should probably choose the other one even though I don't know why it would be right."  

Yeah!  I know right.. it got to THAT point.  But I would inevitably choose the incorrect answer thinking that "well maybe...just maybe I am correct."  Nope... EENNNT  WRONG!  So my tutor couldn't find a pattern in the types of questions I was getting wrong.  I was literally all over the damn place!  Then he said that he thought my problem was that I wasn't being LITERAL.  Hhmm I thought... I think it got to a point for me where I was thinking the answer choices were trying to trick me.  While they can be confusing... if you take it literally there really isn't a gray area.

So today when I did a batch of RC passages, I wrote "Be Literal" and "Modifiers" to remind myself to well... Be Literal... and watch out for Modifiers.  The modifiers thing got to me a couple times because I didn't like answer choices because of the "at least some" or "a little."  Needless to say, taking that advice to heart I only got 7/27 incorrect which is my best RC hit rate to date.  Now I know some out there may be saying "um... Richard... that's still a lot" and to that I say... "HUSH!"  The next time I'll do better, but at least I'm moving in the right direction!

So I was feeling good about that performance today and decided to do some Quant.  I was going to do a math section from one of the Veritas practice guides, as prescribed by my tutor, but I was cutting it a bit too close to the Real Housewives of NJ Reunion.  So instead I started doing problems from the BeatTheGMAT practice set, just to keep my brain in working order.  

What I enjoyed about these sets is that I felt myself being good at some things I would have struggled with before.  It was to the point where I was finishing problems in a minute ON THE REGULAR.  I definitely feel like NOW is when the uphill battle ensues on the way to a 700, as my tutor cringes as he reads this knowing the road ahead of US for me to get there!  ;-)  

It's amazing that I have sooooo much GMAT material and yet I feel that I'm making the most progress from an LSAT book, some worksheets and problem sets, and the Official Guide(s), both OG Review guides.  When I say I have so much GMAT material... I'm not joking!  I was definitely THAT guy who wanted to get all the material out there and just bulldoze through it.  Clearly this was not fruitful, otherwise I wouldn't be in the position I'm in now.  

Or I wonder if it could just be my biorhythms - right Nick? Read this it's interesting...  http://bit.ly/affR4c maybe when I do decide to schedule my GMAT I'll pay attention to my biorhythm.

Sidenote - Do you guys know what Thursday is?  I'm uber excited for it!  Tell you more tomorrow... right now it's time to go to sleep!

Me + Starbucks = 5 Hours

So today I studied for 5 hours in Starbucks.  I hadn't planned on studying for that long but I simply lost track of time.  I worked on Critical Reasoning... then did some Data Sufficiency...then worked on some "annoying word problems" as so coined by my tutor.  I think in terms of time spent, the annoying word problems took the longest.

With regards to studying out there... has anyone felt that even though you get X amount of questions incorrect during your studies, you still think that you're improving?  Well that's how I feel right now.  I just gotta keep up the studying and I'll be good to go!  No big deal just had a rough week.  BUT... I have a feeling this week is going to be very very good!

I want to say Good Luck to my friend, we shall call her E.  She'll be taking the GMAT on Friday!  E, if you're reading this (and I'll make you read it), don't stress over it.  You will be just fine!  Remember that in the end it's just a test, albeit and incredibly important one.  But you got it this time!  All that hard work will pay off!  Also, let me know when you want to get together this week to study.  Seeing as though your exam is Friday, we should get together Mon, Tues, or Wednesday.  Thursday you need to watch a movie or something... preferably a comedy ie. The Hangover or Martin's RunTelDat.  If you want to go see a movie, let me know.

Later tonight I'm going to make a post about Why I Blog.  I think it's about that time to disclose that information.  Not that there will be any epiphany or anything but I've found that inquiring minds would like to know...

Yeah Hi GMAT? You're not that special!

So I've been studying hard...going hard with Quant these last couple of weeks.  I mean if you don't do well on the Quant section then there's really nothing more you can do in terms of the application and trying to optimize the "holistic" approach.  I understand what b-schools say when they mention this approach, but I only believe it to an extent.  I wonder if business schools are just as unsure about the process as applicants are.

I mean think about it...  it HAS to be holistic to an extent.  Just take a look at the average GMAT scores amongst (could have said among but I've naturally gravitated towards the English way of saying it) the top business schools.  All of the mean GMAT scores are above 700, so yes... Holistic approach - sure I'll give you that...BUT let's look at the numbers shall we?

Let's say there are 5 students in a matriculating class and the mean GMAT score is a 710 and the school admits a 650 GMAT score..  Well what do the other 4 scores need to be in order to have a school mean of 710?  So we have:

(A+B+C+D+650)/5 = 710
A+B+C+D+650 = 3550
A+B+C+D=2900
2900/4 = 725

So in order to admit that 650 student and maintain an Mean GMAT of 710 the adcom needs to admit FOUR 730 GMAT scores, since we would need to round up in order to reach that 710 minimum.  I say this all to say that yes while schools take on a holistic approach when reviewing applications... I personally need to keep in mind that it may be a reach for them to admit a lower stratosphere score even if my application is superb!  Just a little note to self  :-)

My tutor is going to have a BLAST with me tomorrow!  I've done all of the worksheets he's given me to do while he's been away for the past week, and I must admit that I feel defeated because of the last worksheet I completed.  It was very tough - even as I was going through it I said to myself "WTF!"  The good thing about it was that I knew what the questions were asking, and there is a definite pattern as to which types of questions I'm missing.  I have a plethora of questions for him tomorrow, so our session should be interesting.

@Charles ... if you're reading this... I'm not going to hold anything back tomorrow!  Just so YOU know!

@Everyone else studying for the GMAT - we can do this!  It's JUST a test, albeit a stressful one, but JUST  a BEATABLE test!  Let's keep each other going...

@People who only had to take it once - like my friend admitted to Ross - yeah... um... I envy you right now!

Tomorrow I'll be finishing up the first rough drafts of my Tuck essays!
Saturday I'll be going sailing with a friend I haven't seen in 10 years!
Sunday I'll be studying my ass off.

Until tomorrow!  Take Care!

Addendum to WTF CR = Death (below)

As per my post below here is an addendum - I just watched the first 10 slides of the CR 2 lesson and already realize where I made my mistakes...  I was focusing on the content within these more advanced sections rather than the LOGIC behind them...  I threw the whole SWIMMER categorization out the window.  This is my own fault and oversight...

so what I've done is put SWIMMER on my wall and I'm going to make notecards with each component.  I will NOT tackle CR again until I have these memorized!

So when I'm laying in bed watching Hulu or Studying or just playing around on the internet this is what I stare at in front of me on the wall on three big posterboards.

The SWIMMER poster was just added tonight after my little hissy fit haha... the other two have been up there for a while...

Thanks for bearing with me through my little hissy fit bout!  Back to the CR 2 Lesson.. hahaha...

Signing off,

Hot Mess Overreactor

GMAT Exam - Debrief

Get a drink.... a snack... sit back and enjoy!

So... now that exam day is over and I've had time to take a step back and relax aka get totally wasted on Saturday, I feel that I can purge my brain of the experience. I'm going to swallow my pride here and be very candid with everyone. I hope this can help someone somewhere...

As many of you know I took the MGMAT in-person 9 week class. Prior to taking the class it's recommended that you take a practice CAT. I did this and got a 590. Now let me say that this class is a TON of work. I remember towards the middle of it I had to take a break and not look at any GMAT material because my head was spinning. I won't go too much into my classroom experience because I'm sure it's documented somewhere in my blog... I want to get more into exam day.

The Sunday before my exam I took a practice exam and scored a 520! Yeah that's a terrible blow to the confidence! That was by far my lowest score ever. So then I started freaking out because I got 12 out of 14 SC's correct, but only 4 CR's correct. Up until that point CR had been my strong point so I was at a loss for words. I took monday off of work to study. I ended up sleeping until 1pm but told myself that it would be better to start getting lots of sleep. That night I studied CR and RC - clearly it didn't do me any good. Tuesday -> Friday I didn't do any hardcored studying. I reviewed old exams...

One good thing that I did.. and I think this is clever haha... I generated the MGMAT assessment of all of my CAT exams. I clicked into Verbal... sorted by question type... I wrote down all of the idioms that I had missed since the first CAT exam... I recorded them on my iphone... and played it back to myself while at work... while on the subway... I will never forget that the idiom is "Think of X as Y" amongst others.

So exam day... I woke up at 9:30 and showered and went to the Dartmouth Tuck event @ the Kaplan center. It was great that this event was from 11am-1pm because it kept my mind off of the exam at 4pm. After the event I went home... took another shower - to kill time... reviewed the basics to writing the essays. Did 2 SC's... 2 CR's...a couple geometry problems and random quant problems. I didn't even look at the answers because I didn't want to be discouraged going into the exam. I just wanted to get my brain working again.

It was a nice day outside... and I walked to the testing center. As planned I avoided Times Square! I had my headphones on and I was rocking out to some dance remixes. When I got to Rockefeller center I started feeling nervous. It was very weird because I felt like I was walking to the torture chamber or electric chair. Everyone was walking by my and I was saying to myself "Doesn't anyone realize where I'm going right now and what this exam means?" So I get to 500 5th Avenue and go into a zone. Nothing was going to throw me off once I walked through those doors.

I hand the security guy at the desk downstairs my ID. I walked through the same turnstile and took the same elevator that I took during my dry run. I got into the testing center, which felt like a doctors office and the woman began to give me instructions and told me to read some papers. After that I asked her where the bathroom was and went in. When I got back I sat down to have my picture taken - now this is the funny part... As I'm sitting down having my picture taken, a Woman/Girl must have been about 25/26 comes in with her Longchamp bag slung over her shoulder, huffing and puffing. She starts talkign loudly asking me questions as if I'm the administrator. I just smiled and nodded. Then she asks the administrator what she can bring into the exam with her and the administrator of course said "nothing but your ID and your locker key". The girl said - "I CAN'T EVEN BRING IN MY CALCULATOR?" The look on the administrators face when she said that was absolutely priceless and I will never forget it. I had to laugh when I heard this, because it was just that comical. It was a little refreshing to get in a laugh.

So I took my picture... she did the palm vein scan thingy... and I went to take the exam. I sat away from the door and I didn't have ear plugs I had those huge aviation headphones lol. I kept them on during the essays because people were typing, but I took them off during the Quant section because they were a little cumbersome and I could hear myself breathing lmao.

The essays were intuitive... they were more like a hiccup in the exam. I wrote the intro... 3 examples - one offering a suggestion... and then the conclusion bringing everything together. I used about 3 minutes to set up each essay just jotting down notes...After both essays I took my 8 minute break.

Again here I went into a zone because I had practiced time and time again. I went to the bathroom... got my Gatorade... got my crackers.. and sat down and had a conversation with the administrator. While I was out there another girl came out and just sat down. I'm like "wait.. people don't bring snacks? and something to drink?" I guess we're a rare breed. So I went back in with about 3 minutes to spare... sat down... took a deep breath and said.. "Ok remember to watch the time!"

I did pretty well on time and finished the Quant section with about 1:30 to spare then I took my next break. I had to go to the bathroom again which is rare, but oh well it happens. I got back.. went to my locker.. got my crackers and Gatorade and sat down for about 5 minutes. Then I did some stretching before going back in. I felt very confident about tackling the verbal section. Now let me talk about this verbal section if I may...

I did not think that the questions were anything like the ones I saw in the MGMAT SC guide. I went through that guide about 4 times and thought I had everything nailed down. Considering I got 12/14 correct in my last practice exam I thought I was on track. The two questions I got incorrect were idioms so my SC confidence level was very high. I did see some SC questions with 3/2 splits, but that's not what threw me off. The language was different. I don't even think the SC was anything like the SC in the beginning pages of the OG or the Verbal Review guide. Something was off and it's hard to explain. I think I studied the SC guide TOO much. I studied it so much that the language in the book became second nature and I probably thought I knew more than I did.

The CR and RC sections didn't seem to much different than what I had seen before. It's funny how with RC you can talk yourself into an answer whether it be right or wrong. I got one Resolve the Paradox question in CR and I smiled because I like those for some odd reason. I may not get them all correct but I like seeing them, I'm weird.

So anyway... I finished the verbal with 2 minutes to spare and then had to answer those questions at the end. You know.. address... undergrad institution... blah blah who cares? Then I got to the "do you want to see your score" screen and my heart was pounding out of my chest. I put my hands over my eyes as if I was at a scary movie, which I don't even do anyway, and then I clicked YES. I thought my heart was going to come out of my chest - hands still over eyes. Then I started peeking through my fingers to look at the last two numbers. I knew that if I saw an 80 or 90, then my score would be a 580 or 590. I knew that if I saw a 20 or 30 then I might have been able to end up with a 620 or 630. Unfortunately, I saw an 80 so then I uncovered my eyes and saw the 580.

I looked at my split and wasn't surprised by the 36Q because all in all the questions were too simple. Now you may be thinking "well if they were so simple why did you get them wrong?" well... You know when a question is simple or difficult. There were too many simple questions so I was making stupid errors. I was surprised by my Verbal score of 34. I was devastated more because I haven't seen an increase in my Verbal score even though I was going at that hard. There's no reason why I cannot get 40+ in Verbal. I need it to click before my next exam. I'm willing to do whatever... this is crazy!

Now here are some tips that I would like to address that I've heard but didn't take to heart:

1. When people say that you're ready to take your exam when you've hit your target score on your last 2/3 practice exams. BELIEVE THEM! IT'S TRUE. I should not have been surprised by my score at all. I went into the exam thinking "maybe this time it will be different!" Let me help you out... IT WON'T for most of us... yes there are some anomalies out there, but don't put yourself in that position. I think people who have been scoring maybe 700/710 can surprise themselves with a 720/730 sure... but to everyone out there scoring SUB 600 on their practice exams... I say this with love, learn from my mistake... you will NOT surprise yourself with a 650. No... it won't be different for you... listen to those who have come before you!

2. Writing the essays before practice exams... DO THIS...period! I started doing this towards the end of my studies... it helps with stamina during the exam. I did not feel that the exam was too long because I did this.

3. Do NOT just go through as many books as possible just to go through them. Trust me.. it doesn't help that much. I have all of the MGMAT guides, OG Guide, Verbal Review, Quant Review, PowerScore CR, PowerScore SC, that 350 page Quant PDF, an Algebra Book, and a Geometry Book. I've been through them all and still got a 580. The QUALITY is 100% better than QUANTITY. Unfortunately for me these books have been exhausted and I'm tired of looking at them to be honest haha.

4. Memorize as many idioms as possible. There's nothing worse than encountering a SC problem and narrowing down the answer choices and you see that the only difference between two remaining answers is a stupid idiom. You will beat yourself up over it and spend too much time. Memorize these! I have 3 poster boards on my bedroom wall with Idioms on them. So yes when I'm getting dressed I'm staring at Idioms. I know that "rather than" is more formal than "instead of" ;-) Who wants to sit down an memorize idioms anyway? Just put it on your wall... you'll get it.

5. Something else that I didn't do which I now know is UBER important... you should spend some time... I won't say as much time... but SOME time reviewing the correct answer choices and why they were correct from CAT exams you took. Why? Well... I know when I took CAT exams I would have to guess on some answers...well some of those I inevitably got correct, even though I may not have known the reason. Then when looking at my exams, I would only focus on the questions I got wrong. Well what about the ones I guessed on because I didn't know how to do? At the very least, mark which questions you don't know, so that if you get them right you can still go back to check.

All in all... this exam is beatable and after having experienced the whole thing once... I'm more dedicated to beat it! This 580 will be nothign compared to my next score. Hope this helps at least one person out there... and if you've gotten this far I commend you... sorry I tend to ramble!

- Richard

The GMAT has not seen the last of me!

580 full debrief tomorrow - off to go drinking now


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Location:Nyc

1 hour and 30 minutes

Hey everyone... I'm still pretty calm. It's a gorgeous day



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Location:Nyc

G-Day Scheduled!

I can't sleep right now @ 4am so I decided to update my blog... yes I have work in 5 hours... but I frequently pull all nighter... I'm weird don't worry I know.

Well well everyone... it’s definitely been a while since my last post. I know that I keep saying that every single time that I start a post. oh well you can get over it right? So a lot has transpired since the last time I posted. I'll update you on my weekend:

On Friday I went home to Old Bridge, NJ for a friends Birthday party.  I was at work today and my friend texted me asking if I was coming home for Easter. I said that I wasn’t and he told me there was a party... so when i hear “party” the alcoholism side of my brain immediately asks “Free Alcohol?” So I hopped on the bus and in about 50 minutes I’ll be partaking in some liquid courage - as if I need it. Anyway... back to the issue at hand

For starters... I SCHEDULED MY GMAT EXAM! I officially feel the pressure now... my exam date is May 8th! Now I can officially say that I have a D-Day, instead of speculating. It’s amazing how much pressure one feels once they’ve paid the $250 and have received the confirmation email. For me it was a sigh of relief as well as a rude awakening. The rude awakening was the realization that I’m really in this thing for the long haul. You would have thought that the rude awakening would have come when I enrolled in my MGMAT class, but nope.. that wasn’t it.

I suggest that everyone looking to take the GMAT... you schedule it immediately, even if it’s some time in the future. It’s incredible what happens when there’s a time when you don’t want to study and you remember that there’s a finite number of days left before D-Day! It has definitely helped me focus. Every free second I have, I’m usually studying. Actually that’s a lie... last night I watched Real Housewives of NYC. (I’m Team Jill...if anyone cares).

Also this past week, I sent out thank you emails to everyone I spoke to and met at Tuck. it took me about 2 hours to do so. I met so many people and I know that they all talk to each other and I didn’t want to send them the same email. Now it might be selfish of me to think that they would really want to talk about me, because I’m sure they get a lot of students like me up there every day. But hey you never know right? Plus I want to keep the line of communication open between us, so I wanted to make the emails personal. The admissions committee member that I spoke too didn’t receive an email. i went across the street from my job to Sam Flax.... bought stationary and cards and hand wrote a short thank you letter to her. It’s definitely early in the process so I doubt she’d remember me, but again... you never know.

On Saturday I hopped back on the bus back to NYC.  I was itching to go out and party but remembered that my exam date is right around the corner.  I ended up doing 20 SC problems and then falling asleep!  I guess I was just that exhausted from the night before.

On Sunday I woke up really late... I dunno what's going on with my body.. maybe I'm getting sick - I'm not sure.  When I woke up I did 34 Critical reasoning questions timed and 20 more SC timed.

Maybe I should explain my schedule for the next 2 weeks.

Sunday - SC and 17 CR questions from the Official Guide
Mondays - 2 questions in every single chapter  in the MGMAT Quant study guides, then review
Tuesdays - 20 SC and 17 CR questions from the Official Guide
Wednesdays - 2 questions in every single chapter  in the MGMAT Quant study guides, then review
Thursdays - 20 SC and 17 CR questions from the Official Guide
Fridays - 2 questions in every single chapter  in the MGMAT Quant study guides, then review
Saturday - Practice Exam & review all practice exams

I haven't figured out what to do before the two weeks that I tackle the GMAT Verbal Review & GMAT Quant review guides.  I'm going to ask my friend Brandon (Osirus) what he thinks I should do.  He took the Veritas verbal course, so I think he'll have some words of wisdom for me.  Right now I'm thinking that I should do the SC 1000, since that's my weakness - CR used to be my weakness, but my hit rate is increasing.  My goal for my next practice exam is to get above 40 in verbal.  My highest score thus far is 35, after three exams, because I had been focusing on Quant.

Bad News Bears...

Greetings Fellow whoever reads this...

So the other day I said that I would have a good post for (yesterday).  I forgot why I said that.  I wonder if I had some epiphany to update you guys on.  Maybe it will come back to me as I write tonight.

So first the Good News Bears... then the Bad News Bears...

Good News:  I'm putting the pieces together for my trip up to visit Dartmouth Tuck (which may not even be a reality anyway...will get to this later).  So initially I was planning on taking the bus up to Hanover on Thursday 3/25.  I would get up to campus around 8pm... check into my hotel... study in the hotel and get ready for the next day.  The next day I planned on attending a class, having lunch with Tuckies, touring the campus, and attending an Admissions q&a.  I would then hopefully talk with some students who weren't busy and then head back to my hotel, to be up early the next morning to catch the bus back to the city at 6:30am.

I wanted to reach out to some current students first to meet them for coffee while I was up there and pick their brains.  I emailed a member of the Gay/Straight alliance and a Fellow at the Center for Digital Strategies.  Both responded within 24 hours, which is more than I can say for other schools.  I spoke with the member of GSA last night and although she won't be around when I'm visiting, she said she would definitely make sure that I met some members and got to speak with them.  So that right in and of itself is amazing!

Like I said, I also reached out to a Fellow at the Center for Digital Strategies... he told me that on the 25th there is going to be a speaker.  He said that if I was sure to reach out to him again that it would be great if I could sit in on the event..  So of course at this point I'm jumping up and down inside.  There was one problem though... I wouldn't get up to Hanover until the 25th @ 8pm.  So what do I do?  well... easy...  extended my stay an extra day.  So now I will get up to Hanover on the 24th at 8pm... study in the hotel... go to the event on the 25th.. hopefully set up a line of meet and greets and coffee drinking.  I don't even like coffee anymore...so maybe I'll drink tea.  Then on the 26th I'll do all of the visitor(y) things and end my weekend the same as planned.

So that's the Good News Bears... the reason why all this may not even matter is below:

Today I studied modifiers... definitely not a fan.  A lot of them I can get but then they throw in Which and That and I say "Oh crap" and can't remember the rules for using them.  I think that is used when the modifier is necessary and which is used when it's non-essential.  I could just pick up my book and figure it out, but it's on the floor and I'm in my bed.

My list of things to review is growing longer than the list of things that I know.  This is very concerning and disheartening to be honest.  I'm hitting a wall and I'm not a fan.  I won't say that I thought this would be an easy process, but I thought I would be able to retain more information than I have.  I'm on information overload and none of it is straightening out in my head.  Frustrating = YES!

You see I'm the type of person that needs to do problems over and over again.  Sure I'll get frustrated when I don't get the answer right the first or second time, but I'm pretty solid at recalling processes after that.  The way the information is provided in my MGMAT class may not be the most conducive way for me to retain information.  I'm also beginning to think that the class isn't meant for material to be retained immediately.  I believe it's to present the information you will need to know to do well on the exam, and then when you do your month of self study post-class you'll know all of the tricks.  I've recently come to terms with this set up but it's beginning to frighten me.

I'm starting to doubt myself.  Will I be able to score a 710+ on this exam?  If so... what will it take?  If someone can tell me this information I'll be eternally grateful!  I think what I need is for this class to be over asap... and then I need to be able to make my one month calendar/study plan and stick to that.  It's going to have to be a realistic study plan WITH breaks dispersed throughout.

I will be taking my second MGMAT CAT exam on Saturday.  As much trouble as I've been having lately, I think I need this test to validate my studying, with an increased score.  You know how sometimes you've been in a bubble that you need a dose of reality to show you have you've been doing? Well yeah... that's where I am now...

My goal for this next CAT is 630.  That will be a 40 point increase since the first exam.  Tomorrow I need to skim through everything I've done up until this point and go through my notecards again.  Just to refresh my memory.

I don't have any more updates from my friends... but once I hear something I will let you all know!  ::sigh::  this is taking the energy out of me like it's nobody's business!  I need to get break 700 or I think my chances will be very very slim for any of these top schools.

sidnote - it looks like HBS is creeping up on Tuck in my poll!

I worked yesterday who cares about the rate?

So after my near meltdown earlier, I put in 4 hours [3 REAL] hours of studying...  I'm still trying to press through this Manhattan GMAT World Translations guide.  This is taking forever... Tonight I did Work/Rate problems and Ratios.  I can already tell that I'm going to have to go through this guide one more time.  That means that between Number Properties and Word Translations I have a lot of work to do.

After I did the problems a the end of the chapters I looked back at my first MGMAT CAT Diagnostic exam to see if I could do the work/rate and ratio problems that I got wrong.  I was able to solve them successfully.  It made me smile.  The curious thing though is that some of the questions that I found EASY on the CAT exam were the 700-800 level questions.  Now let me remind you that I took that CAT before the start of my class.  I made mistakes on the 300-400 and 500-600 simple questions.  I'm not sure what the takeaway there is but I'm going to assume it's good.

As I sit here in my livingroom, I'm staring at myself in the mirror on the wall on the other side of the room... i think i've lost about 5lbs... which would be noticeable on me - hhmmm odd...

I'm just rambling now because I'm waiting for my movie to finish downloading on itunes.  I'm addicted to the Saw thriller movies, and 6 is available to rent... so that's what I did.  I'll fall asleep... wake up... hop on a conference call... and then get back to studying.

You guys should be proud of me for not going out tonight, although I could have definitely used a:

Cheers!

OHNO...Temptation is killing me

So you may be wondering why I am posting to early tonight... well the title may slightly give it away.  This might be one of my favorite titles.  Last night I was watching the olympics and Apolo Ohno lost because he touched/pushed the other skaters...  I was really looking forward to him winning that race because he hasn't won a gold this whole olympic games.

I was studying during the race and then got sidetracked online for a long while talking to friends all because of Apolo Ohno!  Then I realized that it was late and that I should go to sleep because I had to go into work today... yes on a Saturday...  I had to straighten some things out and learn how to edit HTML codes for this dedicated email that we have going out in a couple of weeks.

I knew that it would take a while for me to figure out what to do, on my own, so I just bit the bullet and got to it.  I also had to fill out a questionairre, which you'll hear more about in a week or so.  Just keep that in mind.

Just so everyone knows, I work on 54th and 3rd and I live on 52nd and 11th.  It seems far, and if you're walking it's definitely far, but I take the subway to and from work.  It's pleasant when it's not cold outside.  In any event, I left work tonight at 10pm and as I was walking home I walked passed a couple of my favorite bars.

THEN THE TEMPTATION SET IN... so the other half of the title today comes from Destiny's Child's song Temptation.  I started thinking "well you can go out for a couple drinks..." now anyone who knows me personally knows that that would be an impossible feat for me.  My drinking mantra is either "Go Hard or Don't Come!"  I kept repeating to myself "you have to study you have to study you have to study you have to study you have to study."

So then I passed the bars and I get home thinking that I'm safe... no such luck... i log into Facebook and I have a message from an old friend telling me how he's been in NYC for months and hasn't seen me yet, and that we should hang out.  ::ugh::  why couldn't he have said this last weekend when I took the week off?

I think I'm good now that I've vented!  I'm going to set up my study materials... have a cigarette... order food... and get to it... I'll definitely be up late tonight since I slept until 12pm today, so I'll be posting again later.

....  aaaahhh crap Jennifer Lopez is on SNL tonight isn't she?  and it starts in a half hour!  FML

Yale SOM Visit

So I just got home from my visit up at the Yale School of Management. All in all it was a success.  I got my first taste of the day in the life of an MBA student.  Ok here goes the recap...

I was at Penn Station by 6:30 and got on the train at 7.  At this point I had no idea what to expect.  I started thinking to myself... “Is this school going to be a fit?”  “How many other people will be in the group?” etc etc blah blah... ok fell asleep on train... 1.5 hours later I was in New Haven.

It was my first time being in New Haven.  I had driven by it before but never stopped in it.  Maybe going to McDonald’s or something but whatever.  So my first impression was “wow this is an old town!”  You really get a sense of it being a New England town, just from looking at the buildings.  They’re all brick and not very high... remember I’m used to NYC.  It was quaint, not much hustle and bustle but then again it’s Presidents Day.

So I go outside the train station and have a cigarette of course.  Yes yes I know disgusting habit that I’m going to quit after the GMATs!  ;-)  I get in a cab and tell him 55 Hillhouse Ave, which is the Yale SOM visitors center/admissions building.  Ok so I’m used to being in cabs, but this cab was expensive and I don’t think the Visitors center could have been more than 2 miles away from the train station.  The cab started at $3.25 and was $0.25 per 1/9th mile!  $8.75 and $1.25 tip later I’m standing in front of the Visitors center.  I go take a couple of pictures of some signs and have another cigarette just because I knew I wouldn’t be able to have one for a while! 

I was about a half hour early, so I walk in and introduce myself, get my name tag, and have a seat.  When I walked in there was another prospective student sitting there.  Turns out she was waiting to have her interview.  No wonder she looked a bit nervous.  People started trickling in and before you know it, they moved us to another room where we all sat and waited for a couple students to come in and give us an introduction.  We were all making small chat.  You know the standard “where are you from?”  “what do you do?”  “are you here for an interview and a tour or just an interview?”  I would say that about half of the people in the group of say 20, were there for an interview as well.  Another handful were applying for R3, and the rest of us were just getting an early start on visiting schools.

Now as a sidenote I will say the following for anyone going to visit schools.  Please dress appropriately.  I wore dress shoes, suit pants, a light blue button down shirt underneath a navy blue v-neck sweater.  I was dressed appropriately.  There were about 3 people in jeans and button downs or sweaters.  That wouldn’t have been weird had it just been me mixed in with them, but we were mixed in with people dressed in suits going in for their interviews.  So I would have felt inadequate had I been them.  

Since this was Yale... i would say 90% of people visiting wore blue!  Coincidence?  I think not!  

After a couple minutes, our student guides came in and explained to us the new (circa 2006) Yale SOM Integrated Curriculum.  This was definitely a high-point of the day for me, because honestly... I could not truly decipher the diagram on the website.  Can you?  http://mba.yale.edu/MBA/curriculum/pdf/diagram.pdf Didn’t think so. 

Well the student guides broke this down for us and it totally makes sense and energized me.  Instead of having multiple classes within each siloed discipline like Finance, Accounting, Marketing, etc.... you learn things from different perspectives such as... from the Customer perspective, Investor perspective, Competitor perspective, Employee, and so on and so forth.  You do get to learn the basics of Economics and Accounting and such in the beginning of your first year, but the Perspectives are the main ways of learning.  I really like this innovative way of learning.  It puts you in the position of each component to force you to look at things from a different angle, as you progress through the curriculum!  Very nifty!

After they explained the curriculum we went to sit in on a class.  I chose to sit in on a class called Employee.  You can basically tell what it’s about... they were going over a case about Harrah’s casino and how to motivate the cage workers and managers with incentives/bonuses.  It was obviously based on the case that they had read the day before.  The professor and class was very interactive.  No one was fighting for speaking time...it didn’t seem like anyone was worried about a Cold Call.  All answers were very genuine.  It turns out that tomorrow the protagonist of the case will actually be speaking at Yale.  So I thought this was very neat in that you can get inside his head to see why he made the decisions that he did.

One thing that stuck out in my head was when one student was answering a 2 part question, but couldn’t really get the answer so she said “maybe one of my classmates can help me out here” and immediately a couple other hands went up to help her out.  I thought that was very cool.  Yes there were people who just couldn’t be bothered because they were clearly tired, but that’s going to be with any school.  

I can definitely picture myself sitting in this type of classroom on a daily basis.  The discussions were not in some foreign language or uncommon business vernacular.  Some students threw in some business buzz words, but that's ok!  I have a few up my sleeve too.  This just comes down to a matter of being accepted!

The classroom was situated in a semi-circle of course.  It may have been slightly tiered, but it wasn’t intimidating by any means.  Very bright too!  Lots of windows.  The professor had two pull down screens on each side of the blackboard.  The blackboard of course could slide back and forth.

After this class we went back to the Visitors center and waited for the student guides to take us on a tour of the b-school campus.  The campus isn’t big, it only consists of 3 buildings, 2 of which are connected by tunnels, but considering that the the total combined student population is < 500, 3 buildings isn’t bad.  The facades of 2 of the buildings are older, since they were old mansions, and yes the floors do creak, but the newer sections of the buildings are nice and modern.  Here is a good time to remind everyone that the school of management will be getting a new home in 2013.  It’s gorgeous, there are only pictures available online.. 

here are some pics of the proposed buildings...  this won't be completed until the year I would graduate..

So after the tour, we went to lunch... standard cafeteria here... order food... pay for food... eat food... food was good.  After we ate, we went to another class.. the set up in this room was definitely tiered.  It was smaller than the previous classroom and the professor only had 1 projection screen.  This class wasn’t case based.  It actually seemed like there was a lot of reading that had been prescribed.  The students had a 2 question quiz at the beginning of the class.  The quiz would not be hard if they did the reading.  It was just two basic questions...  no big deal.. do the reading get a good grade.

This brings me to another point... about grades...  There are no grades at Yale SOM.  I knew this, but didn’t really understand it that well. The two categories are basically Distinctions and Proficient.  It’s very hard to fail, they said that you would actually have to try very hard to fail.  Most people get proficient, but distinctions are available.  A good thing about not having grades is... well the obvious... less stress... and you can take classes that you may be interested in without worrying about failing and ruining your GPA.  Also, not having grades fosters more teamwork, because you’re not competing with people.  

After this class, we went back to the Visitors center to participate in an Admissions Q&A.  When we got to this part I thought to myself “YES... THIS IS WHERE I’LL ANSWER MY QUESTIONS.”  So here are my notes from that conversation:

• There is a real sense of community because it’s small & diverse
• Core courses have 2 Faculty in the room @ the same time
• Yale SOM doesn’t want to just be highly regarding in comparison to other b-schools.  They are working towards being the best! 
• AdCom goes through undergrad transcripts line by line looking for quant classes, not just overall GPA.
• If you’re a career switcher, explain how you became interested in your future career path in the essays.
• If you are granted an interview, the interveiwers only see your resume prior to meeting you.
• In terms of the GMAT the AdCom looks at the range of scores but they take the highest score.

Now guys remember the question I was going to ask?  What are 3 adjectives that would describe the quintessential Yale SOM student?

• GENUINE - PASSIONATE - FUN - TEAM PLAYER

So after that, it was time to take the train back.  Another $10 later and another cigarette... I’m sitting in the train station and I see someone else who was in my group waiting for her train.  So she sits next to me and we start talking about everything.  Then we see someone else that was with us, so he sits down with us and we go through the same process.  Then we see someone else who was with us... same story...  Then as I realize that my train is here, I see someone else that was with us, so after the 4 of us exchanged business cards...  I ran over to the other prospective and exchanged information with him too.  Two of the guys live in NYC about 20 blocks from me, so maybe we’ll get to meet up some time.

Now... I must add this in because this was a concern of mine.  Being a gay male I was wondering how it would feel being back on a college campus again AND being OUT this time.  Well I can say that I think that people are just too busy to care at Yale.  (NYU also, but then again that's in NYC and here it's kind of an identity thing)... but at Yale I was comfortable being myself.  Not my New York self (more on that if you ask).... I was just me... didn't get any weird looks.. people were just being people.  It was nice.. very nice...  A+ in my book!

Ok that’s it for Tonight... this was a long one!  Let me know your thoughts...

Kaplan Information Session: NYU, Insead, Cornell, Columbia

Hola folks...  


So in my last post I mentioned that I was going to an MBA info session at the Kaplan center... the address is something like 888 7th avenue, and I started walking the wrong way out of the subway... so then I'm looking at the street addresses and I automatically start trying to decipher whether each address on this particular block was a Prime number.  It reminded me of the matrix and how they saw things differently...


That's the end of that introduction because I have a very long post today, but it's a good one... 


Like I said I went to this event and the participating schools were Insead (comparable to Harvard), NYU, Cornell, and Columbia.  I must say that I was very very impressed with all comments made by the Insead rep.  I can definitely tell why they are one of two top business schools in the world!


On BeatTheGMAT.com, I posted these notes but I didn't add my story and thoughts to them... since this is MY forum I will do so...  read... set...... GO!

The questions asked by the moderator are bolded...
Why get an MBA?
NYU - people want to make a move in their career and need additional coursework. People want to expand their network.
My Thoughts - it's amazing how true this is for me... I feel that I'm reaching that glass ceiling in my career where I cannot make a move up.  *remind me in a couple weeks to elaborate on this* I cannot do so now... I do feel that in order for me to become the CMO of a .com I need to have a knowledge of how Finance, Marketing, Production, Accounting, etc all tie in together.  I could get into one of my essays but I shan't.  Sidenote - I LOVE saying "I Shan't"... I died when Emily said it in Devil Wears Prada (my all time favorite movie followed by The Hangover).  If you don't remember, Emily said it to Andy when Andy was running out of the office to go to get Miranda's steak.  Andy - "Wish me luck!"  Emily - "No.. Shan't" anyway I digressed A LOT ;-) remember THAT from the previous post?

Because of the economic downturn? How do you evaluate your MBA candidates?
Columbia - we look for students who are resilient. Many people come into MBA program thinking one thing, but the realization is that they have to be prepared to take another route if needbe.

Random comment made - Make sure on your resume you are focusing on "What is the school looking for and how do I fit into their mission?" "How do I compliment their needs?" 
My Thoughts - this is UBER important... i'm glad the comment was made just to drive home this fact to me.  I think this is where a lot of people go wrong in their essays.  They don't SHOW how they fit into a program and compliment it's mission.  Why would say... Dartmouth want to admit someone who has great stats but likes being in a big city and doesn't like to be in a small program?  Just because it's a phenomenal school?  Blah they don't need you... they have many applications to go through.
When is the right time to go to B-school?
Cornell - When you feel that you're not learning as much as you could be and/or you're not being challenged in your current line of work.
Cornell - When you are able to explain your achievements and accomplishments otherwise you are not ready for B-school. 
My Thoughts - this was geared towards those people with little experience.  One fact that the NYU rep brought up was that they don't really care for people who have PT experience... they're looking for those with Full time experience.... but anyway...  the key takeaway here was that if you cant think of any achievements and accomplishments.. then it's not time for you to go to b-school.  this is because a large percentage of your learning will come from your classmates and vice versa.  if you can't speak to anything in particular then you're not helping yourself or anyone else.
On the GMAT
Insead - The GMAT is essentially a critical reasoning exam similar to business school. You can have the quantitative skills but if you don't know how to apply it correctly, then the skills can't be helpful. In business you are given a limit amount of information and you have to make assumptions, inferences, and difficult decisions with the limited information. For this reason the exam is essentially Critical Reasoning in nature. 
My Thoughts - I have never heard the GMAT explained in this manner... it's 100% true and I couldnt agree more... again... very impressed with Insead
On Short & Long Term goals essay
NYU - Make sure that you SHOW how you've come to the conclusion of what your short term goals are - by function and by industry. Even if you're not sure... come up with something! Then SHOW how a degree from _______ program is the best option for you.
Cornell - Think about what drives you. For the first time in your adult life you're being asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" 
My Thoughts - everyone laughed when the Cornell rep made this comment, but if you think about it... it's totally true.  After finishing college... how often have you heard this?  Luckily I have already honed in on exactly why I need to go to b-school now... and where I want to be post-mba and then even further down the road.  The tricky part comes when I have to portray this through compelling essays.

This was my favorite question the moderator asked of the panelists. These buzzwords are definitely words to think about if you're applying to any of these four schools. Communicate these adjectives by SHOWING not TELLING.
The question was - State three words to describe your program.

Columbia - Resilient, Passionate, Articulate
Insead - Globally minded, Passionate, Engaging
Cornell - Enthusiastic, Passion, Focus
NYU - Team Player, Communication, Analytical 


MY THOUGHTS - The reason I loved this question so much is because A.) I had never heard it before and B.) Because if I did hear it before... I wasn't ready to receive it... if that makes sense.  It just went in one ear and out the other because I didn't realize how powerful it was an how it can help me when it's time to write my essays.  Think about it... a school basically just told you what they feel are the three top qualities they look for in a candidate.  If you can take these three themes and weave them into your essays, you have a much better chance for admission.  Since I will be applying to at least 1 of these schools, I will take those qualities to heart.  MOST IMPORTANTLY - when I visit Dartmouth and Yale and any other schools... I will make sure to ask that exact question.  I'm excited for that... and just by learning that... i feel that the 2 hours spent with free cheap wine and some cheese was worth it!  

Insead - If you have an interview with alumni remember that they're thinking to themselves - "Do I want to call this person a fellow Alum?"
My Thoughts - I always knew that's what an alum would be thinking...  now it's confirmed!  ahah


That's it for tonight... I am super super tired... and I'll be honest.. this is the first night that I have not studied and I feel VERY guilty.  I'm telling myself that I can slide tonight since this weekend I will be in my apartment the whole time.  I'll make up for it.  

I'm still in 2nd...

Enjoy your evenings/days/afternoons... Seacrest OUT!

Use Protection!!!

Hello yet again...

So as I'm walking to work this morning... this young guy walks out of his building and cuts me off and starts walking in front of me...  this would not have alarmed me except for the fact that he wasn't wearing a jacket!

Where is HIS PROTECTION (Jacket)?

Now for those of you who don't know (and can't tell from the picture) I live in NYC... on February 2nd it was HELLA cold!  Yeah that was for my west coast peeps - HELLA... For my New Englanders.. it was WICKED cold.. although to you guys you're probably like... PUHLEASE it's not that cold.. anyway I digress...

Don't you hate when people say I DIGRESS?  it's like.. "ok you realized that you're digressing, but by you saying "I Digress", you're going even further... just get back to your point already!"  anyway.. I digress  ;-)

I don't know what possesses people to walk out of their houses unprotected...  so you're definitely wondering how this relates to my GMAT prep... WELL...i wrote a story about it.. like to hear it?  here it goes...  (I'm still waiting for someone to tell me which popular 90's tv show that quote is from).

So today I had my 2nd MGMAT prep class.  As anticipated (... anticipated is a participle) people had warmed up a little bit more this time.  We started off the class with a short partner quiz.  It was basic stuff, or shall I say, I found it to be basic, because I had done the assignments.  I don't know how people can take a $1500 class from arguably the best GMAT prep class in the world, and not do the assignments.

This one girl, WAS FALLING ASLEEP!  I'm thinking to myself "GIRL... WAKE UP THIS IS IMPORTANT" but I let her sleep... HEY if you want to get into the nitty gritty of the GMAT, if she takes the exam before me I'm practically competing against her!  So I really should have gotten her a pillow.... anyway... I digress  ;-)

My Protection (terrible tie in to the title) against "failing" this exam is below:
So...  the key takeaway from today was that I need to reevaluate my study habits.  In a previous post I mentioned that I underestimated how much work there would be.  Last week I did the assignments... and the problems I got wrong (which were a lot), I would look at the answer in the back of the book and then try to make it my own.

This is the incorrect way of going about this.  So from now on, after I mark the problems that I've gotten wrong, or took extra time to complete, or just couldn't set up, I'm going to then redo the problems untimed, but using the proper study guides.  (That whole sentence was a mish mosh... and I don't even care... IT'S MY BLOG DAMNIT!)

On the quant front we did Primes, Divisibility, and Consecutive Integers... I HATE ABSOLUTELY HATE THESE... which unfortunately means that, they need to become my bffs!  That's the only way for me to score a 710!

I got an email today regarding an MBA information session tomorrow at some place somewhere in the city.  I need to figure out what I'm going to wear - where's my damn suit!  I wonder if any other people I've met at other MBA events will be there.

I will take thorough notes and add them in tomorrow nights post!

One last order of business is the current standings...

Me = Money9111

I know I lost the lead tonight... but don't cry for my Argentina - Osirus0830 is a good candidate to hold the title!

Enjoy your day!  Stay Warm 

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