GMAT Sentence Correction & more

Hello everyone... very quickly because I have to go to sleep.

Today, I took the crosstown bus to work and I was doing Sentence Correction on the bus.  Yes!  Believe it!  I was THAT guy doing GMAT work on public transportation.  Oh well, I don't care...X years post business school I'll be doing work in the back of my Maybach!  ;-)  Work was very hectic today.  I'm still playing catch up after being out last friday, so I'm going in tomorrow around 7:30 so I can try to get caught up and then get ahead before heading off to LA for the weekend for the Reaching Out conference.  Although tomorrow I do have a 6 hour training session on some business objects thing-a-ma-jig so that should be "fun".

After work, I hopped on the subway and headed down towards WTC to go to the Goldman Sachs building where UC Berkeley Haas was having their information session.  I got there just as the presentation was beginning.  I was VERY impressed with the presentation and when the list of recruiters came on the screen I nearly threw up - mainly because I saw Google and Apple... well mainly Apple.  I think Google needs to work on their marketing a bit.  Hhmm.. maybe that's why I should work there... to help them work on that.  Anyway I digress....

I left the info session a bit early because the representative was talking about scoring in range on the gmat.  The range is 680-760 and I thought to myself "well.. sitting here will not help me score in range so let me go home and study..."  So I hopped back on the subway... did 10 more sentence correction problems and came home.  Once home I did 20 more sentence corrections.

I've been out of the sentence correction game for a while now.  Just getting back into it recently.  I did all of the SC's in the purple OG review guide.  Out of the 113 problems I got 27 incorrect.  I was surprised I still knew a lot of information.  I did see a trend in what I was missing so now I know how to hone in on those topics.  Or rather... have my tutor drill the concepts into my head.

After studying... I started packing for the conference and then looked at the agenda.  I honestly think that this weekend will be the best weekend of my life!

In any event, it's time for me to go to sleep.  Tomorrow I have a tutoring session and I'm slightly scared at what he's going to throw at me.  Actually no... let me rescind that statement.  My TUTOR should be worried about what I'm going to throw at him!  I have a list of a lot of math problems that I do not fully understand quite yet.

Until next time... Battle-Baxter = OUT

My GMAT Theme Song!

You know how sometimes you're going through something in your life and there's a song that you just listen to constantly that sums up exactly how you're feeling?  Well I have found this song and I'm going to play it out until I take the GMAT.  

This song puts me in a phenomenal mood and has a great verse:

"Don’t let haters get me off my grind
Whip my hair, if I know I’ll be fine
Keep fighting until I get there
When I’m down and I feel like giving up"

You know this artist's FATHER really well actually.  Her dad is Will Smith!  Her name is Willow Smith and her song Whip My Hair is my anthem for this month.  Yes she sounds grown but she's 8!!!  Here is the song if you care to listen although it's not on itunes yet - Willow Smith - Whip My Hair

So how does this song fit into the theme of my blog?  Well this past weekend I felt down.  Well just Saturday in particular after that 36 Quant score.  Lately I've been going through all of the questions I've gotten wrong in the Official Guide books.  Going through this process makes me realize that the 36 in Quant that I got on Saturday was certainly an anomaly.  There is no way that I haven't learned anything since May.  Remember - my quant score when I took the GMAT was a 36.  So it's not that I felt like giving up because shoot at this point I'm waaay to invested.  

As I go over the questions that I've gotten wrong months ago, they're so easy for me now.  That's how I know that I've learned something.  You would think that the mid 40's scores would tell me that I've learned something but noooo... it's going over my previous mistakes.  So like Willow Smith says I'll keep fighting until I get there!  

Now some may be thinking "Why is he stressing so much about the GMAT? It's just a barrier to entry!" Well for some people they stress over making themselves stand out from the crowd because they are in an over-represented group in business school.  So while that struggle may be their pain point.  The GMAT is mine - FOR NOW ;-)

I hear everyday from friends that they've been scoring highly.  Not that we're competing against one another, even though we really are, but we're all rooting for each other.  It's funny because none of us is telling the others when our test dates are.  Lol so randomly we get text messages and updates with scores.  I also have friends who are pushing back their test dates and the rounds in which they apply.  I cannot be in this group of applicants because if I study for any longer I'm going to burn out.

As long as I keep my head down and keep on the grind I feel that I will peak at the opportune time.  I haven't used the word opportune in a long time! Not sure where I pulled that from haha.

Like I said, this month is going to be HELLA busy, but I'm so excited because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!  Almost there.............

Frustrating GMAT Prep Night/Day

I write today after having just completed a Quant section of the Veritas exam.  I'm embarassed about my score after that 45Q.  Also, because in practice exams back in March... I've seen this Quant score before.  Really wonder if this is for me.  I know I should keep at it blah blah blah, but at this point it's just becoming embarrassing.

The only thing I was excited about was that the things I got wrong during this practice exam were topics I haven't covered yet with my tutor.  One would see/hear that and say - "Well it looks like you're on the right track!"  and what I say to that is... "I don't care I want to see an improvement every time I take an exam."

The last topic we went over was number properties.  I'm starting to get the very very very basics, but if something new is thrown at me, I don't know how to think around it.  We'll definitely need to spend at least two more sessions going over that.  When I look ahead to all of the topics that we need to go over still I just hear the cash register sound going off in my head.  Cha-Ching Cha-Ching because I know I have many more weeks before I'm completely ready.  Then on top of that there's one thing to be ready and there's another thing to feel confident, which I believe comes afterwards.  Well I do have a deadline in my head and a potential exam date so that's what I'm aiming towards.

On the topic of CR... well.. I'll be honest.  I emailed him earlier today if we should stop working on CR and focus on other things.  That way I can focus on it by myself with GMAT material instead of LSAT material.  I think the LSAT language is getting in the way.  But then.. when I think of that statement I say to myself "Well if other people swear by LSAT material...it should be helping right?"

Maybe I need to just do a CR set from the OG Guide again to see where I stand (Just emailed him to ask him that question.)  I've realized that I'm a very needy "tutee."  I email him constantly.  Ratio of my emails to his responses is.. well today... 4:0, but that's because I email all day everyday.  To me it's simply an ongoing conversation, so if I think of something before he responds I just re-forward my last email and add in my new comments.  But when he respond it's to all of them usually late at night since he does have a life! As I typed this sentence he emailed me back! I kid you not....  No screenshots this time, just take my word for it.

In any event we have just added the Veritas Number Properties guide to my homework sheet and I get to do a CR set from the Official Guide.  Let's see how this goes!  ::sigh::  you should hear me cursing at this exam!

Well part of my homework is to get proper amounts of sleep.  So... since it's almost 12pm that means I need to start getting ready for bed.

I am the weakest link... goodbye!