Study Materials (purchased)

Figuring out what study materials I was going to invest in caused me some initial stress. I wanted to be sure I had a number of books from different publishers for perspective, but didn’t want to waste my money on subpar or unnecessary resources. Before I began collecting the materials, I wanted to figure out what exactly my study plan would be, as that would have a big impact on what exactly I needed. Also, with a target score of 740, I knew it would rule out some other books geared for people targeting 500-600 scores.

Here is the breakdown of my priorities when deciding what to buy:

AAmple practice problems. My study plan relies heavily on practicing problems. Since I am on a relatively rigorous 10 week program, I will be burning through problems and wanted to ensure that I have a fresh supply.

2. Representative problems. In addition to simply a large number of problems, I wanted to be sure that they were representative of what is currently being used on the GMAT. Working on outdated and irrelevant questions would do me no good in the long run.

3. Difficult problems. The GMAT is a computerized test that automatically adjusts for the test takers skill level. The more you answer correctly the more problems are drawn from the “difficult bin.” Once again, with a target score of 740 I have to plan for a majority of my questions being drawn from this pool. For that reason it was important for me to find materials that focused on presenting difficult questions.

4. Sentence Correction & Verbal Review. I am sure you have picked up on a good number of grammatical errors just in these first two posts. I believe the sentence correction portion is going to be the most challenging for me. I have already decided I will give this portion of my studies an additional week and quick review time everyday. I also decided that it would be a good idea for me to purchase some materials specifically targeted to this section.

With those priorities, I went on my favorite forums to do some research. I looked at recommendations from people that had already taken the test and cored very well. There is a myriad of people out there willing to discuss what worked for them and what is a waste of money. It’s great. Armed with all this knowledge, I hit up Amazon and settled on these books.

The Official Guide for GMAT Review 11^th & 12^th Editions – This one is pretty much a no brainer. In the original blog that got me going down this path, Eric states, “Official Guide is the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, and the Gita of GMAT prep.” I don’t know if having both editions is really necessary but I already had the 11^th edition which I purchased about a year back out of curiosity. I bought the 12^th edition simply for the fact that there will be more recent questions and I think that will be invaluable as I approach the test date.

Kaplan GMAT 2008 – This is the book I have already started on. I have found it is a relatively easy read and will give me a good starting point before turning to more difficult books. There is already a 2009 version of this book out but I feel that the 2008 isn’t too outdated. It comes with a CD ROM companion which I am excited to play around with. Since I haven’t gotten too deep into the book, I can’t say this for sure, but I had read from multiple people that the practice tests are abnormally difficult and can be a bit demoralizing. I will be sure to report back once I get deeper in.

Kaplan GMAT Advanced 2009-2010 Edition – This book’s tagline is “Intensive Prep for Top Students.” I am really excited about this book. I think it will give me some headaches but if I am going to hit my target, I need to have something that will frustrate me. I will be using this book as I near the completion of each section.

Sentence Correction GMAT Preparation Guide (Manhattan) – I have heard great things about this book, which is good since I think I will need all the help I can get in the section. I have found a couple good online resources which I will discuss in a later post but I think this book will be the root of my studying for this section.

The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review – I bought this one on a whim. I don’t like to say that, but it wasn’t too expensive and I thought it would give me an alternate point of view of strategies on the verbal section. I might have wasted my money but I will be sure to let you know.

I am pleased with my purchases and thank everyone that has written reviews on all the different books out there. I am going to take a day off from the blog but in my next post I will discuss the free and online resources I have collected.

Until then, take it sleazy.

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The Beginning

Welcome to my new blog I like to call “The GMAT Adventure!” I don’t know how many people will stumble across my postings, but I have read that blogging about the GMAT experience can be a great way to keep a focused, add a little bit of accountability, and blow off some related steam.

This is going to be my first time taking the test, and honestly, the first test I will have taken since graduating in 2006. Although I am going to call today “day 1” in my studies, I have already done a good amount of research. I want to thank Eric from BeatTheGMAT.com for his insightful blog that I happened to stumble across a while back. It was a great motivational tool for me to get the ball rolling on the whole process. I was pleased to see so many people out there on forums such as beatthegmat.com and testmagic.com that are happy to tell their success stories. Just hearing the advice and experiences of people who have spent a lot of time preparing for the tests gives me the right level of excitement to tackle what seems to be a very big endeavor.

After looking over the test format and taking a practice test a few months ago, I have set my target to be 740. I would like to score higher than that but I feel like 740 will be plenty challenging yet obtainable. I know you may be thinking that aspirations in the mid 90^th percentile are quite ambitious, but there are a number of reasons for picking that number.

1. I do well on standardized tests. I can’t exactly pinpoint why, but it has always been that way. Coming out of high school I didn’t have what you would call an EXTREMELY impressive SAT score, but it was a great score with little to no studying. When I have sat down and studied for a standardized test I have always performed extremely well.

2. I have a strong mathematical background. Although I graduated with a business degree, I had 3 years of engineering prior to that. I found the math in my last year in engineering to be complex and challenging, but doable. Not since leaving engineering have I had many problems with anything math related (by no means am I not rusty right now though!).

3. Time is no concern. I do not plan on applying to business school for quite a while and have developed a study plan that will give me plenty of time to get it right.

Speaking of the study plan, I have decided on a 10 week plan. Reading through some blogs and taking a look at my base level, this seems like a pretty good amount of time to fully master the subjects while keeping from burning out and losing some retention. I have broken it up to a couple weeks per section and keeping my studying between 2 and 3 hours a day (a bit longer on days I take practice exams). I will most likely have to make some minor adjustments as I get going but I am confident that I have drawn out a good plan for myself. I will expand on the study plan a bit more in later posts.

I was going to begin discussing what study materials I have settled on and why, but I think I will save that for my next posting.

For now, please feel free to contact me with any questions and advice. I would love to hear some great success stories and tricks anyone may have. Also, if you find that I have failed to post in a while, give me some hell. The more people I have behind me the more enjoyable it will be to report back a great score in the end!

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