Game Plan

I just got the new Official GMAT Review, and Joann reminded me that this now my THIRD review book!  haha.  What she actually doesn't know is that I also bought a Princeton Review GMAT book when we first started "studying" together, which was right before we started dating.

Wow, Joann has seen my struggles to study for the GMAT from the beginning, which is seven years ago!

I've had it with this test.  I'm determined to study diligently for this test, take it seriously, and get an above average score.   

Here are the number of questions in the Official Guide.

230 Problem Solving

174 Data Sufficiency

140 Sentence Correction

124 Critical Reasoning

139 Reading Comprehension

My goal each day is to start with verbal, since that would mimic the order of the actual test.

I'm going to try and do 

1 hour Verbal

1-2 hours Quant

Verbal

2 Pages of Reading Comp

2 Pages of Sentence Corrections

Alternate days of Reading Comp with Critical Reasoning

Quant

2 pages of Data Sufficiency (24 questions)

2 pages of Problem Solving (14 questions)

I will take all of these questions under a timed format. Not sure yet on how. 

When I face long sentence corrections, break up the sentences to see the point of the sentence.  Identify parallelism first, especially looking in the non-underlined sections.

Look at singular/plural and pronouns next.

Like vs As
"Like" introduces nouns
"As" introduces verbs

Starting Sentence Correction today with the diag problems I've done a few times before:

Read the Sentence Completely and out loud.  What is the meaning of the sentence?

Comparison:  Are the right things being compared?
Parallelism:  Look for in every problem.  At the very least can help eliminate wrong answer choices.

Does the pronoun have an antecedent?

Is verb in the correct past tense or present tense?

For Quant Problems, especially for overlapping set questions, remember to not just solve for x, BUT ANSWER THE QUESTION ASKED!!!!

Triangle Inequality Law:  Usually only given 2 sides.  Of the 2 sides:  The third side lies between the difference of the two sides and the addition of the two sides = (7-2) < k < (7+2)

For Geometry:  Cylinder problems - Sometimes you are given only half of the volume in the cylinder, but asked for the diameter of the entire cylinder.  Don't solve the problem using half the volume, but instead extrapolate the volume to be for the full cylinder.

Standard Deviation: (Dff-  Avg)^2 for all values  (=VARIANCE)  -->  Divided by total number of values  --> Square the result

Data Sufficiency: Sufficient or Insufficient to answer the question.

Quant: Rephrase as much as possible in Data Sufficiency questions.  Find similarities in the question and the two answer choices

Today marks the first day of studying for the GMAT seriously. Joann has been a great encouragement to me, especially by frequently calling me "elite".  I frequently undervalue my abilities or intellect, partially so I can make an excuse for not succeeding in career or gmat.  That's a loser mentality and I want to shake that off completely.  Another reason to kick the GMAT's ass!

Today I've started with Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning.

The take away today is for me to find the cue words that let me know the attitude of the passage/author. Noting the mood of the author and the critical.  Sounds simple, but under time pressure I can easily forget this simple step to find the correct answer through process of elimination.

Find a way to not miss key words when reading questions or passages. Read out loud?

For Quant don't be afraid to write a long formula, at least for now.  Learning the basics is good, and can sometimes help wasting time finding a "magical" shortcut.

Remainder = Decimal multiplied by divisor.  Ex. 0.12t    

The Trick is to find a value so that t is an integer

This is the beginning of the final time I try and take the GMAT and apply for MBA school.

After failing many times to sit down an study, even after spending $1,000 on the Manhattan GMAT online prep course, I am ready and want to succeed on the GMAT.  I actually took the official test last year, but scored poorly - 580.  I should have known from the CAT exams that I was not ready since they were both scoring below 600, but there were a few times I scored in the mid 600s in Manhattan GMAT exams.  Now I know to trust the practice exam scores from GMAC to see if I'm ready.

My goals now until test time are to study for 2 hours a day and 5 hours on the weekends.

I want to completely master math and also improve on all areas of verbal.
I will practice, practice, practice, over trying to learn strategies.  If I want to read more on strategies, I will read books at Barnes during my lunch break.   I will work, eat, study, and watch tv with Joann, and I will rejoice in the Lord during every minute of the day, especially during studying.  I will not fail to read the Bible in the morning, because living is not a guarantee and I rather have words from God in my head rather than geometry problem from this bloody standardized test.  I will prove to myself that I can do this and set a good example for my future child, that you can do anything when you trust God and give your best effort.  I don't want to make any more excuses for not pursuing a career change through a great MBA program.  I want a real, prestigious, intelligent, and rewarding career that can provide for all my members of my family, especially Joann and my future child(ren).  I love you all.  Lord, you are my strength!