Over the past 4 days I have studied an average of 2 hours per day on GMAT Math.
On Day 20 (yesterday), I started the Verbal section. Basically, I did the diagnostic test from the PR book. This consisted of 20 questions in 30 minutes.
I scored 16/20 ... without even studying for the Verbal part. This was quite motivating, as I have totally been focussed on the Math section over the past 19 days or so, and havent touched Verbal until now !
Also, I have started to contemplate whether I need to supplement my self-study with a GMAT preparation course .... had a look at some of the options out there ... and ManhattanGMAT appear to be very good. Will see how my self study continues to progress over the course of next week, and will review accordingly.
Sunday 13 January 2008
Tuesday 8 January 2008
Day 16: Maths Review and Practice Questions
Today was a busy day at the office ! Exhausted, but still managed to get a couple of hours GMAT study into my day !
Today, I focussed on reviewing my notes, and answering some practice questions from the OG 11th Edition book.
Today, I focussed on reviewing my notes, and answering some practice questions from the OG 11th Edition book.
Monday 7 January 2008
Day 15: Statistics, Counting Methods, and Probability
Today I covered Statistics, Permutations & Combinations, and Probability in detail. Made extensive notes and flash cards.
Also completed some practice questions to test my understanding of these topics.
Summary:
From what I have heard and read ... these questions tend to feature as part of the harder questions.
However, there are a number of folks who have scored over 700, but havent come across any of these questions in there GMAT exams. I suppose if you're lucky, then may manage to avoid them !
Also completed some practice questions to test my understanding of these topics.
Summary:
From what I have heard and read ... these questions tend to feature as part of the harder questions.
However, there are a number of folks who have scored over 700, but havent come across any of these questions in there GMAT exams. I suppose if you're lucky, then may manage to avoid them !
Sunday 6 January 2008
Day 14: More Arithmetic
Went out shopping in London with the wife today, and also met up with an friend for lunch in the centre of London ! Good day out !
In the evening did a few hours of GMAT study. Focussed on reviewing some of yesterday's materials, answering some sample questions, as well as the following topics:
Statistics: Averages (arithmetic means), Modes, Medians, Standard Deviation
Sets
In the evening did a few hours of GMAT study. Focussed on reviewing some of yesterday's materials, answering some sample questions, as well as the following topics:
Statistics: Averages (arithmetic means), Modes, Medians, Standard Deviation
Sets
Saturday 5 January 2008
Day 13: Arithmetic
Today, focus was on Arithmetic, after completing some more Geometry questions earlier in the day to review the Geometry topics I covered on Day 12.
Covered the Arithmetic topic in great detail today ... made comprehensive notes and flash cards.
Covered the following:
Properties of integers: (Quotients and Remainders -> y = xq + r ; where x and y are positive integers, q is the quotient, and r is the remainder, 0 ≤ r <>
Fractions: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, memorised main fractions, their decimal and percentage equivalents (for all fractions with denominators from 1 to 10) -> this should help speed up answering some questions !
Decimals: Scientific notation, addition/subtraction/multiplication/division.
Real numbers: Absolute value, and properties of real numbers (associative law, distributive law
Ratios/Proportions
Percents: percent increase and decrease calculations (Note: Percentages are a real favourite of the GMAT question writers. You must be comfortable with them if you are to do well in the test)
Exponents and Radicals: The OG 11th edition covers this topic in a under half a page ... doesnt really go into too much detail on exponents ! For example in the OG 11th guide it doesnt go into mutiplication, division of numbers with exponents. This was covered in the PR "Cracking the GMAT guide" as well as the following tutorial: http://www.prepfortests.com/gmat/tutorials/exponents/multiplication.
I also covered fractional exponents, as well as the rules involving (multiplying/dividing/distributing) exponents as well as radicals. THIS IS ONE AREA I REALLY NEED TO MASTER ... as it is one which will be heavily tested in the GMAT.
Summary/Insights:
The OG 11th Edition Quantitative Review doest go too much into the detail of the maths. It great for the practice questions though.
Key thing to doing well in the Math section of the GMAT is doing the minimum of work as possible. If there is a shortcut, then take it !
Covered the Arithmetic topic in great detail today ... made comprehensive notes and flash cards.
Covered the following:
Properties of integers: (Quotients and Remainders -> y = xq + r ; where x and y are positive integers, q is the quotient, and r is the remainder, 0 ≤ r <>
Fractions: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, memorised main fractions, their decimal and percentage equivalents (for all fractions with denominators from 1 to 10) -> this should help speed up answering some questions !
Decimals: Scientific notation, addition/subtraction/multiplication/division.
Real numbers: Absolute value, and properties of real numbers (associative law, distributive law
Ratios/Proportions
Percents: percent increase and decrease calculations (Note: Percentages are a real favourite of the GMAT question writers. You must be comfortable with them if you are to do well in the test)
Exponents and Radicals: The OG 11th edition covers this topic in a under half a page ... doesnt really go into too much detail on exponents ! For example in the OG 11th guide it doesnt go into mutiplication, division of numbers with exponents. This was covered in the PR "Cracking the GMAT guide" as well as the following tutorial: http://www.prepfortests.com/gmat/tutorials/exponents/multiplication.
I also covered fractional exponents, as well as the rules involving (multiplying/dividing/distributing) exponents as well as radicals. THIS IS ONE AREA I REALLY NEED TO MASTER ... as it is one which will be heavily tested in the GMAT.
Summary/Insights:
The OG 11th Edition Quantitative Review doest go too much into the detail of the maths. It great for the practice questions though.
Key thing to doing well in the Math section of the GMAT is doing the minimum of work as possible. If there is a shortcut, then take it !
Days 9, 10, 11, and 12: Maths !
Havent had a chance to update my blog over the past few days ... has been absolutely manic. Went back to work on the 2nd of Jan.
Here's a summary of the past few days:
Day 9: New Years Day - did some practice questions.
Day 10: back at work. Was a very busy first day back at work. Didnt really get a chance to do some real GMAT study, but still managed to logon to some forums and answer some practice questions. I think its incredibly important to at least do something related to the GMAT, even if you cant do a full 3 hour study session due to work committments. This keeps the momentum going.
Day 11: 2nd day back at work ... and it is certainly is a busy start to the new year. Reviewed some of the maths which I had completed in days 1-7.
Day 12 (Geometry Day): Today, I focussed wholly on Geometry. Used the PR Cracking the GMAT, OG 11th Edition Math, and completed the www.prepfortests.com/gmat/tutorials/geometry, making extensive notes as well as putting together my Geometry flash cards.
Looked into this topic (Geometry) in detail today. Wanted to ensure I understood everything in this area back to front, and also wanted to make sure I knew which formula to apply when.
Covered Polygons (Triangles (Equilaterals, Isoceles, Right Triangles (3:4:5; 1:1:sq2; 1:sq3:2), Pythagorean Theorem, calculating areas of triangles), Quadrilaterals (Parallelogram, Rhombus, Square, Rectangle), Pentagon, Hexagons), Circles, Solids/Volumes (Cuboids/Cylinders), and Coordinate Geometry.
Completed the practice questions from www.prepfortests.com/gmat/practicequestions/geometry and managed to correctly answer 13 out of 16. The 3 that I didnt answer correctly, was due to carelessness and loss of focus, after a full day of studying and working !
Also looked at some Geometry practice questions from the Kaplan Gmat 800 book for additional practice.
Summary:
Need to learn the topics inside out in order to be able to answer a lot of these questions quickly (under the 2 minutes per question limit).
Need to practice practice practice ... to be able to quickly identify which theorem/formula etc to apply to solve the problem.
The key to the tougher geometry questions ... is to just get started with breaking the problem down, and just start working from there.
To date, I havent been timing myself in answering questions. Need to start focussing more on timing.
Also havent yet touched any of the Verbal topics. Plan to start looking at the Verbal part next week.
Here's a summary of the past few days:
Day 9: New Years Day - did some practice questions.
Day 10: back at work. Was a very busy first day back at work. Didnt really get a chance to do some real GMAT study, but still managed to logon to some forums and answer some practice questions. I think its incredibly important to at least do something related to the GMAT, even if you cant do a full 3 hour study session due to work committments. This keeps the momentum going.
Day 11: 2nd day back at work ... and it is certainly is a busy start to the new year. Reviewed some of the maths which I had completed in days 1-7.
Day 12 (Geometry Day): Today, I focussed wholly on Geometry. Used the PR Cracking the GMAT, OG 11th Edition Math, and completed the www.prepfortests.com/gmat/tutorials/geometry, making extensive notes as well as putting together my Geometry flash cards.
Looked into this topic (Geometry) in detail today. Wanted to ensure I understood everything in this area back to front, and also wanted to make sure I knew which formula to apply when.
Covered Polygons (Triangles (Equilaterals, Isoceles, Right Triangles (3:4:5; 1:1:sq2; 1:sq3:2), Pythagorean Theorem, calculating areas of triangles), Quadrilaterals (Parallelogram, Rhombus, Square, Rectangle), Pentagon, Hexagons), Circles, Solids/Volumes (Cuboids/Cylinders), and Coordinate Geometry.
Completed the practice questions from www.prepfortests.com/gmat/practicequestions/geometry and managed to correctly answer 13 out of 16. The 3 that I didnt answer correctly, was due to carelessness and loss of focus, after a full day of studying and working !
Also looked at some Geometry practice questions from the Kaplan Gmat 800 book for additional practice.
Summary:
Need to learn the topics inside out in order to be able to answer a lot of these questions quickly (under the 2 minutes per question limit).
Need to practice practice practice ... to be able to quickly identify which theorem/formula etc to apply to solve the problem.
The key to the tougher geometry questions ... is to just get started with breaking the problem down, and just start working from there.
To date, I havent been timing myself in answering questions. Need to start focussing more on timing.
Also havent yet touched any of the Verbal topics. Plan to start looking at the Verbal part next week.
Monday 31 December 2007
Day 7 (Day Off) & Day 8: More Math Review ...
Day 7: Day off (actually I did some small review reading on Geometry)
Day 8:
Reviewed the algebra section, making more flashcards.
Also practiced on some word problems ... not happy about making careless simple errors ... need to work on staying focussed and reading the questions thoroughly !
Completed the "word problems" section from the following site: http://www.prepfortests.com/gmat/tutorials/wordproblems
Day 8:
Reviewed the algebra section, making more flashcards.
Also practiced on some word problems ... not happy about making careless simple errors ... need to work on staying focussed and reading the questions thoroughly !
Completed the "word problems" section from the following site: http://www.prepfortests.com/gmat/tutorials/wordproblems
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