May 13, 2010

Week 3

So, after an Arizona trip and an upcoming Europe trip, my GMAT plans have changed a bit. Instead of following the books on my own schedule, I've decided to go ahead and sign up for the Manhattan class that starts June 9th in Bellevue. It's expensive, but I think it will keep me on track to score my GMAT goal of 700.

About the Manhattan GMAT...
1) The average student who has taken the class in the past has scored a 690.
2) Class is once a week, but the homework looks to be pretty intensive.
3) Lasts for 9 weeks.

Right now, I'm beginning the Math Foundations book that Manhattan sent over with the rest of their materials. This book is just what the title says, the foundations. The problems are pretty easy, but it's a great beginning.

Next week I will be leaving for Paris and plan on bringing the foundations book with me to do some problems on the plane ride over. However, we'll see how much really gets done within this time. Also, I probably won't be updating this blog while on vacation.

Just to give a quick itenerary of my trip, I'll be in Europe for about 12 days. First, we are heading to the city of lights, Paris. I've never been, but I've heard great things. After Paris, we will be heading south to Spain to the two great cities Barcelona and Madrid. I've heard nothing but amazing stories about these two cities. Overall, this trip is going to be quite amazing!

But I'm signing off for the week.

Have a great couple of weeks!

Adios

April 28, 2010

Week 2 - Phase 1 (GMAT)

It's been a little past a week since my last post, but good news, I've finished up the first Manhattan book!

It was a great start and it brought back a lot of material that I had forgotton how to do, along with a lot of great new strategy for number properties. Overall, this book deserves 2 thumbs up! Moreover, I plan on going back periodically to this book to work on problems I missed, along with problems I was questioning myself about (quite a few if I may add).

Book 2 looks to have the same structure as book 1, but is quite a bit shorter. I would say that I could finish it in about a week, but I'll be visiting the old alma mater in Phoenix, Arizona(ASU) and probably won't get too much finished this weekend. So, I'm going to stick to the schedule I set in my first post.

Enough with the GMAT talk... I promised last week that I would give some insight on what schools I was thinking about applying to and why. I think with this post I'm going to give just the schools and in my next few posts give the actual reasons. So, here it goes...

NYU
Harvard
UCLA
Northwestern
Washington University

This list may change as time goes on, but this is it for now.

I have to start packing for my Phoenix trip so I have to get going, but one last thing. Has anybody heard about or taken one of the Manhattan classes? I'm thinking about taking a class, but am still kind of torn on the idea.

Have a great day!

Cheers

April 15, 2010

Phase 1 (GMAT) - Week 1

Alright, here we go...

So, all-in-all, I'm off to a fairly good start (even though I probably should have taken the GMAT already). I've actually been studying for the GMAT on and off for a couple of months now, but just haven't had the confidence to really get down to business. Now, I think with some new study materials (Manhattan is the best!!!) and a new study partner, I really have the focus to get through the long hours I need for studying.

Oh, and by the way, I'm probably one of the most average standardized test takers I've ever known! So, if I can do it anyone can.

Here's my planned schedule with the new study materials from Manhattan.


Week 1&2 - Book 1, Number Properties
Week 2&3 - Book 2, Fractions, Decimals, & Percents
Week 4&5 - Book 3, Equations, Inequalities & VICs
Week 5&6 - Book 4, Word Translations
Week 6&7 - Book 5, Geometry
Week 7, 8, 9, & 10 - Last 3 books - CR, RC, SC

Planned GMAT Date: August 21st, 2010

That's it for now folks, but on my next post I'll be updating how my first week went and getting into what MBA schools I plan on applying to and why.

Cheers