A 680 is quite respectable! My goal is 700, but (A.) I’m not at all sure I can do it and (B.) FSU doesn’t require a score that high. It’s just a personal thing for me. The AWA and CR sections should be no problem (I was an English major, after all), but Quant will be my downfall if anything is. I sucked at math in high school, only took 1 or 2 required courses in college (and sucked still), and haven’t used geometry or algebra in a good 15 years or so.
But as you say, a big key to success is learning how to answer the test’s questions—which isn’t necessarily the same as being a math expert. The Kaplan and Princeton books I’m using definitely give some good advice in that regard. At least, it LOOKS like good advice; I’ll find out when I take the real test. John From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lenny Bensman Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 3:26 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: GMAT The score was 680, IIRC (I remember that the score put me at 90th percentile). The two sample programs that I used varied their scores between 680-700. As far as Emory, I'm in the evening program with mean score of ~625. The day-time program is around 680. But they also look at a lot more factors than just the score (recommendations, experience, interview, essays, etc) I am far more quant guy than arts (and English is my second language, technically speaking), and much to my surprise, I did better on English section than on Math. Most likely this is because GMAT's (and for that matter SAT's) math is not really math (I can rant on quality of US math education for more pages than War & Peace... stop me! stop me now!!!), but rather ability to remember shortcut formulas and quickly factor (rather than solve) quadratic equations. Only few problems in the test really try to test "logic". I'm not sure how much MBA differs from MIS that you're considering (and judging by the email you sent after I typed most of this email, it may vary quite a bit if program doesn't have decision analysis related classes), but: If you only had basic math courses - and by no means am I trying to scare you out of going back for MBA/MIS - you may want to consider (or find out in your school if it is worth) investing in brushing up in math (after you're done with GMAT): specifically in statistics, and briefly in calculus (only basic concepts like what derivative actually means, and how to take one of a quadratic function, and what does integration and area under the curve means; no hardcore stuff). Derivatives come useful in economics (profitability maximization, etc), and statistics are very important for classes like decision analysis, data-driven marketing, market risk in finance, etc. Again, my intention is not to scare you or make you reconsider your decision. Just hoping to give you (hopefully useful) info to prep yourself up so it is a bit easier when you are there. My math was always pretty good (my mom was math instructor), but far from best. I cam out of GaTech not knowing statistics at all. But luckily professor at Emory was really good at explaining it (and not memorizing it)... On 3/6/08, John Hornbuckle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Thanks for the tips. May I ask what your score was? I'm guessing not bad if you got into Emory! My math couldn't suck more. I was an English major, so I only took one or two basic math courses in college. And it has been quite some time since I was in high school, so I don't remember that stuff. I've got 3 books I'm working through now—Kaplan, Princeton, and the Official Guide. On my lunch break, I ordered two more math-only books with lots of sample questions and explanations of the solutions. I want to keep hammering away until I can do them in my sleep. My understanding is that the math isn't particularly complex, but that the harder questions consist of multiple layers of simpler math. Of course, "simpler math" is a relative term. To an English major, there's not much math that's simple! John From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lenny Bensman Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 12:35 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: GMAT I'm doing my MBA right now at Emory - took GMAT 2 years ago. In taking GMAT, a good part of your success depends on knowing the strategy, apart from knowing the material. The tests are now CATs (Computer Aided/Assisted Testing), that works differently from the paper version: answering the first question right and answering the second question wrong is not equivalent to answering the first question wrong and the second question right. The reason being is that CAT algorithm is written to hone in on your score rather than derive it from fixed data. That is, it uses answer from the previous question to select current question. If you answer incorrectly, your score is dropped, and an easier question is given. Likewise, if you answer correctly, your score is raised, and harder question is selected. Hence, first questions make big influence on your score while later ones are simply fine-tuning it. Therefore, your time management shouldn't be linear, with more time spent on earlier questions to make sure you get those right, and less time spent on last questions since those have less and not as profound effect on your score as the earlier ones. Etc., etc., etc., so be sure to use training material that addresses CAT strategy and not the classic GMAT - this is the most influential preparation part that you can do to better your scores. As far as math, <opinion>as sad as it is</opinion> you're not really tested on being able to infer or apply logic to a given problem, but rather knowing the shortcuts. AFAIR, only couple of questions were truly creative that required application of your logic skills. Most were about knowing shortcuts, remembering certain properties (like lengths of sides of a triangle based on angles), and the likes. So be sure to get that toolbox before going in for the real test. And be sure to practice the exam on the computer with available simulation software (I've had access to couple of packages - scores were pretty close to what I eventually got on my GMAT, but each package had a systematic bias in their scoring: one was consistently higher than the other) so that you're familiar with it when taking the exam. Lenny On 3/5/08, John Hornbuckle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: A while back, we had a discussion here about certification vs. degrees. I opined that it was best to get degrees--which are good forever and not tied solely to the tech field--first, then go for certs after that. Well, I'm taking my own advice and going back to school for a Master's in Management Information Systems. On May 3rd I take the GMAT, for which I'm spending a couple of hours studying every day (longer on weekends). If any of you have taken it, I'd be glad to receive any advice/wisdom you could offer... John Hornbuckle MIS Department Taylor County School District 318 North Clark Street Perry, FL 32347 www.taylor.k12.fl.us <http://www.taylor.k12.fl.us/> ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~ ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~
