Thursday, July 29, 2010

New Job Prospect?

On a whim I applied for a new position in my company and I've got an interview for it tomorrow. If I do get the position, I might consider delaying my MBA application a year as it would definitely improve my candidacy and would allow me to pay down some of my car loan debt before doing a FT program. I also wouldn't have to worry too much about recommendations because I can have my current boss, my old boss, and the VP write one for me. The VP knows me very well and I love his writing style, but there's no way I can ask him to write me one if I'm still working in his department. I think my current boss will be a bit more understanding, but I'm sure there'd be some initial tension. She once told me she thought I had the potential to be the next President of our division, so while she'd write a good recommendation that would highlight my leadership potential, I think she'd feel a bit betrayed that I'm planning my escape from the industry a year in advance right under her nose.

More Quant study tonight. I've made to do lists for Tomorrow and Saturday. Thankfully I'm off early on Fridays, so I have some time to go to the gym, get some studying in, and do some preparation before my interview. My boyfriend has family friends in town and they're taking us out to dinner tomorrow night. After that I'm sure I'll be perched on my couch with a bottle of wine watching re-runs of the Wire. I need to snag at least two hours tomorrow for study time, so I'm setting my alarm for six o'clock. Yes, six o'clock.

Tonight I also realized that studying for the GMAT is also very much about learning about your really stupid mistakes so that you don't make them again. Tonight I screwed up on an insanely easy problem because I solved the equation, but did not look up to see that they had some constraints on the terms (A had to be greater than B which had to be greater than C). Mistakes like that hurt the most because if you had just slowed down and thought about it for 10 seconds, you would have gotten that question right. ARRGGH. The lining in that cloud is that I know now to be careful of those constraints, and in the next two months of preparation, I'm sure that checking for them is going to become intuitive.

In good news, I'm getting all of the easy questions right (with the exception of the aforementioned). I'm not where I want to be yet, but my foundation in number properties is solid. Now I can build on it. :)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Quiet Week in the Office

This week most everyone is out at our National Sales Meeting. None of the products I'm working on are front list this time, so I lucked out and don't have to be there. That said, everyone in my office area had to go, and it's very quiet. Plus seeing as how I work in education, most of my clients are out on vacation. The combination makes for a very quiet cubicle.

Last night I sat down and did some OG problems on number properties. I got about 67% right (I understand that it's not about the number you got correct, but the level you're at), but I'm feeling pretty good in the amount correct. At first I was disappointed, and then I remembered when I first started studying for GMAT at the end of June and had a hard time getting through very easy ones due to my being rusty in Math. So I've done some assessment on my performance and have determined the following:

  • I need to go back and restudy exponents, consecutive integers, and the rules of divisibility

  • I probably need to read the small strategy guides twice. When I went back and re-read the bit on consecutive integers today, I realized that my eyes glazed over some pertinent information. The second read after doing some problems was far more in depth. I knew what I got wrong and why it was wrong. Further, I knew where the gaps in knowledge were and what I needed to fill in.'

  • Lastly, doing quant problems after 10PM is not going to work. Even 9:30-10 is pushing it. At that point, I start making silly errors and not reading the question all the way through. I'm thinking I'll do quant problems on Saturdays and Sundays during the day when I'm more alert. Studying Verbal at night is fine. Verbal is not my weak spot and most of what I'm doing now is learning strategies and learning GMAT specific grammar (for instance they are particular about idiomatic expressions like to be and known as. They also don't give two hoots about the passive voice. My 10th grade english teacher would have a fit if she knew this).

In other news, I was able to get a quick work out in today. HIIT for the win!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Beginning of Week 2

The homework was rather light for the first week in comparison to what's in store for the following weeks. Finding a time and place to focus and study is key. A few times this past week, I caught myself studying at around 11 and not being able to retain a thing.

We finished up Number Properties last week. For some reason I keep getting confused when it comes to LCMs and GCFs. My plan is to go back and re-read that portion and re-do the drill problems. I've also created a list of things that I need to make flash cards of. Divisibility rules, for instance, is something I should probably commit to memory, and it'll be much easier studying flash cards than reading books on the subway.

I've been going back and re-doing the problems I missed on my CAT exam and redoing some of the problems that I got correct by throwing a Hail Mary pass. Geometry is still a weak point for me just because I really don't remember some of the properties (i.e. parallel lines intersected by a transverse line). That is also something I should probably commit to memory, but I am submitting fully to the Manhattan study plan, so I will get to those in a few weeks.

In class on Sunday, we were introduced to diagramming for Critical Reasoning. It helps to have structure and a clear set strategy for finding answers. I've been apprehensive about adapting their strategy for sentence corrections, but I'm going to give it a try for a week or two to see if I improve my accuracy. What I'm really anticipating is the strategy on Reading Comprehension. During my first practice CAT, my mind started to wander during the RC portions, so if I can get a method for extracting the most important information, or staying focused then I'm all for it.

As far as other news, I am enjoying my new apartment so much. Having a patio is great. My boyfriend and I sat outside and barbecued for dinner. We had ribs, burgers, chicken, corn, almost anything you can think of. We of course did not eat it all last night. There's plenty of food for the rest of the week which means less cooking for me. True Blood was also really good tonight. I can't wait to see how the situation with Tara turns out. I was actually okay with Bill dying as there are other characters I find more interesting, but if we don't have Bill, then we don't have the Bill and Sookie love affair, and if we don't have that then we have no show.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Day 2

Things I've done today:

1) Got through 28 pages on Number Properties and finished some problems during lunch.

2) Went back to my recent CAT exam and redid the Data Sufficiency questions I missed using the AD-BCE technique I just picked up. It helped tremendously to organize my thoughts. Where has this technique been all of my life?

3) Scheduled an interview for a mentorship program at the Y.

4) Procrastinated at work.

Things I need to do tonight:

1) Laundry :(

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Day 1, Ball games, Consulting, True Blood

There was absolutely no parking next to the Subway and I wound up being late to class. Next Sunday, I'll know to just walk from home. I have no idea where everyone was going at 9 am on a Sunday morning, but that's neither here nor there.

Much like the train parking lot, class was packed. I wound up having to sit on the floor for the first half. By the second half, the visitors had dispersed and I was able to get a seat. We spent a little bit of time going over Data Sufficiency techniques, and the strategies we discussed have already helped me. Before I was attacking DS problems without a clear methodology for eliminating answers. Now I know that I NEED to figure out what the prompt is really asking for and do some manipulation of the equations given in the two statements. I can tell that this methodology is going to save me a lot of time.

I also have a better idea of how the test is scored and why I should feel like the test kicked my ass when it's all over and done with.

The sentence correction strategy seems a bit involved. It does help to know that the GMAT does not consider the passive voice grammatically incorrect and that it will test you on the concept of "like" vs "such as." Those two GMAT idiosyncracies will be important to know.

They gave us a crap load of materials and just thinking about the abundance of online materials has my head kind of dizzy. Luckily they provide us with study maps to guide our study. I had to lug all nine books to the ball stadium on the bus, but it was worth it. For some reason I wasn't in the mood for a cold beer today and I really didn't focus too much on the game. My boyfriend and I left early and I don't even know who won. Sitting in club level is always nice though and I enjoyed my Ball Park hot dog.

So this evening I chatted with an old friend about management consulting. She graduated for two years before I did and she was actually my supervisor at a kids program I worked at one summer. She's worked in consulting since she graduated and recently finished her MBA At Kellogg. I talked with her about my reasons for wanting to go into management consulting and wanted to make sure that my expectations of what it entails are realistic. After speaking with her, it is a good fit, and she encouraged me to stop being lazy and go for top 10 schools. I had my sights set on UCLA, but if I need to aim higher to get into consulting and to get the salary I want, then I will bite the bullet.

I have the house to myself tonight. My boyfriend has gone out to celebrate a friend's birthday, and though I do like to cuddle on Sunday nights, him being gone will allow me to watch True Blood and do an hour of data sufficiency in peace. I'm waiting for Sookie and Eric to get together. Now that will be a hot scene.

My plan for tomorrow is to do 15 minutes of jump rope at 6, get in some reading on the BART, continue my reading at Starbucks at lunch, do 30 min on the treadmill afterwork, and go see Inception. Let's hope I can wake up.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Day 0 of Manhattan GMAT

Within the past few weeks, my life has become incredibly hectic. After attending my 5th year reunion, I had an epiphany. I want to be a management consultant. I want to go to business school. I want to apply in January. I want to enroll next Fall.

I had my epiphany in late June. Clearly I have not taken my GMATs yet, and I am scared. The verbal portion of the test is doable for me. Having graduated with a degree in English and having spent 4 years working in the publishing industry, I am confident that I will score high on the verbal section if I focus so as to avoid careless errors. What's scary is the math portion. I've been away from school for 5 years now. I've been away from math for about 10 years.

I managed to use my publishing contacts to finagle a free test prep guide from McGraw-Hill. I cracked it open and took a practice test. Missed about three or four on verbal. Yes! Could only get through maybe 5 questions on Math before saying "Eff this, I'm going to bed." Damn! I needed a basics refresher so for the past two weeks, I've hunkered down and retaught myself most of them. I used the Kaplan Math Foundations and Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook and am up to speed on most topics. I've also sat through a Manhattan GMAT Math Foundations online class which has helped tremendously as well. I'm still shaky on Geometry and most Data Sufficiency. Mastering Geometry will be a matter of me memorizing equations for area etc. and drilling myself on applying them. I really just need to practice more Data Sufficiency questions. I've improved quite a bit over the past three weeks in tackling them.

Now I need to Master the GMAT. I know I can do it. I'm a smart woman and I'm a competitive woman. I will do this, and to make sure that I do "do this" I've enrolled myself in an expensive ManhattanGMAT course. If I were not so pressed for time, I would have studied on my own with the myriad study guides that I've purchased. But I work full time, and have a live-in boyfriend, so I want the structure, guidance, and expertise that a course offers. It starts tomorrow.

I've already learned one thing. The GMAT is long as hell. For class tomorrow, we are to have completed one full length Computer Adaptive Test. My Saturday was pretty free, so I set aside a few hours to take it. A few things...

1) Today was the first day that I've done the AWA. This section was pretty straight forward, but it does eat up some of my energy as it's at the very beginning of the exam.

2) I finished all of the sections in less than 75 minutes. I read somewhere that this is a bad thing. When it comes to me and test taking, I either know the answer or I don't. The answers I miss are usually to questions that I have no idea how to solve. Once I get geometry down and do some drills with number properties, I'm going to work on my pacing. I did make about three careless errors on the math portion and I missed a whopping 11 on the verbal portion. Every little (or big) bit counts.

3) Careless errors is the perfect seque into my Verbal Performance. On all the practice exams I've taken, this exam is the FIRST one on which I've scored higher in math than on verbal. I know where I went wrong.

  • I run the risk of being over confident. I also think I know everything and I think that when I get an answer wrong it's really the test writers who are wrong. Cocky, I know. :)
  • Verbal is the very last portion of the exam, and I might have very well been tired.
  • During the practice exam I was very distracted. My boyfriend has just purchased a new video game and he is playing it with a friend online. He gets extremely loud and despite me locking myself in a room, I can still be distracted by his outbursts. I need to find a better way to simulate the testing environment.
  • I took a few breaks in between sections. I took a break during the AWA to watch a few Michael Jackson performances (I still know all the moves to Thriller, Smooth Criminal, and Beat It). I took a break after Math to go get a pedicure and get my car washed. These two things HAD to be done. I had bird crap on my car and my feet needed to be beautified before I wear sandals tomorrow. This is an example of life getting in the way of studying. lol By the time I got to the verbal section, I was just ready for the darn test to be over, and I stopped concentrating. I glossed over some of the longer passages in the Reading Comp sections and made 11 careless errors by not looking at the call of the question properly or just clicking the wrong button.

With all that said, I'm excited for tomorrow! I think the classroom environment will benefit me greatly, and it will help to be able to ask a live person for clarification on certain issues. With all this said, next time I take a practice CAT, I'm going to the library.

Now it's time for wine! On a hot summer's night, I prefer Chardonnay. Barefoot makes a pretty good Chardonnay and it's only $5.97.