THE MBA STUDENT LIFECYLE – FROM A TADPOLE TO A PRINCE (OR PRINCESS)…THIRD IN A SERIES…

martin sobolewski February 11, 2010

In part two of this series, we discussed the thrills of finding roommates and driving across country for relocation, the adventures and the excitement of orientation, as well as what to expect during the final two weeks before classes actually start. The journey continues…

Orientation provides a great opportunity to get to know your future classmates outside of the classroom. Depending on the size of your incoming class, you may or may not be able to meet everyone, but regardless, it is a prime opportunity to go out and meet those people that you will see walking the halls of the grad school buildings. However, once orientation is over, there is a chance that you may hardly ever see those people that you met, but again, this depends on the size of your incoming class.

It seems that most large MBA programs are similar in the set-up of class structure and curriculum. In general, most schools will divide the incoming class into sections and you will take the majority of your “core” classes (such as accounting, finance, marketing, statistics, etc.) with this same group of people. There are advantages and disadvantages to this set-up. The advantages include increased rapport among your classmates, better flow in lectures as the class becomes accustomed to student and instructor styles, and a great environment to really get to know your fellow classmates. The main disadvantage is that you don’t get to spend much time with other students in your program and you will probably notice that cliques begin to form. However, there are many other social activities that will provide you with opportunities to meet those students who are not in your section.

There is a funny feeling of anticipation on campus the first day of class, as no one knows really what to expect. There are students who have been out of school for ten years or more mixed in with students who were in undergrad not too long ago, providing for an environment of anxiety, excitement, and “fear” of the unknown Additionally, no one knows what to expect from the professors and whether or not they will be as boring as hell or very powerful and effective leaders. No matter what, the first day of school is very exciting and a great experience. There is nothing to worry about, except for the fact that you will likely already have reading, homework, or assignments to get started on.  This is what we came back for school for in the first place, so don’t be surprised if you get more work than you expected. After all, you are paying top dollar for your education (you might be on someone else’s dime, but someone is paying) so you might as well take it all in and enjoy it! You will likely have four or five classes (and again depends on your school, whether they are on semesters or quarters) that meet twice per week.

Odds are that you came back to school to switch careers and/or boost your resume to get a better job. Besides attending classes, doing homework, and socializing, you will probably be attending a lot of on-campus company presentations. There are many companies from all sorts of industries (management consulting, investment banking, marketing, investment management, etc) that come to many of the top MBA programs each fall to recruit for both full-time positions (for the second-year students) and for summer-internships. You career center will have a list of all the firms coming to campus and a schedule of when they will be presenting. If you want to be taken seriously in the recruiting process and in interviews, it is imperative to attend these events. They provide you with a wealth of information on the company and the industry, and employees from various levels come to share their experiences and discuss what types of projects you might be exposed to. It is extremely informative and beneficial and will help you decide if a company is your dream firm or some place that you do not want to work at. These presentations will enable you to meet recent grads from your school who you will be able to network with and build strong relationships that will no doubt serve you well further on down the interview process. If you network well, you can establish relationships with employees from your target companies that will lead to further interaction and encounters with them. Companies love people that are ambitious, informed and excited about the prospect of joining their company. Sometimes there are receptions following the presentations, complete with appetizers and beer and wine, which allow you to have more one-on-one conversations with firm employees.

You will find that fall quarter is a very busy time with class, extra-curriculars, and recruiting. It is a lot to handle sometimes, but it is important that you take the time to do it right. This means doing well in classes, taking the effort to meet as many new friends as possible, and also putting your best foot forward in recruiting so that you can obtain a fantastic summer-internship.

This article is the third in a series….please be on the lookout for the fourth piece, where we will discuss the summer-internship interview process, second semester, and other exciting thrills of your first year of an MBA program. It’ll be crazy fun, but watch out, the time flies by, soak it all in!!!! Soon you will be sitting at your desk during your summer internship wondering where the time went!

Read other articles in this series:

The Complete MBA Student Lifecycle, pt 1
The Complete MBA Student Lifecycle, pt 2

Categories: Business School, Series • No Comments »

GMAT Verbal Study Plan for Non-Native Speakers (and Others Who Want the Practice)

jim jacobson February 8, 2010

By far, the easiest and fastest way to learn English is to be a tiny baby growing up in an English-speaking environment.  If you are reading this article, though, you are no longer in a position to take advantage of that opportunity, and will have to improve your English the hard way:  practice.  Not all practice is equally good, however!  English, like all living languages, is complex and constantly-changing; what is acceptable in spoken English is not always accepted in Standard (written) English.  The key to improving your English reading, processing, and writing skills for the GMAT is consistent high-quality practice.  It’s true that native speakers have a big advantage — they have typically been listening to correct English for at least two decades.  Non-native speakers, however, have a small advantage — they (unlike native speakers) have not been listening to incorrect English for two decades.  Build your study around quality writing and daily practice — and start as early as you can.

Quality writing:
New Yorker
The Economist
Harper’s Magazine
The Atlantic

A note about The Economist in particular:  you may be tempted to choose that above all the others, as it is the most business- and world news-focused.  I believe doing so would be a mistake!  The Economist is known for its very precise and concise use of language; you all should be reading it for this reason.  On the other hand, The Economist assumes a very high level of familiarity and comfort with not only standard language usage, but also the rarer, more complex, and more concise usage of English found more commonly in the humanities (it also occasionally chooses British English usage over American English usage).  The other three periodicals mentioned above have a smaller portion of their content devoted to finance and business and a greater portion devoted to the humanities — often without The Economist’s trademark concision.  You will get more practice tracking longer English sentences, which can also shed more light on English usage:  sometimes things are easier to understand when more words are used to explain!  In addition, the greater variety present in the other periodicals prepares you better for the variety of topics you’ll get in GMAT Reading Comprehension passages.  In short:  use The Economist, but not only The Economist.

One Year Away From Test Day

  • One half hour per day reading (or even listening to) quality English writing.  Podcasts/audio books are an acceptable occasional substitute; reading words on the page is better, but only one of the two is legal or smart while you’re driving to work
  • Look up words you don’t know, every time.

Six Months From Test Day

The above, plus:

  • Take a full-length practice test to assess your weaknesses; take two more in the next two months
  • Take inventory of the places you are likely to be caught due to language differences
  • Start writing down idioms that give you trouble; take note of movie/book/song titles, or other key phrases in English that can help you remember the idioms
  • Begin a weekly commitment to GMAT study, starting with the Official Guide.  Move to other sources when you have exhausted the Official Guide material

Three Months From the Week of Your Test

  • Begin taking at least two full-length practice tests every three weeks; you are taking full-length tests because the Quantitative section is also written in English. The goal is to improve your comfort level with the overall timing of the test, and to help you adjust to the range of English that appears on the full test
  • One half hour per day of Grockit GMAT Verbal Study minimum; do not save it all for one weekend afternoon
  • For harder CR and RC passages, you can also use LSAT prep materials
  • Keep reading!

One Month From the Week of Your Test

  • Take one full-length practice test per week
  • Study every day, even if it’s just 15 minutes.  You gain much more from repetition than you do from cramming
  • Keep reading!

Categories: GMAT, Verbal • No Comments »

MBA for Career Switching, Part I

chase cairncross February 6, 2010

For those of you looking to go to business school to switch careers, even if you were not entirely up front about that fact on your essay, you need to be prepared.  There will not be the down time that you imagined to sit back, learn a little business and lament on your potential future.  At most schools this process begins during orientation, when you are recruited by the various clubs on campus.  Some of these clubs can be fun (eg: Food and Wine, Sports or Adventure), but most of them are focused on future employment.

At my school, and from speaking to friends at others schools, the following clubs typically exist; Marketing, Investments, Real Estate, Consulting, Private Equity & Venture Capital, Banking and many other clubs.

Some of you are lucky and know going in what your dream job is and will be able to join those clubs, but if you are like me, you will find that you could see yourself in a lot of these fields.  You will either end up joining all the clubs and blowing your Cost of Living funds for the month, or simply joining them on a first come first serve basis until you feel you have spent too much.  Neither of these are good plans, which is why you need to start thinking about what you want to do with your MBA as soon as you get into business school.

Once you have made it through this club gauntlet and the first quarter core classes are reminding you why in a lot of ways school and homework can be even worse than a day job, you will get more emails than you could possibly address.  The more important emails will be from the career center notifying you of companies coming to present on campus.  So just when you thought you had a nice Wednesday night to relax and catch up on reading that Marketing case, you find out you have to be in a suit and prep for two different company presentations.

If you are shooting at the flock, that is looking at every career option available, this is where you can quickly overstretch yourself.  If you are interested in working for these companies however, it is very important that you attend their information session.  It will be worth your while to do limited research on any of the specific companies that catch your eye.  Fifteen minutes of time googling the company can save you hours of time listening to presentations, because time is valuable and grades do matter to some employers.  If you know your desired field, go to each and every one of the events in that industry and be prepared to ask questions and follow up with the presenters afterward to get business cards.

Whether you know what you want or are still testing the waters this process will help you sort out what you are aiming at, but will also introduce you to the underlying current of the entire business school process – networking.

Categories: Business School, Series • 1 Comment »

To JD or Not to JD: Should You Pursue a Joint Degree? Part I

andrea alexander February 4, 2010

In today’s competitive job market, even an MBA might not seem like enough to get you the kind of job that you want.  If you’re looking for something to set you apart from the crowd, a JD/MBA might be an appealing option to you.  But what is involved in earning those degrees jointly, and what can holding them do for your academic experience and your career trajectory?

If you’re interested in pursuing a joint degree, the first obvious step is to look for schools that offer the JD and MBA programs together.  Not all business schools work together with law schools to create joint programs, so you’ll want to carefully evaluate the schools to which you’re planning to apply.  Usually, there’s a specific liaison for the joint program working out of either the law school or the business school admissions office.  Get that person’s contact information and get in touch with him or her.  Application practices, standards for admission, and specific program structures vary from one school to the next, and your best resource is an expert at that school.

Next, consider what you’ll need to do to get your application package ready.  You already know what your B-school application will require; that’s why you’re preparing for the GMAT.  But law school applications will require a whole other standardized test, the LSAT.  You may not want to deal with that too much while you’re planning for the GMAT, because like the GMAT, the LSAT is a very intense exam.  However, the LSAT is only offered 4 times per year, so you’ll need to take that into account when you’re planning your test scheduling.  Even if you don’t manage to get a law school application ready in time to apply at the same time you apply for B-school, all is not lost; some schools will allow you to apply for the joint program during your first year.

But how do you even know if you want a joint degree?  It’s going to depend a lot on your career goals.  Specializing in both degrees will help make you more marketable; if you have a general MBA and a JD with no particular focus, potential employers might see that as an indication that you’re not firmly committed to either business or law careers, and could jump ship from one to the other.  However, if you know what kind of work you’d like to do, and can sculpt a program that will be relevant to that, the joint degree can be a big boost.  For example, if you’re interested in strategic mergers and acquisitions, labor relations, or consulting, the joint degree will set you apart from the crowd.  Even if you choose not to take the bar exam and officially become a lawyer, the legal knowledge that a JD gives you can be a big help in transactional work like contract negotiations.

What else can a JD/MBA give you?  Well, as everyone knows, one of the benefits of earning an MBA is the networking opportunities it provides.  Your classmates will one day become business contacts, and mutual alumni pride can pave the way for career paths you might not otherwise be able to tread.  Earning a JD essentially doubles your professional network, and that can mean valuable opportunities for you.

Now that you’ve considered whether to get a joint degree, and what it might mean for your career, you might be wondering what it would be like to pursue two demanding degrees at the same time.

Look for Part II of this article, when you can hear answers straight from a current JD/MBA student!

Categories: Business School, Series • 2 Comments »

Maximize Your Study Efficiency

jake becker February 2, 2010

Let’s face it, studying is not fun. It’s usually something you struggle through, is discouraging, tedious and expensive, and requires faith that it will pay off in the end. Here’s the good news: it will pay off, but only if you do it correctly. These are some good rules to follow.

Start Early
Most people start studying between 1 month and 1 year before the GMAT. Remember, starting early doesn’t mean you necessarily have to study more, just over a longer period of time. I would suggest trying your first problem 4 – 6 months before test day. Set aside 2-3 hours a week in the beginning, and gradually ramp up your review. Despite what you may otherwise hear, it’s not a test for which you can easily cram.

Practice Tests
Take practice tests. When you register for the GMAT, you’ll receive a CD (or online code) with two standard practice exams. Grockit will soon offer full-length CAT exams in the same format of the actual test. Plan on taking about 5-7 over the course of your preparation. Don’t cheat by not doing the essay. Yes, I know, it’s annoying; I went though this too. But you have to practice reading long, boring passages after three hours of testing, not just after two. Think of these as scrimmages before the big game.

Learn Actively
Ever sit down to study, turn on music, pick up some coffee, IM friends, check your email, then realize you have to leave in 30 minutes? Great, so don’t do that. Instead, dedicate those couple hours to reviewing the topic at hand, and nothing more. Take copious notes of your trouble spots. Practice many similar questions at once. If you get a question wrong, attempt it a 2nd time before reviewing the explanation. Don’t read through the practice book passively and expect the information to be absorbed through sheer familiarity. If you can’t explain a topic to someone else, you don’t know it well enough.

Targeted Study
Our goal at Grockit is to make the learning experience fun and social, while also isolating students’ weakness through detailed and comprehensive analytics. Use feedback resources like Grockit’s to identify the parts of the tests that are particularly difficult for you. We assign multiple “skill-tags” to each of our questions, and using Grockit’s analytics page, students may review their strengths and weaknesses to create custom study sessions. They are also periodically presented with personalized Challenges and Diagnostics to measure their progress in a variety of areas. Without any (internal or external) feedback of your progress, study time is wasted. Instead, hone in on those nagging topics by giving them more attention. A passive studier goes through the textbook from page 1 to 300. An active (and ultimately more successful studier) creates a personalized “textbook” by assessing and reassessing his/her strengths and weaknesses and targeting their practice accordingly.

Many Small Goals
Each time you sit down to study, set a goal for that practice. This can be, “take notes on key points in Chapter 6,” “memorize these 4 formulas for these type of Quantitative questions,” or “practice and review all 30 sample questions in this section.” You will be more apt to focus and less inclined to justify stopping early or doing a cursory job. On a macro level, set longer-term goals to “get a 650 on my next practice test” or “review all probability questions by next Friday”. Most importantly, constantly reassess and redirect your targets. Maybe one section is giving you more trouble than another – don’t default to spending equal time on each topic because each has 20 practice questions to review.

Expert Help
Don’t expect your tutor or teacher to hold your hand. It may be tempting to drop $1,200 on a class and think you’re done. This will backfire. Trust me. If you do register for a course, show up ready to learn. Use it to identify material that’s confusing, and study that on your own. A more cost-effective approach is to only work with private instructors to target your weaknesses when you really need it. It avoids the fundamental “teach-to-the-middle” flaw of a classroom environment. Feel free to combine courses and private tutoring, but be prepared to spend some money. For private lessons, show up with problems that are troubling you and direct your instructor to your weaknesses. Your instructor cannot read your mind. The more you bring with you, the more he/she will be able to help. For example, Grockit’s instructors may customize practice sections ahead of time based on a student’s personalized analytics, but you are ultimately responsible for directing the study yourself. Intersperse these lessons throughout the course of your study so you have time to reassess where you’re at between each session.

The benefit of working hard while studying is that you ultimately have to do less of it. And when you sit down, do it right and actively, otherwise you are inefficient with your time and money. And any B-School student should know that inefficiency is an automatic red flag. Check out how Grockit can assist in your preparation for test day. Please email me at jakeb@grockit.com with your thoughts and questions.

Good luck!

Categories: GMAT, GMAT Preparation, Study Habits • No Comments »

THE MBA STUDENT LIFECYLE – FROM A TADPOLE TO A PRINCE (OR PRINCESS)…SECOND IN A SERIES…

martin sobolewski January 28, 2010

THE MBA STUDENT LIFECYLE – FROM A TADPOLE TO A PRINCE (OR PRINCESS)…SECOND IN A SERIES…

In part one of this series, we discussed the thrills of telling our boss that we will be going back to school, the all important computer upgrade decision, as well as beginning to form ideas about whom we might live with while we are in school. The journey continues…

Once you make your final decision on where to enroll, the fun part begins. Whatever school you end up choosing, prepare for a barrage of emails, new Yahoo Groups and information overload from your new institution. Granted, it is all exciting stuff, however it is a lot of information to process. This information ranges from insurance, scholarships, student loans, gym memberships, parking passes (which is probably the single most important thing if you go to a school in a city where cars are the norm…think southern California), books, professors, signing up for classes, the list goes on. No matter the school, you will have plenty of emails coming your way and it is best to have a good organization system for this.

Once you make your decision, you will likely have a few months of work left before you actually make your big move. Some of you might travel the world for a few months before b-school (my roommate surfed Costa Rica for 3 months), others might move just a few weeks before school. Some of the most important things to consider in these months are figuring out how to move your belongings, figuring out if you will need to buy (or sell) a car, and your new living arrangements. It is also a good idea (and this is random), to start making a working list of people to include on your final farewell email on your last day of work. This is fun. I worked for a large financial institution (aka Investment Bank) and had worked with many people, and had many people to include on this email. Trust me, it is always a good thing to leave your work and colleagues in a good light, you never know when you will cross paths again.

Usually orientation begins about 2 weeks before actual classes do, but it obviously depends on the school. You will need to give yourself ample time to get moved in and get almost everything squared away before orientation starts, as it is probably best to get started off on a fresh, clean slate. One of my roommates and I sent most of our stuff in a moving van, but we drove ourselves out from New York City to Los Angeles. What a way to meet your new roommate!! Highlights included biking (we had our mountain bikes with us) the famous Slick Rock Trail in Moab, Utah and also hitting Vegas for a night. It was a sign of good things to come when we left Vegas with $3200 cash in my pocket. Not bad for a $100 original bet.

Orientation began a week later for us once we arrived in Los Angeles. Orientation is great, it is sort of like summer camp. It is a chance to meet all of your future classmates before you get face deep in your statistics and marketing books. You do a lot of breakout sessions, group activities, and team building exercises, all things that will help you become closer with your classmates and form bonds that will last throughout business school and beyond. There are ample opportunities to carry these teambuilding activities into the wee hours of the morning and figuring out the new bar scene. You will definitely need a good watering hole while in school! It is a fun week full of information gathering, figuring out where things are on campus, how things work, and who these people are that you will be spending countless hours with. All in all it is a good experience and is a fun launching point into your first week of classes. It quickly goes from fun and games to studying, studying, and more studying! Be prepared!!

This article is the second in a series….please be on the lookout for the third piece…Next, we will discuss the adventures and awesomeness of what to expect in classes, first semester, and thinking about summer internships. It’ll be crazy fun, but watch out, the time flies by, soak it all in!!!! Soon you will be sitting at the table during your winter break and will be wondering where it all went!!

Categories: Business School, GMAT, Series • 1 Comment »

Strengthening Your “Strengthen” Muscles In GMAT Reading Comprehension

andrea alexander January 25, 2010

muscle One common GMAT reasoning question is the kind that asks you to “strengthen” the argument.  The most common mistake that people make on these kinds of questions is failing to stay close enough to the text of the argument as written.  Let’s look at an example:

Company X has instituted an Employee Wellness Program that will provide employees with free access to smoking cessation programs, nutritional counseling, and personal training services at a local gym.  Similar programs at other companies have been shown to improve workplace attendance and performance, and reduce the employer’s costs for employee health insurance.  Thus, the Employee Wellness Program will be good for both the employees and the company.

If true, which of the following would best support the conclusion of the argument above?

a) Many employees take advantage of free nutritional counseling when it is offered by employers.

b) Smoking cessation programs are only effective for 20% of those smokers who use them.

c) Personal training services at a local gym will make it easier for employees to improve their cardiovascular health and reduce the incidence of serious illness.

d) Exercising without personal training services can often lead to injury due to incorrect use of weight-training equipment.

e) Company X will give employees taking part in the smoking cessation program one paid hour off each Friday afternoon to participate in a support group.

Your first step here is to read the question itself, and notice that it’s asking you to find the answer choice that supports, or strengthens, the conclusion.  Then, as you read the argument, notice the word thus, which is a great clue to guide you to the argument’s conclusion, which is that “the Employee Wellness Program will be good for both the employees and the company.”  The argument’s evidence provides several examples of how to program is good for the company—it will “improve workplace attendance and performance, and reduce the employer’s costs for employee health insurance.”  But the conclusion talks about benefits for employees as well as the company, and the argument doesn’t state explicitly how the program will benefit them.  Now, let’s look at the answer choices one at a time.

a) Many employees take advantage of free nutritional counseling when it is offered by employers.

The counseling’s popularity might indicate that it is beneficial to the employees, but it might not.  This choice doesn’t clearly demonstrate that the Employee Wellness Program benefits the employees, and is a good example of a wrong answer that makes the test-taker work too hard in order to justify choosing it.  Here, one would have to assume that employees take advantage of the program because it is beneficial to them.  A strengthener shouldn’t require a major assumption, and therefore this choice is not the best answer.  Wrong answers like this are common, so watch out for them.

b) Smoking cessation programs are only effective for 20% of those smokers who use them.

This choice makes it LESS likely that the programs will benefit either the employees or the company.  This answer choice may catch your eye if you didn’t read the question closely enough, and are mistakenly looking for a weakener instead of a strengthener.

c) Personal training services at a local gym will make it easier for employees to improve their cardiovascular health and reduce the incidence of serious illness.

This is the correct answer.  The argument seems to imply that the increased attendance and performance and reduced health insurance costs are due to improved employee health, which would naturally benefit the employees.  This choice makes that unstated implication clear, and fills the gap in the argument.

If words like unstated and gap remind you of assumption questions, that’s a good thing!  Often, the weakness in an argument is due to the gap left by an unstated assumption, and the best way to strengthen the argument is by explicitly stating the assumption.

d) Exercising without personal training services can often lead to injury due to incorrect use of weight-training equipment.

This answer might be tempting, but again, it requires too many assumptions to tie it into the argument as a strengthener.  In order for this to strengthen the argument, one must assume that employees would still exercise without the personal training services, and that they would incorrectly use the weight-training equipment. That’s too much work for the question, and so this answer choice must be rejected.

e) Company X will give employees taking part in the smoking cessation program one paid hour off each Friday afternoon to participate in a support group.

This might benefit the employees, but it would be a burden to Company X. 

Therefore, it’s not the best choice. Lesson of the day: one key to success with strengthen questions on theGMAT is to remember that the correct answer shouldn’t take too much work to justify.

Categories: GMAT, Reading Comprehension, Verbal • 1 Comment »

Feed Your Head: What to Eat to Maximize Your GMAT Performance

andrea alexander January 20, 2010

2For years, scientists have been telling us that a balanced diet can improve our overall health and well-being.  In addition, there are several foods that are consistently touted as “brain food,” in that they can improve cognitive function and brain health.  Just in case you’re not familiar with them, though, let’s go over a few of the most well-researched and helpful ones.

1.  Salmon: studies show that Omega-3 fatty acids are crucial to cognitive function, and the body cannot produce these kinds of fat itself, so you have to get your Omega-3s from food or supplement sources.  There are all kinds of health considerations for various populations, and if you’d like to know more, you can read up on it here.  But the main idea is that there is a lot of scientific evidence showing that foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids truly do feed your brain.

2.  Nuts and seeds: foods like flaxseed and walnuts pack the same kind of Omega-3 punch that salmon does, and have the added benefit of providing fiber, which helps to maintain physical health in many ways.

3.  Blueberries: there is evidence showing that people who eat a cup of blueberries per day perform 5 to 6% better than a control group does on a test of motor skills.  In addition, many studies show that the antioxidants in blueberries can help to reverse age-related reductions in cognitive function, such as memory loss.  Plus they make a pretty tasty pie!

Now, here’s the big news: for a few days before taking your GMAT, you might want to move away from your usual healthy diet and indulge a little.  We’re not advocating a total fast food pig-out; you still need to make sure that you get the usual required amounts of nutrients, and don’t overdo it on the calories, as that can make you sluggish.  But a study revealed in September 2009 indicates that eating a high-fat diet for four to seven days before an intellectually strenuous task can have a beneficial impact on performance.  The study, titled “Nutritional Effects on Cognitive Performance”, was reported by researchers at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, part of the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks, and produced results that were surprising to many.

The study tested pilots on a full-motion flight simulator, and also measured their short-term memory.  Four different diets were tested: high fat, high carbohydrate, high protein, and balanced.  The researchers found that pilots on the high fat diet consistently out-performed those on other diets: 27% better than the high protein group, and 10% better than the balanced group, with less significant margins over the high carb group.  The high carb group also outperformed the high protein group by 22%, and pilots on the high protein diet reported feeling irritable and having difficulty sleeping.

What does this mean for you?  Well, if you’re planning to go to business school, it’s not likely that you’ll be piloting an airplane in the near future.  But many of the cognitive functions used by pilots—short term memory, quick decision-making, and multi-tasking—will be crucial to you on test day.  The message here ISN’T to forgo healthy eating for months of carbohydrate and fat-loading.  But for a few days before the test, it might not be a bad idea to have a little extra butter on your bread, and some gravy on your potatoes.  After all, every little bit helps, and as GMAT preparation goes, you’ll probably enjoy those mashed potatoes and gravy a lot more than you would an extra round of Grockit Quant practice!

Categories: GMAT, GMAT Preparation, Stress Management • 2 Comments »

Estimation Strategies For GMAT Problem Solving

jake becker January 19, 2010

The GMAT is not testing who is the fastest at long division. It is a test that seeks to measure problem solving skills that are not necessarily the “textbook” ways to discover solutions. Let’s discuss some estimation strategies, which are not used as often as they should be.

1. Round Up AND Round Down When Multiplying

Be aware of the direction in which you are altering the result. If you want to estimate a product of two “ugly” numbers, you can move one up and one down, which is an attempt to minimize the error in your estimation. For example:

658*436 = 286,888

If we round 658 UP to 700 and 436 DOWN to 400, we can approximate using:

700*400 = 280,000

2. Round In The Same Direction When Dividing

When you want to approximate a fraction, you can either adjust only the numerator (or denominator) or move both in the same direction. For example:

8/19 = .4210526…

8/20 = 0.4 (Note that increasing the denominator, will decrease the fraction.)

9/20 = 0.45 (Note that increasing both top and bottom will increase the fraction.)

Your estimate is somewhere between .40 and .45.

3. Remember These Other Helpful Tips

  • Peek at your answer choices: If your answer choices are relatively far apart, this could be hint that approximation is helpful. If the answers are very tight together, you may still estimate, but you have to be more careful and do due diligence.
  • Geometry shortcut 1: √2 =~ 1.4 and √3 =~ 1.7. Try to commit these to memory, as they are very common.
  • Geometry shortcut 2: Be careful when using pi = 3. Recognize that you are using a smaller number, so your result will be smaller too. Test makers love to give tempting answer choices that assume pi = 3. It’s not.
  • Geometry shortcut 3: Even though you cannot assume charts are drawn to scale, they can still be a resource. Obtuse/acute angles are typically shown as much, and angles can be approximated in many circumstances. That’s not to say “if it looks like a right angle, it must be 90.” But you can use the drawing as a guide to your estimation.
  • Use the extremes: If you are given a range, it helps to plug in those extremes to see between which values your answer falls. This will focus your attention on the cases that are above (or below) those endpoints.

Two Examples

If a square has a perimeter of 80 inches, what is the approximate length of its diagonal, in inches?

A. 20

B. 28

C. 40

D. 56

E. 112

This question uses the word “approximate,” so that should be a very big hint that you will need to find a number “close enough.” If P = 80, then s = 20. The diagonal is essentially a hypotenuse of a 45-45-90 triangle, so d = 20√2.

Two strategies:

1) 20√1 = 20 and 20√4 = 40. Therefore 20 < 20√2 < 40. (B) 28 is the only option.

2) Since we remember that √2 =~1.4, we can simply multiply 20*1.4 = 28. (B).

Addison High School’s senior class has 160 boys and 200 girls. If 75% of the boys and 84% of the girls plan to attend college, what percentage of the total class plan to attend college?

A. 75

B. 79.5

C. 80

D. 83.5

E. 84

84 is an obscure number. When you see obscure numbers, that is another sign that you may want to look for an approximating shortcut.

Firstly, we should eliminate the overtly incorrect choices. This will be (A) 75 (since that’s the low extreme) and (E) 84 and (D) 83.5 (since they are both essentially equal to the high extreme).

Secondly, find the average of the given percents. Since there are more girls than boys, we know that the weighted average will be closer to the girls’ percent than the boys’ percent. By finding 79.5% as the mean of 75% and 84%, we are given the low extreme. Again, we recognize the weight placed on 84%, making the answer higher than 79.5. (C) 80 it is!

(For similar questions in the future where we actually need to calculate, we could drop the extra “0” from 160 and 200. The ratio of 16:20 is the same (4:5), and the calculation is much easier.)

Any other estimation tricks? Just post in the comment field or check out Grockit’s forums for more strategies on GMAT math.

Categories: GMAT, Problem Solving, Quantitative • No Comments »

Applying “Necessary” And “Sufficient” To Assumption questions

andrea alexander January 14, 2010

GMAT critical reasoning questions often ask you to identify the assumption of an argument.  The first step in doing that successfully is understanding what, exactly, they mean by “assumption.”  An assumption in GMAT-speak is the unstated link somewhere in the chain of evidence and conclusion.  Finding the assumption means, basically, finding that gap in the argument and filling it.

Assumptions can be roughly divided into “necessary” and “sufficient,” and your approach to tackling an assumption question depends in part on which kind of assumption you’re dealing with.  A necessary assumption MUST be true in order for the conclusion to follow logically based on the evidence presented.  Take, for example, the following simplified version of a GMAT question:

Jennie wears glasses.  Jennie also gets A’s in chemistry.  Therefore, Jennie must be smart.

Which of the following assumptions is necessary to support the conclusion above?

Here, you’re looking at finding the unstated idea that MUST BE TRUE in order for the argument to work logically.  Take a look at the possibilities:

a) Jennie gets good grades in all of her science classes.

b) All girls named Jennie are smart.

c) Jennie wouldn’t wear glasses if she wasn’t smart.

d) Some people who get A’s in chemistry are smart.

e) Everyone who gets an A in chemistry is smart.

Now, a few of these choices support the argument’s conclusion.  But only one of them is actually necessary to the argument.  Let’s looks at them one at a time.

a) Jennie gets good grades in all of her science classes.

This isn’t an assumption of this argument at all.  Jennie’s other science classes are outside the scope of the argument, since they are addressed in neither the evidence nor the conclusion.

b) All girls named Jennie are smart.

This choice would certainly support the conclusion; if this were true, then the conclusion would HAVE to be true.  But is this statement NECESSARY to the conclusion?  No.  Other girls named Jennie don’t have any necessary significance to this argument.  So this is not a good choice.

c) Jennie wouldn’t wear glasses if she wasn’t smart.

Again, this choice would be SUFFICIENT to make the argument’s conclusion follow from the evidence.  But is it necessary?  No.  So we’ll bypass this one.

d) Some people who get A’s in chemistry are smart.

This is the correct choice, because it MUST be true in order for the evidence to follow logically from the conclusion.  What if this wasn’t true, and no one who got an A in chemistry was smart?  If that were the case, then the conclusion would not be true, based on the evidence that Jennie gets A’s in chemistry.

e) Everyone who gets an A in chemistry is smart.

Once more, this choice is sufficient to support the conclusion, but it’s not necessary.  So it’s not the correct answer to the question that is being posed.

Now, hopefully you noticed that the correct answer here is the least extreme relevant statement.  That doesn’t always have to be the case, but for questions that ask for necessary assumptions, it’s a good general guideline.  Be wary of answer choices that are extreme; they will often be sufficient, but not necessary, and will therefore trick test-takers who aren’t careful in evaluating what exactly the question has asked them to find.

But what if the question paired with that argument looked more like this?

Which of the following assumptions, if true, best supports the conclusion above?

Well, in that case, the answer choices would look more like these:

a) Jennie gets good grades in all of her science classes.

b) All girls named Jennie are smart.

c) Jennie gets A’s in her physics class.

d) Some people who get A’s in chemistry are smart.

e) Some people who don’t wear glasses are smart.

Just as in the last example, choice a) is not relevant to the argument as an assumption.  But here, choice b) is the correct answer, because if that statement is true, then the conclusion is absolutely true.  Choices c) and e) are irrelevant in the same way that choice a) is, since physics and people who don’t wear glasses aren’t at issue here.  Now, choice d) is NECESSARY to the argument, but it is not the BEST support to the conclusion.  Even if it IS true that some people who get A’s in chemistry are smart, that doesn’t guarantee that Jennie is.

Moral of the story: keep a close eye on what the question is asking for, and read accordingly.

Have a question for Andrea or any of the Grockit tutors? Visit Grockit forums or post your thoughts here.

Categories: Critical Reasoning, GMAT, Verbal • No Comments »

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