Tuesday, August 26, 2008

What Your Brain is Like on GMAT

Yesterday I began my studies for the GMAT. I ordered the GMAT Guide from my favorite Barnes and Noble store. The book came in the mail, and I decided that I would study an hour and a half a day until test time, which is not carved in stone yet but should occur somewhere around September 20. That means I have roughly 26 days of study time, at 1.5 hours a day, is 39 hours of study and practice test taking time. Should be enough, eh? I thought so, and then yesteday, I sat down with pencil in hand, wrote down the starting time, and began the assessment test. Whew! Fifteen minutes into the test, I was feleing rather, well, dumb. The first half of the test involves quantitative, or math. I have always been sharply skilled in math. Not anymore. What is an integer? And can you tell me what the highest integer is between 150 and 300? I'm sitting there thinking to myself, 'who really uses this crap in every day life, CEO or janitor?' I go on further, realizing that there are always useless questions in these standardized tests. Then I come to a section called DATA SUFFICIENCY. The directions follow:
A. Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) ALONE is not sufficient.
B. Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) ALONE is not sufficient.
C. BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient.
D. EACH statement ALONE is sufficient.
E. Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient.
Ok, first, my head is reeling from the last section on integers and their absolute uselessness to everyday life. Would someone please tell me you need to know about integers to do your job everyday, provided you are NOT a mathematician?!! Now, I have to decipher how to answer questions according to the above criteria. Gee, can you say headache? Some questions from this section:
Does the integer (integers again, can you see a pattern here?) k have at least three different positive prime factors?
(1) k/15 is an integer
(2) k/10 is an integer
Needless to say at this point, that I scored below average in the quant section. Oddly enough, verbal was never my strong point, despite how much I talk...and I scored above average in most scetions of it. Who knows? I guess what I have learned since grad school is that I know how to communicate, but I cannot quantitatively deduce anything. I find that quirky, given that my last career position involved quantitative analysis of various components of beverages on a daily basis. And to the best of my knowledge and George's, I was accurate and efficient. So, in a short two months out of work, I am now considered a MORON according to GMAT's standards. WOW! Well, I'm off to learn about integers and to be bitten on the toes whilst learning.

2 comments:

Dr. Wifey said...

ok, so now i am having seizures (from the colors on your blog :)) and feel dumb. haha

don't worry, chica, it will all come back to you, you will do fine!

Roz said...

Ok now my head hurts from trying to figure out what the hel your talking about.