Sunday, September 28, 2008

GMAT Malaysia has its own "Aunty Agony"

Thank you to many of our followers who wrote in to me. I am glad this blog has been helpful to you to some extent. Where me or Soon Chern is able to assist, we do our best.

Taking a lead from the "Aunty Agony" columnists in many weekend dailies, I thought it will be nice that GMAT Malaysia has its own "Aunty Agony" :o) (Btw, "Uncle Agony" doesn't sound catchy nor why would anyone wanna listen to an old fart)


Here is the first letter from Ms. J.

"Dear Aunty Agony,
I'm still struggling with the preparation. I'm already half way thru the GMAT official guide and thought I was ready for it till I took the Prep test :( It felt like a notch higher. Think I'm not grasping the concept well at this short period of time or maybe I need to diagram before answerin but it's time consuming which I could spend on the next question or just do more drill..........."

Hi Ms. J
Aha, you have tried the GMAT Prep. Good. That's give you a realsimulation of what the real GMAT is. So tell me when you think youwent wrong. List them down and do a diagnosis.
From your email, you mentioned abt not grasping the concepts,diagramming and time spent. Let me start with the last one.

Time: Time: You will never have enough. Remember you have max 2mins per quant, 1.5mins per verbal. If you can solve the quant in less than 2mins and less than 6 steps, you better guess and move on. Spending more time/steps will kill yr chances of high quant score. If you spend more, means you did not get the concepts. Go back and reread and practice.

Diagramming: I am a visual person. Diagramming helps me. It shld takeless than 30sec to diagram and fill in key info. The answer may justpop out. Spending 30sec diagramming might be better than spending 1min reading the question n figuring what it is trying to say. I amsure you which is a better use of time.

Concepts: This is the foundation for anything, GMAT or otherwise. So,if you grasp the concepts, then practise until you do. Better tostrengthen yr concepts now than during test. You dont get a chance on exam day.

So, hit the books and get the 3 right. If you are not ready, dont takethe test. It's also about readiness and mental preparedness. Neverrush into getting to B-school. Some takes 2 yrs to prepare for GMATand 3 yrs before applying for the school.

Good luck.

Lots of love,
Aunty Agony

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Dear Aunt Agony,
I am venturing into something that requires GMAT as entry. Just a stupid question, is the exam only once a year or there are a few sessions? Thanks for your answer.

mytrainmaster said...

Dear Evelyn
All questions are good questions.

The best thing about GMAT is it is computer based and can be taken anywhere in the world and at anytime.

You can go to www.mba.com and look for a suitable date and time to take the test. The timing, venue and available dates subject to local holidays and US holidays.

So, it is best to book at least 1 month in advance.

Good luck.

Lots of love,
Aunty Agony

Unknown said...

Thanks Jimmy. Will start researching now.