Welcome!

Let’s face it – sometimes even the strongest students need a little professional help when it comes to standardized tests.

Whether it’s a matter of rebuilding your math skills from 7th grade up, providing structure and direction for your study, training you in the techniques that make the test less painful, or just being a mentor as you work through all the details that make for a strong application, I’m here to help!

For more information about tutoring services, check the links above. And please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions about my services – or just to chat about your academic goals.

GRE & GMAT Online Practice Tests

A shout out to the stalwarts who showed up for tonight’s GRE and GMAT class!  As promised, here are the links I mentioned in class:

• Princeton Review free practice GRE
• Official free practice GREs (3)
• GRE vocab list

• Princeton Review free practice GMAT
• Official free practice GMATs (3)

For book suggestions, visit my prep lists here.

New GRE score reports have arrived!

A day earlier than promised, the new, new GRE score reports hit mailboxes today (they should be available online tomorrow). Here are my first impressions:

• The new score reports show old (pre-August 1) scores paired with the new score equivalents, but at least for now they don’t show old score equivalents for the new scores.
• The layout of the page is, IMO, a little bit confusing. Focus on the score box in the upper right corner for the easiest view of your scores.
• If you’ve taken new GRE, old GRE, and the GMAT, all within one year, ETS is offering a whopping 25 dollars to look at all three sets of scores. Which maybe explains why there are no equivalency charts for B-school yet.

Other than that, congrats to everyone who’s gotten their reports today!  The next wave comes out soon!

Free 3-Hour GRE & GMAT Classes – Winter 2011

Sign up now! I’m teaching two free 3-hour GRE & GMAT classes in Winter 2011. The class is designed for people who are planning on applying to a school of business (like UNM’s Anderson School!) and who have the option of taking either the GRE or the GMAT.

Tuesday NOV 8 | 6-9pm
Anderson School of Management

Thursday DEC 15 | 6-9pm
Anderson School of Management

The classes are free (they’re also identical — no need to come twice!) but you’ll need to reserve a spot by emailing Greg Molecke.

On the subject of the new GRE

It’s August 1, which can only mean that ETS has finally rolled out the new GRE.  Here’s the email I’ve sent to my past GRE students, giving them a rundown on the new exam.

About the new GRE

August 1st marks the end of ETS’ old GRE format and the launch of a new GRE. Here are some of the salient details for students wondering whether to take the old test or wait for the new.

Admissions:

• The new test will roll out August 1, and from that date to November 1, anyone who takes the test will receive a score after November 7!  If you plan to apply between August and November, it is essential that you contact admissions to find out how they will handle this delay in reporting. Old test scores are available the day you take the exam, with a two week delay for official results. More info.
• The new test will be graded on a new scale: 130-170.  At this time, ETS is not reporting how those scores will correlate to the old 200-800 scale, which makes it harder to prepare against school admission requirements. More info.

4 Week GRE class at UNM: Pre-August GRE!

Just in time for the last days of the old GRE: we’re offering a 4-week GRE intensive at UNM’s Anderson School of Management. It runs May 21-June 18 and meets Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday afternoons. It’s fierce, but experience tells us that for many students, a faster, more focused study period is best!

For more information, visit the online info page at mba.unm.edu or get in touch with questions!

The New York Times Exercise / Reading Comprehension

Standardized tests always seem to come with those pesky Reading Comprehension passages — long essays followed by nit-picky questions about the author’s tone or the meaning of “chiaroscuro” in line 27.

One helpful way to boost your reading comprehension is to practice the very focused reading style that you’ll use on the real test.  The New York Times website offers an almost unlimited number of essays that are ideal for this exercise.  

B-School: GMAT or GRE?

An increasing number of MBA applicants now have the option of taking the GRE instead of the GMAT.  Schools like Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Texas A&M, and a whole host of “University of”s now accept both scores.

Depending on your skill set, there may be major advantages to taking one over the other.  But you won’t know for sure which one is better until you’ve taken a practice test.  

First steps: How to start your study

Before you begin your study – on your own or with a tutor – it’s super-important to know both your target score (the mean or median scores for your target schools) and your starting score.  There are great guides out there that will help with the former. For the latter, nothing will take the place of taking a real practice test.

But taking a pre-study practice test doesn’t have to be painful.  For starters, free official tests are available online for all of the major exams.  

Test Day Tips

While we all have our personal rituals and routines to help get us through stressful situations, here are a few of the tips I give my own students:

Before the day of the exam

• You’ll want to get four nights of sound, eight hour sleep prior to the test (not just one night!)