For LSAT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, and PCAT

By Jay Cutts

Lead Author, Barron’s LSAT and MCAT Prep Materials

Happy June and Summer!

REMEMBER: The 3 Keys to Self-Prep Success:

1. A well-planned study schedule
2. High quality prep materials
3. Peer support

If you’re still not doing well enough, look for a qualified tutor.

THIS MONTH: Let’s take a quick look at where things stand for you.

MCAT/PCAT: You should be devoting as much time as possible to your prep now and for the rest of the summer. Leave your summer schedule as free as possible. This summer is not the time for travel, internships, or volunteering. Ideally you should have no more than 20 hours a week of other commitments.

Focus on situation based questions and pen and paper test :
CISA is notorious for practical application based questions and it is better to keep yourself prepared for the same. CISA is pen and paper based exam and a large part of it is rote learning based, so it need a lot of practice for perfection.

LSAT: Ditto.

 GRE/GMAT: Ditto.

 PREP HINTS:

Last month we talked about scientific problem-solving strategy for the MCAT and PCAT. This month I want to go over some advanced problem-solving strategy.

For science passages it’s usually not necessary to read very much of the setup. Go right to the questions. Many questions turn out to be independent of passage. You can do those first.

Always be sure to take time to orient yourself to the question stem – the part before the answer choices. Many errors are due to not understanding the question stem correctly.

When you are having a hard time answering a question, a powerful strategy that you can use is the KING approach. It’s a technique that I developed for asking yourself questions that take you further into the problem.

K stands for Know. What do I know? Identify the facts that you have available.

I stands for Infer. Given what I know, what can be inferred?

N stands for Need. What would I need to know to get to the answer?

G stands for Get. How can I get the information that I need?

Try this out. You’ll find that it gives you new insights and often leads to a solution.

In the Barron’s MCAT book I thoroughly explain strategy for timing, test taking and problem solving. PCAT takers will get a lot out of that book as well.

Next month we’ll talk more about tools for reading comprehension, which is on all the exams.

Jay Cutts is the director of the Cutts Graduate Reviews and lead author of the Barron’s LSAT Prep Book, Barron’s MCAT Prep Book, and Barron’s MCAT Flash Cards. He has helped thousands of students get into graduate and professional programs since 1990.

He is the creator of the STEPS to the LSAT self-study support program.

 Mr. Cutts offers free admissions planning help at:

Prelaw

Premed

Other fields

I was working in Investment Banking at the time, so needless to say I worked long hours and had to squeeze in GMAT prep at nights and occasional free weekends. Turns out chatting at the water cooler actually does help, because little did I know, a colleague in a different division was also in the same boat as I. So we decided to become study buddies and met up three times a week.

During our very first session we realized that our skills complemented each other’s. While I was strong in the Verbal Section, he was a Quant Guru who needed to improve his sentence correction and reading comprehension. Together, we tackled almost every OG question successfully. More importantly, through discussion we were able to flesh out sound reasoning that related back to the basic concepts, which we could then hone individually.

My time management improved and I became more efficient. Where I used to slip in an episode or two of 30 Rock during my numerous breaks and shamelessly still kudos myself on a hard night’s work, I could now get some much needed sleep rather than dream about Liz & Tracy. I stopped procrastinating! Once we established our study routine it was easier not to slack as we had preset breaks where we would discuss mistakes and doubts.

Most importantly, and most of you can sympathize with this, I got the motivation I needed to study. At times it really can get pretty difficult to solve those OG problems and read through the Manhattan GMAT Verbal books, there are 6 of them. But, by meeting at different locations such as coffee shops, local libraries and small eateries it became more social and just that little less painful. At least I wasn’t cooped up alone in my room late at night all the time. Funnily enough, studying with a partner also helped me study better individually as I wanted to prep better for our next session.

Studying with a partner also instilled in me that sense of accountability. I did not want to be the one who had not done the problems we assigned ourselves, and let down the team so to speak.  It would have also been a pretty unproductive session had I done that.

This experience made us both realise the importance of studying with a partner, someone who has a similar background to mine or whose work and study schedule are in sync with mine. That is thrwhy we started StudyPal.co, where you can find a StudyPal or a StudyGuru in your city studying for the same test as you.

-Akkshay Chugh
CEO, StudyPal.co

Join Us and lets change the way people study. To find a study partner near you, sign up at www.studypal.co today!

1. A well-planned study schedule
2. High quality prep materials
3. Peer support (A study partner or a study group might work wonders!)

If you’re still not doing well enough, look for a QUALIFIED TUTOR.

THIS MONTH: Let’s take a quick look at where things stand for you!

MCAT: Hopefully you took your test already. If not, you’ll need to wait another year to apply. Also, most applications were due last month or earlier.

PCAT: Some schools will accept the January exam. If you haven’t scored your best, keep studying!

LSAT: If you aren’t signed up for the December test and don’t have a previous official score, you will only be able to apply to those few schools that will accept February as your first score.

If you will have an official score by December, it’s to your advantage to also retake the test in February and submit this as a supplemental score. You’re probably already sick of studying but a few more months of prep will make a significant difference. If you feel like you’re not improving, try something different. See our hints on test prep options.

GRE/GMAT: Depending on where you’re applying, your deadlines could be early December to March. If you will have taken the test by December, it will be to your advantage to retake the test in late January or early February. Let the school know you plan to do this.

PREP HINTS:

Let’s talk about verbal test sections. All the tests have verbal sections.

For the MCAT, it is only a reading comprehension section. For the others, the verbal consists of a variety of types of questions, including reading comprehension, which is on all of them.

In future posts I’ll talk about reading comprehension and about complex logic questions on the LSAT and GMAT. Today we’ll talk about the sentence completion on the GRE and the sentence correction on the GMAT.

Remember that for all verbal question types, there is a basic hidden agenda that the correct answer must be defendable by something that you can point to in the passage. The correct answer is never correct simply because the test writers think it is more elegant ( even if it seems that way to you!); it is more about the right logic.

GRE Sentence Completion:
Here you have one or more blanks in a sentence.
You have to choose the word that goes in the blank from a list of several options.
If there is more than one blank, you need to choose the correct word for all blanks to get credit for the question.
You don’t get partial credit for getting one blank right. For this reason, questions with two or three blanks are good choices for skipping if you aren’t going to have time for all questions or are unsure of the answers.

Look for the relationships in the sentence. Consider:

Even though John is usually a happy person, today he is _____.

There are two parts to the sentence. In the first part John is happy. The words “even though” tell us that in the second part he must be the opposite of happy. Do you see these sentence relationships?

Most sentence completion questions are based on contrasts between two or more elements, just as in reading comp the structure is based on a dichotomy between two elements. (We’ll come back to this again in the reading comprehension post, in case you haven’t gotten to that yet.)

It works well in Sentence Completion to think in simple and absolute terms. The above example could have read:

Even though John is usually a gregarious person, today he is _____.

You simply have to know that gregarious is a “good” thing. The second blank must be a “bad” thing.

GMAT Sentence Correction:
This is a challenging section in which you have to determine whether an underlined component of a sentence is grammatically correct or needs to be changed to one of the other answer choices.
You need to learn lots of grammar rules. The good news is that there are a relatively small number of patterns that they test.
Do study each question very thoroughly, having someone explain the grammar to you if necessary (A grammar book might help)
Chances are you’ll soon see that same type of error on another question.

Next month we’ll talk about the critical subject of timing.

Jay Cutts is the director of the Cutts Graduate Reviews and lead author of the Barron LSAT Prep Book, Barron’s MCAT Prep Book, and Barron’s MCAT Flash Cards. He has helped thousands of students get into graduate and professional programs since 1990.
He is the creator of the STEPS to the LSAT self-study support program.
Mr. Cutts offers free admissions planning help at:
Pre-Law
Pre-Med
Other fields

Study buddy cfa

Social Studying in New York

We often make studying for the CFA unnecessarily hard and lonesome. Let’s take the CFA for example. There are many ways to change that.

For starters, get out of the house

Lets start with Coffee Shops. New York has plenty of coffee options. Birch coffee-Located in the Gaudi-esque Gershwin Hotel. Seating by the counters are often occupied, however walk into the Gershwin lobby and up some dark stairs you would spot their library, tucked in a small loft. Finish an hour of questions on that Schweser guide, followed with ten minutes of people watching on a Sunday afternoon and the study experience for the CFA does not seem that much of a chore any longer.

Housing work bookstore café offers a new experience and feel to study. You could spend days in the bookstore studying and discussing with your studypal with breaks for caffeine, baked goods and savories. This bookstore even has an upper level with smaller tables to hide from the crowd so that you can make an escape into serenity.

D’Espresso would make you feel as if the world had turned sideways, with its crazy interiors. With floors and ceilings appearing to be lined with books, you can get an additional motivation for studying.

Then, there are the libraries. For starters, the New York library with 53 million items and many branches it is a great place to be surrounded by motivated people. With other public libraries such as the Adams free Library, Afton free library offer free internet access as well  as a crèche for learners with children.

So in summary, find your ideal study spot outside the house, find your ideal study buddy and you will enjoy studying for the CFA.

Enjoying the studying  experience and  motivation will bring better results and focus

Don’t just study hard, study smart!

Becoming a CFA charter holder gives you a certain level of personal satisfaction. Completing one of the most prestigious and demanding professional programs in business is certainly a distinctive characteristic that should make you proud. As a CFA Charterholder you will be among approximately only 110.000 professionals in the world who share this designation.

CFA Charter will certainly open some doors in the investment/financial industry. It doesn’t mean that you will be instantly promoted at your current workplace, but it definitely makes you a person of choice for lead expert or managerial position. The key competitive advantage compared to your peers is certainly the knowledge you have gained in the process of obtaining the charter. However, do not neglect the opportunity for further education given by CFA charterholders by CFA Institute via magazines regularly shipped to charterholders’ address, as well as other professional programs – education is the lifetime long process.

According to some researches CFA charterholders get better paid jobs than non-CFA charterholders. The connection is probably not linear and the fact that you have the ability to complete such a demanding program also enables you to climb in the corporate organization. However, CFA Charter definitely gives you some bullets for your career talks with your superiors. Your knowledge will be recognized and you will be professionally more satisfied than before.

On the private side, you will have surprisingly more time for private stuff. During preparation for the CFA exams, you wanted to make use of your time as efficiently as possible – you can use TimePrep and also form a study group on StudyPal.co So, if you keep the discipline, after the program, you will have much more free time to spend with your family and friends.

Finally, don’t forget an important thing. CFA charter gives not only benefits but also some requirements. Strict professional and ethical standards oblige you to certain level of professionalism and adherence to the high ethical standards. Make sure you promote and adhere to these standards in your everyday business.

Good luck!

Crack CET in 15 days

StudyPal.co is providing Free Study Material for CET

Sign-up to get it directly to your email.

CET Exam Syllabus  

Good Luck !

The GRE experts at Magoosh have just released the Ultimate GRE Guide, which is a great resource for anyone starting to study for the GRE. It answers every question an aspiring graduate student might have, from the very basic (“What is the GRE?”) to the advanced (“How do you get a perfect score?”). It organizes a lot of the information from the Magoosh blog, and points you to other sites (especially to http://ets.org/gre!) that may offer more help. Best of all, it’s free! Think of it as a crash course to the GRE—once you finish learning all of the basics of the exam, you’ll have more time to focus on scoring well. Enjoy!

This post was written by our friends at Magoosh.

I am often hungrier while writing an article about food rather than while I’m cooking it. Thinking can make us pretty hungry. According to medical researchers, our brain cells need double the energy as the other cells in our body, causing our body to crave food to restore this energy during intellectual activities like test prep.

So if you are preparing for standardized tests and often get the munchies, it is merely your brain insisting on a glucose boost. Sorry to be a damper on a guilt free study binge by stating the obvious, but over-snacking and eating the wrong things during your hunger pangs will certainly be counterproductive. It can cause your brain to get too much glucose and slow down. Not so smart after all!

However, there is nothing better than a healthy snack to keep your mental juices flowing.  So why don’t we make this snack time doubly productive by eating not just healthy but brainy foods too.

There are four main nutritional components that help our brains function to their full potential and even reinforce new brain cells. Here is a list of healthy powder foods that will provide the right nourishment for those long study days.

1. Glucose (carbohydrate) – The energy giver
   
   • Banana smoothies
   • Bean and corn salads
   • Popcorn
   • Lentil soups
   • Whole grain crackers with hummus

    

2. Fatty acids (omega 3-6) – The brain lubricant
   • Smoked salmon or grilled sardine fingers snacks
   • Avocado and chia smoothie
   • Walnuts
   • Cashew nuts
   • Flax seed rich energy bars
   • Tahini (sesame paste) dip

3. Antioxidants – The restorer
   
   • All kinds of berries
   • Spinach soups
   • Steamed garlic broccoli
   • DIY Energy drink: Coconut water with chia seeds
   • A variety of teas

    

4. Amino acids (protein) – The protector
   
   • Grilled fish, meat, liver and tofu snacks
   • Egg white salads
   • Yogurt snacks with honey and flax powder

And here are two simple and quick recipes for you and your study buddy.

AVOCADO SMOOTHIE

Serves – 2 glasses
Prep time – 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 avocado
3 tablespoons chopped dates
5 tablespoons 0% fat greek yogurt
½ cup Soymilk
¾ cup water
2 tablespoons chia seeds

Methods:

Mix the soymilk, water and chia seeds in a glass and leave aside letting the chia seeds absorb the water and fluff up.

Put the avocado, dates and greek yogurt in a blender and blend till they form a smooth paste.

Put the avocado paste in a mixing bowl with the soymilk mix and gently combine the ingredients together with a spatula.

Chill in the refrigerator and drink the cold avocado smoothie during your study break to give your brain a jumpstart!

BEAN SALAD

Serves – 3
Prep time – 20 minutes

Ingredients:

½ cup red beans
½ cup sweet corn
½ cup chopped coriander leaves
¼ cup spring onions
¼ cup chopped walnuts

Dressing:

½ a lime, juiced
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika powder
1 teaspoon honey

Method:

Mix together all the ingredients for the dressing and leave aside.
Put the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss till the produce have come together nicely.

Mix in the dressing and serve chilled.

Remember to graze through your study days, eat nutritious snacks and keep it light.

Enjoy!

1. Tell us about CollegePond and its Founders

Collegepond is an online/offline-counseling career guidance, test preparation and admissions counseling outfit. We help talented students achieve their goal of studying at top Universities across the globe. We have guided over 2000 students in obtaining admission to the elite universities in USA, France, NZ, Australia, Singapore, UK and Hong Kong. Our strength lies in highlighting the most optimal path in achieving students’ career ambitions. Our directors are also featured in Education Times regularly.

More information about us can be found on www.collegepond.com.

Suraj Bajaj completed his undergraduate dual degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School and College of Arts & Sciences. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.  Suraj has spent 10 years working at leading investment banks and Big 4 Accounting firms where, in addition to his work responsibilities, he was involved in recruiting new graduates as well as lateral hires.  He has also passed the CPA examination and has written articles for various journals. Over the past seven years, Suraj has been involved in helping aspiring, talented young individuals set their career objectives and develop an action plan to achieve the same. He has guided students in obtaining admission to the elite universities in the US, France, Australia and United Kingdom. Suraj heads Collegepond’s counseling division and works with students to ensure that they are on course to achieve their desired career path.

Jimeet Sanghavi has worked at Citigroup & Bloomberg and has a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Stony Brook University. His spectrum of experience ranges from being an IT Analyst to Key-Account Manager to University Recruiting Captain to Teacher and Faculty Member. He decided to pursue his love of teaching and counseling which he had been doing even from USA over the last 5 years.Thanks to his recruiting efforts, he has an excellent rapport with the Career Centers of these universities which helps gauge the job placement scenarios of different schools every year. Jimeet heads Collegepond’s test preparation division and helps students crack the GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, and SAT exams.

2. How should students considering GRE start their test prep?

You should approach GRE in a way similar to training for a marathon. You need to build up gradually and be steady throughout. It is unlike a college exam where you take crash courses and study at last minute and scrape through.

GRE is an exam of aptitude as well as your nerves. You need to condition yourself with a lot of mock exams periodically to assess whether your efforts are being reflected in your scores. One simple recommendation to improve your GRE score is to become an avid reader.  By reading, we mean understanding the grammar, contextual reference and word usage and not just skim through a page-turning novel. Also, it is important to brush up your high school algebra and geometry (not trigonometry) and remember the formulas at a bare minimum.

We also recommend studying with a study partner of forming a study group. You can find a GRE study partner at StudyPal.co

3. What are the resources students must use for their GRE test prep?

There are various reference books available in the market and on the internet.  It is important that students utilize the Powerprep material provided by ETS when registering for the exam. It comes with 2 mock exams which are almost a replica of the GRE exam. It is important to thoroughly exhaust the question-set provided in this software.

4. How long does one require to prepare for the GRE?

On average a student requires about 200 hours of study. This encompasses reading, tutoring classes, homework, mock exams, analysis of exams, etc

5. What are your top 4 study tips for students?

(a) Practice is the key. The more you practice the better you become.

(b) More often than not, GRE is more an exam of your grit and confidence than what you know. You need to be confident, not let a difficult question affect your mindset for the next one

(c) Time-management is important. Solving something correctly in the appropriate amount of time is crucial. It is also important to manage your time between your GRE prep, work, & family commitments.

(d) Form a study group; it helps to keep you motivated and on schedule.