Hi everyone, my name is Leon and I got a score of 750 on my GMAT. So like everyone else I wanted to get a great score on my GMAT to get into my dream business school. And so I decided–what was the first thing I needed to do–to find some sort of guide or material that I could study my GMAT on.

Hearing About GMAT Pill | GMAT Prep

So I asked around some friends about some prep courses like Kaplan or Princeton and Manhattan GMAT, of course. A few of them actually recommended that I should look into the GMAT Pill. At first I wasn’t really sure what that was so I did a bit of research and looked into what they actually do. It was quite interesting–the approach that they took to teach me what I needed to do because instead of having a lot of reading materials, they’re really composed of a set of videos of tutorials and the types of questions that you really needed to know.

Also, it was a lot cheaper than the classes from what I paid compared to thousands of dollars. Like everyone else, I didn’t really have a lot of time to study. So I figured, instead of devoting that much time to the entire Kaplan or ManhattanGMAT score, I decided to take the GMAT Pill. And what the GMAT Pill does is that instead of teaching you so many things, it really helps you to tackle each different question specifically based on what type of methodology you wan to use. I was especially weak in sentence correction, so that was really helpful because it showed me every strategy to tackle every type of question.

When I actually took the test, a lot of times the same concepts appeared in the GMAT Pill as it appeared on the actual GMAT test and I thought that was really helpful. And I would say the same about everything else–the math problems, etc. Everything was a whole set of concepts, they broke it down piece by piece.

GMAT Videos

It’s very easy to study because every concept was broken down into a video. So if you spent an hour or two a night or day you could go over certain concepts daily. It’s very easy to watch and learn instead of reading because it’s kind of interactive. It shows you visually how to attack the problem so I thought that was extremely helpful for me. And I have to say for everyone else, I understand that I can’t guarantee to get higher than 700 or 750 from just going GMAT Pill, but what really helped me was combining the tricks and tips from GMAT Pill with going over the OG guide–the 12th edition, 11th edition. Just practice some of the problems.

And even when you’re practicing some of those questions, I saw a lot of times the same concepts that the GMAT Pill taught me–it just comes up again and again and made it extremely easy. So I have to say you have a limited amount of time to really get the most out of the time you study, I would say you should really go with the GMAT Pill and you could get some really good results.

Also I must say that just trying to do GMAT Prep questions–those questions really correlate with the actual test. You study that and you supplement with the GMAT Pill–you could really get a great improvement in your score really quickly. And so I think if you want to save some money and you really want to be more efficient in your studying, go with the GMAT Pill and I hope you get a good of a score as I did.

Thank God I Did GMAT Prep With GMATPill

Thank god I took that–GMAT Pill program and not Princeton or the Kaplan courses. I don’t think I would have—I’d say maybe I’d do as well, but for the amount of time that I would’ve spent I could’ve spent doing something else. To me, GMAT Pill was really valuable in that aspect. It really saved me a lot of time and it was really easy to learn. I hope that you will have the same experience that I did and hopefully you will get a really good score as well.

Additional GMAT Prep Resources:

GMAT Test Dates – When The Exam Is and How To Register
The 1 GMAT Strategy You Need To Know
Online GMAT – How It Differs From Classroom GMAT

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It’s always great to speak with another fellow Stanford guy and here we are today with Andy Juang!

Listen to my interview with Andy, a hedge fund guy who will be starting Stanford business school in the fall. We’ll be talking about the MBA admissions process, life after getting in, and some GMAT advice. Why would a hedge fund guy go to business school? What happens after you get in? What about Stanford’s notoriously dreaded essay question? Listen and find out!

Intro Transcript

GMATPill: And here we are at GMATPill.com – today we have with us someone who got into Stanford Business School – Andy Juang. Andy will be sharing with us a little bit about his experience applying and getting into business school, taking the GMATs, writing those essays. So before we get into Q&A–Andy, why don’t you introduce yourself. Talk a little bit about yourself, who you are, what you do, where you come from.

Andy: Thanks for having me on this call here. Happy to be here. So a little bit about my background. I grew up in Tennessee. I went to Michigan for a couple years, transferred, graduated undergrad at Wharton back in 07 and spent a year in investment banking and then 3 years working at a hedge fund doing healthcare investing. And now I will be heading to Stanford in the fall.

GMATPill: Very, very good. So you mentioned you’ve been in the hedge fund space for 3 years. Typically we hear about people in the investment banking route or management consulting route who apply to get their MBA. I’m just curious–what is the rationale for a hedge fund analyst like yourself to go for his MBA? What made you decide to take the GMAT and apply for business school?

Andy: I think taking the GMAT versus actually applying to business school—were definitely easier decisions. In terms of the GMATs, really it gives you optionality in terms of applying so that was a no-brainer for me. But in terms of applying to business school, there are really quite a few reasons for me and a lot of them were some atypical reasons. Some of the typical ones that people apply for is–they’re trying to get into better industry or better company. Maybe they aren’t satisfied with their undergraduate credential. Like you said, management consulting or private equity–maybe the industry requires it. Or they need a break or something like that. All those things kind of—I felt like it didn’t really apply to me. Because the hedge fund industry–you don’t really need an MBA necessarily. But for me, I did want to meet a lot of great, smart people. So expanding the network–broadening it. I wanted to move out to California on a permanent basis so Stanford’s a great segue to build that network. I thought it would be great to brush up on more qualitative skills, my management, my leadership, communication–things like that. And I wanted to dip my toes in the entrepreneurial field. Stanford has a great entrepreneurial program. And worst case scenario–I figure I will always be able to get back into the investment management industry if I like to. Maybe it’ll cost me a couple of years, but in the long run it might not be that bad.

GMATPill: And right now you’re in between stages–you’re about to enter business school in the fall. How are you spending your time right now? How are you spending your summer before your adventurous ride to Stanford?

Andy: So I’m just personally trying to take it easy and travel as much as I can. I’m looking at going to Greece for a week–Europe for another 2 weeks–Hawaii–maybe go to Colombia or China. Really just trying to spend as much time…

For the rest of this interview–listen to the audio interview above

More topics:

• What Andy’s doing with classmates BEFORE school starts.
• Tips on Stanford’s notorious essay topic.

Andy’s thoughts on GMAT Prep

Andy: I was studying for about two months straight. On my weekends–really devoting 12 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday to just focus on GMAT preparation. And then sprinkle in a few hours on the weekdays. Plus I also took a week off right before I took the test. And really after all that I didn’t feel like I had enough preparation. I felt like I could have used a few more weeks–maybe a month or two more to prepare. Secondly, I would say just go ahead and set a date. You’re really just not going to be motivated unless you have a date in front of you. For me, I personally studied off and on for a few months and then when I finally got a date set I really lit the fire and it really forced me to sacrifice my social life to actually do the preparation. I also checked out a few different services like Princeton, ManhattanGMAT and I wish I knew more about the GMATPill before I took it–but I actually found that GMATPill has a very unique approach. Zeke’s actually taking you through each question and giving you his thought process behind it. I don’t think any of the other guys do that. It’s really a unique way to prepare. It’s also great if you’re in finance or you have an intense job and you really need to be able to watch his videos on your own schedule. I think you have a great program there.

More Interviews with Top MBAs and GMAT Prep Advice

Interview with Goldman Sachs Analyst on GMAT Prep Experience with GMAT Pill Versus Others
Interview with Stanford MBA (Marquis)
Interview with Harvard MBA and GMAT Pill
Interview with Kellogg MBA and GMAT Pill

Table of Contents | See Pricing

Verbal Videos: Sentence Correction | Critical Reasoning | Reading Comprehension
Quant Videos: Problem Solving | Data Sufficiency