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GRE Prep

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I agree the GMAT was tough. I ended up taking it twice the first time I thought I could wing it, did a little practice but not enough. The test killed me, longest few hours of my life taking it. Did not get the score I needed, and ended up taking again but did go the route actually practicing and prepping for it the second time and did well. The tests are no joke so don’t expect to show up and do well.

With that said going to grad school was the best thing I could have done. I struggled to be a B student in undergrad mostly because I did not have the passion for classes, it was not until my senior in College that I started to be a good student as I liked the material. For my MBA I graduate with like a 3.8 GPA as I loved the matterial and how grad classes were taught.

It definitely opened up a lot of job opportunities for me as having experience and success in my field with the added piece of paper made my resume a lot more friendly to recruiters. It also gave me confidence knowing I had did so well, I know longer saw myself as an average college student.

Bro, Data Sufficiency questions that are unique to the GMAT can go straight to hell. After I was done with my MBA with a very high GPA I went back to my old test-prep book and opened up the Data Sufficiency section and it is still like reading a different language. My brain just does not play nice with that format.

I showed them to my wife who is a math wiz and she also had so much trouble with Data Sufficiency. lol
 
Bro, Data Sufficiency questions that are unique to the GMAT can go straight to hell. After I was done with my MBA with a very high GPA I went back to my old test-prep book and opened up the Data Sufficiency section and it is still like reading a different language. My brain just does not play nice with that format.

I showed them to my wife who is a math wiz and she also had so much trouble with Data Sufficiency. lol

It’s crazy, it’s one of those test you have to prep so much for because some of the stuff is so out there that you never use on a day to day and even once I got to grad school it seemed like a waste. Lol
 
My GRE advice is the same as any other test: these tests don’t test intelligence as much as dedication. You can do as well as you want to do.

Map out your time and plan carefully, knowing yourself, when you are most alert, how often you need a night out w the homies, how many hours you can go in a row without your brain turning to mush, etc.

My study technique has always been to read all material without taking a ton of notes and taking quizzes along the way if possible. Then afterward take the fat practice test, review all wrong answers, figure out where I am weak, reread and pay attention and take notes, then retake a diff practice test then rinse & repeat.
 
Well, I pretty much go to work and come home, so no threat of drinking and partying getting in the way of studying. We just moved here and don’t know a single soul. I havent been “out” really since I left Florida. Should be easy to focus on prep when I’m not working.

Fuck I’m old. Better late than never.
 
I’ve been looking at:

- VIE-25
- O2O
- Microsoft Software and Systems Academy (MSSA)
- Work-Ex (Camo 2 Commerce)

I lucked out in that I am stationed at one of, if not the best place to transition out of the Army (Joint Base Lewis-McChord). I have a pretty strong background in computers, networking, and cyber security - Computer Science degree, CISSP and Sec+ certified, so I’m looking for something probably more mid-to-senior level, which unfortunately a lot of these programs are geared toward entry-level work. At the very least, I wouldn’t mind doing a fellowship or something like that, and I’m looking at going to grad school and using the rest of my Post-9/11 GI Bill once I get out.

There’s just a ton of options available if you know where to look - the sad thing is that many people either don’t know, don’t care to know, or their leadership and more experienced peers never bother to tell them about it.

@King Stannis has also transitioned out of the service in recent years and could probably tell you more.

ETA: I’ve also started looking into CORE, as well.
Started O2O. Seemed easy enough to apply. I put my terminal leave date down, which I think allowed me to start the session slightly earlier.

Doing the PMP certification through them. Unless you're going for one of the IT certs, seems the PMP and/or lean six sigma are three only ones useful.

CORE looks like they changed their requirements back to 12 months. Need to apply for that shortly, as I think there is a conference in November.

After the PMP , I'll probably spend my own money to get the lean six sigma black belt near the holidays... Unless I have something lined up already. Otherwise, not much else new from me.

How's the search coming from your end?
 
Started O2O. Seemed easy enough to apply. I put my terminal leave date down, which I think allowed me to start the session slightly earlier.

Doing the PMP certification through them. Unless you're going for one of the IT certs, seems the PMP and/or lean six sigma are three only ones useful.

CORE looks like they changed their requirements back to 12 months. Need to apply for that shortly, as I think there is a conference in November.

After the PMP , I'll probably spend my own money to get the lean six sigma black belt near the holidays... Unless I have something lined up already. Otherwise, not much else new from me.

How's the search coming from your end?

I was approved for O2O last week. Currently I’m looking into another program that runs parallel to that one for some additional certifications. It’s apparently pretty rigorous to get into, but the certs are normally so expensive (they are GIAC certs that normally run almost $2K) that this might be one of the only times I can actually get them. Only downside is that I would have to pay out of pocket to attend a mandatory six day boot camp in either Denver or Austin, but I guess it’s a small price to pay when you’re getting potentially almost $6K worth of certs alone, not to mention the additional thousands of dollars in training and mentoring.

Also recently caught wind of a veeeeery lucrative AWS internship - $32.50 an hour with full benefits, and they make you a full permanent employee with a significant pay bump (well into 6 figures) when you finish. Only requirement is that you have a TS.

Other than that, I’m currently in the hiring pipeline for a couple of federal agencies, and so far it seems pretty promising. It’s good to have options.

Good luck with the PMP. Someone I used to work with was in the program for PMP, said it was a lot of work. I’m not sure if he ever finished it. I think he also got his Lean Six Sigma Green Belt through the same program, somehow.
 
Well, I pretty much go to work and come home, so no threat of drinking and partying getting in the way of studying. We just moved here and don’t know a single soul. I havent been “out” really since I left Florida. Should be easy to focus on prep when I’m not working.

Fuck I’m old. Better late than never.

So did you take it? How’d it go?
 
So did you take it? How’d it go?

No. The year has not been very kind to me. Haven’t even really been around here much lately at all if anyone noticed.

I’ve put a lot of hours into studying though, when I’ve been able. Just haven’t taken it. Honestly, the route I want to take is so up in the air at the moment I was actually going to post looking for more advice, but just said fuck it. Either way, things are settling down and getting better so I’ll touch up on a few areas and then take the test shortly here I imagine. What comes after that, I don’t know.
 

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