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http://live.prokhorenko.us
Oct 23 2009

Typo hunter's on the road again

Typos happen.  Sometimes they don't bother you much.  Sometimes, the do.  Like in the books that have question and answer combos.

Like, you know, for the quantitative part of GMAT, for example.

Yes, I'm talking about the EZ basic math workbook.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1605621579/iwhite-20

It has a lot of typos.  What's worse, it has a lot of errors, too.  Like the one show above, which is page 113, question #20.  Twice 32 equals 64, but not 62.  Where the heck is editor?  Proofreader?  Anybody else?

It's not the only example, but I just wanted to show you that reviews like this (even if it's the only one), should not be ignored:

there are a lot of examples in the book that are completely wrong. The further you go in the book the worse it gets. Its like the author got exhausted by the end.

ex:
1) a question will ask you about blue ribbons but will calculate due to green ribbons.
2) some of the combinatorics questions have missing combinations that the question is asking about.

I can go on and on ...

The book is very easy and has bunch of errors. Work with it at your own risk.

BTW to put some weight behind my words: I have already taken GMAT and got above 700. 

by BebaZyabovna.

Take care.
Oct 22 2009

EZ Basic Math

Okay, I've got 200 more sample questions and 2 parts left from the EZ basic math workbook.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1605621579/iwhite-20

Listen. Get it if your math is really bad. I mean, you really suck. Or you feel like you suck. Otherwise, you don't need it. It sucks to be able to solve all samples. I'm not the brightest guy, but it's too easy even for me.

So I'm planning to take a pause with math and get back to Sentence Correction.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0982423861/iwhite-20

And only after it I'm going to spend more time with EZ advanced math workbook. I hope it would be way more interesting, because I found myself doing pretty well with The Quest for 700: Weekly GMAT Challenge posted every Wednesday on http://www.mbamission.com with answer following Thursday. Otherwise, screw the Amazon's reviews for EZ books, because they're wrong. Anyway I don't like the format of EZ books. I'd prefer to stay closer to GMAT format, because, well, you know... this is for GMAT. Why is it titled so, huh?

Oct 19 2009

My progress with EZ basic math

While I didn't spend a decent time with the book, the results so far so good. Out of almost 200 questions, I've yellow-marked 4 or 5 solutions, even scoring the 100% correct answers. Those solutions were a little bit easier way comparing to what I chose.

This is quite a nice number to see, however, I was expecting for something more challenging. It's easy to be a smart guy when you're facing very basic problems, isn't it? :) I'm starting to think that getting a basic math workbook was not so good idea. I should start from advanced one. However, I'm not going to drop out now, and I'm going to complete it.

Oct 16 2009

EZ Basic Math for GMAT

Well, I'm pissed of.  

EZ Solutions - Test Prep Series - Math Practice - Basic Workbook - GMAT 

First of all, this title sucks.  How do you imaging me telling a friend about this book when it has some many words inside?  Do they all make sense?  Doubt so.

I've read so many positives reviews about EZ books for GMAT.  Speaking about this specific book it was like 7 five-stars and 1 one-star.  None of the did mention that the basic book is so freakin' basic.

I've went through almost a hundred of questions so far, and none of them are challenging.  They are basic.  But I'll keep going.  Hopefully, this book will undercover some hidden gem and it will make me happier about the twenty I spent.

About Olexandr Prokhorenko

My name is Olexandr Prokhorenko, but you probably also know me as Alexander Prohorenko or "white". I am Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Sun Certified Systems Administrator for Solaris (SCSA) and Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP), and this helps me to be a better IT entrepreneur. I used to write tech articles, but don't have time for this anymore.

My projects are CPGjobs & CPGjoblist, Extracom (acquired in 2002), dt-Source, BossTalks, iTunes' CyrFix, Shotscreen, Strawlink, Atomkeep, Everytalks and Budgetler.

My LinkedIn profile is www.linkedin.com/in/white.

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