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1. What GMAT materials would you recommend and why?
Use the official books. Kaplan books are a mess with many mistakes (read Amazon reviews). The official books have real GMAT questions from prior years and will give you the best idea of what to expect. I also recommend you download the prep software from the GMAC website that includes a few subkect-specific testlets and 2 full lenght tests. Take the prep test first to figiure out your areas of strenght/weakness and then come up with a study plan. Depending on what area you need to work on, there are non-official books you can use as well. Also, Kaplan has a prep test online as well, which is free and can't hurt to try.
2. Should I take a prep class?
Depends on your studying habits. It will give your studying more structure, if you need that. To me it's a waste of money and time. If you DO decide to take the classes, read the reviews of the local classes online. It looks like Princeton Review has better classes here (in Los Angeles) than Kaplan but it may be different in your area. Again once you take a sample test you will know what needs more work.
3. And what are the pros/cons of going to business school?
The MOST important thing in making that decision IMO is the school. You can get an MBA from an online university or you can get one from Harvard. The school you go to has a huge impact on what kind of jobs you can get afterwards, what companies will even bother talking to you/recruiting you and definitely on how much you get paid. This is again my personal opinion but given the cost (money, time, etc), the number of ppl with MBAs out there, the current and expected future demand (in this maket), it may be a better idea to pursue something other than MBA if you can't get into a good school. That of course is the GENERAL trend. There might be (and I am sure there are) graduates of Uiniversity of Phoenix who've landed good paying jobs.
Also, since you mentioned you'd like to have your own business someday, look into programs that are focused on entrepreneurship. There are many rankings available online.
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