Double Whammy!!!

I got a double whammy on a very fine friday morning. Two dings. One from Wharton and one from Kellogg.

Back to square one. What's happening? I had fab interviews and my application review from frens, colleagues and professionals said that it is very strong. What went wrong?

I DONT KNOW.

Time to reassess, regroup and plan for the next attack. How many more times am I going to be tested for my determination, resilience and perseverance????

Wharton R1

After a long hiatus, I am back again. Applied to Wharton in round 1. Submitted my app on the 1st Oct. Received interview invite on 30th Oct.
Now is the real thing. I have to ace this interview and then hope for the best. let's see how things go..

Adios and more to come now in the days ahead..

DD

Alas! It's over

I retook GMAT and scored 720 (Quant 49, V 40). Not a very high score, but decent enough. I believe this covers my GMAT area in applying to any school of my choice. Now all that is left is working on the applications.

I really believe that I could have scored higher. In this last month, my work load increased tremendously and I just didn't find time to study. It's incredible to look back and see that I could give only two mock tests in the last 31 days because of paucity of time. Everything happens for a reason and so I think there's no point in regretting anything.

The good thing that I did this time is that I didn't take Red Bull with me and yes this time the officers at the PearsonVue center were quite diligent too. Everything went pretty well.. The breaks have been reduced to 8 mins instead of 10 mins. I took special care of that and didnt utilize the whole break unlike last time when the PearsonVue staff couldn't check me in at the right time and so I lost minutes from my test time. For sustaining energy I relied on natural organic bananas :-) There's nothing that can go wrong with a Banana and the energy is awesome.

I started really well in the test with tremendous speed in math section. I think I relaxed somewhere in between as I was very confident and that cost me time in the later questions. NEVER EVER think that the war is over till its really over is the lesson I learnt. I am usually not complacent, but yesterday I think I became in the quant section and that's what cost me in the end.

Now is the tough part. Applications. I have already submitted one for the July 22nd deadline. Submitted my latest GMAT score yesterday too. I have more deadlines coming up in Oct. I want to make sure that I submit my applications in the first deadline itself. So I am gonna take a break from everything for next 10 days and then start afresh.

That's all from me now.. more to come as I start the exciting application process. At this stage I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes:

"We are like tea bags. We don't know our strengths until we're in hot water."

Fight back

Well, more than a week has passed after my debacle in GMAT scoring a meagre 690. I have started writing essays though for few schools. One of the questions that schools always ask is what are your strengths?

I have always felt till date that if there's one quality that I can pick in myself that I am particularly proud of, then that is persistence.. determination .. perseverance. I guess all three mean the same in my world.

I can't write that in the essays if I don't feel and act that way in real life. So this is all about fight back and not giving up. 30th July is the new date and my rendezvous with GMAT again.

I have buckled up and spending more time in my studies. My posts on BTG are now more on verbal and I have started giving lots of details. I haven't touched quant at all. I think I can pick it up really quickly, if I have to.

I spoke with the admissions committee of the school where I am applying and would miss the deadline for giving my new GMAT score. The school agreed to accept my new score. So that's one thing taken care off.

I also want to thank my frens on BTG who have admired my posts time and again and sent me personal msgs of appreciation. I want to let them know that it is very much appreciated and a very humbling experience for me. I am also glad that many people have liked my other blog (http://gmattoughies.blogspot.com/) and found it very helpful. Its something that I started with the intention of accumulating all fundamentals that are really important to review before taking the GMAT. I feel very happy that its useful for others too. Thanks again to everyone for the appreciation.

That's all from me as of now.. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."- Aristotle

Dejection Galore on 29th June

I gave my GMAT on 29th June and scored a meagre 690. Was pretty confident of scoring above 700, somewhere close to 750 - 760 Range. All the tests that I had given till now, including MGMAT, Kaplan, 800score.com and GMATprep.. I had consistently scored above 700 and most of the times in the range that I wanted..

On test day, I was pretty relaxed and the AWA section went pretty well.. Ideas were flowing in and I was able to write really good essays..

took break of 10 mins before quant..Had a banana and some chocolate.. The staff at this pearsonvue center (Milpitas, CA) are quite new and so the person took some time in checking me in. Lost couple of minutes there. Tried to calm myself. Maths being my strong area, I knew I could cope up with things. So avoided pressing the panic button.. Ultimately did quite well in quant. Scored 50 in the end..

Took another 10 mins break, and by this time I was feeling very good.. coz both my quant and AWA had gone well.. ate the 2nd banana.. had some more chocolate and since I was not able to sleep well the previous night, I thought of taking red bull too. Time of check in and again the perasonvue staff, were quite inefficient. I was getting irritated and asking the lady to check me in and she wasn't able to make the scroll bar move on her screen. Someone else had to help her. All this while she kept telling me that it would be unfortunate if I got checked in late. and in the end I again got checked in late. I tried hard to not press the panic button as I was quite agitated too with the casual reaction of the staff.. (after my exam I lodged a complaint against the pearsonvue center by calling 800-717-4628)

Verbal started very well too.. I think I definitely aced the first 8 questions.. Then I got a very tough RC.. very lengthy one too.. at least not the kind I had seen on MGMAT or KAPLAN or gmatprep.. The clock was ticking and the Red Bull effect dazed me.. I spent too much time on this RC.. and I believe that I still got it wrong. I was by this time, totally dazed.. I couldn't concentrate on a question and had to read two to three times any line.. panic set in.. and those CR and SC questions that I would have got right, I think I messed up.. ultimately in the end I had 10 questions remaining in 10 mins.. Somehow finished my test..

I knew I had messed up in verbal.. but I was still expecting a score above 700.. I am right now quite dejected to say the least.

One of my school's deadline is 22nd July and I know I can't retake the test before that. So I called up the school immediately after my test.. and explained to them my situation.. Fortunately, the school agreed to consider my GMAT score even after the deadline but only if I report by 31st July and so now I have to retake GMAT on 31st July i.e. 31 days after taking the GMAT.

Whatever happened on 29th has put a dent on my confidence though.. need to get back in groove.. have to be so much prepared that incidences like late check ins and a drink such as Red Bull.. (I swear I won't take it again) should not shake someone so much that you score so lesssss!!!!

I am from an oversubscribed pool of Indian, IT, Male applicants.. and that's why I think that I need a really high GMAT score.. I feel that my credentials are pretty good and in comparison with successful candidates in top b schools that I have visited..

I need a plan now to excel in verbal, no matter what situation I am in.. it's imperative that I score high on 31st July..

I'm back!!!!

Sorry people.. I have been missing in action for almost a month now.. told ya earlier.. sometimes office work can be overwhelming..
Anyways, what I did in this one month time period is as follows.. I took a week off to concentrate on verbal... did a lot of practice questions.. solved the 1000SC.. There's a tutor by the name Prachi Pareekh.. her blog is http://gmatsentencecorrection.blogspot.com/ It's really nice.. I would suggest that you visit that blog.. she has very well explained all the answers..

If you have noticed my other blog http://gmattoughies.blogspot.com is now really filled up with too many posts.. I kept on posting as I learnt something new in verbal.. anyone who wants to have a one stop shop for verbal, please do visit my blog.. you'll find it helpful..

Apart from this I have test sets from 800score.com, manhattan gmat and powerprep.. that's all I got.. and that's all I gave in the last few weeks..
It was disappointing to score less on manhattan gmat... I dont know what went wrong.. too many silly mistakes.. maybe I was very tired or something.. it isn't that tough to score above 700 anytime you give a mock test.. but in two of my manhattan gmat tests I scored 680.. was disheartened.. I tried 800score.com test and whoa!!! scored 770 twice.. and just last night I gave my very first gmatprep test.. official one.. scored a 750. My verdict is as follows:

1. 800Score.com practice tests:
   
• Math is way too simple.. most of the times you don't even need a pen and paper... just mind calculations are sufficient.. So really not a true indicator of GMAT
• Verbal is very good. In fact the RCs are really tough.. at least I found them.. SC is simple.. and RCs are divided into some being simple and some being just toooo convoluted.. you can't figure out how this could be the answer..
  
2. Manhattan Practice Tests:
• Math is really good.. quite time consuming... for every problem you need to think or scratch something on paper.. considering I am an engineer and was always proficient in maths.. I would say this one is really good and fun to solve.. you are always on the edge and its a race against time.. or may be I have become rusted..
  
• Similarly verbal is really good too.. On the whole my verdict for manhattan gmat is that these are really tough tests and if you are scoring above 700 in these tests, I am sure you would score 750+ in GMAT.
3. Kaplan Practice Tests:
• The only thing I have to say about kaplan is that the tests are inconsistent in terms of difficulty level. Once it took me good 75 mins to complete the math section just in time.. the other day I finished it with 30 mins to spare.. my scores were consistently in the 700+ region.. highest being 770.. I am really not sure if I would like to recommend this to anyone.. just because of its inconsistency..
  
4. GMAT powerprep:
• There's no substitute for powerprep. A must for everyone.. you might see a question here or there that is repeated if you have already solved OG... but on the whole this I would believe is a true indicator.. like most people say..
  

Having said the above, I have booked my test date for 29th June.. i.e. monday.. Let's see what happens on that day.. my exam is scheduled at 1615 Hrs and so would end by 2015 Hrs.. I am really looking forward to having a chilled beer at exactly 2100 Hrs and relax on the couch and say, "Yes, I did it" :-)

More to come.. take care.. and adios for now..

Second CAT Exam - Bad Result (700)

Alrighty .. so today I bought the manhattan test series that has 6 tests.. and I am so sorry to say that the test didn't go well!!!!!! 

First of all, I was toooooooo tired.. hadnt slept well the last night and so throughout the test I was yawning..  Had to shake my head few times to avoid looking at the screen for a long time while my mind was still and not doing any calculations or analytical thinking!!!!!

I started the exam at 2030 Hrs.. and right now its 0012 Hrs.. it was quite an ordeal..  Have to make sure next time that I am feeling fresh.. can't afford to make this mistake again.. 

Alright.. so coming to the score part.. I just touched 700.. my break up was 47 (81%) Quant and 39 (89%) Verbal..  that made the total 700 (93%)... 

I am sad.. but very tired toooooo.. 

saying to myself, " Don't loooose hope man!!!!!! still you have almost a fortnight to improve.. Buck up and do well next time.. ".. 

Most importantly, I need to review this exam.. will do that tomorrow.. .very sleepy now..

adios..