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.. 

First CAT exam - 730

Alright.. I am assuming that you have read the previous blog.. so I have shifted the date as of now to give GMAT and also to apply to INSEAD..

well, now the first step towards that was to give one mock test.. and that's what I did today... but the problem was to find a free test.. I'll buy some tomorrow but today I had to get one free test..

searched and found Manhattan's free GMAT test.. and decided to give that.. Found the quant a lil tough.. so have to prepare more now..
well the result was 730... 50 Quant and 40 Verbal..

Will buy the Manhattan GMAT 6 test set tomorrow and start giving it on alternate days..

More to come fellas.. stay tuned in..

Slight change of plans

The word "slight" in the heading is a misnomer.. and lemme tell you how.. alrighty!!!! in my first post when I analyzed what needs to be done.. I gave myself a two month time period to give the GMAT exam.. well, I realized lil later that for INSEAD the round 2 deadline is May 27th!!!

If I give GMAT after two months I would be eyeing the Round 3 deadline of 22nd July... and would you believe that I realized this just last weekend.. reminds you of the Doofus part of me?? :-)

Now this essentially means that I need to prepare my apps really well for INSEAD and give my GMAT exam before 27th May 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that's putting toooooo much pressure. I have exactly 14 days!!!!!!!! I have not taken any Paid time off from the office too.. I think I would have to next week..

In other words.. "This is not mission difficult, Mr. Hunt, it's mission impossible. Difficult should be a walk in the park for you."

GMAT gets 300 more questions

Getting that coveted foreign MBA degree has become tougher with Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT), an essential right of 

passage for admission to business schools globally - including Harvard, Kellog and Wharton - carrying 33% more new questions. GMAT will have 300 new questions in all the five sections, the highest being in data sufficiency. 

Globally, lakhs of students take GMAT every year for admission to over 1,900 B-schools across the world including a few management schools in India. Nearly 20,000 students take the exam in India. 

In the new format, in the sentence-correction section, there is an increased emphasis on pronoun and modifier rules, while there is reduced focus on comparisons and idioms-related questions. Similarly, in the reading comprehension questions, the Graduate Management Admission Council - the global authority to prepare the test papers - has created a balance between short and long passages. Two biology passages have been replaced with one social science passage and one business-related passage. 

While the number of inference questions has increased significantly, general and specific questions have remained the same. "Roman numeral questions have been removed, indicating GMAT may move away from these. The GMAC spends millions of dollars on research to ensure that only the best students get into these B-schools and that they are well-rounded, not just bookish or just good in language," said Rashmi Gowda, GMAT analyst and head of CSquare Learnings, a leading GMAT prep institute. 

In the critical reasoning section, 50 old questions have been replaced with 50 new ones. There has been a decrease of 19 questions in the problem-solving section.

Original link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/GMAT-gets-300-more-questions/articleshow/4477567.cms

What's the plan buddy?

Well, that's the big question.. I am going to give two months for my study towards GMAT and then take the exam.. so from now, I think i should be giving my exam by June end.. That being said, as I am an engineer, math comes natural and so that's one thing not much to bother about.. but then as always, NEVER lose focus from your strength. So I need to make sure that whether its a good day or a bad day for me on the test day, I score in the higher percentile in Maths. That would need lots of practice.. I am currently solving lot of problems on www.beatthegmat.com. Need to find some other source too.. 

Now comes verbal. I always had a disinclination towards long RCs. I love SCs and CRs. So that's the weakness. How do I correct that? 

Religiously follow:

• Practice 3 RCs daily. If I do this religiously, I would have done atleast 180 RCs before test day. I think that's more than enough.. Need to come out with my own strategy. It's always tough to follow someone else's strategy.. even if it worked for them.. 
• 15 - 20 SCs daily. This is a must. Also understanding of why an option is correct is very important. Need to make notes.
• 10 - 15 CRs daily.

I guess the mantra is Practice, Practice and Practice.... For someone like me who has a huge problem of concentrating for 4 hours at one stretch, I need to build up stamina to last that long. 

Let's start with a full fledged test on every weekend. Later I'll increase the frequency. But building this stamina is a must. 

Another important thing: How to cope with office work? What if office work load increases dramatically?

Well, I have no clue as of now. I don't have a plan of action for that contingency. How can I focus on this for next two months and keep office work to minimal? Need to think about it.. 

But one thing for sure, come what may, exam needs to be taken by june end.

alrighty, that's a draft version of the plan.. I think it will get more clear in few days.. 

adios for now!

Something about me!!

Hi Everyone,

Today is what I would call the enlightenment day. I have realized how important it is for me now to gain certain skills that shall help me in taking my career on the path that I can only dream of now. But then this is a start.

Let's start with a few facts about myself:

• My name is... umm for now you can call me Lucky.. that's what everyone calls me at home.
• B.E. (Electronics and communication).. Top 10% of my class (I had to mention that.. how do I distinguish myself from others.. the big question in apps :-) )
• 6 years + experience in the IT field. (Yes, I am also from the same group of Indian, IT and Male..
• Age: 28 (I am growing old.. and I know it.. please don't rub it in now :-) )
• My career graph till now:

• In all these years I have worked in India, UK and now in USA. If you notice in the graph, I purposefully made the y-axis as the one for year so that automatically its a graph that shows progression :-)
• There's one thing that I love the most is Music and my inclination towards percussion especially drums. I LOVE drumming.

So the idea is not to bore you with these facts but just to give you enough background so that now we can come to the meat of the conversation. Why an MBA?

I have thought a lot about this question. For me its about time that I need to change my career path. I am meant for marketing/sales (That one was easy to make out from the graph, isnt it? :P ) and so I am looking forward to switching my career. For that I need to have the right skills and that's where MBA comes into picture.

Is it crystallized in my mind what I want to do? well, YES.. I think I couldn't be more clear on this one.

Now, I have set my eyes on the top 5 schools worldwide.

Today I start my journey towards achieving my goal of studying in a top MBA school. I know there are lots of small steps that I have to take and the first one is taking the GMAT. Reminds of the game mortal kombat that I used to play quite often as a child and this time the enemy is GMAT. :-) What's the score needed? Big question. I think based upon what I have read and where I am placed as of now i.e. in IT, I NEED a big score. So it's war. I am here to slay GMAT.

For those of you who would be interested in my posts, I can be found on www.beatthegmat.com.

My id is dumb.doofus :-) Don't ask me why I kept that. My only answer is that there are so many things that I don't know compared to what I know and so that makes me dumb. And doofus I am :-)

I know I am dreaming big.. I always have.. I am dreaming quite high too.. nothing unusual in that too. High time I take on the beast.

More to come as I set my pace high.. I welcome all kinds of constructive feedback and any advice that will help me in attaining my goal..

Cheers..

Lucky

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