The scoring pattern in GMAT is slightly confusing me. I am trying various ways to find this out, but couldn't reach any plausible explanation. Ok. My questions are...
1. If i want to score 49-50 in quant, how many mistakes can i afford to make?
2. If i want a score of above 40 (or even above 38) how many mistakes (in terms of number of questions) can i afford to make?
I know that the score depends on the level of difficulty of the question and it is hard to tell the weightage. I heard that in verbal, SC carries more weightage than other questions. Is it true?
Quant:
In my practice tests i am making 8 mistakes consistently. Most of them are from DS. But again this is not because i don't the concepts. It is because of my sheer negligence and carelessness. With more practice i believe i can reduce this number to 3. I want to know how much i can score in quant with 3 mistakes. If anyone has a pattern or a mechanism to explain this, please go ahead and help me. I am targeting a score of 50 in quant. (49 in the worst case scenario).
Verbal:
Can you believe that i made 15 mistakes in my last practice test. Sounds demotivating, but that is reality for me. 7 mistakes in SC, 4 in RC and 3 in CR. As i am targeting a score of 40+ in verbal, i need to improve. Gotta practice...
Lets see if i can reduce the number of mistakes in my next practice test. Aloha!!!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
The art of juggling
I am off to blogging for sometime. So here are the updates. I am slightly busy with gmat preparation. I am out-of-town for few days and was forced away from my prep. Now i am back, refreshed. There are only three things going on in my life right now. GMAT, Work and body toning. Since gmat is only five weeks away i need to step up my prep. Updates on where i stand on various sections..
SC - Almost done with this.
CR - Need more practice.
RC - Not able to concentrate and in the middle of RC (though it is 300-400 words) my mind starts wandering at some unknown places. I need to make better progress in this section.
Quant - Doing reasonably well in this. Solving some of the tough quant questions. I cannot afford to score less in this.
Work on the other hand is going fine. I am just managing to complete my task and not able to spending too much time on it. Also i am sweating for atleast one and half hour in gym daily. Most of my days are filled with these activities. It is becoming very tedious to concentrate on all the things and do every activity with enthusiasm. Definately juggling is a hard task and its a pain in the wrong place. But it has to be mastered.
At times i feel ultra-motivated and at times i feel utterly bored and hopeless.
At times i feel happy and at times i feel sad.
I call these the effects of gmat. This is just the starting step in the process and there is a lot ahead. Also i want to finish off the one i am currently reading and also start new novels, but there is no time. I have to wait till i finish my gmat to entertain all these whims.
I have a theme song for these pre-gmat days by nine inch nails...Every day is exactly the same...
I believe I can see the future
Because I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
Then again, that might have been a dream
I think I used to have a voice
Now I never make a sound
I just do what I have been told
I really don't want them to come around
Oh, no.
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
I can feel their eyes are watching
In case I lose myself again
Sometimes I think I'm happy here
Sometimes, yeah, I still pretend
I can't remember how this got started
But I can tell you exactly how it will end.
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
I'm writing on a little piece of paper
I'm hoping someday you might find
Well, I'll hide it behind something
They won't look behind
I am still inside here
A little bit comes bleeding through
I wish this could have been any other way
But I just don't know, I don't know,
What else I can do
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
SC - Almost done with this.
CR - Need more practice.
RC - Not able to concentrate and in the middle of RC (though it is 300-400 words) my mind starts wandering at some unknown places. I need to make better progress in this section.
Quant - Doing reasonably well in this. Solving some of the tough quant questions. I cannot afford to score less in this.
Work on the other hand is going fine. I am just managing to complete my task and not able to spending too much time on it. Also i am sweating for atleast one and half hour in gym daily. Most of my days are filled with these activities. It is becoming very tedious to concentrate on all the things and do every activity with enthusiasm. Definately juggling is a hard task and its a pain in the wrong place. But it has to be mastered.
At times i feel ultra-motivated and at times i feel utterly bored and hopeless.
At times i feel happy and at times i feel sad.
I call these the effects of gmat. This is just the starting step in the process and there is a lot ahead. Also i want to finish off the one i am currently reading and also start new novels, but there is no time. I have to wait till i finish my gmat to entertain all these whims.
I have a theme song for these pre-gmat days by nine inch nails...Every day is exactly the same...
I believe I can see the future
Because I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
Then again, that might have been a dream
I think I used to have a voice
Now I never make a sound
I just do what I have been told
I really don't want them to come around
Oh, no.
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
I can feel their eyes are watching
In case I lose myself again
Sometimes I think I'm happy here
Sometimes, yeah, I still pretend
I can't remember how this got started
But I can tell you exactly how it will end.
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
I'm writing on a little piece of paper
I'm hoping someday you might find
Well, I'll hide it behind something
They won't look behind
I am still inside here
A little bit comes bleeding through
I wish this could have been any other way
But I just don't know, I don't know,
What else I can do
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Splitups
The goal is to conquer the gmat and a good plan is required to do it. A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. I am scouting through various blogs and scoretop to get a collection of gmat scores. Here goes the list.
Score (Quant, Verbal)
780 (50, 47)
780 (51, 47)
770 (51, 42)
770[99%] (50, 45)
770 (51, 42)
770 (50, 44)
770 (51, 44)
760 (47, 47)
760 (48, 48)
760[99%] (49[90%], 45[98%])
750 (47[82%],46[99%])
750 (49, 42)
750 (50, 41)
750 (50, 42)
750 (50[96%],41[93%])
740 (50,40)
740 (48, 42)
740 (51, 38)
730[97%] (50[95%],38[86%])
730 (49[90%], 41[94%])
720[97%] (50, 38)
720 (51, 35)
720 (48, 40)
720 (45, 44)
710 (47, 40)
710 (50, 35)
700 (47, 39)
700 (45, 41)
700 (44, 41)
700 (51, 33)
670 (42, 40)
So the target is to get 50 in quant and try my best to get atleast 40 in Verbal. If i scored less in quant there is no one to blame except me. I can get 50 in quant, but sometimes i make obvious mistakes which is worrying me. But 40 in verbal is gonna be a daunting task for me and without sincere efforts this will remain as my pipe dream.
Score (Quant, Verbal)
780 (50, 47)
780 (51, 47)
770 (51, 42)
770[99%] (50, 45)
770 (51, 42)
770 (50, 44)
770 (51, 44)
760 (47, 47)
760 (48, 48)
760[99%] (49[90%], 45[98%])
750 (47[82%],46[99%])
750 (49, 42)
750 (50, 41)
750 (50, 42)
750 (50[96%],41[93%])
740 (50,40)
740 (48, 42)
740 (51, 38)
730[97%] (50[95%],38[86%])
730 (49[90%], 41[94%])
720[97%] (50, 38)
720 (51, 35)
720 (48, 40)
720 (45, 44)
710 (47, 40)
710 (50, 35)
700 (47, 39)
700 (45, 41)
700 (44, 41)
700 (51, 33)
670 (42, 40)
So the target is to get 50 in quant and try my best to get atleast 40 in Verbal. If i scored less in quant there is no one to blame except me. I can get 50 in quant, but sometimes i make obvious mistakes which is worrying me. But 40 in verbal is gonna be a daunting task for me and without sincere efforts this will remain as my pipe dream.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Blessing in disguise
My presence might be required in US in the months of sept or oct for a duration of 3-4 months. Though i am looking forward to it, I am in a situation where i can't decide how to go a head. Lemme go throught the pros and cons...
Rewards:
-I can get a feel of the enviornment, culture and other things of US before starting my school.
-I can go for school visits. (This i never thought is possible)
-I can meet current students and attend some classes to get the first hand experience of the classes and the whole bschool environment.
-If i am still in US for interviews (if i can get any), there might be a possibilty that i can request them to conduct interview in the school itself. (There might be some advantages of having an interview in the school rather than in other country, but i am not sure of this. experts please comment).
-I can save money and this will help to some extent to finance my mba. (well this should be the first point in the list. it relieves the financial burden to a certain extent)
-Definately adds to my international experience which is lacking in my resume.
-May be i can find some plan B. Infact there is no plan B as of now, but when if everything goes topsy-turvy, It is always good to have a plan B.
-I might get a chance to meet my kith and kin there.
Disadvantages:
-Sept & Oct is the peak time where every applicant is engaged in writing, rewriting essays, submitting recommendations and finally filling the applicaitons and sending them before deadlines. As everyone knows, this arduous task is time consuming and one cannot do this in haste. Every one knows the amount of work pressure one faces when placed on the client side. It becomes very difficult to sneak out (read: time management) and spend time on our essays and apps.
-Difficult to reach my recommenders and to have a tête-à-tête chat explaining my goals to them.(I identified three recommenders, one recommender already knows my plans, but for the other two i will let them know only in mid-august or september. I think they will have enough time to finish their recommendations).
-I might have to put a full stop to the list of activities i am planning to pursue post gmat. (But this is the least of my worries).
The cons look disheartening, but at the same time the pros look appealing.Is it a kind of catch-22 situation i am in..well i donn't know!!! Its time to wear by thinking cap..
Rewards:
-I can get a feel of the enviornment, culture and other things of US before starting my school.
-I can go for school visits. (This i never thought is possible)
-I can meet current students and attend some classes to get the first hand experience of the classes and the whole bschool environment.
-If i am still in US for interviews (if i can get any), there might be a possibilty that i can request them to conduct interview in the school itself. (There might be some advantages of having an interview in the school rather than in other country, but i am not sure of this. experts please comment).
-I can save money and this will help to some extent to finance my mba. (well this should be the first point in the list. it relieves the financial burden to a certain extent)
-Definately adds to my international experience which is lacking in my resume.
-May be i can find some plan B. Infact there is no plan B as of now, but when if everything goes topsy-turvy, It is always good to have a plan B.
-I might get a chance to meet my kith and kin there.
Disadvantages:
-Sept & Oct is the peak time where every applicant is engaged in writing, rewriting essays, submitting recommendations and finally filling the applicaitons and sending them before deadlines. As everyone knows, this arduous task is time consuming and one cannot do this in haste. Every one knows the amount of work pressure one faces when placed on the client side. It becomes very difficult to sneak out (read: time management) and spend time on our essays and apps.
-Difficult to reach my recommenders and to have a tête-à-tête chat explaining my goals to them.(I identified three recommenders, one recommender already knows my plans, but for the other two i will let them know only in mid-august or september. I think they will have enough time to finish their recommendations).
-I might have to put a full stop to the list of activities i am planning to pursue post gmat. (But this is the least of my worries).
The cons look disheartening, but at the same time the pros look appealing.Is it a kind of catch-22 situation i am in..well i donn't know!!! Its time to wear by thinking cap..
Derailed..Back on track
"There's nothing really difficult if you only begin - some people contemplate a task until it looms so big, it seems impossible, but I just begin and it gets done somehow. There would be no coral islands if the first bug sat down and began to wonder how the job was to be done."
Because of the vagaries in the last month i was coerced to take vital decisions that burnt a hole in my pocket. Yeah!!! i belong to those 'some peple who contemplate a task until it looms so big'. I proudly declare that i have re-scheduled my gmat. There are few reasons. I have to go out-of-town and my presance is required there. This has happened three weeks before my gmat schedule date, more over my preparation is moving at snails pace. My scores in the pratice tests is not at all appealing. All these factors enforced me to re-schedule gmat for a later date which is two months away. I started my preparation slowly and planning to rise the intensity with time. Hope i am back on track.
I am doing a great deal of thinking on 'did i make a mistake by booking the date early'. Well i booked my date two months in advance and i still belive that it was enough for me to give a good shot. There is no point in beating a dead horse and absolutely no point in pondering over something that was over and anything which i cannot change. Still my mind hovers to that every now and then.
I almost decided on the list of schools for which i want to send my scorecard to based on the basic program structure, class size, loan & fin-aid options, location, placements and finally their importance for international applicants. I think i did enough research on this part and atleast for the next two months i want to take my mind off the schools so that i can concentrate on preparation.
Of late i am thinking of the list of activities that i want to pursue post gmat. Well i am doing this pretty early, but there is nothing that i lose my planning something in advance.
1. Take a break for a week and visit my parents. (irrespective of the score and if i didnt get my desired score, prepare for a month and give it again in the last week of july).
2. Start research on my post mba career. (I never did this and it will help me in defining my short term goals).
3. Explore opportunities in europe. (atleast on the job front).
4. Explore more on fin-aid and loan options. (This is very important for me)
5. Improve my writing skills. (I always thought that my writing skills are good, but blogging taught me that there is a huge room for improvement)
6. Reach-out to alumni, current students of few schools of my interest.
7. Do an indepth analysis of the various mba programs.
8. Resume my community service activites. (i have achievements in the work place and leadeship roles that i think are worth mentioning. To be upfront my role in community activities sucks. i am involved with couple of ngo's but i never did something which i felt is great. Anyhow i have to improve significantly on this).
9. Spend only 1/2 hour in bw forms. (rightnow i am only reading all blogs in hellas list).
10. Start french and german classes. (don't know how feasible this would be. But i will try my best to get proficient in atleast one of these languages before going back to school)
11. Get back to strumming. (yeah!! almost forgot everything i learnt).
12. Improve my excel programming skills (Maybe attend a two-day training)
13. Continue my workouts..(try for a six-pack....no joking.. i am hell bent on this)
If at all something comes to my mind, i will update this list.
Winter has past
Spring has gone
Summer is here
And the song that I meant to sing
Is still unsung
I have spent my days whining and dining....
aloha!!!
Because of the vagaries in the last month i was coerced to take vital decisions that burnt a hole in my pocket. Yeah!!! i belong to those 'some peple who contemplate a task until it looms so big'. I proudly declare that i have re-scheduled my gmat. There are few reasons. I have to go out-of-town and my presance is required there. This has happened three weeks before my gmat schedule date, more over my preparation is moving at snails pace. My scores in the pratice tests is not at all appealing. All these factors enforced me to re-schedule gmat for a later date which is two months away. I started my preparation slowly and planning to rise the intensity with time. Hope i am back on track.
I am doing a great deal of thinking on 'did i make a mistake by booking the date early'. Well i booked my date two months in advance and i still belive that it was enough for me to give a good shot. There is no point in beating a dead horse and absolutely no point in pondering over something that was over and anything which i cannot change. Still my mind hovers to that every now and then.
I almost decided on the list of schools for which i want to send my scorecard to based on the basic program structure, class size, loan & fin-aid options, location, placements and finally their importance for international applicants. I think i did enough research on this part and atleast for the next two months i want to take my mind off the schools so that i can concentrate on preparation.
Of late i am thinking of the list of activities that i want to pursue post gmat. Well i am doing this pretty early, but there is nothing that i lose my planning something in advance.
1. Take a break for a week and visit my parents. (irrespective of the score and if i didnt get my desired score, prepare for a month and give it again in the last week of july).
2. Start research on my post mba career. (I never did this and it will help me in defining my short term goals).
3. Explore opportunities in europe. (atleast on the job front).
4. Explore more on fin-aid and loan options. (This is very important for me)
5. Improve my writing skills. (I always thought that my writing skills are good, but blogging taught me that there is a huge room for improvement)
6. Reach-out to alumni, current students of few schools of my interest.
7. Do an indepth analysis of the various mba programs.
8. Resume my community service activites. (i have achievements in the work place and leadeship roles that i think are worth mentioning. To be upfront my role in community activities sucks. i am involved with couple of ngo's but i never did something which i felt is great. Anyhow i have to improve significantly on this).
9. Spend only 1/2 hour in bw forms. (rightnow i am only reading all blogs in hellas list).
10. Start french and german classes. (don't know how feasible this would be. But i will try my best to get proficient in atleast one of these languages before going back to school)
11. Get back to strumming. (yeah!! almost forgot everything i learnt).
12. Improve my excel programming skills (Maybe attend a two-day training)
13. Continue my workouts..(try for a six-pack....no joking.. i am hell bent on this)
If at all something comes to my mind, i will update this list.
Winter has past
Spring has gone
Summer is here
And the song that I meant to sing
Is still unsung
I have spent my days whining and dining....
aloha!!!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
A few good schools
Its time to gauge and decide upon five schools that i wish to send my score to. I wish the number is more. I have been doing research on bschools for quite some time and have fair idea on how to choose five shcools. I think my chances are moderate (or dicey) in these schools. I should fine-tune this list and may be i have to come up with a consolidated one.
Anyhow, with my limited knowledge and intial thoughts i have listed down some schools. Here goes the list. (with their 2k7 FT rankings).
33. Emory Goizueta
32. UNC kenan flagler
65. Notre Dame Mendoza
81. NU singapore
ISB Hyderabad
62. UT McCombs
17. UCLA Anderson
25. Haas UC
8. Stern Newyork univesity
9. Darthmouth college, tuck
26. university of virginia darden
6. University of Chicago GSB
23. Duke Univesity Fuqua
27. University of Toronto Rotman
I am kind of averse to british bschools. One of the reason being the cost factor and the other is that i prefer US to england. But of late i am thinking of apping to atleast canadian bschool. I might have second opinions in future.
From the above list i almost finalized on the following fantastic five.
32. UNC kenan flagler
17. UCLA Anderson
25. Haas UC
26. university of virginia darden
23. Duke Univesity Fuqua
Take one look at my schools and you can notice that none of them are in top 10. Am i not ambitious? Nope. I can always send my scores to other schools as well, after my GMAT and definately the list will change with time.
On the preparation front, it has been stalled for the last two days. I was exhausted after going to gym and not at all in a mood to study. More over i am reading "Its not about a bike" and totally engrossed in it and cant wait to finish it off.
Happy weekend.. Sayonara!!!
Anyhow, with my limited knowledge and intial thoughts i have listed down some schools. Here goes the list. (with their 2k7 FT rankings).
33. Emory Goizueta
32. UNC kenan flagler
65. Notre Dame Mendoza
81. NU singapore
ISB Hyderabad
62. UT McCombs
17. UCLA Anderson
25. Haas UC
8. Stern Newyork univesity
9. Darthmouth college, tuck
26. university of virginia darden
6. University of Chicago GSB
23. Duke Univesity Fuqua
27. University of Toronto Rotman
I am kind of averse to british bschools. One of the reason being the cost factor and the other is that i prefer US to england. But of late i am thinking of apping to atleast canadian bschool. I might have second opinions in future.
From the above list i almost finalized on the following fantastic five.
32. UNC kenan flagler
17. UCLA Anderson
25. Haas UC
26. university of virginia darden
23. Duke Univesity Fuqua
Take one look at my schools and you can notice that none of them are in top 10. Am i not ambitious? Nope. I can always send my scores to other schools as well, after my GMAT and definately the list will change with time.
On the preparation front, it has been stalled for the last two days. I was exhausted after going to gym and not at all in a mood to study. More over i am reading "Its not about a bike" and totally engrossed in it and cant wait to finish it off.
Happy weekend.. Sayonara!!!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
The whole world conspires
paulo coelho in his magnumopus Alchemist quoted.."When you know what you want the whole world conspires you to achieve it".
This is the day three of my preparation. On the first day i got myself familiar with the exam pattern and after going through various sections in OG i decided to start the Operation B7B (breaking 700 barrier) with the most dreadful SC. I managed to complete 38 questions of SC and got really fagged out. Surprisingly i found SC interesting and most of all i liked it. There are 138 questions of SC in OG. I completed 32 questions on the second day. I agree, i am going at a snails pace. Lemme start slowly. I dont know the reason why, but Its getting real difficult to sit in one place and concentrate for 3 hours. I am left with only 43 days and the moment i realize that, i feel butterflies in my stomach. I have to gradually increase the intensity of my preparation.
There are a lots of things going on these days. Work is in full swing. From morning till 6 pm its going to be work, mails, blogs and browsing. After that i go to gym for one and half hours. Then attend some meetings for another hour. By the time i start my preparation its going to be 9:30 to 10.. And i am almost sagged and my grey cells refuse to resond. What happened to my time management skills? (if there are any). The only answer is "prioritize". Expend your energies on vital things and leave the rest. Also i have to start looking into various forms like gmatclub, testmagic, pagalguy et al.. Do i need to take membership in Scoretop? Is it worth to spend $35 on that? I have to figure it out soon. Help me out guyz??
Enough for the day. Lemme go back to work!!!
This is the day three of my preparation. On the first day i got myself familiar with the exam pattern and after going through various sections in OG i decided to start the Operation B7B (breaking 700 barrier) with the most dreadful SC. I managed to complete 38 questions of SC and got really fagged out. Surprisingly i found SC interesting and most of all i liked it. There are 138 questions of SC in OG. I completed 32 questions on the second day. I agree, i am going at a snails pace. Lemme start slowly. I dont know the reason why, but Its getting real difficult to sit in one place and concentrate for 3 hours. I am left with only 43 days and the moment i realize that, i feel butterflies in my stomach. I have to gradually increase the intensity of my preparation.
There are a lots of things going on these days. Work is in full swing. From morning till 6 pm its going to be work, mails, blogs and browsing. After that i go to gym for one and half hours. Then attend some meetings for another hour. By the time i start my preparation its going to be 9:30 to 10.. And i am almost sagged and my grey cells refuse to resond. What happened to my time management skills? (if there are any). The only answer is "prioritize". Expend your energies on vital things and leave the rest. Also i have to start looking into various forms like gmatclub, testmagic, pagalguy et al.. Do i need to take membership in Scoretop? Is it worth to spend $35 on that? I have to figure it out soon. Help me out guyz??
Enough for the day. Lemme go back to work!!!
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