The clock is ticking.. fast...

The title says it all...!!! Yes.. The clock has started ticking.. As per my initial plan, I wanted to take GMAT by June first week, but couldn't do so for various reasons. I got busy with office work and then some personal committements derailed my preparation. I had reached my peak level a little too soon. So I decided to postpone the G-day by a month and spend 2 weeks time to ramp-up my preparation to peak level. I will know in the next 10 days whether this peak level is enough to sail through the GMAT beast or not.

This will also be end of my GMAT Journey. Yes, I have decided to end my GMAT journey with this attempt. Last one year has been difficult not only for me but for my family too. So whether I get an MBA degree or not, I have decided to move on..!! After all, there's more to life than just an MBA degree.. I just hope that I end this journey on a high note... Wish me luck..

Prepared to take on GMAT again?

I have been contemplating whether or not to take GMAT appointment in the next 15 days. For many of you, taking GMATPrep, MGMAT, or any of the FLTs would be the obvious choice to gauge your progress. Not for me.. I find myself in a difficult situation. That I have already taken GMATPrep, MGMAT tests in my last attempts and done OG11 multiple times complicates the matter for me. I remember many OG11 & MGMAT questions. These tests do not represent my true level. So the question is how do I evaluate my performance? Will I be able to cross the 7XX hurdle?? Will my score go down further?? At this moment, I don't know.. Needless to say that I have no respect left for all the FLTs. I just take FLTs for building stamina. So what goes wrong? Do I falter under pressure? This post is my effort to find answer to such questions and to gauge my fundamental knowledge, accuracy, and speed.

Quantitative section:
- No issues with fundamentals except for few topics.
- Have practiced an approach to avoid silly mistakes.
- Have seen accuracy improve
- Haven't practiced tougher P&C questions
- Careless mistakes! I am always in a hurry :-) I guess old habits die hard.
- Slow. I take ~1.75 minutes per questions.
- I will manage at least 48 in this section (I know this is not good enough!)

Sentence Correction:
- There's no end to fundamental concepts.
- SCs are becoming tougher in GMAT.
- Accuracy in tougher questions drops drastically.
- based on experience, cannot rely on SC either.
- Timing not an issue here. Ha Ha.. When you don't know enough, you will never have time pressure. :-)) You will never catch the error in the original sentence. :-)

Critical Reasoning:

- Have practiced tough Reasoning questions.
- Reasonably confident in this section. Feel much comforatble.
- Should get 85%-95% questions correct even if they are difficult ones.
- Think the approach is just right.
- I take ~1.75 minutes per question while doing tests.

Reading Comprehension:
- Have practiced OG10/OG11 ONLY!!
- CR fundamentals help. That's the confidence booster.
- Timing is alright.
- Unable to understand some of the passages because the language & comprehension are really difficult. I don't expect to see more than 2 such passages however. So this should be fine!
- Should be able to manage moderate difficult passages with reasonable accuracy.

To sum it up, I am not ready yet.. But I think I have reached my peak level. Anything beyond this will require too much committement. I don't think I can commit myself to GMAT journey for another 6 month. At the same time, This doesn't mean that I'm low on confidence. In fact, I am in excellent mental state. Guess kinda prepared for the worst case scenario.. And I still have at least 15 days to work on my weaknesses. Think I can do it this time.. Let's see..

GMAT Quant Trouble :-(

Contrary to the general belief that people from engineering background will find GMAT quantitative section easier, I find Quantitative section tougher than the Verbal section. My accuracy is only ~70% in Quant question sets. The worst part is that I'm stuck at this accuracy level for sometime now. The difficulty level of these questions is very close to the real thing and unless I improve accuracy, I can forget entry to the magic 7XX club :-(. So, I analyzed my mistakes today and tried to bin them in different broad categories such as gap in fundamental concept, careless mistakes, etc. The mistakes are too basic, but time and again I continue repeating similar mistakes. This is good news because it means I have fewer problems to work on and it's bad news because I still haven't learnt from mistakes. Anyways, better late than never.. I hope that this exercise will help me minimize the mistakes.. :-(

Here are the mistake categories -

1. Number properties.
- I have lost count of the number of times when I got trapped in the properties :-(

- Unless stated otherwise, all numbers in GMAT are real numbers.

- If given number is integer, don't forget to consider '0', -ve, and +ve integers.

- In problems involving X^Y, always consider the special case when X, Y is 0, 1, -1

- Try out these different values: -2, -1.5 -1, -0.5, 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2. Does time permit to try out so many values? Specially if there are more than one variable?

2. Word problems.
- Read the question carefully. While translating it to equations or symbol representation, double check that you have translated the word problem correctly.!!

- After spending 1-2 min, you realize that the calculations do not yield the correct result. You have two options. Either to do the exercise once again, or to guess and move on.

- Even worse, if you did not read the question stem carefully, you will mark one of the wrong answer choices and move on. Worst, you will not even realize your mistake until you see your score :-(

- Bad choice of variables/symbols and you find yourself lost in the equations. Finally, you just guess and move on. Take a deep breath.. think... then proceed. This will probably cost extra 10 sec, but will help a lot.

3. Probability Questions
- Question is to find the probability of event A. Almost certain that you will see probability of (1-A) too in the correct answer choice. You fail to read the question carefully and mark the wrong answer choice and move on.

4. Ratio problems
- Very similar to the last point. The question asks you to find out the ratio of A and (A+B). You find the ration of B and (A+B), mark the wrong answer choice, and move on. Be assured that answer choices will have all the possible ratios :-(

5. Data Sufficiency
- You read the statements in the given order. By the time you are analyzing option B, you will use the information provided in A ( ofcourse you wouldn't notice that) and mark the answer as B.
- There are less questions with A as the correct answer choice ??

- You think C is the correct answer? Think again!! This has troubled me sooooo many times.

6. Inequality Trouble
- You get two values by solving a given inequality and mark the answer. Hmm.. think again.. Inequalities do not necessarily have two different roots. One of them may be not a valid root of the equation.

7. Lacking in fundamental Concepts
- Some questions are just tougher.. need more practice.. time.. energy.. :-(

8. Lost Concentration
- You start loosing focus towards the end of the test. :-(

How to use POE effectively?

In response to my earlier post on CR, Prachi & Vikas suggested me to always use POE in Verbal section of GMAT. If I remember correctly, even Tranquil suggests this in his blog. I too identified this as one of the areas of improvement in CR, but I don't like the idea of drawing answer grid on the erasable answer sheets. This affects my speed and sometimes confuses me if I miss marking one question. I need to check the question number on the computer screen and then make entry (POE) under the right row/column.

So, I adopted this trick in a different way. While reading the SC/CR/RC, I just mark "N" for the answer choices that are surely WRONG ones and mark "K" for the answer choices that, I think, could be RIGHT answer choice. The advantage of this method is that I can mark this anywhere. I don't worry about the question number or row/column on the answer grid. All I need to ensure that I don't move my pen/marker from the place where I'm writing. I have been practicing this for the last one week. This seems to be working..!!

My POE entry on the answer sheet for any question would look like "NKKNN". This means the answer choices have narrowed down to B & C. Read the answer choices B and C again, identify the correct one, and move on.

So far so good..!! If you think this is a good approach, or you use some other approach that you find helpful and don't mind sharing the trick, Please leave a comment here.

Mastered CR? Oh man, how wrong I was..!!

After completing Powerscore Critical reasining bible, I was practicing one set daily from 1000 LSAT/CR collection. I was also using these tests to fine-tune my approach to CR. In GMAT sets, my average accuracy level is certainly improving. Starting with 15-20% mistakes, I have improved to < 10% mistakes and those mistakes are mainly because of carelessness. But, I am also concerned because I find too many OG-11 questions repeated in these tests. I am not too sure if I really improved my accuracy under test condition, or it's because of the repeated questions from OG-11. I certainly don't want to get into the same trap as I did in the last attempt.


So, I decided to try LSAT sets and see whether I maintain the same level of accuracy. I took up one of the LSAT test sets today (Test - I, Section - I & IV). The questions were much tougher than GMAT sets and are much lengthier too. The results are not encouraging. I did too many mistakes in both the sections. Here are the details..

Test - 1, Section I - (Total Q# - 25, Time - 43minutes, Mistakes # 6)
Test - 1, Section II - (Total Q# - 26, Time - 41minutes, Mistakes # 11)

Some of the observations/learnings

1. Time pressure did me in! Many of the mistakes happened because I didn't read the argument carefully and missed some important keyword (what MLIC calls modifier words).

2. Conditional reasoning is damn comfusing. Identifying the necessary and sufficient condition is not as easy as I think. I need to go back and read the Critical Reasoning book once again.

3. I need to work on Formal Logic concepts. There was a Question that could be solved using the Some Train to draw inference.

4. I took more than estimated time in some questions. I had to hurry during the last questions. This resulted in 5 consecutive mistakes in the last set. I must have done something like this in my last GMAT attempt.

5. Practice to use POE in tougher questions where the argument isn't clear to me.

6. Practice to focus more right after a question where I'm not confident of my answer choice. I MUST avoid consecutive mistakes.

I will try focussing on these mistakes and continue taking tests everyday.

Good Luck!!

Digging u'r own grave in GMAT

While surfing the web, I came across this blog that lists down some of the mistakes that one MUST avoid in GMAT. I really liked this one.

"If you spend over 4 minutes on a question in GMAT, you certainly are excited about digging your own grave, or you're probably an adrenalin junkie who loves to jump off a cliff without a parachute."

It's natural to get carried away in the real Test - specially if you were not confident about the last question, or the question is easy enough and you make mistake in the calculations, then you end up spending 2 extra minutes to arrive at the correct answer choices. It has happened with me. I still get carried away while doing practice questions. In those moments, I always think that I am quick and I can recover the lost time from other questions.

Introspection - what went wrong?

For last couple of days, I have been introspecting to figure out what went wrong. Clearly, my first attempt isn't worth repenting, because I knew I hadn't been prepared, but the second attempt was more satisfying and learning experience. I fixed the G-day only when I was confident of doing well. So, did I just have a bad day or I wasn't ready for the G-day? Did I have a false sense of confidence before the GMAT? It's the questions like this that I am trying to answer in this post.

As reflected in my GMAT score (Q-48, V-25), I didn't perform to my level in both the sections. Before the G-day, while analyzing the FLT scores, I felt that my Quant score can be anywhere between 49 and 51 and only my concentration level will determine whether I get 49 or 51. But, somewhere in my thoughts, I knew that I can even get meager 48 on a bad day. At the end of Quant section, I had a fair idea that I didn't do well. Having experienced the kind of traps that Pearson sets, it's very easy to fall for the trap if one is not alert. I think I must have fallen for such traps. I wasn't even worried too much about quant score. So getting 48 on a G-day didn't surprise me at all.

What surprised me was the verbal score. Critical Reasoning & Sentence Correction was my strength. I was almost certain to sail through the Verbal section on CR & SC. In the FLTs before the G-day, I was making only occasional mistakes in CR & SC. For most questions in the two sections, I was able to find the logical fallacy in CR and Grammar error in SC. Powerscore LSAT Critical Reasoning bible had certainly helped me. For SC, I had not memorized the Idiom lists and rather relied on finding the grammatical errors in the sentences. I was able to do it with good accuracy level.

RC was an exception. In the last 2 FLTs that I took before the G-day, 70-80% mistakes were in RC, with weighted Verbal score being 43+. Ofcourse, I scored 750+ in both the FLTs, 770 & 760 to be precise. My strategy in RC was to follow the mental passage map with MLIC's anchor phrase look-up approach. But, I wasn't confident in RC. This was one area where I could go wrong. I relied more on my CR fundamentals to answer tricky questions. So, RC might have brought my score down.

Finally, I didn't sleep the night before the G-day. I wasn't worried; I was excited. Silently, I was planning the party afterwards and was framing the GMAT debrief. In both my attempts, I noticed this change in me. Though I tried my best to get some sleep and later remain focussed during the test, I think this had a big impact on my GMAT performance. deprived of sleep, I wasn't at my best. Even the Red-Bull didn't work :-). For those who are yet to take on GMAT, I can not emphasize enough on the importance of getting sound sleep and remain calm before the G-day. This is the deadly mistake that one can commit.

Finally, there are few lessons that I got from the last G-days.

1. Don't neglect Quant - Getting a 50-51 in Quant is the key to 700+ score and MUST for 750+ score.
2. Focus on RC - Minimize the mistakes and have a well-practiced approach to RC.
3. Sleep well before the G-day - This time it will be a surprise G-day for me. Will treat it as another FLT and nothing more.
4. Practice more on SC/CR.
   

Wish me Goood Luck...!!!

The Journey so far..!!

My MBA preparation journey started in June-07. I already knew the GMAT format and had all the necessary preparation material. While exploring the application deadlines I realized that I didn't have enough time for 2008-2009 session of ISB/IIMA, so I took GMAT appointment for 18-July. The count-down had started... I had 45 days to prepare for the exam. As the G-day approached, it became clear to me that I wasn't prepared. I knew that I needed luck on my side to reach 680-710 score. On the G-day, I scored 640 (Q-48, V-31). Clearly, luck wasn't on my side, but more importantly my approach to GMAT was wrong from the starting itself. So, I started preparing again and decided to take on GMAT once I felt confident of reaching 750+ score.

It was clear to me that I needed to brush-up, or rather learn, English Grammar. I wasn't thinking critically. I relied more on my instinct while answering. Even in Quant section, I would rush and make mistake. So clearly, I needed a thorough preparation in all areas for the second attempt. I perpared a plan in Excel sheet (Yes, I'm in IT Industry!) and started preparation with full vigor. The first one month went in english grammar, my weakest link. This time I also corrected my approach. I wouldn't leave a question until I understood the errors in all five options. I wasn't prepared yet, but had certainly improved a lot.

Critical Reasoning was next in my plan. I came across an e-book on critical reasoning. This book helped me in understanding the different logic fallacies, difference between an argument and a factual statement, etc. I wasn't satisfied yet. I was still making many errors and more importantly found myself at loss while choosing the right option. Then, I got Power score LSAT Logic Reasining Bible. This is the ultimate book on critical reasoning! I read this book completely and solved every single question. After completing this book, I also did OG-11 CR questions and saw dramatic increase in % correct answers. I was doing Ok!

I spent the next two weeks for Quant preparation and practice. Towards the end, with good concentration, I felt my accuracy is good. This time, another difference in my approach was to actively participate in the discussion forums. The best forums that I have come across are prachi_pareekh_gmat (yahoogroup) and Gmat_May_2007 (google group) groups. A typical preparation day for me would start at 9-10PM. I used to spend the next one hour in solving all the questions posted in these two groups. I would work as per my prep plan for the next 2-3 hours.

By Sept. end, I felt I am ready to take on GMAT again. So, I took the appointment for 3-Nov and prepared another plan for the last one month. I bought MGAMT 6 full length tests. was taking FLTs every week and later on almost every alternate day. I was consistently scoring in the 710-770 range.

And eventually, G-day approached. I couldn't sleep the night before. But, this time I wasn't worried at all. In fact, it was the excitement that didn't let me sleep. The 5 hours passed..saw score of 600 (Q-48, V-25) staring at me!! I was devastated yet again!

Dealing with failure

My recent tryst with failure took me by surprise. I had gone to conquer the test, but 600 score had me grappling with low confidence and self-esteem. I felt as if I have been conquered by the test. It saddened me just to think that after 3 months of hard work this is what I could achieve. I didn't have energy to take on the test again. All I wanted to do was to take a break! Meet friends... Go out again... spend time with my little daughter...

And the last two months have certainly done wonders to me. I believe my mind had completely given up that day, or at least that's what I would like to believe. Either way, I certainly learnt a lot and would like to continue learning. Do I have a choice?