GMAT - A teacher in itself

Yes, you read it right. GMAT itself is a teacher. If you study seriously with passion for GMAT, you learn a lot. It requires a complete mindset change, regularity, will power and dedication. There is a thought process change which will happen. For example, earlier you used to think of correct solution out of 5 option, now you will eliminate all the wrong options which you think are wrong. In life, if you know a path is wrong, you can straightaway eliminate and not take that path. At least you know that knowingly you are not in the wrong path. The process of GMAT preparation inculcates the habit of reasoning. In life too, subconsciously you will start reasoning why are you taking certain decision.

This takes you to an important question. Why are you taking GMAT ? For getting into MBA ? But why MBA ? So, see the preparation itself is making you ready to dwell into the question of Why MBA ?, which will help you when you start writing the essay for B-school. If you start thinking on why are you doing something in every aspect of your life, you will grow, you will know more about yourself. And, GMAT is about getting ahead of yourself, changing yourself and learning new things, which will help you in the long run. Even if you do not join any MBA program, you will realize that there are many changes which have already happened in your life, like contextual reading, comprehending, finding the logic behind anything etc.

If you see the bigger picture of GMAT, you may sense the concept behind this adaptive test, what is it it want to take out from you. Suddenly you will start to think from the test creator perspective. These thoughts will start coming in why this question is made, what is to be tested from this question. You will find the purpose, or at-least move towards the purpose. Once you will realize this, the GMAT preparation will be fun. There will be no pressure, if you feel that what is there to loose, you are learning something new which will help you in the long run.

GMAT - The beginning

Last week I went to Jamboree in Pune, Pimpli Gurav centre. I enquired about the course and fee. Today, I went to the centre and before enrolling for the course I attended the class. The class was very exciting. The session taken by Rohit Ghosh, the Verbal faculty was simply superb. He was full of energy and just listening to him gave me lot of motivation. He explained the pattern of GMAT and what GMAT looks in the candidate very well. He said that one need to focus on how a question is tackled rather than answering the question.

Rohit was a consultant in the industry and later started teaching in Jamboree. He has given GMAT for 12-13 times. His explanation about anything was backed by data. As per him, MBA is not a means to earn more salary or get 20-30% hike. 20-30% hike can be achieved just by changing a job.  GMAT is a mean to do some transformation within one self. So, I see I can transform myself, especially from my thought perspective by preparing for GMAT. It all depends on how one is handling a problem. GMAT is a game of concentration.

Currently, I have prepared a plan to touch all the section everyday. Do some questions and analyse the questions which I did. It will be for 40 minute for each of the section. 20 minute for solving questions and 20 minutes to analyze.

The current plan is

Wake up	3:30 AM
Meditation	3:30 am to 4 am
1st	4 am to 4:40 am
2nd	4:40 am to 5:20 am
3rd	5:20 am to 6:00 am
Running and Exercise	6:00 am to 8:00 am
4th	9:00 pm to 9:40 pm
5th	9:40 pm to 10:10 pm

I will update the plan if Jamboree asks for a different plan, else I will stick to this. 

First Day

Now it is exactly 100 days left for the GMAT test. The countdown starts.
Feb : 16 Days
Mar: 31 Days
Apr: 30 Days
May: 23 Days

I think I am better equipped now. The classes have given me the base and the pace. I will be devoting some time for each section each day. I have created an excel sheet where I will be putting the daily progress on the GMAT preparation. From Monday to Thursday, I will be expending around 4 hours a day, on Friday around 6 hours and on Sat & Sun around 8 hours. So, in total, it will be around 30 hours a week ( 8 hours for Maths and 22 Hours for English).

I am so excited about this whole journey of GMAT preparation. I will try to use some new words which I learn from anywhere in this blog. This will help me in articulating my thoughts. Nothing is impossible.

I will post more in this same post "First Day" as the day has just started. It is 1:24 am 14th Feb (Valentine's day)

Day 8 (Booked the GMAT date)

It is one week since I joined the class. I am seeing the improvement in SC now. I have attempted all the 140 questions from OG once. I could get a score of 63.5 %. Today I attempted questions no. 26 to 50 again and I scored 68%. My SC is improving and I am happy about that.

I would have to revise the concepts again and again. I am sure to score with 80% accuracy in SC.
I would be attempting Q no. 51 to 75 tomorrow morning as I think I should develop a habit of waking up early at 5. This will keep me fresh also.

I am enjoying the journey of GMAT preparation. It is fun.

1:56 am Date 7 Feb 2012 : Booked my GMAT date for 24th May at 9:00 am. So, I have enough time to prepare myself for the grand day and I am aiming for the GMAT score of more than 780.

Day 7

Today was an amazing day. I did try 35 questions from OG sentence correction. Now I have completed all the 140 questions from OG.

I could score 19 out of 35 which is just above 50 %. I think the difficulty level was also more in the later half of the questions. But after seeing the explanation of the answers I am convinced and I think I could get the answers right. I need to improve on the time to solve these questions.

So, overall I could answer 89 questions corectly from 140 questions which is 63%. I know I will be able to improve the score with more focus and practice.

I will be going for the class tomorrow. I am again going to join the 5 am group from tomorrow. Pretty excited and confident.

Day 6

Preparing for the GMAT has given me my scope of improvement. I attempted 35 questions from OG 12 today (from 71 to 105). I got 19 correct out of 35 questions. I read the explanations of my wrong answers and I am convinced. I know it will take some time to assimilate the learning. But I am pretty confident on improving my SC score. I am enjoying solving these SC questions.

Some tips for SC questions:

• I need to be a bit fast in solving these SC questions. I solved 35 questions in 1 hour 14 min.
• Need to remember various idioms.
• Relax and find the intent of the clue sentence.

Day 5

4:30 am

I solved the next 35 questions from OG for Sentence correction. Q no. 36 to 70. I did attempt these questions at night. I could answer 23 out of 35 correctly, which is around 66%.

I will study and analyze the answers again. I am learning the concepts and applying tricks to eliminate wrong answers. I will be looking for some tips / tricks which will eliminate more wrong answers.

Another noticeable thing was that I spent too much time in solving these questions. I spent 2 hours in solving 35 questions. Ideally, the target should be to solve 1 question in a minute.

The official guide is good. It has varied questions and all type of questions are covered in OG.

Overall, I am becoming more confident on Sentence correction and I know I will do wonder. I would be targetting more than 80% accuracy.

Day 4

1:32 am.

The day was busy. Still I managed to complete 35 questions from OG on SC. I got an accuracy of 80%. I am happy. I think the techniques are going in me and I can answer the questions confidently now. The process of elimination is really helpful. I got 28 correct out of the 35 questions.

In QA, I am very much confident in PS. I just need to maintain my cool and read the questions carefully before starting on the answer. There are very similar answers and there are chances where by silly mistake, wrong answer is ticked.

I am not able to find any date beyond May 9 for GMAT. I will check and see if no other date is available, I wil take that date.

Soon, I will be creating my complete schedule on the preparation for GMAT.

Day 3

Today I did attend the Maths Class. It was very interesting. I enjoyed the class and my lost love for Mathematics rose again inside me. I could answer 5 questions out of 10 given at the beginning of the class.

Tips for Maths:

• Interpret the questions correctly. Do not start answering in vain.
• Devote some time atleast for the questions which come in the beginning of GMAT as they almost decide the score.
• Be patient and relaxed. Do not assume anything. e.g AX=BX => A=B (X can be 0) or number of factors of 12 is 10 and not 5 ( -ve factors also included)
• Practice and do not be overconfident. Maintain your cool.

Preparing for Mathematics should not be a tough job as I love Mathematics.

After coming from the class, I started searching about Harvard and reading about it. I am targetting a score of 780 or above. I also read a lot about IIM A PGPX. I am aiming for IIMA PGPX. It would be an enriching experience going to IIM A. It will be fun.

Soon, I will be creating a strategic plan to crack GMAT. I will be updating my progress on GMAT daily. Writing blog is a very good technique to keep myself update as well as revise the learnings and reinforce my goal. This is also a mean to check where I stand.

The most important part in preparation for GMAT is solving OG 12 atleast twice. I will do that. Before Monday, I need to solve 140 SC questions. Also, by next Wednesday, I will complete solving Nova to come to pace in Mathematics.

I will practice the techniques taught by the English teacher to solve SC questions. So, daily target is 35 questions from tomorrow for OG SC.

I will be setting up my daily goals based on this. I need to keep some time before actual GMAT for mock tests too. I would give all the mock test provided.

I really am enjoying the journey of preparation for GMAT. I know everything happens for good. I am very enthusiastic and very much positive about GMAT. I need to be consistent in my effort.

I was looking for the GMAT date but I was not getting date in May end. I will look again after some days and see which date am I getting.

Day 2

1:25 am:
I am writing this post at night. And as I am writing, I am beckoning the 1st day of Second month, which is February. Today or should I say yesterday was an exciting day. I learnt so many tips about sentence correction. I am enjoying the journey of GMAT. This is great.

Few tips about GMAT

• GMAT is simple. Do not make it complex. The questions are on a definite pattern.
• Choose the process of elimination rather than the process of selection.
• Try to solve the questions within 1 minute.
• Relax. (This tip I got from PMP exam which can be applied anywhere)

The fun is in journey and not in destination. I am enjoying each and every bit of my journey. I need to take the date for GMAT.

Tips for sentence correction:

1. ing : ing is noun, modifier or continuous action.

         e.g. Writing poetry. Here writing is noun
                Smiling people. Here smiling is modifier.

• She is writing. Here writing is continuous action.
• She is irritating. Here irritating is modifier.

    2. If you write info about specific name, coma comes. If you write info about non specific coma doesnot come.
        e.g. Joe, irritating everyone stood there.
               He irritating everyone stood there.

 3. If ing is not preceeded by is/are/am/was/were, the ing is not a continous action.
     e.g. Writing is my passion. Here writing is not continuous action.
             I like writing. Here writing is not continuous action.

 4. The important part in the sentence is subject. The not important part in the sentence is modifier or information.

5. When you can use number just before the noun, the noun is countable. When you need to use another word between the number and noun, the noun is un countable.
e.g. 3 stars, 3 pieces of ice

6. Pronoun     Singular / Plural          F / PR / PAST
       it / they         has                               has
                            have                             had

7. Subject:
    Tom's wallet (wallet is subject, after apostrophy)
     Wallet of Tom (Wallet is subject, before preposition)
     one of my friends from schooldays (one is subject ---- before 1st preposition)
    
8. John with his family members is coming to the party       
             as well as his family is coming to the party
     John and Maria are .....
9. Not only                                  But also
    Either                                      Or
    Neither                                    Nor
  
    The is / are (singularity / plurality) is decided on the basis of subject with (But also, or and Nor)

10. My old car keys. Here Keys is subject.
      (Last part is subject)

11. Usage of only:
       Speak just English  
       I need only Rs 500.
       I need to only talk to you.
12. due to is correct where it can be easily replaced by caused by
13. Two sentences can be connected by that ; and.
       That carries related information or used as connector.
14. Just like ------- wrong words.
15. Comparative ( Like, unlike, as, just as, than, as xyz as, same as, similar as)
      Main subject and the word after comparative should be similar.
16. -----------------and ---------------------and------------
      The parts of sentences in between and should be parallel... or should be structured in the same way.
      
        

Day 1

I am writing this post for yesterday ( The date was 30 Jan 2012). I went to Jamboree Coaching for GMAT and enrolled for GMAT fast track class (5.5 weeks). The class was for Verbal and it was good. I got to know about the pattern for GMAT ( 37 Q and 41 V). The class started with introduction. The class is a mix of people having varied experiences, some having none and some having around 8-9 years of experience. I was in the upper bracket as far as experience is concerned. To my surprise, there is a Doctor too in the class. The class went good. I am turning confident now. The class was on Sentence correction and the teacher (Pratibha , I guess I remember the name) gave some tips on how to go about the SC.

• Look for the answers which are wrong. Go for process of elimination rather than going for process of selection.
• Skip the answer which has even one mistake. I dont have to find all the mistakes in a sentence and analyze why this should be wrong.
• GMAT is simple. Nothing rare is checked in GMAT.
• All the sentences will be from any of these topics viz. Natural Science, Social Science and Business Studies.
• A sentence starts with the subject (main thing) or the info. If it starts with info, the info will tell about subject. On rare occasion, the sentence will have two info, then the second info will talk about first info. The first info will always talk about the subject (main thing).
• There are around 50 words idioms to be learnt. She told about information about. Information is always succeeded by about or that.
• About ing : ing is noun, modifier or continuous action. People always confuse ing with continuous action.
• Clearest answer is correct answer.

I solved 10 questions from OG SC. I took 22 min and answered 7 correctly. I am enjoying the journey of GMAT preparation.

Jan 3, 2011, 1:57 AM. Let me start again. I have got enough confidence now. I would start preparing for GMAT. I am thinking on the strategy to clear the GMAT with flying colours. I would be applying for IIM A and other IIMs then. I would spend some time regularly on daily basis for GMAT preparation. I believing in enjoying the journey rather than the destination. So, preparation itself will be a journey for me and I would learn a lot from this preparation. I would be giving GMAT in the next 3 month time period.

Yes I am back. I do love to challenge myself. And I have started enjoying pushing myself to the limits. I do want to do so many things. 24 hours fall short for me. I have joined gym in our apartment. I feel better now. I am planning top start my preparation for gmat and I am sure I will be scoring abovbe 760. I would want to go to IIM A and do PGPX. This will me another path or direction in my life. I don't want to move towards stagnancy. Doing Mba from Iim a will give me an opportunity to learn new things and interact with different people. I will improve on my networking and might look for some enterpreneurial venture. I am confident about myself.

revamp......

I need to prepare well for the GMAT. I have to revamp the preparation. I will be following the schedule strictly.
The schedule will be doing 40 questions daily from OG followed by Manhattan Guide SC.
I will be concentrating more on the SC.
After solving the questions from OG, I need to analyze the questions. I always have to be on my toes for the preparation now. I will make sure that I do it properly.

new strategy

I picked up the folded paper in which 'Strategy' was mentioned. Strategy, the most important part in the GMAT preparation, is a part of daily life.
My new strategy is:
1. Practice from Manhattan guide to SC. Probably I will buy this guide as it will give me some free online tests. I will practice 10 questions daily from Manhattan Guide. This I will do just before the 40 Questions from OG.
2. Start anaylsis of the questions from OG. As part of the analysis, I will start doing this from tomorrow.
3. Tips and Tricks: Write in all the tips and tricks notebooks for the daily tips and tricks.
4. Eat, Drink, Sleep GMAT.

The path of SC...

I am able to understand the nuances of Sentence correction. I am sure this time I will be making less mistakes in SC section. The Manhattan Guide to Sc is helping me to learn the secret of SC.
I am pretty confident now about SC. This will surely improve my score in VA. I have to keep on practicing sc. Analysis is most important. Also, I will read the OA of the questions attempted and try to understand the answers. I will make notes on the SC.

the second prep test

Yes, I gathered all my will and sat for a prep test this time Manhattan free test. I scored 580. I have to analyze the test.
The individal score id Q- 45, VA - 25.
The last time I got 540, which was zero prep test from MBA.com. From the last one month I was doing some preparation of GMAT. I need to put more effort in my preparation.

Out of 37 Q questions, I got 18 correct (I need to improve in Q too). And out of 41 VA questions, I got 19 correct.

This is a clear indicator that I have to work hard and put more time on analyzing the answers. While giving this exam, I felt short of time in both the sections. I have to devise a strategy for time management too.

Enjoying the process of preparation........

How is this possible. I am more confident about the GMAT preparation now. Since the day I booked date for my GMAT, I see myself enjoying the preparation days. I spent quite a couple of hours with my OG in the last two days. I am enjoying the process. This is a pleasant surprise that I am improving in the Verbal Section. In the course of few days of practising, I found myself comfortable with Sentence Correction section which was my weakness earlier.

I need to improve on my vocabulary. I am concentrating on that too. Sometimes I fall short of words. I got the site http://visualvocabulary.blogspot.com/. I will be adding this site to my blog.

Another way to improve vocabulary is read, read and read. I have to start doing that. I will keep this in my daily schedule. These days I have kept 'Reading Editorial from TOI' as one of the to do task, but havent followed it actually.

booked the GMAT date

Today finally I booked the date for GMAT. I will be giving GMAT on 27th August at 1:00 pm. Now the real fun starts. I will start my serious preparation from today.
My strategy:
1. Spend 3 hours daily and 5 hours on weekend on GMAT. No excuse.
2. If there is nothing to do, solve questions from PG on round robbin basis.
3. Maintain a daily to do on the sticky notes and be enthused about GMAT and ISB.
4. Read editorial from TOI. Read FT articles.

Apply the law of secret. Apply the power of imagination. Feel good.
The countdown starts now.

the week that was........

The last week, I didn't do much as far as the MBA preparation goes. But I am determined to give my 100% this week. I will be following the daily schedule to pump up my preparation for GMAT. While writing this blog I felt that I get short of proper words. I have to improve my vocabulary.

Anyway the plan is:
10 Question from one section
5 Questions each from all other 4 sections.

This way I will be attempting 30 questions in a day. After answering the questions, I have to analyze the answers given in OG.

The enthusiasm should not vanish.
One good news to cheer about is that I booked a house in Crossing Republik. This kept me busy the whole week.