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.