C'mon. Concentrate and focus on your goal. Why are u drifting away!

Have been pretty active at the ISB thread on the B week forum these days.
With GMAT exam just a week away, and with a very unclear picture of what my GMAT score would be , I think I need get more involved with ISB. This should motivate me and remind me of my goal.
Slept a lot today. Studied just for 2 hrs. There is no point complaining.
Goal is to stay focussed and do well.

Drained...Tired...
ISB..How many more sleepless nights are you going to give me?
Aargh..Preparing for GMAT has been one of the most painful experiences.
Is it the pressure or the return to studies that make it so difficult.?
Or is it my age ..or just my aptitude level.!

I think if I don't see a 700 on the screen on the D-Day, I will go mad.
I have been working my butt off. Please,let me have a 700 score.
680 would be the last option but then it would always tempt me to take the GMAT again.I just can't go through this painful process again.:(

I read the probability chapter now. Read it from Manjit Singh(Std XII)book. I always was comfortable with that book and feels good to learn from it again.
Itz a sunday evening and 2 weeks from now, I would know if I deserve to take some rest or not.
I have not crossed a score above 560 in Kaplan. The scores yell at me and tell that I need to work in the Verbal section. Accuracy is around 50%. My chances of reaching a 700 will depend on the improvement I do in the verbal section in these two weeks.
I saw the India-Pak match today and seeing India loose miserably made me feel even worse.

Kaplan Score 4: 560
Iam back after Kaplan 4. This time I got only 8 questions in Quant wrong.
But the problem continued.Verbal accuracy is 50%. The SCs were better but I got a lot of CRs wrong. Also, the RC topics were easy but I could not take advantage of them. 4 Kaplan Tests are over and the maximum score I got was 560.

With less than 2 weeks to go, I need to improve my verbal.
Also, need to work on the DS section.

I have to redo all the questions in the OG SC and DS section.
I can't do much about RC and CR now.
Also need to sit one day and review the results and redo all the wrong questions.
Atleast for the dedication I have been putting in, I deserve a 700.!

Dave took his test today and got a 600.He was predicting a score between 550 and 600.
Let me see how much I get.My highest score in a test till now has been 680 and the lowest 540. And I want something above 700.
Some ppl are getting RC passages which are more than 90 lines wrong. And they get upto 4 RCs. This is pretty scary. Iam bad at RC and if its a long passage, Iam worse.
What does destiny have in store for me. I wrote CAT 2000 (for IIMs) in India and totally crumbled under pressure. I just hope I remain cool, focussed and beat all my scores to get a 700+.Am taking the Kaplan 4 test now. Will get back in a few hrs to see how I have done.

I have lost.

With the kind of scores that Iam getting, I have given up.
How can someone possibly hope for the best when things are not going my way.
Iam not writing this to gain sympathy or to make myself feel better.
Itz just that motivation level has fallen rock bottom today.

Somebody said that practice makes a person perfect. Iam practising hard.
Iam putting in the hard work..Why don't I see good results.

Kaplan CAT 03

Shit...Two weeks before the exam and the scores don't improve.
All through the test, I was thinking today Iam doing well.But the scores don't improve.Got a 540 again.:(

The verbal section was the one where I got beaten. Accuracy was less than 50%.
20 correct and 21 incorrect. The RC were very tough. One RC was for 75 lines.

The only positive point I saw was that I stuck to my time management. Could complete both the tests with atleast 5 mins of time left.
I honestly don't know what to do.With just about 2 weeks left, and a 540 score, nothing much can be done. All I can do is study hard, pray,keep my cool and expect the best.

I hope to see a day where my dream is fulfilled.Honestly,with something like this, I don't think I can achieve my dream.

Damp Squib
I pepped up myself so much.
I motivated myself to work hard.
Went home yesterday by 06pm, felt tired..
So slept at 08.30 PM thinking that I'll wake up after a couple of hrs feeling refreshed.Chalked out the things to study yday(Give a Kaplan Verbal test)

When I got up today morning, it was 0630 am...Time to go to office.
Haven't had a good day at office too with lots of issue everywhere.
A disastrous start to a weekend.:(

Time to catch up.
Read this GMAT experience from someone now,it scares the shit out of me. :(

"I got 4 stat and 2 prob questions.. in tests i usally scored 32-35/37 in 60
minutes a good score but in actual GMAt the level seems to be very tough... i was not even to complete test in 75 min.."


Iam scared as a rat now.Just 10 days to go and I need to complete the topics -Probability,Combinations and Medians.Aargh..C'mon man...You have to do it!
Don't loose that confidence in urself.

A new strategy? Smart and Hard Work.

As the D day comes closer, a part of me tells that I need to work smarter instead of working harder. I seem to be  a bad planner. Or an ambitious planner. Plan too many things and don't stick to it. Or Iam a bad executioner. Iam just not able to execute what I plan.

Roomie comes back next week and this will definitely hamper ur studying pattern. He will talk,disturb and I won't get the full room as I have been getting for the last one month.
Anyway, I don't want to crib. I want to motivate myself and convert all my fear,apprehensions, tensions into some positive energy and do well. Remember, I don't want to take the GMAT again.( Even if my fear and imagination tells me that I have lost the battle and is convinced that I will get a poor score and will have to eventually retake the exam)

There is not much time that I have in hand. But there is definitely some smart moves that I can do. Let me concentrate on the stuff that appear as obstacles for me getting a good score.

Problem Solving

• Probability:
• Permutations and Combinations
• Mean,Median and Standard Deviations
• Interests  and Mixtures. and a bit of geometry (lcm ,gcd too)
• Reading the OG maths lesson
• Working on those CAT lessons

These are the areas Iam dreading now. I mean whenever I see a question from these areas, I feel uncomfortable. This needs to be corrected. I have to work on them and a night before the exam, I should be able to sleep comfortbaly with these topics not haunting me.

Data Sufficiency:
 It is strange but true. As an engineer, I should be acing the PS and DS section but this is not happening. DS continues to be a tough nut to crack.

• Algebra DS questions: A lot of people have commented that they faced more number of questions in DS than PS in the quant section. I have to work on them. More tougher questions need to be practiced.
• OG DS: I had completed the OG DS section in February but I hardly remember anything from that. It contains around 280 questions and I have to somehow take time to do all those again.

Sentence Correction:

 Perhaps the least time consuming and the least irritating. When I initially started with my SC questions, my accuracy rate was pathetic. It was around 45-50 %. Slowly, over a period of time reading all the questions over and over again have helped me.

     I have completed reading the SC sections of Kaplan and Princeton and have made notes from it too.

•  I will have to go through the OG SC questions again. Reading them again for the final time, and making small notes of the rules will be very helpful a day before the exam when I can review everything in about 30 mins. Thefore, work on the SC.
• I have decided that the megabank cannot be completed in the short time I had. However, I will just take a max of 5 random tests to see what my scores would look like.
• Reading the appendixes of the Kaplan and Princton should help.

Critical Reasoning:

I have done the OG CR questions once (in Feb). Did around 30 of them again. However, due to time constraint or rather lack of interest, I am not doing it again.This is one area where I am investing little time and expecting good accuracy.

• Practice a few CR sections from the LSAT books.
• Some stuff from Arco

Reading Comprehension:

   Irritating,annoying and frustrating. I have worked on them. Sitting and working on all the RC passages in OG will not help. What I need to do is take RCs in more test sittings and see how accurate Iam under test conditions.

• Practice RCs as a part of tests.
• Do 2-5 passages each of various sections (Arts,Science etc)

 

AWA

 It is very important on the day of test that you feel confident.

• A good AWA start will give u the necessary confidence to make sure that you can crack the quant section.
• Also, giving a full test with AWA section will tell u how much stamina you have and how much would u need.

This is an untouched area. I have to sit for half a day and work on this. I have the Arco Essay book and if I don't make any use of it, it is not good.

 

Test

I have told this before and am repeating it. The score that you will get is directly proportional to the number of practice full lenght tests I take.

Minimum Bare requirements.

•  4 Kaplan Tests (2 already Taken)
• 2 Princeton Tests
• 2 GMAC tests ( to predict the real score)

Below are mentioned some tests which If I can take, I would feel proud of my strategy and time management skills.

• Arco Timed test
• Arco Untimed Test
• 2 GMAC paper tests.
• 1 Arco Paper test

All the best and keep focusing on your Lakshya.

Princeton Sample Verbal GMAT Section

I took the Princeton verbal section and got 29/41 correct. A score more than 31 would have boosted my confidence. Anyway, it appears that this exam is hell bent on denting whatever little confidence I have in me.

Analysis
Talking about the test, here is a quick analysis from my side:

• Initially, I was struggling with the time factor. I used the SC questions to catch up and get back on track. I noticed that I got 3 SC questions wrong. Time is a key element in the verbal section.41 questions in 75 minutes is tough.
• The RC passages were easy. They were from Science,History and Languages. I did not find them tough. However, I got a few of them wrong. I need to understand that after spending a substantial amount of time in RC,I should not get the questions wrong. After  looking back to the passage a number of times, getting an answer incorrect is highly frustrating.
• The CRs were the saving grace. There were a couple that I got wrong but on the whole, these are something which you can be pretty sure are correct if you have used the correct logic. 

Lessons Learnt

• It is a good thing that Iam taking a verbal test to identify my weaker points.
• RC-->SC--->CR. That is the decreasing order of weaker sections of my GMAT prep.
• I also noticed that I can use SC to save time/catch up with the schedule. But I need to work hard to get them right. These are small and quick questions but play an important role in your final score.
• RC- No matter how many RC tests I take, I struggle under timed conditions. Matlab, when there is a RC question suddenly after a CR and SC, I find it difficult to switch gears and concentrate on it. Getting all the questions of a RC question right is something I have never been able to do.:(
• Thus, the bottom line is the more tests that I take, the better would be my performance.

 

I have been practising CR and SC for the last couple of days.
CR is something that appears easy. However, Iam getting into an odd position where I end up with two choices and is difficult to select one. Accuracy and timing is getting effected as a result of this. Have just around 10 days to go.
Accuracy and timing are the key factors. I don't want to take a chance.
700+...Don't you want that? C'mon..Work your butt off.

Timing Yourself
 
Picked this up from one of the GMAT prep sites.
 
"..Before starting the test, I made two tables in my scratch paper. One for QUANT and another for verbal. For QUANT, I wrote from 1 to 37 on one coumn. Against it wrote from 73 to 0 decreasing in interval of 2 (73, 71, 69 ...). The idea is whenever I want to know the time I am lagging, I have to see the time from the table across the question number and compare it with the time remaining. Though I was prepared like this, I took too much of time for first ten questions. In the midst of test, I was lagging by 15 minutes and could not help but guess for five questions.
For verbal, my table was as below.
0 - 75
7 - 63
14 - 50
21 - 38
28 - 25
35 - 13
41 - 0

I cultivated the habit of checking time for every 7 questions and it really helped me in the test..."
 

Somebody else who got a 550 in the Kaplan CAT2 ended up getting a 640.
Is this going to be my fate too.:(

Aargh !! Talk about frustration. Iam the best example!

The worst thing about taking a Full length CAT test is that you get tired. The stamina is over and if the score is poor, you feel as if u have lost a war.
Honestly have doubts about my success at GMAT.:(
The only option I have now is not too take the scores seriously and be optimistic.
We never know what can happen.

This is an old survey. Lists the other top B schools in Asia Pacific region.
ISB is not in the list but am sure it would get into the list.
 

1.   Melbourne Business School
2.   Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
3.   Asian Institute of Management (Philippines)
4.   Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (School of Management) 
5.   NUS Business School (National University of Singapore)

A weeks preperation and only a 10 point increase in score.
:(. Iam very depressed. I have been studying and working on stuff but the results are not coming.My KAPLAN CAT Test 2 score is 550 today. It is depressing.
 
The last week, I gave the test, I was struggling with Quant. Couldn't complete all the questions.
This week, I was struggling with verbal. The CR were tiring, the SCs did not appear correct and the RCs were horrible. Nothing went right.
 
I seriously need to work hard. Else, I would have to accept my dream and forget about doing an MBA. Iam feeling sick now.!

Preparing for essays
Answer these four basic questions and u'll get started.
 

1. Why MBA
2. Why Now
3. Why ISB 
4. Why You

Sitting on  a weekend at home studying is irritating and tiring. Especially, if you are returning to studies after 4 years. Itz tough but if I want to do an MBA, it is a must that I sit and spent hrs studying.  Phew ! The struggle to reach ur goal is a tough one!.
 
 

Am I aiming for somethin this weekend
Don't know why but wanted to see some movies today. So skipped some practice questions and instead watched Amitabh movies. There is a guilt feeling but still would feel fresh starting studying tomm.
 
Goals for the weekend:
*Finish up the quant portion of the OG: Around 150 Questions to be done.(5 sets)
*Take 2 GMAT tests. (Both from Kaplan)
* Do two sets of DS OG.
* Do one set of SC (20 qns)
* One set of RC (20 qns)
 
 
I somehow need to wind up OG by next weekend. Else it will be tough for me.
 

Work Impacted.

That was the last thing I wanted to happen.He asked me for a status today on a major development work assigned to me.He has trust in me. The requirements are pretty complex and the there was a note in the email sent to the manager that someone with exceptional skills needs to work on it.As expected, I was the one who was assigned with it.
Could not even say no.The manager who assigned me this report and the client who raised this requirement are both important to me. Iam expecting to take the reccomendation letter for ISB from them.The problem is complex ,but is doable.
The only problem is that it requires concentration and a good amount of effor which I cannot give now as Iam preparing for my GMAT.
Strange situation..Tough Call !

I need to get a GMAT score such that Iam  over the average GMAT score of ISB.
i.e my GMAT score should be over 690. This thing scares the shit out of me.
 
I do  NOT want to take GMAT again.
I want to  get admitted to ISB.
I want a GMAT score of above 700.
 
Confusions.Confessions.Apprehensions. My life has  become quite complex.

Creative inputs for MBAs

Rediff.com carried this article today -

Talks about ISB being the only B-School in India where the students are introduced to the world of arts...Read on



Nitin Bhayana



July 14, 2004

Ever wondered why the MBAs are so boring? In my retail business, I've often come across people who tell me that I should hire them because they've done a great job in operations or inventory control or have a superb track record in rural distribution. This is not to say that these people are not bright.

Unfortunately, though, many of these future leaders lack the key ingredient that is beginning to become more important as we move into this millennium of creativity.

Apart from obvious businesses like retail where a healthy mix of business and creativity is a must, most businesses, whether it is the revamp of Mahindra's jeeps or the Barista coffee shops, could not be possible without creativity.

The trend is more apparent abroad. From music companies to banks, everyone is focusing on the issue which requires some serious re-thinking back home.

Why is it that all our schools and colleges that teach us complex case studies and options trading, give the arts a complete miss? Well, one institution, the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, has taken a bold step -- one that needs to be emulated by management institutes across India.

Vijay Mahajan, the former dean of ISB wanted to spice up the activity on his campus and widen the repertoire of his mature students by introducing them to the world of arts.

Mahajan went ahead to put together an informal team of advisors who would help the institute in devising a loose and informal arts programme.

The effort was to make it both interesting and educative for them. With the help of art collector and businessman Harsh Goenka, art gallery NGMA's (Mumbai) director Saryu Doshi, publisher Sangita Jindal, author Phiroza Godrej and curator Vikram Sethi, a full programme for the campus was designed.

ISB's programme included lectures on Indian art by historians as well as talks by artists from Krishen Khanna to Jitish Kallat on how they chose art as a career. Local artists Lakshma Gaud and sculptor Karl Antao were invited to be the school's artists-in-residence.

The students of business administration were able to see how art work evolves physically. They could delve into the thought process of the artist who was present to answer their questions.

I was invited by the ISB to talk on 'Art as an investment' earlier this week.

Educating people, or rather exposing people to the arts and thus creativity has far-reaching effects both personally and in business.

ISB's initiative is acommendable one and should be emulated by other institutions that could give their students something valuable beyond case studies and number crunching. It will help them develop as multifaceted leaders of tomorrow.

There is creativity in all of us, but institutions need to harness it and make art and culture a habitual experience and, perhaps, also entertainment for people. Frankly, an initiation to the arts need not wait till post-graduation.

For instance, it would be wonderful if high schools took their students out to the museum once a year. Not only will the children learn about the subject, chances are that they will become more well-rounded individuals.

Soon, the arts' elitist stigma may disappear, and, with an educated and sensitive public, issues such as lack of conservation, will be a thing of the past.

Now the fees at the country's premier Indian Institutes of Management are back up to their original levels, so they too could learn a thing or two from ISB.

As for the students at ISB, with the kind of salaries these MBAs will get after they graduate, hopefully, some of them would buy some art as well.

Again on the loosing front. Itz tough to study and work full time.:(

New Strategy to be followed

As the results have not been as per expectations, here is what is my new strategy.

Every Evening,do atleast 20 questions (or a subset that I have defined) from every section for the next 5 days.


Every morning take one part of the Arco Quant or verbal section under timed conditions.
Thus, for every two days, I will have one test completed.

There is no other way to go, or this mountainous study material will never come to an end.
All the best.

Decided to give myself some rest on the sunday evening. Perhaps, Iam pushing myself too much because of which the results are getting impacted.:(.
Will start again fresh tommorow. A new battle begins.

GMAT score of 540


I hate myself. No matter how hard I try, I seem to be not improving. This is irritating and frustrating. There is so much at stake and this is not helping me at all.
Why? Because i got a score of 540 today.

My observations:
* I was getting the first few questions right (the first 5 to be exact) but there were two questions where I messed up. I wanted to get them right but I was not getting them.They looked doable and I was doing a mistake somewhere (calculation,?reading the question not properly?).As a result, I wasted 21 minutes on three questions. My biggest blunder.As a result of this I was in a position where I had to answer 25 questions in 25 minutes. For the first time, I got a score in quant lower than that of Verbal. Iam disappointed. The only thing is Iam analyzing where Iam going wrong. Let us hope this will help.

*Verbal was pretty ok. I completed the questions with a minute left in hand. Most of the questions were from the Kaplan book and so got a feeling that may have been the reason to complete in time.


It is clearly a case that my low score is not a reflection of my preperation.It just shouts at me that I need to time myself and take the test. This has been a problem and I hope I will still get that number (700+) some day. For now, it looks like a distant dream.


Iam depressed and demotivated because of this score.Iam eagerly waiting to take another test in a week's time from now and beat this performance.


Iam lazy. I don't review my mistakes. I don't concentrate.!! Arrgh...I hate myself for being me.

Finished Kaplan Book(2000-2001)that I bought from the library.A little pleased with myself.All the sections have been completed and accuracy has been reasonable.
I was expecting a bad accuracy at Verbal but it seems to be improving.
Feeling good.The day of GMAT if I make past 700, I would be a contended man.
The GMAT season has started and I get to see GMAT experiences from folks every now and then.Some have got results as expected and some have collapsed under pressure.

The effort,time and things at stake are so many that one really feels exhausted thinking about retaking the exam. To be honest to you, that would be my last option. GMAT is on the 7th of August and Iam hoping that after that day, life would become normal.
As of now, Iam aim to kep working hard,build up the mental stamina for the test and stay focussed.

I need to push myself to such a degree where I should not even think of wasting time on other stuff.

Anyway, something surprising came to my notice this night. Met my old pal VC on the IM.
He too plans to take the GMAT and apply for ISB. I somehow know a lot of ppl now who are aiming for the B-School. Imagine, if all of us make it.:) Thatz a dream come true rt.

There's S from NJ whoz making an attempt and then there is SJ, a lady who is reapplying this year.

There are my friends and they are my compietetors.

26 days to go before my fate is decided.

A is for Active Participation
B is for Being Aggressive
C is for Concentration
D is for Dedication to your goals..
and E is for Effort.

What do I really want?
What will it cost?
Am I willing to pay the price?
When should I start paying the price?

Slept.Got up. Worked on some problems.Feeling sleepy again.
Have to take A for a car purchase tomm. So will not be able to take the test.
Planning to wake up again after 4-5 hrs and complete the remaining quant questions.
I must understand that I have to catch up with my schedule.

BTW, took a BW MBA insider membership today.

Behind schedule now.Probably wrong planning.I have started looking at GMAT as a problem now rather than an opportunity.Got to get my basics back.
*Work Hard.
*Identify your goal.
*Stay Focussed.
*Keep ur cool.

I sometimes feel that since I am returning to the books after a gap of 4 yrs, Iam not able to concentrate for long hrs.
Is that the case.

I see myself getting a 650 now,instead of a 700. In fact,I see myself taking the GMAT again. C'mon, I shouldn't let such negative thoughts impact my mind.

Have I forgotten that I have a list of goals planned for this year.C'mon man, you have to get into ISB. There is a lot at stake and u have to be succesful.

GMAT is the first step and you have started loosing confidence in this phase only. Buck up, concentrate, you definitely can do much better. 720 is the target.

Work well this weekend. Pep urself up.
Identify ur weak areas. Work on them.

God...I have started getting that fear now..that particular fear that does not let me concentrate on work also.:(

Work getting impacted.
GMAT score not rising.
I have to get things straightened here.

Working hard for GMAT. Slowly, the fear is building in.
Got to keep cool and need to concentrate more.

Exactly a month to go. The count down has started.The future troubles me.
In exactly 30 days from now,I will have my GMAT score in front of me.
Any doubts, any self built pride ego, any apprehensions will come out.
I will know where I stand.
If I do good, it might be a result of hard work. And If I fail, it will be another dent on my confidence.I don't want that to happen.
This is my last chance and probably my best chance.
The josh of my youth, the experience of my age and the maturity have to get good results.
All the best.


I studied for a good 2 hrs today. Did some quant from Princeton Math Workout and then went to a birthday party. I was thinking that I had arrived late there (9pm) but the party had just begun.

Will not waste much time tomm. I have loads of work also to catch too. Theres a mountain of syllabus that I need to complete.Life looks tough.:(

Test 3
Hmm...Gave a paper test today and got a GMAT score of 640.
This is depressing bcoz after giving a Kaplan test yday I was hoping that the scores would improve. In fact,the paper test is tougher than the CBT.
I was actually totally drained out by the time I approached the last two sections.
I have to check the wrong answers but I was so tired today that I slept for 5 hrs in the evening. Phew! Taking tests and studying for tests are two differet ball games.
640 ...Need to work hard dude!

I completed a Kaplan Test today from the book version(2000-2001). And I got a score of 680.Iam pretty excited with my progress.Last week, I got 610 and this week it has improved. What remains to be seen is whether my GMAT score will be better than this (it has to be!) or is a disappointment.(Iam scared if I think that way).

Anyway, here are my observations:

* Surprisingly, I got more correct answers in Verbal this time than Quant.I felt the the quant questions were tough. I need to keep in mind that the Quant section is the one that will be the main propellor for my initial score and the Verbal is an add on.
I have not been really good in the verbal section. But Iam working at it and I hope to have a decent score in both the sections.

* The scores might dip once I start taking the AWA sections. I mean there is a good possibilty of concentration loss. I have to keep working towards it. July 16 is the date when I start taking the Full length tests including AWA.

Quant Analysis
----------------
*DS is again the weaker section in quant.
Maths section where I have to work hard
-Probability
-Percentage
-Standard Deviations and Medians.
- Problems on two ppl walking from different ends and when they meet.

I realized that I got a couple of questions wrong because I did not read the questions properly. For eg ,question was asked about absolute value and I did not make a note of it.
Had I read the questions properly, I would have hit a 700.


Verbal
---------
*The old problem continues.As always, RC is the problem creator. I spend a lot on it.
My feeling is that I get tempted to go through the passage again. Now since I have spent a considerable amount of time reading the paragraph again, I don't want my answers to go wrong. And it is highly irritating to see that I get them wrong. Got to do something about this !

*SC -Need more practice. Surprise part was got an Idiom answer wrong.

* I am quite stunned that I did better in Verbal than in Quant.


Final Verdict: Maintain the same tempo as that of verbal and work hard on ur quant area.
You might just end up with a GMAT score that you have never imagined. All the best and keep working hard.

Itz sometime depressing.Itz sometime irritating. You know you want to get in there.
You know that you have to get the minimum to be there. Keep all those disturbing thoughts away from your work place and you might just reach ur goal.

Yesterday I had a strange dream.ISB was ready to take me much before the admission process started and that too without a GMAT score.! Oh...Only if dreams could come true.:)
Let me get back to studies..!