Testing 1-2-3

 

GMAT Preparation

People around have been asking for the GMAT Prep strategy…and I am bored of saying the same things again and again, so, decided to lay down the steps here…Before I start, I must confess that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for GMAT and everyone will benefit from their own strategies.

For an uninformed candidate, he may try out what I did.

Basically, GMAT comes in 4 segments:

1. Quantitative Ability
2. Verbal Ability
3. Analysis of Issue
4. Analysis of Argument

To begin with, I will describe the second segment (VA) in detail, which happens to be the most intimidating one.

Verbal Ability (VA):

An average Indian student considers this one the toughest, for obvious reasons. Breaking down VA further, we have:

• Reading Comprehension
• Critical Reasoning
• Sentence Correction

Reading Comprehension is a straight forward thingie. It is often described as the only type which has all the answers there itself. So, kind of resembles an open book test.

Critical Reasoning requires an analytical mind and can be perfected with practice. This is a place where people can improve significantly with practice.

Sentence Correction is what takes some time to get a grasp of. Grammar, as we all know, is not as intimidating as think it to be. With a planned effort and directed approach, it CAN BE conquered.

I would advocate the following approach to acing GMAT..

Brushing your fundamentals

Start with brushing your fundamentals on grammar. Best bet is to read “Wren and Martin”. There is a part on English usage. That would suffice. By the time, you are done with the book; you will have a fair idea of the terminologies of grammar and different rules associated with usage. Consider this step as the get-to-know step.

The immediate next step is getting to know whatever you learnt in the real world scenario. “Better English” by Normal Lewis is an amazing book to help you revise and use the rules you learnt with wren and martin. Once you are done with the book, you are conceptually ready to take the plunge.

Baseline

Now is the time to know where do you stand in the GMAT arena and how far do you have to travel before you can call it a day. Usually, ETS gives away a CD which has 2 tests. You would want to write one test and see your scores. Make sure that you take the test in its entirety. Right from writing essays to the last question in VA. Sitting for 3 and a half hour is an ordeal in itself. So, one should prepare for that well in advance. So, I would always advocate taking all the test in entirety. Do not skip any portion. Usually, we have a tendency of not writing the essays when we take the test at home. DO NOT DO IT. Never forget that on the D-Day, you get to see VA only after you are exhausted writing 2 essays and doing 37 QA questions. So, that same degree of fatigue has to be simulated at home.

When you are done with the baseline test, spend some time analyzing how you fared. Take a note of your weaknesses and strengths.

Get to know GMAT

Now, you are done with the baseline test and have also brushed the grammar fundamentals. Now, is the time to know what GMAT is all about. I used KAPLAN Guide and it pretty well served the purpose. Use this guide to learn the different strategies they discuss and apply them in the practice tests they offer.

From what I experienced, KAPLAN Guide was pretty effective in making you learn ways to approach various questions. While I was reading it, I knew how I screwed my baseline test. Now, I knew that given another chance, I would use these strategies to handle different questions. So, give yourself that chance. Take one more test - may be a KAPLAN test. They usually give you 3 tests with the book.

After writing this test, I saw that I have improved significantly in Critical Reasoning and Sentence Correction ( owing to the elimination strategy…earlier, I was choosing the right answers as against eliminating wrong answers)

But I really did not see any remarkable improvements in RC.

Then came the turn to read another book: “Princeton Verbal Workout”

I loved this book for the RC strategy they have in there. When I read their method of paraphrasing the statement, it did wonders but the problem was that it was against my method of reading. It was too much of trouble paraphrasing each and every paragraph as I read but since I was doing very bad in RC, I trusted Princeton and decided to give up my fluke method.

It was hardwork. Initially, I had to write the paraphrases on the paper and one RC took around 20 minutes to complete. But I was confident that with practice, it will improve. And it did. Let me take some time in explaining what they taught. I may miss out some things, so, better refer the book for details.

Suppose an RC has 4 paragraphs. Read para 1 and write the zist of that para on a piece of paper in your won language. Do not write facts, just the idea. Then, go to para 2 and do the same. When you are finished writing the zist, draw and arrow from para 2 to para 1 and write how para 2 links with para 1 next to the arrow. Next, write the zist of para 3 and also write down how para 3 links with para 2. also, write, how it links with para 1 and para 2 combined. After you are done doing the same for para 4 as well, you have:

• What is the zist of all the paras, per se.
• How each para links with the para immediately above it as well as paras above it.
• What is the flow of entire RC
• How is the information arranged in RC and where to look for what

Now, as you read the questions, answers will pop up themselves. And you know exactly where to look for what. Now, you will not confuse “summary of a para” with “summary of the RC”. Things will become great.

But, you lost a lot of time writing all these paraphrases. How to account for that? In my case, I did this exercise of atleast 30-40 RCs and noticed an amazing trend. Initially, I had to spend some time thinking about the zist of the par after I read each para. Later, while I was reading the para, I was thinking about the zist. So, the thinking time shortens with practice. Then I cut the writing time. I did not had to write the zist anymore. I used to keep them in my head. With practice and focus, it is possible.

Towards the end, as I used to read an RC, the moment I am done reading a para, the natural instinct was to make a zist in my head and link it with the preceding paras. It became pretty fast and amazingly accurate.

By the time, you reach this stage, you wil have to practice a lot, literally a lot. My guess is that before you could give up writing, it will be 40-50 passages. And then, 30-40 more to perfect this art.

Official Guide:

Before you jump on this bible, finish the second test given by ETS. And remember to use the RC trick there. Why I am saying to finish both ETS test before reading OG is that the questions are from this book and it will skew your results if you take those tests after you’ve read this book.

This book is essentially the last thing you should be doing. It takes around 1.5 months of time to complete (assuming you study 2 hours a day). While you are on it, you can take 3 more tests…1 more Kaplan and two more tests (any good test will do..I took Princeton).

Some advice for OG:

Do this book in bunches. I made sets of 20 questions each of RC, CR and SC. This gives you a good mix of all the questions. Like you need in GMAT. I did in test format. Took 60 questions, timed myself, solved them, checked the answers, done the incorrect ones again, checked again. Once I was done, I used to read all the explanatory notes in detail. The idea is to learn how OG explains the answers. They are usually the best practice. Especially, in SC, they use detailed analysis to reach the correct answers and if you read those analysis very carefully, you will start thinking along that direction. This is a time when your knowledge of grammar would come handy to understand what these guys are saying. They use technical words to explain SC answers and you are prepared for it, already! (Thanks to wren and martin & Norman Lewis)

A week before GMAT, OG should be over and your should have 2 more tests left with you. You can save a KAPLAN and a Princeton for this week. Finish both the test 2 days before the D-Day and DO NOT DO ANYTHING IN THE LAST 2 DAYS…

QA and Essays:

QA is very easy in GMAT and frankly speaking, you don’t need much effort on this one. While you are working on KAPLAN and OG, you would have enough practice to sail you through. DS needs “some” efforts but they are okay. No strategies required to ace it.

Essays are again a reflection of your reading and writing habits. KAPLAN and Princeton describes “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of essay and they are sufficient preparation you need. I guess, not much additional efforts are required for this one either.

A FINAL WORD ON THE TEST:

GMAT comes in this order: 2 essays, QA followed by VA. I took the test in 3 steps. Wrote 2 essays back to back….was already saturated. Took 5 minutes break to freshen up. Then, I took around 40-45 minutes to solve 36 questions in Qa. Solved the 37^th questions but did not mark it. I noticed that I still have 30 more minutes to go. I asked for an extra break and went to the waiting lounge. I sat there idle for around 20 minutes as if I am done with the test. When I got my energies back, I came back to the exam hall and marked the last QA question and started the VA Section. By this method, I took care of the fatigue when I start with VA section. It helps a lot to start VA afresh but take care with the timings. It should not happen that by the time, you come back from the LONG break your QA section time got over and the computer thought that you don’t know the answer to the 37^th question. Have some time with you.

Also, I have met with some people who were not left with much time after QA. Do not get distressed. You DO NOT necessarily need a 20 minutes break before VA. The 5 minutes break you get after QA can also be effective. Do not screw up your QA section with the time pressure of saving you a 20 minute break before VA. Both the sections are equally important and my strategy was based on the fact that I was very comfortable with QA and could have afforded the LONG break. If you are not like that, it really doesn’t make a difference. Every one has a different strategy and you have to make the best of it.

Note: Please excuse any grammatical mistakes in this post. It’s all written in one breath and I really don’t have time to re-read it again. Wish you all the best for GMAT.

To MBA or not?

This perennial question comes in my mind more than often...December 2003 was when I was due for my GMAT and due to some unavoidable circumstances (yes, unavoidable....indeed) ,could not write it...Went busy with work and never got a chance to do it again...

May 2005, when I came back after 4 months stint at US...this idea struck me yet again...Without second thought, I applied for GMAT scheduled for August..and set out for the ordeal..

First Things First.......
-----------------------------

First and foremost, this is a dilemna which has stuck me for long...When people start preparing for any exam while they are working, there is always a problem setting the priorities...As someone rightfully told, " I have become a victim of priorities"..I couldn't agree more...

On one hand, as people get older at the workplace, expectations keep increasing....On the other hand, as we go deeper in the application process, we need to spend more energy and time for the process. To strike a balance between the two is a problem I face with...and I am sure that so does the entire race of these MBA wanna be's.

I was convinced that we should never do injustice with work, no matter what but now this conviction is creating all sorts of trouble in the form of missing deadlines, incomplete essays and what not..Sometimes, I think that I should stop worrying about work and divert all my attention to the apping process but when it reflects in the deliverables, it shakes me to the core and I get back to my work thereby doing injustice with my applications.I just wish I should have started the application process well in advance...That is the only solution to this dilmena where in we may be able to do justice with both pieces...

TO MBA OR NOT?
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I have no idea what am I upto?

GMAT

I saw everyone blogging these days....so, I, too, joined the foray....

As I finish my three years of professional experience, this sudden thought of applying for MBA Schools ran over me. Did some primitive research, made some fundae and before I could know, I was swamped with work.

GMAT was the easiest part....done with it with a 710 ...( Will blog later about the experience )

Writing TOEFL on 8th Septemeber...Should be easy enough...touch wood !

Need to push off now....will come back with more....