DOSE 1 :
In August 2010 I decided that i want to take the GMAT.
But there were a lot of problems :
1. I had never studied seriously since July 2008 when i passed my Engineering(Electrical)
2. I work at a core engineering company so work hours are killing... and then there are the every day parties
3. I was to invest time and money into something(gmat) where my prrobability of success was very low.
After a lot of soul searching and peer advice, i took leave from work in Spetember and joined the Kaplan Gmat Classes in Pune.(Kaplan has a tie-up with The Chopras in india). I planned to spend a month learning from the classes and dedicate most of my time to studies. That is when i came across GMAT Club and started reading others experiences and tips.
The Gmat Club Book references ,Test reviews , timer and notes were a big help. But to be frank it was too early to understand the importance of all these sources. I was just a kid in the world of GMAT.
My Background---
Quant : I have been exceptionally bad at math since school... I hated math... probably because i never tried to understand the concepts... In 4 years of engineering i got only two "D" grades ... Both in math
So you can imagine what it must have been like for me to get from where i was to a 48 in Quant.
Verbal : I was always good with grammar... Clauses were my speciality during school days... I read a lot of books and occassional editorials... All of these made me think that verbal would be like a piece of cake for me.... But Alas!!! 3 months into my studies i realize that my INTUITION (being a non-native english speaker) always leads to wrong choices in SC. Took a long time to realize that SC is more about Rules than about intuition. Its spoken MATH (and thats not good for me cause i am inherently bad at math)
Kaplan GMAT Classes India (SEP 2010)
- Paid 23,000 Rs for the classes.
- Spent another 50 to 70 k(housing, books, PARTIES) during the 30 days that i studied there.
- All in all around 1,00,000 Rs. expense --- Outcome 0 improvement. (What ever i learnt was from the
Mgmat books. i lived on them. more on that later)
The classes were a big waste of time and money. The Math faculty was not that good. The Verbal faculty rushed through entire course in a week. Before i could ask them to slow down the classes were over. and after spending 23K i was left on my own to figure things out.
The Kaplan PLS (Personal Learning System) is an online application which is really really good. It has online lectures , around 1800 questions from which you can build your own quiz`s and a very good graphical and quantative analysis of the CAT`s and quiz`s. If you can spend money then i suggest you get access to the PLS it is really good especially for verbal practice.
My Study Plan : Month 1
After taking a diagnostic(580, dont remember the split) i decided to concentrate more on Quant.
For any study you need a basic reference material and the
MGMAT 5 Math books are just perfect. These books cover each and every topic on the GMAT in a way the GMAT frames the questions. These books should be used to build concepts.
Of the 5 books i feel the Number Properties(been through it 6 times and each time understood concepts in a better way) and Word Translations books are very important.
Strategy to study the books :
1. Read each chapter and then solve the exercises at the end of the chapter
2. Do the
OG Questions segregated,as per topics, in the book and try to solve them with the concepts you learn in the book.
3. For DS section of each book, I felt repharasing was the best part. This section teaches you how to rephrase a question. Like the question 162 or 132(dont remember exactly) in the
OG 12th. This question is about a group of students "n" divided into "m" different groups.
The question can be rephrased as "Is n/m and integer?" also we note that there is an integer constrain.
Statement 1 rephrased as : n/m could or could not be an integer
Statement 2 rephrased as : n/m (the inequality constrain) is an integer...
I am not being very clear but once you go through the DS section of the
Mgmat books you will know. Just note the questions numbers of the rephrased questions in the
mgmat books... try to rephrase them on your own and compare with the rephrasings of the
MGMAT books. I feel that rephrasing is the only strategy that works best on DS.
Learn the Rephrasing Concept and you will never make a silly mistake or misunderstand a question on DS
DOSE 1 to be continued.....
Note : Please ignore typing errors ... i hate typing for long... but this is the only way i can contribute to the gmat club forum
close
30 May 2011, 03:42
, but is above the average score of the b schools i plan to apply to. 
. Waiting for the AWA Scores.
) and Verbal. My initial strategy to imporve quant and verbal scores. My diagnostic score in OCT 2010 was 580 
