Journey Begins.....guide me guys

Question

DAY 1: 
Hi All, 
First cheers for the great work you and all the members of this Club have put in together. 
About me, I am a newbie for the GMAT and targeting a descent 750 score. BB, I went through all the links and all most all the threads were you have suggested plans for a novice. I liked your learning plan and wld try folloeing it.
The first step you suggested was to give a diagnostic test on PP. I appeared for the paper-1 this morning and got:
 Quantitative 47; 86
Verbal 25; 35
Total 590; 68
 
According to your thread on GMAT books for a starter I have decided to go for Kaplan Primer and OG for verbal. As for now I have decided to enroll with Manhattan Review from March and planning my D-Day some where in month of June. I just wanted to have a few individual feedbacks to what extra should I go in with and what else should I back my self up in terms of preparation. I would keep posting my future scores during the prep to have more generic and insightful views from all of you especially BB.

Thanks Guys and please guide me along the way.

bb · Answer

Been a long time since I've seen a screenshot of PowerPrep

If you have not done significant prep so far - this is a fantastic score. 47 on Quant is a great score. I was only able to get my quant to 49! Looks like you have to put all of your attention in the Verbal (though you should spend a bit more time on quant and get into the 49-51 range, 51 is the max possible score, so you are almost at the very top). If you enrolled in a class, that should be a good workout. You can also get MGMAT SC, MGMAT CR -or- PowerScore CR, and MGMAT RC Don't think you need anything else. Just remember that for Verbal strategies and approaches to questions are VERY important - that could be a difference between verbal 30 and verbal 40 score. If you are told to read the question twice or to answer it before reading answer choices in a strategy - that's what you do and not doubt it. Many people feel that those are general guidelines and they can adapt them to their style - well, GMAT adapts to their style too and gives them what they rightfully deserve.

yogeshagarwala · Answer

Hi BB,
Thanks a lot for that quick reply....I really appreciated that. I know I have to work a lot on verbal. For Mathematics the scores were ok bse I have been preparing for CAT(Management entrance in INDIA) but still taking it to 51 needs descent input from my side.Your threads say that Kaplan Mathematics Workbook would be the way to go.Do suggest me if you think differently.
And for the strategies as you said I would try following them by the book and not tamper them to suit my needs. I would keep that valuable feedback in mind along my voyage.
Also I thought I would keep updating my progress to get valuable feed backs from your side. I cant afford to miss out on them :wink:

As for today, I bought the Kaplan Gmat Premier Live online and MGMAT SC. Started with the verbal part of Kaplan for now.

Regards,
Yogesh Agarwal
Hope this thread not only help me achieve what I want but down the line help some aspirant, mark the trail.

As for today, I bought the Kaplan Gmat Premier Live online and MGMAT SC. Started with the verbal part of Kaplan for now. Regards, Yogesh Agarwal Hope this thread not only help me achieve what I want but down the line help some aspirant, mark the trail.

bb · Answer

You are doing everything right - just make sure you don't move on to the next section/chapter/book/etc until you are hitting a high % of questions right. If you are still missing 50-30%, you need to go back and carefully analyze your issues and address them. Look at errors - if just careless ones, move on. Otherwise, spend more time to make sure you are not drowning and on solid ground.

yogeshagarwala · Answer

Sure BB. I would keep that in mind during my preparation and wont rush through them. I would love getting such valuable feedbacks from you.
Thanks and Regards,
Yogesh

yogeshagarwala · Answer

I had a question: I joined Deloitte fresh out of college and has been here for just nine months. Being a fresher I have no prior experience. I know a good profile needs a two year experience to make it to the best ones. Again I would be missing out on the five colleges that I have to give at the time of taking my GMAT. As I would be having just 1.5 year of work-ex at that time so may be my profile wont fit for many of the known colleges. But few of my my alumni who made it to Grad schools, suggested me to take the paper as early as possible. They reasoned that as I am in touch now and fresh out of college I have greater chances of getting a high score rather than waiting for few more years which would wear off the sheen. Again Gmat wld be valid for five years and many colleges need unique profiles rather than only work-ex. I have made up my mind to give it a go within the next few months but I would love having having your views. And BB can you suggest me some colleges were a score of 750 but with just 1.5 years would work fine. Thanks
Yogesh Agarwal 
Waiting for your reply.

yogeshagarwala · Answer

Day 7
This week i covered up with Kaplan Premier CR and attended four demo classes of GMAT Review on SC and RC.
Even appeared for the Gmat Club's math 25 (free for registered users) to score a 94.9 percentile. Got the three questions wrong in that. 
I would keep updating this thread to know if my preparations are going steady or not.

AtifS · Answer

Nice! yogesh, 94.9 percentile is impressive. It looks like we'll soon need your contribution on this forum related to Quant

. Just my 2 cents--> What about your verbal, how is it going because most of non-native English speakers struggle with verbal. What grammar book are you using? and also try to explain questions posted here on forums in detail to have firm grasp on concepts. Keep up good work and do share your strategies along with your preparation. Good Luck!

yogeshagarwala · Answer

I received this mail:

On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 7:59 PM, mm nn <seshambica@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Yogesh,

I have seen your post on the GMAT club and sorry for emailing to your personal Id.Since I dint know how to talk to you. I thought I would email you my questions.I have newly joined GMAT club group and I am planning to give my GMAT. As any other person on the forum I am too aiming for 750.But I donot know which test prep is best to join.I know you must have done some research on this since I see you have joined Manhattan. Is there a way I can compare all the test prep firms ? Please suggest me something basing on your experience.I would be really thankful to you.

BR,
Sesh

yogeshagarwala · Answer

Guys I replied the following....but do help Seshambica with your own experiences.Thanks
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hi Seshambica,

Do apologize me if I have incorrectly spelled your name. 
I understand the phase you must be going through right now when you need to decide which prep and which books to follow. Obviously its a decision that may break or make your GMAT score.

Firstly, I believe the judge for the best coaching center is you and you alone. The prep you must take totally depends on you. Dont judge a coaching by the material it provides as you can get that any where in the market place. (BB has already given that extensive list in his club.) Go by the faculty and the batting effect they can have on you. I mean due to work load sometimes one finds it difficult to put in the much needed regular effort. So you need some one to spank you at times. And whose better than your coaching center, with its fixed routine and great faculty. Search for these parameters.
Secondly the process I would suggest would be: At my place here in Hyderabad, I first had a number of demo classes for all the major coaching centers and then finally joined Manhattan. These coaching centers give free demos that you can attend. If some coaching center denies for demo, then do not join it. If they are themselves not convinced about their faculty then how can they convince us.I liked the teachers here. Manhattan faculty here is not exceptional but during my demos (I had a number of them) I soon started enjoying there company. I mean the way they explained things was just the way I needed. Not too over dramatic and not too under tanned. Just the right amount and right level, I needed.
So I would suggest you to check out the coaching centers around you and then only decide. Different people have different taste and different aptitude level. Be your own judge.

All the Best with your future preparations and do let me know when you have joined one.

I would be attaching this to my string in Gmat Club so that more experienced people could give thier inputs and help you decide.

See you. All the Best.
Yogesh

yogeshagarwala · Answer

Hi AtifS,

First of all, thanks for boosting my moral. I really need that at times.

AtifS, my prep for the last two week, which only consisted of verbal, was good. I have completed SC from Kaplan Premier and have been working on MG SC for now. Also my module in Manhattan Review, on SC got completed this week. Have started with CR from Kaplan. I know I need to test my learnings and have been thinking of appearing for my first MR mock. I would surely post my scores here once I am done with it. Wld love to have your valuable feedbacks on the same. :-D

And ya as you suggested, I will start posting on Verbal queries on the forum. Thanks AtifS :wink:

yogeshagarwala · Answer

Seshambica was back with this interesting mail:

subject Re: GMAT prep course selection help

Hi Yogesh,

Thanks a lot for your wonderful explanation about this decision.I too am from hyderabad. I did my bachelors in Hyderabad. However I have been in US since 2.5yrs.have come here for my masters and settled here working.Now I wanted to give my GMAT,but since in US its not an easy task to find about training centers as in India, its been kind of difficult for me to track down a good prep center.
From most of the forums I have seen that Manhattan is good.Though in my city in US I dont have a clear picture of what is good and what is not.Anyhow are you still in Hyderabad ? What all admits did you recieve ? I see that you have a very good GMAT record.You must be aiming for the top 5 I believe. Do you have any work experience in India ? 
Sorry If I am asking out of the track questions but I am just curious to know your profile to have an idea about how your case was evaluated.

Thanks,
Sesh

yogeshagarwala · Answer

My Reply to the above:

Hi,
Great, so you from Hyderabad, that’s good.
From the last mail you sent me, I believe you are taking me as a guy who has already given his GMAT. J
To the contrary, I am still driving for my Gmat. I just started my preparation a few weeks back. As for my background- I am from Kolkata, completed my Electrical engg. from IIT Varanasi, and now working in Deloitte Consulting for the last 1.5 years, here in Hyderabad. Yes, I am aiming for the top ten colleges but in that my Gmat scores would be playing a crucial role. I have a senior who gave his Gmat on 19th of March with a score of 730. He didn't join any coaching and did all by himself. So here we have a catch. Self study is very important. 
Do let me know how you are planning your study schedules and keep updating me about your mock scores. Also do give me your contact details. Being an offshore team we have full free access to call anywhere in the US.

Thanks and regards,

Yogesh Agarwal
Business Technology Analyst 
System Integration
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
India

yogeshagarwala · Answer

English verbs have two participles:

1. called variously the present, active, imperfect, or progressive participle, it is identical in form to the gerund; the term present participle is sometimes used to include the gerund. The term gerund-participle is also used.

2. called variously the past, passive, or perfect participle, it is usually identical to the verb's preterite (past tense) form, though in irregular verbs the two usually differ.

The present participle in English is in the active voice and is used for:
forming the progressive aspect: Jim was sleeping.
modifying a noun as an adjective: Let sleeping dogs lie.
modifying a verb or sentence in clauses: Broadly speaking, the project was successful.
The present participle in English has the same form as the gerund, but the gerund acts as a noun rather than a verb or a modifier. The word sleeping in Your job description does not include sleeping is a gerund and not a present participle.
The past participle may be used in both active and passive voices:
forming the perfect aspect: The chicken has eaten.
forming the passive voice: The chicken was eaten.
modifying a noun, with active sense: our fallen comrades
modifying a noun, with passive sense: the attached files
modifying a verb or sentence, with passive sense: Seen from this perspective, the problem presents no easy solution.
As noun-modifiers, participles usually precede the noun (like adjectives), but in many cases they can or must follow it:
The visiting dignitaries devoured the baked apples.
Please bring all the documents required.
The difficulties encountered were nearly insurmountable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participle

AtifS · Answer

Nice info yogesh. By the way, whay don't you start a blog of your own, where you can put all the info, and you can write about your journey too? What do you think?

gurpreetsingh · Answer

Starting a blog is good idea as it will improve your verbal significantly and will help many newbies.

Good luck and keep us updated.

cano · Answer

hi yogeshagarwala,

congratulations for starting this journey! i wish you luck in your endeavors.

if i was you, i would start with the verbal part, and just review math for strategy purposes few weeks before the exam date. i think that MGMAT is ok for the verbal part. i just finished the MGMAT SC guide and feel that improved a lot. if before i was getting less than 50% of the questions right, now i'm at 75% after just reading that material. in the first exam i took as preparation, i scored 27 on verbal, so i know there is plenty of room to improve that section. when finishing the MGMAT CR and RC will make another test and we'll see how it goes.

yogeshagarwala · Answer

Find a screen shot for my mock on GMAT prep on 23rd May

yogeshagarwala · Answer

Second Mock was of Manhattan Review Paper 1 where I scored
Overall 660
Quant: 51
Verbal:32
Date appeared on : 27th May

yogeshagarwala · Answer

My last Mock was today: Kaplan Test Prep (comes with Kaplan Primer) Paper 2.

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Journey Begins.....guide me guys

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