Sorry my dear fellow gmat clubbers, I was out of action for few days. I had to do a lot of catch up at the work and chalk out a plan for the applications. Frankly guys, it seems that being an Indian, working in IT and seeking a career change to Finance is analogous to challenging Superman for arm wrestling - only way out is if a spider bites me;).
Foremost, thank you to everyone and wish you guys all the best in your endeavor - be it GMAT or be it apps.
Anyways as I had promised here are my 2 cents -
1. Never lose focus, keep inspiring yourself. Why do you need MBA, what will happen if you don't get the score you want. I used to check out the threads of applications to top schools and their score distribution (the charts with red, black, blue , green & yellow dots). I watched movies such as Invincible, Seabiscuit, Lakshya, etc to stay on track.
2. Concentrate on fundamentals specially in math. If your basics are clear you are good e.g. if x^2 < x then x must be a +ve fraction. OR its always true that x^2 * |x| > 0
3. Don't assume - e.g.If x^2 < 121 & y^2 < 4 then it is not necessary that xy < 12 because X & y can be Fraction (x=10.9 and y=1.9).
4. If your basics are clear and you are solving 50 Q/ 40 V level questions then please don't waste money on Manhattan's advanced quant/verbal class.
5. I found that few tips switched my sentence correction from 5th to 6th gear.
- FANBOYS connect two independent sentences.
- Although, even though, despite, etc
dependent clause +,+
independent clause - Where to use - Ing modifier
- use of Past perfect (GMAC loves HAD)
- use of
would - Does the comparison make sense!
6. For slow readers such as I - Please do yourself a favor, in RC do not take notes. Come on guys you will get only 3 questions, so stick with mental notes and pause for 10 secs to check out the organization of the passage.
7. Don't spend your hard earned money on GMATPILL. I wasted 200$ and couldn't go beyond 2 lessons in CR & SC.
8. Knewton is good, specially the 13 video sessions, and I guess Dave must be its rockstar employee. Tests aren't good, verbal questions are photocopy of
OG questions.
9.
E-GMAT is blessing. Loved it! They cleared my
-Ing modifier dilemma and
As vs Like curse. Please give standing ovation to Rajat, Payal and the
E-gmat team!
10. Know your strengths and more importantly embrace your weaknesses. I love maths and after 1st test I realized that you have to let go of problems, and if you know your weaknesses it makes the process easier.
e.g. I knew that inequality was my nemesis in Q, so I never spent more than 30 secs in any test after my 1st debacle.
Another e.g. I always spend 4 mins on complex sets problem, so as soon as I got a tough set, I gave it a pass.
11. Solve gmat club questions they will cement the fundamentals in your head. I did a handful of them but they were good. |Kudos| to Bunuel!
12. Solve the 700 level questions collected by BB. Great Job dude! That's what I did at work for last 10 days before exam
The best thing about it is that the answers get saved into the workbook and tough questions can be reviewed later on.
13. Lastly, practice with timer and (practice with timer)^2.
Phew! I missed a few things but I am out of gas for tonight. Let me just put together a list of books that I enjoyed;) and will never read them again, Woohooo!
1.
MGMAT books, a must (I must have gone through them thrice) - Unless you need 51 Q, don't buy Advanced.
2.
OG 12 & 10 ( OG10 have lot more questions)
3. Stats & PS by Veritas
4. Probability & PC by Veritas
5. CR 2 by Veritas
6. RC by Veritas
7. Powerscore CR.
8. Kaplan 2013 - I liked the verbal question set.
That's enough for one post, I don't wanna to kill you with my French.
Good luck to all! Hope to see you at the Financial Valuation class at Booth in 2013 Fall.