Sandeep Gupta - Top One percent guy

bowfinger1975

I can assure you that no one has a magic pill that is going to make a radical transformation. Ignore people who make tall claims, it just doesn't work that way. Ultimately, you will have to take the preparation in your hand and be active in seeking out the right resources. You do have a strong quant background which means that you should be in good shape as far as the core concepts are concerned. There will be some areas such as Number Theory that a lot of students are rusty, and you will have to pick up those concepts. But the key thing to remember is that you will need to get a hang of the style and structure of GMAT questions, and to accomplish this just make sure you practice with official GMAT questions.

And samichange also gave you some good advice.

Cheers,
Dabral

Thanks a lot for taking time time out to reply to my post . My mistake that I haven't given all the details about my preparation in the post ..so here goes :

# I have enrolled for "experts global" material about 4 months back and since I was working I was not able to devote much time .
# Now that my test planning date was about three or so months afar I got serious and was cruising along happily .
# I finished Princeton and Nova Book and was onto Quantam ...when sandeep gupta happened to me on You tube .


I realized that the questions tackled by him was in a different league and which left me looking like super dumb......Now I realize that this can be a trick ...that is to stun a guy with out of the world quant problems in intro class and then rake him home as he runs for cover ......

GMAC , I believe . does not releases its questions in market and thus I think that more than half of the people out there do not know what kind of animal is this . At one side I feel that I shud stick with the study plan and after three months take the dive ....and at the other side I feel what if these guys are wrong and I get a totally different kind of questions in the actual test ...

So I wanted help to decide that which is a course which will train me on actual GMAT level questions ...As far as my background is concerned..as I mentioned I have done my graduation with physics , statistics and mathematics with about 87 percent so I can crack this in 3 months time ...once I know the nature of the beast

and yes.... I want a 750+ score...lets say just for the fun of it...


Thanks

Dabral gives very good advice above - be absolutely certain you focus on official questions in your study. GMAC has published tons of retired official questions, in the official guides, the GMATPrep question pack, the GMATPrep tests. I have the impression you've not been working through official problems, and you might not be getting a fair impression of what the GMAT is all about.

And I agree with samichange about the importance of the Verbal section. With your background, it's very likely you'll be able to get a high Quant score. If you're aiming for a 750+, it's the Verbal that is the bigger question mark right now. I'd echo samichange's advice - take one of the free GMATPrep tests to discover your level now in Quant and Verbal, so you know how to apportion your study time moving forward. On the Verbal scoring scale (which ranges from 6 to 51), you'll likely need at least a V40 to reach your goal.

I wouldn't normally advise taking a general GMAT class; classes tend to be inefficient for high-level test takers, since a class normally needs to proceed at the pace of the lower level students. Instead you might work with a private tutor if you find self-study is not getting you to your goal. And I agree completely with Dabral - you should be very suspicious of outlandish marketing claims in general, and especially in the GMAT market, where unsubstantiated claims are unfortunately rather common. I know nothing about the person you mention, but I quickly looked at his webpage, and I find at least one of his claims quite misleading. He makes it sound as if a 99th percentile score is rare among experts, and it's not; it's the norm. And if you're aiming for a 750+ score, I'd only advise you study with someone who can consistently score in the 99th percentile in both sections of the test; if someone cannot do that, then they cannot answer many of the questions at the 750+ level, so it's unlikely they'll be able to help you get there.

Hi bowfinger1975,

Since you've already put in some serious study time, it would be a good idea to get a sense of your current skills. As such, you should plan to take a FULL-LENGTH CAT (including the Essay and IR sections) sometime soon (perhaps this weekend). Once you've finished that CAT, you should report back here with your scores. We can then talk through your study plan going forward.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Thanks a lot for the interest and the support .

As suggested by Rich I will take a full length test and report back but as I am travelling for the next seven days due to work I will be able to do this by 10th July .

Now on a little unrelated topic .....

Guys as you can see this was my first post and I must say that I am overwhelmed by the support of the community here . People who didn't know me at all ..came forward to offer advice and help ..which is an amazing thing to experience .

For the next three months or so I will spend more and more time here and once again I feel that I am pretty lucky to come across this forum .

A big thanks for now ....

Atul

Hi Guys ,

Apologies for the long break and a missed dead line .

I have taken the diagnostic test and I scored a 30 in verbal and 41 in quant .

Please suggest me the nature of the online course . I have taken a sabbatical kind of thing from work so can real dig it in ..in terms of daily hours .

Any help will be much appreciated .

Thanks

Hi Atul,

Now that you've taken your first CAT, we have a basis for comparison. Using these Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores as a reference, you have some serious work to do in BOTH of those sections (to raise your overall score to a 750+). It's been mentioned in earlier posts that you would probably benefit from a Course of some type and I think that advice is still appropriate. The question now is what type of Course is best for YOU.

Do you still have 3 months to commit to studying for the GMAT or has that changed?
When are you planning to take the GMAT?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi Rich ,

Thanks for the prompt revert .

I am planning to apply in the second round in B School . What I have seen is that the second round gets over by December to January in most schools . Therefore am looking at my GMAT date as somewhere in the second week of Nov . So I have more than 3 months but at the same time i do not want to go in the test with a book in the hand .

Therefore as I see it I am prepared to put in about 300 hours spread over 2 months starting from August . So I will finish the prep in the last week of September or in the second week of Oct ( budgeting for some unforeseen breaks) and spend the last 15 days before the test , taking it easy and going in some mocks here and there ...generally tying some loose ends .

How does this sounds

Thanks

Atul

Hi Atul,

There really is no 'one-size-fits-all' Study Plan that works perfectly for everyone, so you have to think about how you best study (and the amount of time that you're able to commit), then choose an option that fits those parameters. Academically, I think that spending 300 hours over 2 months is a bit excessive (and you might run the risk of 'burn out'), but it could work for you.

As far as Course options are concerned, Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at out site (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

If you have any additional question, then just let me know.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Thanks Rich...

As suggested ..I am going to try out some courses and see how it goes....

will post the feedback in this very thread..

Am starting with optimus and empower ...will share he experience in about two days

Atul

And here is the first issue .....can I make a online payment since I have recently lost my card and therefore have hot-listed the same ...or may be a debit card .

Thanks

Atul

Hi Atul,

A debit card should work just fine. If you have specific enrollment questions or technical issues, you can contact the support team at Info@empowergmat.com

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

.sandeeps a fraud ....earlier he used to claim he is the only person in the world to get 800 ....then when someone pointed it out to him its nt possible to score 800 he says 770 now . Pluss his classes r pretty much useless .

one must be sooper naive and hav an IQ of a 8yr old to fall fr this marketing gimmick !! creating a an animated gif proves nothing ... pluss its very hard to verify the authenticity of all this facade !... if dont believe me check sandeep guptas old post (if he has already nt removed them )guy has claimed 800 ........ atleast crack verbal took criticism positively and gave proper reasons ..... first step towards improvment is accepting ur faults ...... this guys full of himslf ....he Claims only come to us if u want 760 !! ignorance about gmat exam and the candidates who get 760 is laughable . .... hope u dnt reply and embaress urself more .

Pluss I am not the only one bickering .....check out this post need-advice-gmat-coaching-centres-in-bangalore-india-127884-20.html

The last post .... topOnepercent u guys seriously need to stop al this hubris and focus on teaching.

Is appalled by all the marketing gimmicks of all the above coaching centers to dupe vulnerable students . Will give a frank opinion from a students perspective, who has taken both the services e-gmat and crackverbal .

E-gmat ...completely useless if u are looking to improve verbal . After u pay the fees u get access to some random videos uploaded, each explaining some basic concepts . The thing is these concepts are pretty basic and can be found online in Manhattan's Thursdays with Ron series (they are pretty amazing and honest do check them .) for free !! . They have very minimal questions to practice from.... a very big disadvantage , since without practice no point in cramming in concepts .
Although after going through their explanations given for various questions on gmatclub I was impressed by them but thats it ..... dnt expect much from their paid services .Pluss they dont have any tests of their own , then no way to test urself .


Crack verbal ..... Ohh boy !! where do i begin .... i have attended their classes ....complete trickery or rather sophistry is the right word i believe.
During the free intro classes they discuss very complex examples which make u believe that ur sooper dumb and then once when u enroll u realise that they dont have much to offer , probably the introductory class was the best class in the entire course . THeir claims of sending people to LBS, Stanford and others Ivys are of people who already had a stellar profile and just needed a touch up on their essays . Dont be fooled by the fancy website . their material is very basic and not much informative . No test series of their own again ! ...... the thing is they claim to teach u shortcuts fr RCs and CRs . The ugly truth is there are no shortcuts . U cant game the exam , no matter what they say . U have to improve ur English !! ...period . which takes time .

So what should one do !! ....... practice practice and practice by urself from as many books as u can.Buy Kaplan Manhattan and different books see the questions and learn from them . Because take it from me in writing there are no tricks or shortcuts for verbal . U have to read dense material and improve ur English and simultaneously practise. Watch Manhattans Thursdays with Rons they are a pot of gold ! when it comes to building concepts....

Do lsat verbal questions for more practice . Atleast RC and CR can be covered . Pluss LSAT has pretty decent questions . Read Opinion pages of nytimes , guardian et al . Daily practise quant fro 1-2 hr and verbal for 1 hr . Use the gmat prep tests very wisely . They are the closest u will get to giving the real gmat exam . Manhattan's 6 gmat test are also good but wayy tougher than the real exam . Do give them . Also search for solutions for each and every OG question in google . ROns explanation on their blog r pretty accurate .
The gmat exam also is evolving the old tricks which these coaching centers purport to teach no longer apply . Take it from a guy who gave gmat twice .

WHO AM i to give this advice?? --- a guy who gave GMAT twice -- 1st attempt - 700
2nd attempt - 720

Got in two Colleges with 50% fellowship . DOnt believe me go ahead waste 20k or more on these coaching guys . ALL the Best bro !!

I understood everything ...but for the highlighted content..where u said something about embarrassing myself...

Will you please explain the portion again......

oops that was written by mistake ....kindly ignre

Hi ...

am logging back after a long time ....but life has been a screw in past month ...

Anyway ..I have gone thru' various free trials of GMAT courses ...and probably will zero down on either e-gmat or Empower . I must say that Economist also is a very good resource but at almost 600 USD , its way above my budget ...

Also in the process of free trials have been taking diagnostic test in various sites . The results are kind of good . In a typical set of 30 quant questions I have been cracking almost everything except when it is number system ( aaaarghhhhhh.....why we indians invented numbers at all ..) or some odd question on a really nerdy level ...Results in verbal truly reflects the amount of preparation I have done in the same ...which is zilch... ..

So the plan is that I will thrash out the remaining quant by the end of this month ..and then will subscribe to one of the courses mentioned above for about 60 days ..with the objective of remaining in practice for quant and really learn verbal .

I am really sorry if major portion of my post looks like meaningless rambling .....but hey ..then you have a ringside view of the GMAT prep of a future business leader ... ......

Cheers

Atul