740 it is

Yeah, it’s done and I have made a leap of 50 points. I am happy….really happy. Towards the end of the exam, a though flashed to my mind-“What if  I score something like 570” That made the 740 look all the more beautiful.

Now, the details. On Wednesday night, I had done two MGMATs in a row. That’s like around 7 hours of slogging. I went to sleep at 6 in the morning on Thursday. I had taken leave from work for Thursday and Friday (the d-day). On Thursday, I got up at around 1 pm and was feeling rather bombed. I had some caffeine and analyzed the last MGMAT. Then I slogged my way through the second GMAT prep test in which I scored 750. There is something about the GMAT software UI. I was more tired by this one test than I had been after taking two MGMATs in a row. Then I watched a Kirsten Dunst movie on tennis. It’s titled Wimbledon I guess. After that I had some more tea. Then I went through my mistakes in the GMAT prep test.

The UI depressed me again. So I went out for a run but instead walked around and went to a temple and then searched for granola bars in all the grocery stores in my vicinity. Didn’t find the bars, so bought some Dairy Milk Silk  chocolates and came back. Then I had a shower, some light dinner and went to bed at around 10. I didn’t sleep very well. I kept getting up. Mi mama woke me up at 6:45 AM on Friday by calling me. After that I had a sweet and short nap till 7:15 . I got up, did some skipping (with a rope) and had tea. Then I just got ready and left for the office at 8:45 AM because the office cafeteria is the only place which serves breakfast this early. In office, I had some breakfast and left for the metro station at 9:30. I reached the center at 10:30 PM. Had no difficulty locating it this time.

Since I had a lot of time to kill, instead of going to the test center on the fourth floor, I roamed around and checked out the opening shops. I bought some coffee and a bottle of water and headed for the center. I was still early and had around 45 minutes. I finished my coffee and sat down on the stairs to read the OG. I had to bend a lot and it was straining my backbone. So, I gave up on the last minute brush up and spent time playing teeter on my cellphone. I was let in at 11:30. After going through the usual verification process, they led me to the examination room. I think I was given the same seat as the one I had last time.

The exam started. The argument was easy to rip apart but somehow I had to type really fast and had just five minutes left when I stopped typing and started proofreading. I had to struggle a bit in the issue essay but then I thought of using a personal experience as an example and sailed through it. I took the break and had half a chocolate and two glasses of water. Then I returned to my exam. I found the verbal to be a little more difficult than usual and really got stuck at the 31st question. I spent a lot of time on it because I could. I had 28 minutes remaining. After spending  more than 5 minutes on that one , I moved on and encountered a lot of data sufficiency questions which I hate. But, they were not very difficult and I had all the time to follow the complete DS workflow for each of them.

I took a break again to finish the remaining chocolate and re-hydrate myself. The section started with sentence correction which I love. Then there was CR. The passages were all easy to follow except one about some Florida guy. That also was not very difficult. I really took my time with the passages making notes and stuff. I didn’t finish half an hour ahead of time as I used to in practice tests. I think I had around ten minutes left when I finished. I was remarkably calm inside when I clicked the End Exam button. Then I finished the usual info stuff and finally opted to view my score. It was 740 and I thought for a moment about how should I feel about it. Before, the thought could finish, I was flooded with an immense sense of relief-“God….it’s over!!” I picked my stuff from the locker and came out a happy woman 🙂

Just completed the GMAT prep 2 test

….and scored 750 (Q50,V41). Yeah, I was right, the GMAT Quant is slighlty more difficult than the Manhattan CAT quant.  Though I wasn’t exactly beaming with energy when I did this particular test, I think the score is cool and I will be ecstatic if I get something like this in the real one. Last night I did an MGMAT marathon…..well, not exactly a marathon, just two in a row because I had two left. That kind of exhausted me and I slept till 12:30 PM today. I am planning to go for a run followed by a nice shower and sound sleep.

Ciao!!

Is the quant in Manhattan tests too easy

I wrote four tests over the past four days, two of them in succession. I got 51 in quant in all of them. The bad part is I didn’t find the questions challenging. As far as I remember, I did encounter some questions in the real GMAT quant where I had to guess. So I am taking my perfect quant scores here with a pinch of salt.

The scores might have improved because I have slowed down as against completing the section 20 minutes ahead of time in my first GMAT. This has improved my accuracy a lot. This is one thing I want to tell everyone-READ THE QUESTION. See what is it asking for. Calculate exactly that and then mark the answer. I may do with a little better accuracy in data sufficiency though and a lot better accuracy in RC, but then this is not a post about the verbal section…is it?

GMAT booked

I have taken a date for GMAT. 14 Oct 2010. I am really nervous as preparation wise I am no better than the last time. I have learnt to slow down a bit which has improved my accuracy a bit. Now I am going all out for preparing. Let’s see how it works out.

State of essays

It’s decided. Tuck goes to round 2. I haven’t developed a “feeling” for the school yet which is extremely important to me (yeah GMATters, I noticed…. “which” can refer to both “developing a feeling” and “the school” and I mean exactly that 😛 Both are extremely important to me…Tuck because it is such a pretty school with such nice people and such close community- all of which I totally dig…..and developing the feeling because how else am I supposed to write the endless essays, which will stretch way beyond the word limit. Then while cutting down the essays, my heart will break into a thousand pieces as I will have to scrap away story after story of my awesome life. God….do I transgress 🙂 ).

My friend and namesake reviewed my essays. She didn’t like the flow in essay 1. Provided some comments. I have incorporated them and now it seems to be better but still is 780 words long. 180 more to cut down which I am sure will be accomplished with “a little help from my friends”.
She liked my second essay but asked me to elaborate the “what I did” part. I did a good job with the elaboration but now just the two leadership stories with some random rant about the leadership skills I want to develop has gone to 1200. This needs a 50% compression. OMG….I am feeling claustrophobic.

Btw, in the MBA fair, I met this good guy who is also a Kellogg alumni. He told me that my 690 GMAT might be OK for Kellogg if write stellar essays. But the good lady from Rotman told me about the importance of a 700+ score for a scholarship. Now, since Tuck is anyways postponed, I will stick to the retake plan.

MBA fair tomorrow

It’s the MBA fair tomorrow and I’ve got an interview with an admissions officer. So, tonight I tried to decide what to wear from my limited collection of formals. Guess what…I don’t fit in any of the business suits. This is something I hadn’t expected. (Btw….it’s not that I don’t fit into them but their fit now is more “sexy secretary” than “bschool candidate”). This happens when all you buy and wear is the uber-casual…damn you no-dress-code policy at my office. Instead of holding my breath for a very long time, I think I will stick with a plain top and a sweater. (Note to self:- Go shopping for formals before any other interview.) I am not liking this…not because of the few extra pounds but because of the added errand of shopping for formals….how boring is that.

That said, I have read up about the college I am going to interview for. I am really excited about meeting the admissions people from Sloan and Ross. I am continuing with the sentence correction guide and will write two more mock tests this week and if I get scores better than what I have been getting, I will book a date in the first week of October.

Feeling verbally challenged?? Do some Math !!

If you have lost your ability to reason after hours and hours of studying the stuff you never bothered with in school, do some Maths. As in drink a strong coffee and then listen to some good music and then so like hundred problems in a row and do them as if your life depends on the result. And then check the results. A 100/100 always lifts my spirits. Even a 99 does the job at times. The key is….just don’t give up on any question and guess 🙂

Kaplan Advanced and Sahil’s notes

If you are looking for a 700+ score, I guess Kaplan Advanced is one of the most important books for sentence correction. They have two sections , each explaining eight types of problems. The first section had stuff which I was more or less acquainted with but the second section had really arcane stuff like the sunjunctive tense which I had heard of only because I had taken French classes.

It’s rarely used in English but is important in languages like Spanish and French. Apparently, the French have lot of desires, wishes and hypothetical situations. I also came across “the gerund” in English which I had heard of only in Spanish. The gerund was in Sahil’s notes and I think that just mugging up those notes is a real good idea.

Mistakes I made

Learn from my mistakes and never ever defer your GMAT to a stage this late. It will make things more difficult for you. I keep telling myself that juggling the trilogy of work , GMAT prep and essays is preparing me better for the future at a b-school, the fact is that I have to study sentence correction with my heart yearning to write story after story for my essays. Well , today I am going to complete part 1 for Kellogg and register the recommenders for part two.

All that said, there is one last tip, time your practice questions as well. In my first GMAT, I think that the exam pressure made me drop by two points atleast.

Kellogg admissions event and more

Last weekend, I attended the Kellogg admissions event and it has strengthened my resolve to apply in round 1. There were a lot of alumni from India. In nutshell, it was worth attending. I am done with the firts draft of essays and have sent them to the reviewers. I have contacted my first recommender as well. Will contact the second person by the end of this week. Still to take the GMAT date. Waiting for my credit card to arrive. Meanwhile I have got a truck load of books to go through.