BeatTheGMAT New Practice Questions Review

Thanks Eric for such a wonderful opportunity to review the new set of questions that BTG is planning to release today. Honestly, at the very outset, let me confess that I could not devote ample time to look into all the 200 questions that were part of the review. I have been very busy juggling deadlines at work-place, applications and interview preparations. Somehow, I managed to go through some of the question sets and patterns. So, lets discuss starting from the dashboard:

Dashboard:

The Dashboard is very interactive. The first thing to point is the Summary chart that gives a comprehensive status of the questions you answered. It is divided into various criteria such as Questions Answered, Your Percent Correct, Average Percent Correct, Your Pace and Average Pace. Additionally, the factors are judged both as section wise (Quantitative/Verbal) and area wise (Quant-Data Sufficiency/Problem Solving and Verbal-Critical Reasoning/Reading Comprehension/Sentence Correction). So, one can judge the competency and improvement level as per the area itself.  Click on any are and you can revisit the question that you have answered and attempted.

The Dash board also allows to start either Quantitative Test/Verbal Test or a customized test. Personally, I liked the concept of customized test a lot. I can choose the areas that I want to test on. This format may be useful when I have covered one area of study and would like to build my competency. Both the Quantitative and Verbal sections have lot of exhaustive list of areas to cater to these needs.

Additionally, I feel the customized part caters to the needs of all GMAT takers. If one is confident of a good score, he can test his competency level set to 700+ only. If one is less confident, he can choose his level of competency or just go for the Adaptive mode of test. Isn’t it interesting?

Now, lets come to the question/answer section:

We have two options:

• Answer one question at a time: Suitable for people who are busy and not sure that they can sit for certain amount of time continuously w/o distraction. Ideal Scenarios could be office.
• Choose number of questions you want to answer and start the test. Useful to build the stamina gradually. Suitable for most of us because being out of college for substantial period of time, this is perfect way to start building the stamina for 4 hr duration real GMAT.

What is good here?

1. It records your time you take to answer the question and submit the answer. You can judge your performance relative to other users. Improve if you lag.
2. There is a text explanation to the answer.
3. Still not clear, look at the video explanation. Trust me when I say the video explanations are definitely better or at par with other trainers and you would definitely not miss the opportunity of being in a class and getting explained by an instructor. You have an instructor right with you always.
4. The “Your Result” Section shows the various parameters that might be useful for your own introspection: Difficulty Level, Your Pace and Average Pace. Work on the parameters, if you level goes into the RED color. Strive to be in the GREEN color always.
5. The “Question Details” Section gives the Title, Section, Subject parameters.
6. Please don’t forget to “Rate the Explanation” because that is how we at BTG, can improve on the quality of questions.
7. On a final note, I must say the questions are definitely of very high quality and resembles the REAL GMAT to a great extent. A must WIN-WIN situation for all those opting for the course.

Lets come to the final and most important part: The Review Section.

• You get to know all the details of the questions of each section that you have attempted and answered.
• Other than the available parameters such as your pace, average pace and other, one thing that sets the review page apart is the ability to choose your areas. For example, if you want to look into the questions that you have attempted in last 3 days since you finished studying the algebra, just look at your progress and competency level of algebra by setting appropriate filters.
• Still in doubt and want to reconsider coming back w.o forgetting about a question, “FLAG” it.

Overall, I feel BTG has done an amazing attempt to familiarize and assist students of GMAT in their preparation. No need of carrying books. Study anywhere any time with just a click away. I did not test the application over mobile but I feel it should be compatible too because from the technology point of view, I felt the application is very light and robust.

In the words of BTG, I feel happy to share some of the salient features of the product:

• More than 700 GMAT math/verbal practice questions.
• Every GMAT practice question features a video explanation for the given question, written/produced by a veteran GMAT instructor.
• Completely online practice – study at work or at home, without carrying book around.
• Ability to customize you prep based on subject area with just a few clicks.
• Performance reporting to identify your strengths, weaknesses on GMAT subject areas.
• Adaptive practice algorithm that mimics the real GMAT – the better you do, the harder the questions become in your practice session.
• 30-day Money-Back Guarantee if you’re not satisfied.

Now, the most important question: how much would it cost for me? Just $99 for 1 year access.

When is it going to go Live?: November 2nd, 2010.

What are you waiting for: Go immediately to http://practice.beatthegmat.com and register yourself.

Finally, I take this opportunity to thank Eric Bahn, the co-founder of BTG, for entrusting me and giving me an opportunity to review the practice questions. I, also, thank David Park who is now a very dear friend of mine and have been very supportive and helpful.

Surprise: Oh yes, there is a surprise. Do come back because Eric has assured me of some prizes to distribute in lieu of this review on the blog. So, watch out this space for more!!!

How to think like an AdCom?

MBA Game Plan carried two interesting blog posts on “How to think Like an AdCom?” I enjoyed reading both the posts. Some of the key points are:

• there’s a critical first “moment of truth” — the first 60 seconds or so when an application reader picks up your application and starts to immediately form opinions about your candidacy
• some applicants forget that their “brand” is not what they present, but rather whatadmissions officers perceive in their applications. Ex: applicant may think of himself as the “motivated banker who does Habitat for Humanity and wants to get into consulting,” but admissions officers might see a “pushy banker without any community impact with ill-defined career goals.”
• Whether or not they’re thinking about it consciously, the question that runs through MBA admissions officers’ minds essentially boils down to this: “How much time should I devote to this application?”
• MBA admissions officers are constantly asking themselves the “Worth my time?” question as they move from one application to the next, trying to find the best ones to recommend for further evaluation.
• Objectivity is very important here, especially when asking yourself why an admissions officer might want to choose you over someone else who looks very similar to you on paper. This is also where another pair of eyes can help, ideally from someone who doesn’t know you too well. Your friends and family are biased… They think you’re amazing, but they’ve known you forever! An MBA admissions officer doesn’t have such an advantage.

Well, I am neither an expert nor a part of admission committee. But at the same time, while some of them are true, certain things have been exaggerated. I don’t believe that the Admission Committee’s of top B-Schools do follow them strictly. After all, they also know that a single candidate like that of Barack Obama in their school can develop the courage to change the world even though he does not have the courage to do it now. I feel it is a give and take policy. What can we contribute back to the school when we are studying and after our graduation matters the most to them because AdComs definitely know these high class B-Schools can give back to these students during their 2 years and after that.

Additionally, I completely agree with the Branding theory and the biasing factor our relatives, families and friends. This is where the choice of Reviewers come and could leave a major impact. I would suggest not to worry and hold on to your nerves even though one has a couple of hiccups in their applications. After all, we are human beings and are bound to make mistakes but then learning from those mistakes is what is going to matter towards the end.

Source: Part1 Part2

Elected to Secretary of TM

Oh Yeaah!!! Last week, I successfully ran for the post of secretary to the Central Committee of the Toastmaster Club of our company at Bangalore. I will be taking the charge from the current secretary on 1st June for a period of 6 months. I am really excited and thrilled and looking forward to my tenure eagerly. One of the few things that surprised me was my popularity. I never knew that after I successfully started the shadow club of my company at my own building and increased the membership from 1 to 10 in a span of 1 month, I could become a NAME among the people of other buildings too. I take this opportunity to thank each and everyone who came forward and helped me through all this. I feel proud of my achievement especially when I am just 2 months old in the TM and have finished two Project levels till date and going to attempt my third one next week. These small things make this election so special to me.

On the other side, GMAT preparation is on its way and going forward, it is going to be purely exam mode from this month. Building the patience for 4 hrs of exam is going to be the key this time. There is one another surprise in bag but I would like to keep it secret till it is revealed. So keep guessing. And yes, ClearAdmit BoB results are due this week. I guess it is 4th May.  Best of Luck to All the nominees (including me ).

From the Reliance-Stanford Fellowship Application side, I finished up filling up the basic information on the website and have started working on my resume. I am also brainstorming how differently I can put the things that I mentioned or missed in my last year application. Honestly, if you would ask me, the admit to Stanford GSB matters to me the most than this fellowship. It does not matter if I get this fellowship but it will  matter a lot if I don’t get an admit at the end of the year. So, keeping my luck and fingers crossed for the bigger battle ahead.

Reliance-Standford Fellowship 2010

Yes guys, Reliance-Stanford Fellowship application is back for the 2010 season. The deadline remains same as last year except the year changes to 2010

You can find details here and about what I am going to do is this:

I remember giving a detailed insight into the last year’s application here (The post featured in Accepted.com blog too). I am going to re-look into that aspect and also probably give a different perspective to the essay. The challenge of the essay still remains intact with the 250-word limit. I have already forwarded the last year’s essay to one of my friend and also to my father and asked for their honest and critical feedback.

I will be updating the details soon once I figure out how differently am I going to present myself. There is no doubt that I have more substance in my profile compared to the last year. For now, all Indians lets get going who dream of getting into Stanford without the headache of loan or any strings. Just keep INDIA in your heart and good Luck!!!

The Updates…

Well, how have you been guys? Hope all of you are doing well. There are quite a lot of updates from my side. So, I am not going to go in details but with bullet them and share with you all.

1. I got promoted mid of last month, getting the fastest promotion in the batch of guys joining the organization around June-Sept 2007. Well, I am happy but at the same bit let down as the whole process took almost 6 months, which is quite surprising and discouraging being in the private sector. But, I am very satisfied with my performance.
2. My GMAT is round the corner with around 20 days more to go. I have been much occupied with its preparations and the life has really gone bit crazy with the company’s product release also almost at the same time.
3. I talked to my manager and communicated that I will be applying this season and seek his recommendation, to which he agreed without any hesitation. It was a real good sign, considering the fact that we are distant apart and are in two completely opposite different time zones.
4. I am almost there with my final list of first round of schools and I am happy with the overall mixture. Now, I am definitely inclined to Entrepreneurship and VC/PE Courses as that is target industry after my post-MBA and there has been no doubt in any form about the “ENTREPRENEURSHIP” in the long term goal. One thing that is very important for me while selecting the B-Schools is: How well I feel connected with the culture and academics of the school. A lot of top B-Schools do not feature in my lost due to my “feeling”. So, I am applying only to those schools that I feel I can fall in love with and can picture myself spending glorious 2 years of my life.
5. I have started working on my essays also but I am planning to hold them for some time now as the GMAT D-day is approaching fast.
6. As you remember, I won a book and got “Great Application Essays for Business School” by Paul Bodine couriered to me at my desk all for free. Thanks to Accepted.com and Twitter. As I am reading it, I am finding it very useful and self-revealing. As soon as I read it, I am going to post its review very soon.
7. I also got an ebook “Complete Start to Finish Guide” . Thanks to mbaMission and Twitter (again). Twitter is a great resource in all forms, if used judiciously.
8. I am trying to reach some alumni and current students to get some more detail insights about my schools and some of the responses were quite encouraging and motivating.
9. Well, I also registered for Stanford GSB admission event to be held in Bangalore on September 17 and the MBATour to be held on September 19-20. All prospective applicants can take it up because it will be a very good platform to interact and know about your schools. So, go and book your seats now if you have done it.

So, that’s it pretty much form my side. I am getting bit nervous and excited for my GMAT. The last two mocks that I took, I scored 680 and 670. I am yet to see that magical figure of 7xx. I hope that I would be able to make it. Verbal is bit annoying me, basically testing my patience. Let’s see. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Reliance Fellowship Essay Done…

Okay Guys, What’s up? How is life going? I guess each one of us is anxiously looking forward to the upcoming admission session. Last week, Stanford GSB and HBS released their application essays for the 2012 batch. With hem, I guess all of us must be gearing up to put our best to our dream schools.

I have lots of update from my side.

Firstly, I am done with the essay of the Reliance Stanford Fellowship. It was a fun writing the essay and changing it again and again. It becomes really challenging when reviewers try to give their comments and suggestions. I don’t know how many reviewers try to put themselves in our shoes to look from our perspective. But I fell that should be the ideal and honest approach for helping the applicants. What I found challenging while writing the essay was the topic “How do you aspire to shape India’s future?” and that too in 250 words or fewer. You gotto be kidding me. That was the first reaction when I tried to analyze the topic. I wanted to tell a lot of things but there wasn’t enough space for me to do so. What I did was I thought I should first try to understand what it really tries to mean and most importantly, what message I want to convey here. Trust me this approach helps as one knows very well where and how thought process is is shaping up. Next, I straight away sat down for almost 7 hrs to write down whatever came to my mind following those guidelines. I did not look back to re-read it at that time. Not surprisingly, I wrote almost 9 pages. It was well above 1500 words. But then, every alternate day I used to sit for 2 hrs re-reading the essay and fine-tuning it, using each word economically and appropriately. The last 2 weeks, I took advice from couple of friends and took their opinion on the essay. A lot of them appreciated the starting and the end paragraph though there was one who did not like my concluding statement but when I inquired about it more from others, they agreed with my statement. Basically, I would say the concluding sentence is the statement that came right from my heart and the only sentence in the whole essay, which I just changed in due course but never was in a mood to take it off at any cost. As for personal opinion, I feel each one of us should have his/her own USP of the essay and it should never be compromised because if we do we lose ourselves in it. Here are few guidelines when one approaches the Reliance Dhirubhai fellowship essay:

• The focus should be on giving a shape to India’s future. Remember there is a big difference in “shaping” and “changing”. A good way of tackling this is to think of a current scenario which can be harnessed further to have a strong effect. It would be really nice if someone tries to link his current professional experience coupled with Stanford MBA to address it.
• Discuss human and socio- economic issues in India and how they form part of your plan of shaping India’s future. Show your love and commitment to India’s growth and future genuinely.
• Try to link your professional aspirations to the theme of the essay. Try to dram a roadmap from your past life to Stanford MBA life and post MBA India life. Always remember, the fellowship requires fellows to come back to India within to 2 years of their graduation for at least 2 years to work in public/private organization.
• How MBA from Stanford fits into the overall scheme of things. Do your school research and try to show “HOW”.
• keep in mind the word limit (only 250 words). It is definitely too less and everyone is bound to struggle as I did. Probably, 100 words could do more justice to it.

So, well I am ready with my essay and I will be probably submitting it today or tomorrow. Overall, I am satisfied with the final shape of the essay.

Secondly, on GMAT preparation front, I am spending a lot of my time with the OG. I am bit terrified but I am confident. I feel I have got a good grasp on SC and CR now and have to work a bit more on the RC front. Quant section is never a problem for me as I generally score on the range of 47-51 on it. So, all the focus is on the verbal front. I will be taking the tests from tomorrow regularly to judge my course. I am yet to take a date and probably, I will wait for the Reliance Fellowship results because if I happen to be in the 5 finalists, then I can get a GMAT voucher for them. So, as of now, anytime July mid will be the GMAT date.

Finally, I have developed a strategy for choosing the schools. It is very similar to the recruitment process that is generally followed in all the institutes in India. I am going to have two Dream B-Schools and in terms of priority it is going to be Stanford GSB and Hass Berkeley. I am passionate about both of these B-Schools. In fact, they are the only two universities that I have visited on my USA trip last year. Honestly, Stanford GSB has been always been my only unchanged and permanent love because somehow I feel deeply connected to it and I feel no matter what, Stanford can understand me and my aspirations. I am going to go full guns loaded to it. In fact, I got in touch with an alumnus, who has assured me of helping to develop my profile for the GSB. While interacting with him for last couple of months, I found that we have a lot of similarities and when I approached him with the idea of helping me out, he instantly said yes.

So, apart from the dream schools, there will be 4-5 schools where I feel have a good competition to get an offer, which would depend a lot on my GMAT. I have got a tentative list of almost 12 schools in this category but have to dig around a lot more before finalizing the FOUR. Other than this, I am going to apply for ISB and NUS in Asia.

I guess starting early on all fronts will help me getting things proper at the right time and not rush. I am planning got decide on my recommenders also soon. I wrote my first essay with the Reliance Fellowship essay and I feel to get a good essay, one has to bring himself inside out. Though I always knew, what and how I think about my India, but this exercise showed me my shadow in the mirror in true sense. I am really excited about the application season and I hope it is going to be an amazing ride to hidden revelations about myself. One thing for sure is “The mantra for writing essays should be bringing one’s INSIDE OUT”. The more one knows and reveals him in the essays, the more comfortable and confident he would be with the essays.

With Almight blessings and blessings of my parents, I am going to submit the Reliance Fellowship Application today or tomorrow. Ia m keeping my finger crossed.

Update on Reliance Scholarship

Wondering where I have been all these days.

Well, it was a real hectic 2 weeks. I was off to Delhi for a friend’s marriage and then went to the hometown for a minor surgical operation. I have been traveling a lot in train for all these days. The train to Delhi took almost 34hrs from here. I had to rush to catch the train from the bus stop and guess what, got a bad asthma attack, which I had to carry all through this 34  hrs. The worse thing was I forgot to carry my inhaler and medicines as I was not using it here for quite a long time as I was taking all sort of precautions. Anyways, normalcy came slowly once I reached Delhi and got fresh natural air. After 2 days of stay and marriage, I started for my hometown, again a journey of 25 hrs. After a week’s stay at home and partially recovering from the surgery, I returned today back to Bangalore after 27 hrs of train journey. I may not travel again in train as I am lose a lot of time just in traveling and sleeping.

Anyways, the good point is about the train journey was: I almost nearing to the completion of the essay for the Reliance Stanford scholarship. No  matter of what the outcome, Stanford is my first choice and I am not going to give it up so easily but this fellowship is an opportunity to do something good for my country at the same time fulfilling my ambition of doing MBA.

Initially, the draft for the essay came to around 1000 words. I felt I want to to tell my reader quite a lot of things and 250 words is a very samll amount for this. After so many edits, the draft has come down to 450 words. I know I have still a lot to do as the next cut of 200 words will eliminate some of the detailed picture I have in my mind for the essay.

I am planning to send the essay for review by the mid of this week to 3 people for their honest comments before submitting it before the deadline. Probably, once I complete this essay, I feel I can give my honest views on this essay as the 250 word limit is a very strict constraint which can change the analysis completely, at least in this essay.

On the GMAT front, the preparations got completely halted in this period as I did not do anything. I will kickstarting it from today and I am planning for sometime around June mid to July first week. I will be finalizing my date in next 2 weeks.

The first attempt to prep test1

Well, today I gave the first GMAT prep test after a long time and scored pathetically. I got 610 (Q47, V27). Verbal section continues to haunt me. I noticed the following errors in my approach:

1. I am not able to concentrate hard for the test duration.

2. I am still doing pretty badly in Reading Comprehensions; almost all of them went wrong in the test.

3. I was left with almost 15 min and 10 min in verbal and quantitative section respectively. It clearly shows that I am not managing my time properly and I need to fine tune my strategy further.

4. 30% of the questions that I attempted wrong were very close and I chose the wrong answer from the two options that I had in my mind as the answer. So, as usual LUCK does not support me, which does not surprise me at all.

5. In quantitative section, I bumped into a lot of standard deviation questions, all of them going wrong. I need to brush up the fundamentals of standard deviations and its relationship with the mean.

I am going to give the second test tomorrow and I hope that I could plan it well and get a good score for moral boost. I am feeling pretty low after so much hardship gone for some time. I will update you about the test tomorrow.

AWA 30

When someone achieves greatness in any field – such as the arts, science, politics, or business – that person’s achievements are more important than any of his or her personal faults.

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

I completely agree that one’s achievements are more important than his or her personal faults especially when he or she achieves greatness in some field. A lot of people are born and then they die after spending a span of time on earth. But there are very few people who leave their everlasting marks on the sands of time, which pushes the life of the other people on this earth forward. It is this capability of those few people’s achievements that gives us the courage to face the realities of life every day. I believe that such people’s achievements are definitely more important than their failures due to the following reasons.

Firstly, there is no doubt that when someone achieves something great in any field, it shows a new path to the whole world. Sometimes, these paths are so strong that they change the course of the current world. For example, let us consider Abraham Lincoln. He changed the course of American history with the abolition of the slavery. It is his greatness that people in America are better people than anyone in this world today. Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi changed the course of Indian history with his beliefs on truth and non-violence. It is due to his sheer will that made the whole country run for the struggle of Independence unanimously. People like Dhirubhai Ambani led the Indian business to a new level by bringing Economic Liberalization in the country in early 1990′s. Narayan Murthy has led the country into a new blend of truth and ethics while creating one of the most successful IT services companies of thew world – Infosys. People like Thomas Elva Edison gave a new direction to the lives of people and science with his invention of Electric bulb.

Secondly, it is the achievements of the successful people that gives inspiration and motivation to the younger generation for more new innovations. One cannot ignore the fact that it is the failures that make the ordinary lives of great people extraordinary. But it is their achievements that draw people to look into their lives do closely to draw inspirations from. For example, even though Edison was thrown out of his class citing poor intellectuals, he went on to become a great scientist. Similarly, Abaraham Linclon failed miserably in his business and other ventures before going on to become one of the greatest leaders of the world and most influential President in American history. The point here is that we know the past of these successful persons only because they rose to become successful person and leaders in this world at some point of their lives. It is their achievements that took us to go into their past.

Due to the above said reason, I agree with the opinion stated earlier that a person’s achievements are more important than his or her personal faults.

AWA 29

The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper.

“In the first four years that Montoya has served as mayor of the city of San Perdito, the population has decreased and the unemployment rate has increased. Two businesses have closed for each new business that has opened. Under Varro, who served as mayor for four years before Montoya, the unemployment rate decreased and the population increased. Clearly, the residents of San Perdito would be best served if they voted Montoya out of office and reelected Varro.”

The argument in the editorial section of the local newspaper is unconvincing because its conclusion depends on unsubstantiated assumption of residents of San Perdito not well served under Montoya as compared to Varro. Each of the following areas merit further explanation before it can be given any degree of credibility of its conclusion of voting Montoya out of office and reelecting Varro.

Firstly, one cannot ignore the possibility that the dubious policies and laws of Varro might have shown its consequences after his tenure as mayor. It might be the possibility that the policies adapted by Varro during his office time, were so unpopular and unfavorable that the true colors are seen in the tenure of Montoya. Assuming that Montoya is a very capable person but still he might not have been able to counter the policies adopted by Varro, consequently, showing disastrous results in the form of decreased population and increased unemployment. Additionally, one can definitely question the election of Montoya if Varro would have done a great job in his first tenure.

Secondly, the possibility of a bleak and weak economy during the tenure of Montoya would have been responsible for the dubious results of performance. Economy might have been very weak and fragile throughout the country or world, which would have touched the residents of San Perdito too. A possibility of such a global phenomenon can hardly be ignored unless further information of the economic scenario is given for comparison.

Last but not the least, the editorial section lacks concrete data and figures to compare the population and unemployment rate during the tenures of Montoya and Varro. One needs further solid figures to come to any conclusion of good tenure of Varro compared to Montoya.

Due to the many holes in the reasoning in the arguments of the report, it is difficult to take the arguments seriously. Unless further evidence surface in each of the areas discussed above, the given premises are insufficient proof that the conclusion drawn is viable.