LEARNINGS FOR QUANTS
These are the things you should know in quants
1. The sum of digits of a perfect square has to be 1 ,4 and 9
A Template Approach to the GMAT Essay
You will be given an essay topic that ETS expects to be debatable. In other words, about half of the people will agree with one side, while the other half will agree with the other side.ETS will not give you a topic that most people agree on. For example, you will not see a topic asking you to give your opinion on the value of education for children, nor on whether or not the government should have programs to decrease the number of the drug users.
However, you might see an essay topic asking you to give your opinion on school vouchers, for example, or you might see a topic asking you to pick whether you think it is primarily the government's or the family’s responsibility to prevent drug use among children.
In general, do not take one side of the argument completely. A good rule of thumb is to argue your opinion at about 60 percent or 70 percent. I should emphasize this—even if you believe you are one hundred percent correct, you should still pretend that you are 60 or 70 percent correct.
Although the GMAT essay scorers are trained to forgive certain mistakes given the time constraints of the essay, ETS can be very picky. Pay attention to your grammar, spelling, and logicalsequence, just to name a few. How can you improve your score? ETS also looks for sentence variety and ability to use language. I will show you some simple ways to do this—really, it's not that hard!
First of all, you have to figure out why they chose this as a topic. Remember—not everybody will agree, in fact it should be about 50/50. This is your hint. Try to find about five points for and against each side (ten points total). Don't worry if you think that your points are stupid or trivial. The important thing right now is just to get some ideas down on paper, to start your brain working.
Second, figure out which side you are going to take. Duh.
Third, start writing! Don’t worry about an introduction or a conclusion right now—they are the hardest to write and everybody gets hung up on them. Just get your ideas down first.
Next, make sure you have about three or four paragraphs. You should be thinking about adding some examples now. Try to make one personal, maybe from your country and another one either international or American (the idea is that most educated Americans will have heard about the topic before). Don’t make your examples too personal! Imagine your prospective boss is reading this.
Now, go back and spice up your language—add something witty, an illustrative anecdote, a rhetorical question, even sarcasm or irony. Also, try changing the order of some of your sentences, i.e., put the subordinate clause first.
Almost done! Write your intro and conclusion!
Last, check grammar and spelling. Viola! A perfect essay!
Template
Okay, let’s try the essay now.
First Paragraph: Introduction
The issue/belief/idea/opinion that ______________________________________ is an interesting/controversial one. This issue is increasingly important in this age of ___________________________. Many people believe _________________________, but these people overlook _________________________________________________. Furthermore, _____________________________________. In this essay, I will argue that __________________________________________________ _______________.
Second Paragraph: Support
There are many good reasons for ____________________________. However, it cannot be ignored/overlooked that ___________________________. A classic example of this is ___________________________________________ . Try to add something interesting in this paragraph. Make sure you use a few complicated structures—try putting a subordinate clause first. Like this: While many type of professional promote the notion that _____________________________, I believe the opposite should be argued given the current situation/status/ of ____________________________________.
Conclusion
I have argued _______________________. This view will become increasingly dominant in the coming century given ________________________________. Many of these issues can never be resolved to everybody’s satisfaction, but in the long run, promoting ________________________________ will lead to the betterment of all involved. Finally, _____________________________ increased something like global cooperation, cultural understanding, blah, blah, blah can only result from this, resulting in ______________________________ for everybody.
__________________
CAT 2007: A ten-week study strategy
Attention, CAT aspirants:
You have less than three months to prepare and 2,00,000 strong competitors staring you in the face!
Do you have jitters yet? If not, you should.
By now, most CAT aspirants have completed their basic preparation. In this phase, students' scores in the half-length tests behave like the volatile Sensex -- unpredictably. So, if you think group meetings and loads of testing is all you need to continue improving your scores -- sorry, you're wrong. For the final few months, you should revise and review your study plan.
At this point, the strategic approach of a general is what you need, not merely a soldier's aggression. You must plan, execute, evaluate and revise. If you don't prepare properly, your percentile will decrease markedly by C-day.
Here's a plan of action for the final, a strategy for the final ten weeks of CAT 2007 preparation.
A factual, exhaustive and balanced study plan must have both micro as well as macro facets to it.
The micro aspect involves the day-to-day planning and subsequent execution of these points. This allows you to keep a consistent, steady tempo and pace to your preparation.
A micro view of CAT preparation
Your plan should be prepared and executed on daily basis. An example can be -- two hours on number theory, one hour on reading comprehension and one hour on logical reasoning questions per day.
Give simple, straight-forward descriptions of your daily tasks. Complicated or confusing directions will just leave you lost and discouraged.
Unlike your old and memorable Class X board exam preparation, you need to follow many books rather than concentrating on one or two. CAT has more and more questions from fewer and fewer topics. Hence the key is to exercise your skills on those VITAL topics from as many sources as possible.
All three sections -- quantitative, data interpretation and verbal -- must be touched every day. This will help you exercise discipline and will ensure that you devote equal time to each of them. Moreover, such a study plan gives a sense of completeness to your preparation on a daily basis and keeps your confidence and achievement levels up.
Every set of sectional preparation must be followed by an assessment (testing) of the same. So always keep one series of tests for the evaluation of each step of your micro preparation. An additional weekly combined test would be even better.
In the end comes another very important step: evaluation and analysis. All the tests taken must be evaluated properly and analysed. If possible, have a record on a spreadsheet of all the tests that you take.
In order to learn how to critically analyse your tests, register at http://www.tcyonline.com/ to attempt online MBA tests and see the analysis page at the end of each test. Such analysis will shed light on your strengths and weaknesses, helping you concentrate on where you need to improve.
But sticking to such a frequently updating plan may cause your overall preparation to move slowly. This may subsequently result in missing certain topics all together, or losing sight of the 'big picture.' Hence, a micro plan must stick to an overall macro plan.
A macro view of CAT preparation
Your macro plan should be consolidated and divided into weekly or fortnightly segments. An example:
In the next two weeks: Complete number theory, algebra and geometry from quantitative; practice at least 35 to 40 reading comprehension questions, 200 gap fills and 200 English usage exercises from the verbal section; practice approximately 400 data interpretation questions.
Use weekends to manoeuvre the pace of your micro preparation to match the macro milestones. Macro planning must be done by working backwards from November 15, 2007; this leaves you the last two days to conquer anxiety and establish self-control.
The milestones in the macro plan must be planned on the lines of mock CATs (specifically National level CATs). It is a good idea to appear in at least (if not all because of time constraint) two mock CATs conducted by institutes other than yours. This helps a test-taker in developing a more objective understanding of his performance vis-�-vis others.
Which areas deserve the most focus?
If you look at and analyse the actual CATs from 2004, 2005 and 2006, you can prepare a factual and accurate list of topics to be covered.
++ Data: Previous year CATs
** Analysis: Top Careers & You
As the above two charts show, the share of number theory in quantitative and that of reading comprehension in verbal is increasing. Your study plan must be structured around exercising the most frequently asked topics in the CAT -- hence, you should focus on these two areas. This will help you cover the most important topics first, moving down the areas in the decreasing order of their probability to appear on the exam.
Here's another informative chart, where we have summarised the contribution of the various sub-sections of quantitative and verbal sections in the total CAT:
++ Data: Previous year CATs
** Analysis: Top Careers & You
It is quite obvious from the above two pie-charts that reading comprehension in verbal and geometry and number theory in quantitative have clean pre-eminence over the other sub-section in previous. On the other hand, vocabulary and paragraph jumbles in verbal and time and work, ratio and proportion, and profit-loss sections made negligible contributions to the previous CATs.
Use this information to thoroughly cover the most important topics while spending less time on the least important -- this will help you increase your overall score.
Accuracy and speed: the perfect mixture
Remember that the CAT is not about solving 75 questions in 150 minutes. It is about solving 45 to 55 questions with 85 to 90 percent accuracy. Hence, attempting all the questions is not the mark of your achievement in CAT.
Accuracy is a distinguishing factor among the test-takers. But focusing on accuracy alone may lead to spending more than average time on the questions, which could cause panic towards the end of the exam. Therefore, an optimum mix of both accuracy and speed is desired.
Here are a few ways you can achieve an optimum combination of accuracy and speed before November 18:
Strictly follow a preparation schedule in order to eliminate the possibility of stress and pressure near November 10 and 15 that otherwise arises because of pending examination.
Keep a track record of your performance in terms of your total attempt together with percentage accuracy.
Rank yourself on the above two parameters compared to classmates and other peers.
In the end, always keep in mind that clarity of your strategy and clarity of your goals will help you stay focused during these final months of CAT preparation.
Read more...
You have less than three months to prepare and 2,00,000 strong competitors staring you in the face!
Do you have jitters yet? If not, you should.
By now, most CAT aspirants have completed their basic preparation. In this phase, students' scores in the half-length tests behave like the volatile Sensex -- unpredictably. So, if you think group meetings and loads of testing is all you need to continue improving your scores -- sorry, you're wrong. For the final few months, you should revise and review your study plan.
At this point, the strategic approach of a general is what you need, not merely a soldier's aggression. You must plan, execute, evaluate and revise. If you don't prepare properly, your percentile will decrease markedly by C-day.
Here's a plan of action for the final, a strategy for the final ten weeks of CAT 2007 preparation.
A factual, exhaustive and balanced study plan must have both micro as well as macro facets to it.
The micro aspect involves the day-to-day planning and subsequent execution of these points. This allows you to keep a consistent, steady tempo and pace to your preparation.
A micro view of CAT preparation
Your plan should be prepared and executed on daily basis. An example can be -- two hours on number theory, one hour on reading comprehension and one hour on logical reasoning questions per day.
Give simple, straight-forward descriptions of your daily tasks. Complicated or confusing directions will just leave you lost and discouraged.
Unlike your old and memorable Class X board exam preparation, you need to follow many books rather than concentrating on one or two. CAT has more and more questions from fewer and fewer topics. Hence the key is to exercise your skills on those VITAL topics from as many sources as possible.
All three sections -- quantitative, data interpretation and verbal -- must be touched every day. This will help you exercise discipline and will ensure that you devote equal time to each of them. Moreover, such a study plan gives a sense of completeness to your preparation on a daily basis and keeps your confidence and achievement levels up.
Every set of sectional preparation must be followed by an assessment (testing) of the same. So always keep one series of tests for the evaluation of each step of your micro preparation. An additional weekly combined test would be even better.
In the end comes another very important step: evaluation and analysis. All the tests taken must be evaluated properly and analysed. If possible, have a record on a spreadsheet of all the tests that you take.
In order to learn how to critically analyse your tests, register at http://www.tcyonline.com/ to attempt online MBA tests and see the analysis page at the end of each test. Such analysis will shed light on your strengths and weaknesses, helping you concentrate on where you need to improve.
But sticking to such a frequently updating plan may cause your overall preparation to move slowly. This may subsequently result in missing certain topics all together, or losing sight of the 'big picture.' Hence, a micro plan must stick to an overall macro plan.
A macro view of CAT preparation
Your macro plan should be consolidated and divided into weekly or fortnightly segments. An example:
In the next two weeks: Complete number theory, algebra and geometry from quantitative; practice at least 35 to 40 reading comprehension questions, 200 gap fills and 200 English usage exercises from the verbal section; practice approximately 400 data interpretation questions.
Use weekends to manoeuvre the pace of your micro preparation to match the macro milestones. Macro planning must be done by working backwards from November 15, 2007; this leaves you the last two days to conquer anxiety and establish self-control.
The milestones in the macro plan must be planned on the lines of mock CATs (specifically National level CATs). It is a good idea to appear in at least (if not all because of time constraint) two mock CATs conducted by institutes other than yours. This helps a test-taker in developing a more objective understanding of his performance vis-�-vis others.
Which areas deserve the most focus?
If you look at and analyse the actual CATs from 2004, 2005 and 2006, you can prepare a factual and accurate list of topics to be covered.
++ Data: Previous year CATs
** Analysis: Top Careers & You
As the above two charts show, the share of number theory in quantitative and that of reading comprehension in verbal is increasing. Your study plan must be structured around exercising the most frequently asked topics in the CAT -- hence, you should focus on these two areas. This will help you cover the most important topics first, moving down the areas in the decreasing order of their probability to appear on the exam.
Here's another informative chart, where we have summarised the contribution of the various sub-sections of quantitative and verbal sections in the total CAT:
++ Data: Previous year CATs
** Analysis: Top Careers & You
It is quite obvious from the above two pie-charts that reading comprehension in verbal and geometry and number theory in quantitative have clean pre-eminence over the other sub-section in previous. On the other hand, vocabulary and paragraph jumbles in verbal and time and work, ratio and proportion, and profit-loss sections made negligible contributions to the previous CATs.
Use this information to thoroughly cover the most important topics while spending less time on the least important -- this will help you increase your overall score.
Accuracy and speed: the perfect mixture
Remember that the CAT is not about solving 75 questions in 150 minutes. It is about solving 45 to 55 questions with 85 to 90 percent accuracy. Hence, attempting all the questions is not the mark of your achievement in CAT.
Accuracy is a distinguishing factor among the test-takers. But focusing on accuracy alone may lead to spending more than average time on the questions, which could cause panic towards the end of the exam. Therefore, an optimum mix of both accuracy and speed is desired.
Here are a few ways you can achieve an optimum combination of accuracy and speed before November 18:
Strictly follow a preparation schedule in order to eliminate the possibility of stress and pressure near November 10 and 15 that otherwise arises because of pending examination.
Keep a track record of your performance in terms of your total attempt together with percentage accuracy.
Rank yourself on the above two parameters compared to classmates and other peers.
In the end, always keep in mind that clarity of your strategy and clarity of your goals will help you stay focused during these final months of CAT preparation.
GMAT Prep Materials
Do click on the ebooks mentioned to download the same
- Kaplan- All collections
- GMAT 30 Sets
- Official Guide 10
- Manhattan Review Verbal
- Manhattan Review Quant
- 1000 s.c
- 1000 c.r
- Princeton Review
- Kaplan Advance 800
- Software for TEst -100
- Online Test Passkeys
- AWA Analysis.
- JMET paper
- NMAT paper
- SNAP Paper
- Self Help Books
All these materials will be found at Google group ,you may have to become member of the samehttp://groups.google.co.in/group/aspirant008
Many more books going to get uploaded , Please be patient ,if you need any in urgency do leave a comment, will get back to you soon
Read more...MBA Dreams
Hi Friends,
This is my 3rd blog , This is specific to MBA related stuff. Have been Doing lot of research for last 2 years and will try to share all that with you. First Knowing Importance of MBA.
There has been a sea change in the economic and industrial scenario of India over the past few years. The Government's policy of liberalization has unshackled restrictions and controls on business with the result that there has been a spurt of entrepreneurial activity and a spawning of mega-conglomerates. Increasing globalization has perpetuated severe competition and tough battles for market share. For business success, these organizations need talented, qualified managers with a professional approach. They turn to MBAs from premier business schools.
The MBAs recruited are credited with the following:
The functional knowledge of the business organization
The knowledge of functional interdependencies
In-depth knowledge of at least one discipline
The ability to adapt to new environments - micro and macro
A problem solving approach
The necessary inter-personal skills
The skills of communication
Self-confidence
Initiative and the drive to succeed
If one takes a look at the profiles of captains of business and industry, movers and shakers of the corporate world, high flying executives, key decision makers, in short anyone who makes a difference to the fortunes of a corporation, more often than not, you will find they have one thing in common, an MBA from a premier business school. Be it in Marketing, Finance, Banking, Advertising or Consulting. Take any organization and, by and large, occupying the top and senior level positions are men and women of familiar qualification.
Understandably, the well-chronicled success stories of the alumni of premier business schools and industry's growing confidence in teaching and training methodologies of these business schools, which have widely respected, acknowledged authorities on various subjects, as faculty, have sent the stock of MBAs soaring.
In today's complex and competitive world, personal entrepreneurship is required to succeed irrespective of the profession/position that you are handling. Just having focused / specialized skill sets though important may not serve the overall purpose in a business environment. Some are born entrepreneurs like the Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis etc. to name a few. However, this quality of 'entrepreneurship' is not inculcated or developed in professional courses of engineering, medical, commerce, arts, economics etc.
An MBA course would sharpen your vision, increase your business acumen, enhance you skill set and help you to view things with a business perspective. To highlight the above point, a pure engineer may not be able to appreciate commercial, legal, financial or marketing aspects of a business unit. However, coupled with an MBA, he/she is likely to do better.
For Engineering Graduates an MBA is an added adbantage. As an Engineer, you develop:
1. Good analytical skills
2. Good quantitative skills
3. Good decision making
4. The art of attacking a problem head-on and reaching its solution
5. Instant thinking
But the industry these days requires you to have (in addition to the above mentioned skills):
1. Good communication skills
2. Creativity
3. Leadership qualities
4. The right personality
5. The ability to work in a team
6. Knowledge of all functional areas in Management
7. One specialization in Management
An MBA bridges this gap most effectively
Career profiles of specialists get 'stagnated' and their acceptability from one job function to another is limited. In the modern environment apart from varied formal and informal training, an MBA gets irrespective of specialization functional job knowledge in areas of marketing, finance, HR, systems, legal etc. Apart from the 'formal' education curriculum students are vigorously trained and given exposure to industry, asked to take up social projects etc. A few institutes even provide specialized training for development of personality, mental and physical health. In short, B-School MBAs irrespective of their graduation background are specially equipped to tackle their jobs and responsibilities in a more efficacious and business-oriented manner.
The demand for MBAs far outstrips the supply. And that is the reason they command such great bargaining power. Where else does one get the opportunity of making it really big in a short time span, a high-powered life style, lucrative earnings, of fully exploiting talent and potential, except in a career in Management? No matter if one is an Arts, Science, Commerce, Engineering or Social Sciences student. An MBA from a premier business school can provide foundation for a successful career path.
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