1. IIM A
2.NUS Bussiness School(Singapore)
3.Asian Institute of Management(Phillipines)
4.Melbourne bussiness School
5. IIM B6.College Bussiness Administrator
7.Sasin Graduate (Thailand)
8.Chinese University of Hong Kong
9.Nanyang Bussiness School
10.Graduate School of Management (Japan)
My Gmat experience
I had been preparing for arround 2 months for the same.Going through about 1000 Maths Qs , 500 SC , 200 CR , 50 RC , 30 AWAs, 10 Prep TEst 5 Sets ,Og 10 , og 11, Princenton Review , Manhattan Verbal , Scoretop PQs.It has been pathetic performance by me, My experience is as follows.
I had reached test center at 8.25 am got an instruction page read that got all formalities doneLike photographed ,keping an apple , snicker and redbull at Lunch Room. Went in testing area Had to read instructions and fill 5 colleges name I went to write about AWA which are 30 mins each , Analysis of argument topic was a little weird it was about increase in introduction of computer instructions in schol circulum has reduced school dropout rate and thus goverment is allocating more money next year you have to anayze the same.I started getting down my ideas, this is comon in USA but in India these are a little old , definately I argued that this arguement needs more accurate assumptions.
Second was analysis of an issue that "change and innovation are not helpfull for employee" I supported this issue , stating the importance of change. I had written the structure but had to fill in the paragraphs and could not complete a line as time expired.
I Took a 10 min optional break had an apple , redbull gearing my self for quants went with a zeal and started the first 3 qs were easy the 4th was a little tricky and inequality DS got it right , I had made a plan First 15 mins 6 qs then 15 min 7 qs ,then 15 min 8 and then 15 min8 and then 15 min 8 qs. The stratergy worked only till 5th the 6th question was data table with 10 inputs of data with x variable , they were asking the mean , It was the toughest DS I had seen I spent 6 mins to crack that , then 7th qs was geometry one including two circles and tangents , radii and all that ,was confusing as geometry is my stong point I sat down for doing it and took me 5 mins , then there was a complicated exponent question taht was the turning point 8 mins to do that qs , It took out all the cham in the paper being the 8th qs the time was 40 , so 29 qs left and 40 mins , see the pressure guys. How can one expect to perform knowing that you have to complete all the question else you will be penalized. I was broke at that moment , These 3 qs had taken 20 min of my precious GMAT time . After that I didnot know what to do I was just picking answers quickly , Was not sure in many , time was going 15 mins left had 16 qs left , less than a min a qs, fought back in one-two more ones , Last 5 mins went accross 7 question , I knew I could do it but time did not allow , Tear come into my eyes with this situation , If I would even try to get answers I would have been penalized for not completing the paper. 3 secs were remaining when I guessed the last question , I was marking C for most of them. I knew I had missed the oppurtunity to crack GMAT .
English section you need to have the zeal and motivation to do it which I had lost I was trying to concentrate but wasn't sureof many answers , The critical reasoning were tough. I had got three paragraphs one about jupiter's moon surface and linking it water,key was to understand the flow, I may have got many right in this , One RC about differnt typesof grammer book prespective and desprective was really factual but needed a prehand knowledge on the same.
Last RC was retail market on UK compared to itscounterpart it was last one so had done a quick scannning and answered few.
My SCs I think I might have done 2-3 surely right , rest had to pick between two-three. Critical reasoning was the toughest could get what hey looking for but answer options were quiet similar , Like an assumption question was asked in which 3 assumptions were almost correct but you had to choice the best one , After three hours of intense battering how can your brain work so much.
I was in two minds whether to cancel or report the score , but $250 and I thought GOD would be a little considerate for me in luck sde and I would get good but it was worse then expected.
This the sad story of my GMAT first attempt, I could have done much better if I didn't waste my precious time in 3 Maths Qs .So would suggest you whatever happens dont give more than 2 mins more in Quant Qs , I believe if you go wrong in middle you can easily pull it back in the end as Qs are easier and you will have the enthusiaism and zeal to go to next VErbal section , which requires to be alert and can quicly read things , In my situation I did not have that previlege as my poor paerformance in MAths was killing me from inside.
I read about the same in Economic Times that CAT may go the GMAT way , Do add comments whether it will be benifitial or not .
Now the mouse will soon help bell the CAT. In what could be a dramatic shift in the entrance system of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the CAT committee of IIMs is considering to hold the test online. And if this isn’t enough, the committee is also considering to give respite to lakhs of IIM aspirants from the one-year long wait to write the toughest test, common admission test (CAT). Instead, the IIM aspirants might be allowed to take the test online for a definite number of times during the year.
The CAT committee of IIMs is in talks with leading global online test company Prometric to get the job done. The US-based Prometric, which has helped deliver tests like GRE and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), has recently been acquired by education testing company ETS. Prometric will now operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ETS. Thus, with CAT going online, the aspirants need not worry on the preparation front. The test can be taken whenever they are ready, confident and well-prepared. And with the test going online the students might get an opportunity to take the test even over three times a year. “It is difficult to conduct and manage the test at different centres across the country. Availability of latest technology will enable us to make an easy shift to online system. So we are talking to a few players and examining feasibility of the same,” said a member of the CAT committee. The body is working out ways to prepare a question bank that can be used for the online test. At present, the aspirants fill in forms to register for the test. The CAT forms cost around Rs 1,100 but with the test going online the application charges are expected to go up further helping the institute generate more revenues. The committee members had earlier expressed apprehension over the fact that not many aspirants taking the test are computer savvy. The committee is discussing different issues on test procedure, timing, question data bank, test centres and way to go about the online exam. However, the plans are now being finalised and a decision is expected soon. The popularity index of CAT is fast going up and this year over 2.3 lakh aspirants applied for the test. Only 1% of them will get an opportunity to study at the coveted IIMs.
Apart from the IIMs, over 111 other institutes take into account CAT score for admissions. Conducting CAT online will solve a lot of administrative work for the IIMs. Based on the CAT scores, the institutes can directly call students for interviews and group discussions thus simplifying the whole admission process. While GMAT is already conducted online since several years, the CAT committee had a tough time convincing its members for an online test. GMAT, which costs $250, is taken over two-three lakh times annually and it is part of the admission process for over 4,000 graduate management programmes around the world.
Art of Guessing
Guessing, like pacing, is more important on the CAT than on any other test you have ever taken. You'll have to guess often on the CAT because:
You can't skip questions. If you hit a mental block, you have to guess at the question in front of you. You can't pass over a question and go back to it later. Since all answers are final, you have to make sure your guess is a good one. Most students waste more than 1/3 of their time bogged down on a handful of tough questions. You have to learn how to guess, move on, and cut your losses after spending more than a few minutes on a question.
At the end of the test, when time is about to expire, you have to hurry to make sure to review every question or else face the severe penalty for not finishing all the test's questions. Many students have to do this last-minute sprint and are often left guessing on the last few questions.
P.O.E.
The key guessing strategy is P.O.E. (process of elimination). A big asset going into test day is knowing that one of the five possible answers must be right. If you can eliminate two of the choices, you can increase your chances of getting the right answer by 65% (from 20% or 1 in 5 to 33% or 1 in 3). Here's how to do it:
Eliminate answer choices you know are wrong. Even if you don't know the right answer, you can often tell that some of the answer choices are wrong. For example, on the Data Sufficiency questions, you can eliminate at least two of the answer choices by determining if one of the statements is true.Avoid answer choices that look suspicious. For example, on Sentence Correction questions, beware of any answer choices that look completely different from all of the other choices. In the Quantitative section, you can usually eliminate any answers that are negative when all the other answers are positive.
Once you have narrowed down the list of answer choices, pick one of the remainders. It is a myth that some answer choices, like A or C, are more often correct than other choices.
The Importance of Dry Erase Scrap Paper
You'll need to use your dry erase scratch paper because you are taking a test off of a computer screen, and you can't write on the screen. The result is that you'll sometimes have to carefully copy much of the question down onto paper without miscopying the information. This is awkward and difficult. It takes valuable time to recopy information and it increases the chance of a hurried error, so you have to be careful about what you copy and what you don't copy.
1) Math: Solve all the current Math and Verbal Practice questions as soon as they are posted in the VIP forum at ScoreTop.Membership cost 30$ for a month.But its worth.
2) Sentence Correction:
Fundamentals - Manhattan SC Notes Concise , effective and tailor made treatise on SC for GMAT.
Practise –
20 questions per day from 1000 SC.
If you have time, please go through Manhattan SC guide. Follow each chapter thoroughly along with the OG questions listed at the end of each chapter. You’ll get a hang of the question types, which'll be extremely critical on the test day in saving time .
Go through all the explanations of OG questions irrespective of whether you get them right or wrong. You don't have to refer to OG beyond this. You may if you have time.
3) Critical reasoning -
Fundamentals -
Please go through CR - Basics - strategy sessions for CR in the online courses section (scoretop.com)
If you can get hold of it, go through kaplan workshops and go through CR material in that. It is a damn good introduction.
Practise -
20 questions per day from 1000 CR ( a few hundred LSAT questions followed by GMAT questions will do.
If you have time, you can do all the LSAT questions. Leave out formal logic, parallel reasoning and do the rest)
4) Reading Comprehension - 5 passages from 1000 RC. Do LSAT & GMAT passages. If time is a premium, do 20 questions each of SC and CR. However, make sure you do five RC passages per day.
5) Error log - Maintain a record of all your doubts in a word document and analyze them on a excel sheet. This'll serve as your error log.
6) GMAT Sets are the closest to the real test more than the powerprep. Practise them as mock tests - One set (math+verbal) every alternate day.
7) Mock tests - Power prep (2) , GMAT prep (2) - a total of four tests would more than suffice. If you have any additional software, you may practice. However, please note that most prep companies' tests don't match the ETS standards. The score might not be a true reflection of your abilities or your potential performance on the real test.
8) Math: Work on Permutation and Combination; probability ; statistics etc if you aren't comfortable. PQs are the most important stuff for math.
Don't waste time. Make sure you get your pacing stats right during the practise sessions. Jot these down on the scratch paper and keep it next to you on the test table.Spend adequate time on the first five questions.
Suggested Math pacing
First 7 questions (15 minutes)
Next 10 questions ( 20 minutes)
10 questions (20 minutes)
10 questions (20 minutes)
Suggested Verbal pacing
-First 5 questions (12 minutes)
Next 12 questions ( 22 minutes)
12 questions (21 minutes)
12 questions (20 minutes)
This is an inspiration Debrief which I keep reading regularly , It may help motivate anyone giving GMAT and is confused.
http://www.scoretop.com/GH_ShowArticle.asp?HID=41
I had been to world MBA tour at Bangalore Taj Residency was a real good experience and wanted to share the same with you.34 colleges worldwide had participated, mostly from the USA big names like Queens, Maryland , NYU stern where present.
The whole lists here
Barruch
Boconni
Brandeis
Carneige
College of William and Mary
Cornell University
Duke Univesity
ESADE
HECHult
NYU stern
IEQueens
PSu
Rice
RSM
Thunderbird
University of British Columbia
University of California Davis
University of Los Angeles
University of Dallas
University of Denver
University of Iowa
University of Maryland
University of Rochester
University of Southern California
Vanderbith
Warwick
Worcester
York Uniberity
There was a huge crowd at the itenary , The registration had began at 5:00 pm , reached there at around 5:15 and it was packed , Seeing the number of the people scared me of the competition after that got the badge checked , The organizers did a great work in attending to so many aspirants ,and for free.
There were three panels
Why an MBA and which specialization?
Is MBA right for me?
Alumni Discussion
Three panelists were giving a broad picture about the MBA from International university and about the application procedures. The halls where also packed, people standing. Majority of people where IT and engineering background .Most common Questions for career switch from IT to finance. Why Finance and what in finance have to be really specific like investment banking, Venture capital, commercial banking .merger and acquisition etc. Applications were discussed, See my next blog.
Need to do lots of research what will be ideal length of MBA ,your financial state to pay fees and what best for you as said you have to analyze things deeply as you are paying a huge amount of money and return of investment should be there.
After talking to so many panelists ,Alumna’s and Admission officers, I have got a idea we have to be sure why we are doing an MBA and what we actually interested in , That’s a really tough to know . Many of us seeing the equity market and money involved are lured to do investment banking but the fact remains it’s a very critical job and finance experience and undergrad degree in Finance , economics is necessary , As told by an Alumna’s of Queens CFO of AMD , prove that you are interested in finance and have done some homework then only you will land up there do an internship with a finance company .Doing Retail Abroad is really tough for an International student as you face local competition and the Americans are too much interested in marketing and a company would any day prefer them over an International student as no issue of visa and all. MBA is a platform for a person to accelerate your career , 1000’s colleges offering many courses , you have to be specific what will be best for you.Getting into MBA .Many kind of Scholarships are there and colleges encourage entrepreneurs.
Do start networking it’s a way to help you get an internship or job. These high levels of networking really helps in this world.
One Panelist told me to forget about everything and work very hard to maximize your score as we have the potential 2 months hard work and boast our score to 720 levels and from there with a decent work experience no colleges can reject you.
The MBA fair was another grand event had to kick off from 7:30 the queue started from 6 near the doors , There were tables behind which representatives from each college were present advertising there courses and colleges. Applications have become real good business as each is around 100-200 $ and increasing the range of students, I mean the GMAT range in some it’s from 500-750, these will make number of applications more. There were brochures at every table and people were just rushing including me to collect all brochures before it gets over .Its a very attractive brochures and all details in them, the officers were very interactive and answering to all different absurd question asked to them .I admired there patients its there job but what about the alumna’s why are they so keen in helping there college to get students, is it because of networking. As there is an alumna’s group of each college and are very active, this question remains unanswered.
Finally, I would like to conclude that such fairs for an Indian student is really helpful as he gets a platform to interact with admission officers of his dream college and know what exactly has to be done, Thanks to moa tour (www.the mbatour.com).
Applying to colleges is a very tedious process Applications process are discussed and do keep deadlines in mind , Checklists are
1.Official gmat scores
2.Transcripts
3.Degree Attested
4.Resumes- This is very important as it’s a mean to market your self and should be accurate and any data should not be mismatched , if so application will be degraded.
5.Recommendation – 1st From our current manager 2nd Team lead/ Previous company 3rd College. It should be about you role.
6.Essays – Use this to show why want to be in your college don’t leave any gaps tell everything , no use of writing general stuff write why you want to be in about your diversity
7.Work Experience
Need to do lots of research what will be ideal length of MBA ,your financial state to pay fees and what best for you as said you have to analyze things deeply as you are paying a huge amount of money and return of investment should be there.
