My first blog in this decisive 2012 application season.
April 9, 2012
Today, I have officially kick started my GMAT preparation for the third time and with this also my preparation for the admission season of 2012. Once again I start with ISB as my target school but this time I do intend to add a few more backup options to my application season. The previous 2 attempts have not yielded much in terms of GMAT scores with 620 and 630 being the previous scores. My preparation seemed good the second time around but again I faltered in the Quantitative section with a score of Q43. I intend to be very thorough with my preparation this time and am targeting a score of 720 to 740. That roughly translates to (Q50 / V40).
I will be starting off with quant problems from Manhattan GMAT preparation and moving to advanced quant problems. My main mistake in my previous attempts was that I did not practice and solve more quant problems from miscellaneous sources. As a result I found myself lacking in the DS and PS quant problems on the actual test which needed to be right to increase my quant and overall score. The MGMAT prep test is a good test and their algorithm plot in the after test analysis gives one an idea on how one has fared on a per question basis.
I do not intend to give my test before 2nd June meaning that I will be giving it under the new Interactive Reasoning section. I am presently surfing to get a clear idea of how this new section is setup and will be tested. The new GMAT prep test is now available on the official site and can be downloaded for use. I have installed the new software and it is compatible with the old prep test installed. This means that I can use the 2 mock tests from the old software and 2 mock tests from the new software making it 4 official mock tests to use. Other than this I intend to test myself on the one free MGMAT test and Veritas and Kaplan tests which are available from BeatTheGMAT.
The OG 13 has been released and there have been reviews on the various sites on the OG 13. Prima facie it appears there are now wholesale changes to the edition except for the addition of the integrated reasoning and a few extra questions. Presently I think I will move on with the OG 12 and the quant and verbal guides that I have for my preparation. As of now I do not intend to buy any tests but I will reassess on this point in a month’s time by which I will have a more clear picture of where I stand.
Below is the brief plan of action that I intend to take for the next 2 weeks --:
1. Week 1 – Start with revision of concepts of Quant and solve the OG12 questions.
2. Week 2 – Start with the basics of sentence correction and critical reasoning
I will be travelling back to India in 2 weeks’ time so I am not planning for way ahead. I believe my effort in the next 2 weeks is equally important so as to set the tone of my entire preparation. After all a job well begun is half done. I will be coming back from India from May 10th and will be on-site for about 3 months from that time. I will be most probably taking my GMAT by around 30th of August. I have firmly decided to update my blog periodically this time. It is now or never for me since there a multitude of factors that are weighing me down, viz. --:
1. A shift of industry from core technical to management / strategy / operations consulting
2. The fact that I do not keep growing younger means that I will be 28 if I start my B-school academic session next year. There are some personal things which make it very important for me to successfully convert my attempt this time.
3. I am personally convinced of the nature of job I intend to undertake which will make me satisfied and happy and it is more like a problem solver profile which is what a consulting job sounds like.
It is my earnest wish to get into a B-School in 2013. God willing and with efforts from my side it should happen.
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