Hi All,
Groups discussion thro some IM is a gr8 idea. I think we should all send our contact details to each other thro Private message so that we all can discuss together. Yahoo and MSN have tie ups so the protocols can accepts ids from each other. If some one is on gtalk that can be used only for one to one chat and not group chat. For group chat yahoo/msn is best. Where ever we are more accessible we should use that for communication. For group chat we should have a properly planned agenda so that each such sessions for say 1 hour (may be once a day or alternate day) should be fruitfull and it should not hurt our existing preparation plans.
Say 1 hour group session can be divided some thing like this:
1) 10 Min: Introduction of the topic by the person/s whos/are taking lead in the topic.
2) 30-40 Min: Solve 14-17 Questions depending on topic. Individualy where timing should be followed like real exams. This will help us to keep "Watch on Watch". The quality of questions should not be less tha OG10/11 last 50 questions of that topic. But it should not be >= kaplan 800. It should be as close to real as possible. This 30-40 min will help us time ourselves, it will throw random questions at us. Since other people will be there we will be putting that extra bit to complete the questions so that we can enter the discussions as fast as possible.
3) 10-20 Min: Discuss the obivious difficult problems. Then mid level problems and then least difficult(if needed). This will also help us understand where we as individual lack. We can also learn from others who are strong in that particular topic and develop a right thought process for our weakness.
Since we all are referring to different material at different times and different problems we should divide topics among each other and take ownership of 1 or 2 topics. Preferably in our own weak areas(this does not mean that every one should take SC as there topic or some thing like that. ) Infact if we keep on rotating the topics every one will get chace for every topic say in 1 to 2 months time frame.
The person taking the lead in the topic can/will have following responsibilities:
1) Prepare the introduction of the topic. From the best of the material (best meaning best said by the gmat gurus from this forums). Atleast one person but not more than 3 should take the lead.
2) Prepare 14-17 question set for the topic(the questions should be realistic not to hard and not to easy). Throw questions in the chat room just like the real gmat will thro at us. The person who prepares the question set shold not read the questions. This can be done by selecting the questions from the soft copy of the material available and then selecting the question blindly from there.
3) Record the discussion and mail it to every one intersted in this activity. So that it will be usefull refrence. It will have best of the thought processes put into it.
For this activity no one will really need to put extra efforts. Infact it will automatically force every one to make a study plan follow it, improve timing and to get rid of our weakness with 3-4 hrs per week of spending.
We will have to address following issues
1) Suitable timings and Various times zones. Well this will be dominated by the population from one time zone. But we can always find the golden mean timing for each such meeting/session. But probably some fixed time of day for all time zone and on some fixed days of the week. So that we dont forget that we have a meeting/session planned. Soon it will be a routine activity for every one.
2) Topics: We can make a list of topics publish it in this thread and start rotating it among the group. If we get more entries, we can do some random selection from the names. Some thing like toss.
3) Leader. Once the topics are decided and rotated. Probably a group leader may not be needed even if needed he/she should not be pushised to spend more than 10/15 min extra per day for 3-4 days week. Well meetings/sessions can be increased decreased based on need.
The activity will behave like "Open Source". If it becomes a success the activity will move on of its own. For every month.
Well this was a short thought in mid night after reading Manhattan SC S-V rules. If anyway feels this as worth thougth lets start it.
I hope some one reads this.
--breakMefree--
