vingmat

Thanks Anita. :D Regards, vin.

Hi Jackson, Going through your error log is indeed an excellent idea. You can do two more things in the last leg of prepping: 1. Work thru. the K-800 book stressing on sections you feel deficient in. 2. Rerun thru the last 50 in DS and the last 100 each in CR and SC from [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] (if you have the time.) Most important, don't stress yourself up! Take it cool. HTH. vin.

Hi monojit, For starters, one hour per day seems fine. You also have time on your side since your test is in July. I don't think IMS might be good for GMAT prepping per se...though for initial practice that should be fine. The first book to use would be the PR guide "Cracking the GMAT CAT". This one gives a good intro to the GMAT and its sections. K-800 is probably the last book to use. Get the hard copy of [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] as well since the PP (I guess this is the soft copy you mean) does not give you all the questions. HTH.

Hi All, I've started one blog to showcase my life as an MBA student and beyond at the ISB. Visit me at http://isb-mba.blogspot.com

Hi All, was not around in the internet world for some time now owing to exigencies on the personal front... To those unaware of my present status: I've been admitted to the MBA program at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. (The ISB is a joint venture of the some of the world's best corporations such as McKinsey, Unilever, GS etc. and has affiliations to Kellogg, Wharton and LBS.). The school has one of the toughest B-School curriculums anywhere and provides the equivalent of a US Top 10 MBA in one year's time. I've been interacting with the admitted students on the ISB forum and the entering class profile is simply superb. Thanks a lot to one and all for the encouragement and help rendered to me during my GMAT prepping and I repeat - TM was right up there with all the efforts on my part toward acing the test. I'll peep into this place whenever I have the time to help out prospective applicants just the way some very wonderful folks helped me expecting nothing in return. Let the spirit of academic brotherhood and the willingness to help for the sake of sheer satisfaction prevail. All the best to all of you in prepping mode. My class starts on April the 22nd. Regards, vin.

Hi, Nothing about the GMAT (or life for that matter) is set in stone provided you have the correct attitude to learn, strategise, prioritize and accept constructive criticisms. I have seen people in this forum make remarkable progress purely through their never-say-die and humble approach. On the contrary, foolhardy folks seldom improve and harp on trivia - only for them the set-in-stone idiom applies. From your post, I get the impression that you did not do your homework right before the test. Otherwise, you definitely wouldn't have faced the need to guess on 8 Quant. Qs. I have no doubt that you can make significant progress through some amount of preparation and definitely scale 700+. Remember that the test rewards you for genuine preparation if attempted with a cool head - both aspects are key. When preparing, beware of "speed-breaker" questions as well. This is a common ploy employed to set you off rhythm when you are doing well on the test in either section. BTW, the title sentence "due to ...., ..." is wrong. A correct sentence can begin with "because of" or "on account of". "due to" cannot start a sentence. Regards, vin.

Hi Malegria, I would go with A. (1) gives info to find the radius. Hence, sufficient. (2) doesn't really give any info since the centre-to-C distance is determined by the points of tangency. This question shouldn't take more than 15 seconds to solve.

Dear Empress, Thanks a lot for the advice...it is definitely a most wanted one. mba05, I chose the ISB since it fits perfectly with what I am looking for...the school is Top-Notch, the curriculum and classes are exceptional, the peer group has amongst them more than 1000 years of experience and the student profile compares with the very best schools in the US...I think with the facilities and infrastructure on offer, the program cost also is very well justified. I also love the fact that I can graduate in one year with the MBA though that might require a very concerted effort in terms of study hours etc. on my part. This too fits in with my scheme of things - I would rather study fast and focussed for 1 year than go relatively relaxed over 2 years... Regards, vin.

great news spiderman.... see you at Hydbd. Any other TM folks?

Hi All, I am very happy to inform you that I have been admitted to the MBA program at the Indian School of Business. Once again, lots of thanks to all the wonderful folks out there who helped me a lot during the GMAT preparation phase. I sure can vouch for the efficacy of this forum in test prepping having experienced the power of community first-hand here throughout my preparation. All the best to all of you who are currently in the GMAT preparation phase and on with the admissions process... Regards, vin.

Sargataur, I posted the above mail - a perfectly decent one - as against the filth you had used to since I felt there had been some misunderstanding. However, since you have not bothered to render so much as an apolpgy for the gutter tongue used, I think you need to be told things a little more bluntly. First, your attitude sucks. From most of your posts, you seem to talk like someone who seems to think too high about yourself - to the point where you begin to profess on things where your own credentials are pathetic. Your himalayan ego ensures that you infer insults where there are none. Second, you come across as a highly immature individual who has little real world experience in any industry. You also have a huge sense of inadequecy about your skills in cutting-edge technology.Coupled together, it helps your filthy scheme of things to have highly absurd ideas on specialists in technology and genuine GMAT students. Third, I have no idea about your intellect but definitely am sure that you would be a very lousy learner with you pathetic attitude. I don't think you must have spent even half-an-hour at a stretch in the "geeky" world of problem solving. I will be genuinely surpirsed if you score a 600+ on the GMAT. Finally, gutter language purely indicates one's class. You seem to be as pathetic as it comes with regard to etiquette and conversational decency. Erin, I would deeply appreciate it if you could just erase this gentleman from my login view if that is possible. Please let me know. In any case, I am just going to ignore any further mails from this smart-alec. vin.

Dear Friends, I received a mail from the admissions committee at the Indian School of Business informing me that I have been shortlisted for the PGP 2005-06. Anyone else in the same boat please revert. Do pass on any helpful suggestions you have based on your knowledge of how interviews to the ISB have gone, what to expect etc. Regards, Vin.

Sargataur, The last thing we require on this forum is someone taking digs at other people. You seem to have inferred that I purposefully took this one up to slight you or something to that effect. I'd be the last person to do something of that sort and purely so because I value each one for his own worth - GMAT 200 or 800. I elaborated on that sentence fully well realising the humour intent of the same; the only reason for the post was that there was a very important concept there. I have been here quite a while and have no doubt that test-magicians here by now know my intentions in posting. If you find my posts whatever you have said, please fee free to ignore the same and carry on with your "non-techno" life or whatever. This is certainly not the place to ridicule ETS/techies or people serious about the GMAT. All others, I am sure you understand why this forum was created in the first place - to help people get some much needed guidance and advice in making the tough journey toward testing excellence. Let us remember that this is the last place where we want one-upmanship and dirty personal talks. My only intention being around here is so that someone somewhere may benefit from my posts just as I gained through the amazing wisdom of some very wonderful people like Ursula, Dragon, Spiderman etc. As I have said earlier, I rate this forum right up there with Kaplan 800 and [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip]. Let us maintain the sanctity and dignity of the content here as we have done until now. As always, Regards, vin.

I would pick (A). (B),(E) - redundant construct. © - misplaced modifier (D) - alters meaning (A) is elegant and has no conspicuous errors.

Hi Sandman, All the very best and welcome to the forum. You are at the right place - like many others, I too benefitted a lot from some wonderful people here and would rate this place right up there with [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] and Kaplan 800 for my G-performance. OK, I had one advantage(disadvantage?) - the only thing I had to bother about was a 10+ hour a day job as a Techie(OK that needs some bothering...); no wife, kids or Girl-friends for me. :hmm: Hats off to you for the determination and attitude to embark on something bigger. That's something I find woefully lacking in very many people around me... Regards, vin.

Friend, A cursory look at your post tells me that you really need to take some effort to bolster your verbal first principles. Sorry to be blunt; but, I say this so that you would proceed on the right track toward improving your language. Please firm up your fundamentals using a good A-Level English Language book - your Pre-University Grammer and Composition book should do. In parallel, you could read well-written articles like Newspaper Editorials and articles of interest from BW, TIME etc. Listen as well to all those analysis programmes from CNN, BBC,CNBC and the like. You would make considerable progress with your command of the language within a short period - trust me on this one! Once this is taken care of please read my posts on Verbal preparation posted elsewhere on this forum. Do let me know of the progress you have made. Take heart - your quant. is fine and the only stumbling block toward a top score for you is the verbal. Proceed with this methodically with little room for self-doubt. If that V18 can leap to say a V38, you sure would have a 700+ score.! An added bonus is the very real and tangible gains you would make in your written and oral English. Revert to me if you have any concerns. Regards, vin.

My scores on the ARCO paper tests in the Supercourse book were 780,690,690,770.

Errors: 1. Misplaced modifier: "Having crossed.." qualifies essays and gives the impression that the essays crossed the bridge! 2. Awkward construction: The sentence wording seems to imply that only because you have tackled all other hurdles the essays are being scrutinized. In any case, a far more elegant construction would be If you cross .., .. or even Since ..., ... . Note here that the inclusion of the "you" in the subordinate clause, immediately makes the clause adjectival and thereby also eliminates error 1. This kind of questions are darlings of ETS. Beware.! Regards, vin. PS: This question should not have been in this thread. Erin, please move this into the SC section. Crash, please be careful to avoid spelling errors when posting. No question on the GMAT will have a spelling error.

Dear Alok, Your argument suffers from two defects: 1. Your comparison of the CAT with the GMAT leaves a huge gap - which strata of the GMAT are you comparing to? In other words, if you are headed for a 750+ score then believe me - Qs begin to get what Kaplan 800 calls "compounded"; a typical RC passage for someone headed for 750+ might embed a decent bold-face CR or a Geometry Q might require application of several levels of concepts. On the contrary, someone headed for 550 might find the test to be an excursion trip. 2. How do you explain IIM-A guys getting scores like 620,640 etc. on the GMAT; of course, the flip side is that the vice-versa is also true. I for one may never clear the CAT. Bottomline: The CAT-is-God theory is purely a creation of some IIM profs and may not be factual. Let us remember that the GMAT predates the CAT and the CAT was originally modelled on the lines of the GMAT. This proclaimed superiority of the CAT was purely a hype from the IIMs who pocket a cool 16.5 crore (rupees) from the exercise that is the CAT exam. And yes, today there is a huge CAT-fed industry with a turnover that could put several acclaimed companies to shame.!

Anita, No need for desperation of any sort. In any case, you definitely have a lot going for you - you are a US graduate and probably are earning in dollars. So, even without the G-thing you may well be fine. Still if you want to pull off on the G then hats off to you for your determination. Take some diags, assess yourself thoroughly and see objectively whether you are prepared and oriented. Then and only then, proceed to take the test on Dec-13th. I wish you are well prepared now; by any chance if that is not the case, give yourself a safe window of at least 1.5 months, preferably 2 months at the least.

The Kaplan online diag. is definitely worth taking. Just add 80-100 points to the K-score to get your scoring potential. If you are getting something around 660-680 in the K-test, then I'd say you are in peak shape.

maelstrom, I would very strongly advice you to chart out very clearly what exactly you want to do in the long-term. If you have plans to go to school, then better concentrate on getting a job profile that gives you stellar responsibilities. This is nearly impossible if you are an employee in Infy/Wipro etc in the first 4-5 years of your "developer" role. Why in the world do you want to slog in some crap firm when you have a golden opportunity to help your Dad in his business? At the end of the day, you would at least be contended that you have the chance to make some tangible difference and that too for your own folks. Certainly worth giving serious thought. OK? Just realise that the power centres and their coterie in your Infys and Wipros are not exactly concerned with helping you develop your skills - all the HR-bull**** not withstanding. As I read in the Brand Equity supplement of the Economic Times, you are just another "brick in the wall" - in your case, since you have only 6 months of exp. to boot, make that the cement between the bricks!!! Regards, vin.

That's not true; but remember that a Good GMAT Rule of Thumb is this: unless you spent 20 minutes locked up in the loo during the test, you shouln't even think of the Cancel Button. There are far less stressful ways to do philanthropy. :-)

Excellent post bull. One rap though...take care to write proper English complete with syntax check and spelling. That helps really in the long-run. As someone said, if you make a fashion out of poking funning faces, then sooner or later your face is bound to have a predominantly funny feel. Si, it ain't cul to rite lke ths, OK? :-))

Congrats Alok and the very best in admissions. But I must say that 2 runs in 180 balls says something about your batting prowess. Do you really think people who post here have nothing better to do and so actively participate? At least now on, make amends, OK? Regards, vin.