'GMAT'-pre-prep week

Hi all,

I have been quite busy since my last post. As a result, I have gathered some quality material on GMAT. The sites that I found and still do find particularly populated with good books (all in doc or pdf format) are www.esnips.com and www.4shared.com. Thanks to many users of this website, I have managed to download the following e-books:

1. A concise list of high-frequency vocabulary needed for GMAT
2. GMAT Flashcards (these are some good examples and tips on GMAT compiled into flashcards for better learning and easy remembrance)
3. The Official Guide to GMAT review-10th edition (am not sure if this is the right one and I haven't verified it yet)
4. The Official Guide to GMAT review-Math and Verbal
5. Manhattan GMAT
6. Few GMAT notes and tips
7. Sample GMAT tests

After interviewing some seniors who took the GMAT, I have decided to buy just 3 books which are prescribed by the GMAC itself. These are the 3 different types of 'The Official Guide to GMAT Review'-General, Quantitative and Verbal. These books are much in demand and hence not easily available. Much of us have no choice, but to order it online at www.mba.com and ship it to India (a wise option to request someone already living in the US to buy and ship it to you, even better as a gift :-) !!). For all those who prefer shipping it from an Indian source, you can try the Green Leaf Bookshop at Malad, Mumbai (www.grenleaf.com). They charge you almost the same rate as mba.com, but the whole purchase turns out to be cheaper considering the saving of an international shipping rate. The idea of just photocopying or getting a printout of the online version did cross my mind, but I prefer the seniors' advice of having a personal paper copy for myself.

The next thing to do was to build a preparatory plan. I did too. Mine is broken down to a 16 week effort. You could follow the same if it sounds affordable to you. Most of my seniors have followed the same with a down-size in the time limit. They did it in 10 weeks which is the norm, however I choose to make it into 16 weeks as it suits my convenience and is comfortable towards a May-June GMAT date.

Week 1
Go through the GMAC Official Guide for GMAT, specifically a description of the GMAT test. If you like, take a mock test to see where you stand.

Week 2-3
Find school grammar books and brush up on your grammar. The GMAT English focuses on grammar, not vocabulary.

Week 4-5
Use the Math Review section in the Official Guide for GMAT to brush up your math concepts.

Week 6-7
Start practicing math problems topic by topic. Identify the areas where you need more practice. The official guide has more than 400 solved math problems.

Week 8-10
Now that you have revised your grammar, start with the sentence correction section of the verbal portion of the test. Practice from the official guide.

Week 11-12
Progress to the critical reasoning section from the official guide.

Week 13
Dedicate this entire week to the reading comprehension and the essay writing component of the test. Use the essay topics from the official guide.

Week 14
Practice mixed math problems from all topics.

Week 15
You are now ready to practice an entire GMAT test at one stretch. Make sure there are no distractions around you. Time yourself. Try and finish one test per day. Use the paper tests from the GMAC official guide, but avoid repeating the tests.

Week 16
Practice few Computer Adaptive Tests CDs -- Powerprep and other online software. You should now have the confidence to take the GMAT exam at the testing centre.

I hope my stint with CAT helps me in the prep for GMAT. Hence I have postponed my decision to take up an appointment till late-April. I think my plan to handle prep for CAT and GMAT should materialize.

PS: I have to state that I miss my dear friend and co-author of this blog-Prags. She has been quite busy and away with her work. We sincerly hope and wish that she comes back soon and updates us on her plans!!

Kick off with a mock CAT!!

As is the custom, I started off with a diagnostic test. Albeit, a real live CAT. I took the CAT on the 18th of November'07 to evaluate myself in the various areas that the CAT tests you in. No preparations and very aptly, no expectations. After my stint with the CAT, I have gained some motivation to prepare for CAT'08. CAT'07 wasn't that bad after all.

My reviews about CAT'07 are as follows although contrary to reviews by fellow CAT-ers:

Quant: I felt the quantitative testing to be easier than thought so. I got through most questions with little bit of arithmetic concepts. There were some questions which had concepts coming in from class 12 like derivatives, maxima and minima etc. I was disappointed though not to come across even a single problem on probability which happens to be my favorite topic.

DI: Nothing much to write here. I didn't solve much. I have to mention that I was a bit terrified to see problems with huge statements. Only to find out later that DI problems do not come in any other format. I have to state at the risk of sounding like a moron (CAT'07 had an easier DI than previous tests) that I truly messed up my chances in DI.

Verbal: Again a similar experience as the quant section. I think I did a better job at attempting questions other than reading passages. This proved to be a good boost as I did solve these questions pretty early. That gave me come confidence when I went to attempt the reading passages against time. I had a good amount of rightly answered questions already in the bag, I felt.

The day after CAT, I checked up sites of leading coaching institutes for the answer key and cat analysis. Surprisingly and much against my self-analysis, I had attempted well. I have cleared my cut-off in quant and missed the cut-off in verbal marginally by a fiver. Thats pretty decent for someone who hadn't done anything as lifting a book in preparation for CAT.

This was enough for me to gear up for CAT'08. I have decided to enroll in a coaching institute soon.

More about that in the next post.