740/5.5

I gave GMAT for 2 purposes: 

1. I should be applying for HBS 2+2 and giving the GMAT was needed there given I was going to be away for the summer
2. Scores are valid for over 3 years. Without much knowledge about an MBA, I was sure I needed to get one a few years into my career. (It isn't something I still claim to know, but now atleast my reasons of eventually pursuing an MBA are clearer)

Before you start of for the GMAT, have your reasons clear!

Let me start of with GMAT funde without further ado..

The basics

GMAT is divided into 3 sections ( 90 min each for the first two and 30 min for the written): Verbal, Quantitative (from hence on referred to as quant) and Written. Verbal is the English section, unlike GRE no mugging of wordlists is required though a re-look into your high school grammar is a must. It is more about the correct english and you understanding it than fancy words. Quant is high school maths, logic and reasoning. written would have 2 essays to write, this is not included in your numerical score, you will get a separate score for that. (represented by 5.5 in my heading) 

Verbal as well as Quant have standard type of questions in which each of their questions can be categorized into. Like reading comprehension, sentence correction etc etc for verbal. This can be found in any standard GMAT prep software or text so not going into detail.

Getting started

Start with downloading the GMAT prep software from www.mba.com you can do so without registering though no harm registering honestly, u may get a few notification mails once in a while. (Explore the website while you are at it, it has alot of info on MBAs in general too.)

This software has 2 sample tests and simulates the GMAT very well..before you start your prep, give one test. Take 3 hours completely, sit with focus and see the score you get (its ok if you skip the written part for now). Quant is normally very easy*** and you will definitely score well. Verbal you normally would not, but you need to check what kind of questions do you need most practice with and which ones come naturally to you.

With an overall score of aroun 650/800 you could take a months prep at max and aroun 690 2-3 weeks should be enough. If you are 600 or lower prep for atleast 1.5-2 months dedicatedly.

Practice! Practice! Practice! (I'm going by the US spelling pls don't leave comments correcting it :P)

I read a little theory and expectations from the GMAT official guide as well as the Kaplan text fr GMAT..

and practiced the Verbal sessions I needed alot of practice with from both of these. 

Finally, rather throughout I had downloaded test softwares of Kaplan and 800 score from LAN

the Kaplan software has separate timed test fr each question type in verbal and quant as well as overall tests... gave all the verbal ones one each in quant and all the overall tests... they happen to be only 3

800 score has separate tests fr verbal and quant again comp adaptive like kaplan... used these fr practice too..

at an avg i think i gt aroun 680-690 in the kaplan tests...

with a 50-51 in quant and 35 above in verbal..

eventually gt a 740 in GMAT..

my focussed prep time was 3 weeks... was doin very little before tht..

and tht too it was more like 4-6 hours a day.. (maximum) one section test a day more like..

i gt a 650 in the initial test i had given.. but i had given it in lots of parts very unfocussed...

***So i had written this mail with IITians in mind, but the same holds true for anyone. Only difference is that the effort we'd have to put in into verbal, you wud have to put into both Verbal as well as quant. 

Giving tests, especially section wise gives a very good idea about which type of questions you need to practice more in and which ones you can feel confident about. Its the best way to structure your preparation

Feel free to leave queries or additional tips as comments!! 

Journey so far

This year has been very very different from the past few. Mainly because it has been more about getting out of IIT unlike the previous survival centric ones. Decisions of what next that I had postponed year and again to give me more time and hopefully more exposure very staring into my face but Fate decided to call the shots. Irrespective of the results, I have gained a lot from each process, learnt a little more about my self and where I need to be next.

I started the year with a successful GMAT, saw a challenging E-Summit come into shape... and turned out to be fabulous, saw one of the longest crucial MEETINGS of the organisation through, grueling intern in ITC, unsuccessful HBS 2+2 app, RESUME making, catching up on DDP and now I move on to preparing for the day that will decide the beginning of the rest of my life (well professional life at least)

In the next few posts I'm going to share a bit of do's and don'ts and leave you with some food for thought.. commenting on what I had thought and should have thought out.. hopefully some reader will gain something from this entire process.

you can only hear of others mistakes and avoid them, thing is you may have your own mistakes to make....
(only saying that this is no exhaustive list.. just some perspective or thought to get you started)

And I said, let there be light!

Of late just working with the exposure and shutter has been more fun... looking at still light photography for now, trying to explore as many different lights and lightings as possible :)

Was going to add a poem to the above, but the pictures seem romantic enough i think! Each of them has a special occasion and place to it and yes, the lights should reflect the mood ;)

For now, keep the ray of hope in your mind...

More later,
Ne

Birds of a Feather

Fight or Flight

A lot can over coffee

Having got my new camera, it was time to really try my luck and capture moments
For my first few shots, I decided to play with the zoom, shutter and aperture speeds
My most loyal models beings these bulbuls

19-11-09 music and lyrics

Its only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away!

Coming from a lyricist, this could not have been more true. But coming to the topic of this conversation: what is it that you listen to in your favourite song? what is it that is music to your ears?!

I went through my entire favourite songs playlist, what i heard was the words, the hues of moods I faced in colourblind, the reality check knowing every rose has its thorn, a thrill down my spine with confessions of iris and the promise of I'll be, the heart break when I sang along with leaving on a jet plane, and then I dream on in the afterglow of the experience I have had and after all of it, shrug the emotional rhythmic journey saying 'Hakuna Matata'

What I guess dawned upon my ever so musical sense, was that I heard just the lyrics, I did want them flowing with the instruments, the chords of the acoustic, the beats of the the drumset worked upon by ever so skilled musicians, solos that would make others scream and even consume all their senses. But what I still hear loud and clear amidst everything is the depth of the voice of the singer, the feeling of his song, the emotion in his confession, the rhythm in his soul as he expresses with his band. Along with the strings of the lead!

What I'd want in a song is for it to be perfect for my mood! It's got to be the right words, the right tone, the right depth in voice, the joy when I'm on top of the world, or the desperation when I'm Losing grip, the helplessness with the end of my happy ending and the peace with the memories I make (refer make me a memory)

An experience that I did try to explore was share another's sense of music, try and experience it, the way your friend does. Understand what it means for them, and perceive it with the same motivation and if possible emotion. If it is losing every train of thought as the beats of hard metal resonate in your skull, the harmony of Beethoven plays with your subconsciousness, the sargam of classical Indian music appeals to your history that you don't understand but know to be within you, or it could be the wayward rap, with the words intermingling in the defiant off beat tone to offset and example!

Music when made is definitely an art, must say though, even appreciating it, picking up the right song at the right moment definitely feels like one!

I'll Survive

N

7.12.09 Good guy Bad guy

Well, this isn't typically conversation material, but still thought provoking enough to occupy alot of space in my little head, besides a conversation I had recently, with quite an unexpected associate, without its riff raff and multicoloured mask, boiled down to this...
There are loads of guys we meet, day in day out... loads of friends who are guys.. there are the good guys, who even if they affect you couldn't and wouldn't harm you, aka the good guys, there are those whose actions affect you, but really don't give a damn about how its going to hit you, aka the bad guys... the ones who dont affect you at all..
But where do those guys lie, who seem to be good.. say they wouldnt ever hurt, make you believe it, don't hurt you atleast not intentionally, and still lie in the grey area of you never know what the intention was. Was it that simple, he din't mean it but could say it with a straight face (yeah, some people can actually be good actors) or is it deeper, much deeper, where in they actually have coincidentally felt that way, found the right things to say, actually been that vulnerable, and managed to kill you with their words.. and will never realise it?
I know the greatest hollywood blockbuster is made of the latter... it feeds all their chick flick content... hell its even every chicks dream guy.. well.. almost
But you even have the tv shows.. that feed on the first... yes.. those are the ones defined as bad guys by all of us....
Can we categorize them, as we meet them, relate them with the characters we have faced, on screen, in a book....
What parameters can we start on? Interactions, what they say with whom? What they say when they are with you.... the content? the tone? their reactions? their past???
Well.. as for now... I think the only one factor we can question irrespective of the other content is their honesty and integrity... the rest simply would fall into place...

For all (if any) of my gurl readers... feel free to crib about the ever so elusive ass that you just have not been able to figure...
For the guys... use this as food for thought...

More later..

Contemplative (with my legal pad pro-con list)

N

25-11-09 Nostalgia and More

Dear Reader,

I know this post comes rather late, but exams and a rather long day has kept me from posting earlier!

The conversation i seemed to be having with practically everyone was about the days gone by.

And it all started with watching DDLJ, the movie you fall in love with... and listening to the songs we were crazy about in high school.
From Words by boyzone, to backstreet boys to addicted by Enrique... Quite a playlist.

Getting back to the conversation, what really was amazing was how in those days we would so easily fall for the simplest of lyrics, the cheesy mills and boons kind of lyrics even though we would shun the books themselves.

Its amazing how life could be so simple and straight forward then! You wouldn't look for depth, hidden meaning, complications, anti climaxes in absolutely everything!

And whats more is, you remember every single movie and song, with fond memories of your friends, as you dance to the tune, hum to the song or rave on about a movie with the friends who grew up with! If we were as simple minded now... we would be called superficial! Oh, how things change!

I also enjoyed the most amazing nostalgic like the old days conversation with one of my best friends, discussing life, future, careers, our luck at having everything and being where we were today... the very things that we used to discuss when we started of preparing for the JEE together... some things don't change after all!

Some change, some don't, but there aint nothing that can induce senti like the days gone by!

Looking back,
N