Day 20 - Quant (Kaplan) and MGMAT Sentence Correction

Though I have not been so regular, I have been trying to tone up my skills to my level best. Over the last few days, I have been trying to read through plenty of websites, particularly, Economist and NewYorker magazine online. I subscribed to 'The Economist' as well, constantly reading through the articles there. I have started liking those articles and the way they are being presented to the reader. New Yorker, is another exciting magazine. The first attraction for me about New Yorker is their look and feel. It is just awesome and makes me read more articles every time I hit the website. 

I read through the following topics in Kaplan Premier 2011 guide.

1. Overlapping Sets
2. Combinations and Permutations
3. Probability
4. Ratios
5. Percents
6. Powers and Roots

Following this, I read through the first chapter of MGMAT's Sentence Correction guide. The way they take the flow is just awesome. It just increases my interest to learn more from the book. 

Material Covered:

Kaplan GMAT Premier 2011 - Pages 251to 281

MGMAT Sentence Correction - Pages 13 to 17

Updates on ISB..

The Admission season has begun already for ISB, this year. As part of this, ISB is conducting information sessions at various locations in India and some other parts of the world. I am sure atleast 40% of us, preparing for GMAT would be applying for ISB. And for Indians, it would probably be the first target.

For those of you, who do not have a clue about ISB, here is your treasure.
For all the applicants out there, logon to www.isb.edu and navigate to Admission Events

Any Chennai-ites out there planning for a session? If yes, leave a comment, so we can actually meet up..! I am planning to attend the session in the month of August, 2011. As for ISB, a new campus is coming up at Mohali and regular academic sessions are expected to commence in 2012.

I can keep talking about ISB, but let me cut it short for now. And yes, the first round admissions deadline falls on September 15, 2011.

Day 19 - Combinatorics, MGMAT

The most scary topic for me amongst all the quant topics. I always get confused with the concepts. And I kicked-off prep with MGMAT books, after completing TIME concepts for Rates and Work.

It safely cleared my concepts to an extent. Doing more questions will probably clear them better. I just realized that keeping a cool head will actually make it easier to answer questions. Combinatorics is better understood only by thinking into the question given than looking at it as a question posed in front of you. 

Watched a pretty exciting movie meanwhile 'Band Baaja Baaraat'.. Colorful awesome movie, which can immediately bring a positive effect to the mind. Was fun! :) 

Material Covered:
MGMAT Combinatorics - Pages 65 to 82

Day 18 - Rates and Work, Ratios : MGMAT

Rates and Work, something I fail to get right the first time, is an area of fear for me all the time. I keep going wrong, for some reason or the other. Need more practice on this. I worked on the strategies given in MGMAT, but I think they hold good for someone who has not been in touch with Math for a very long time. Having prepared for CAT my idea of Rates n Work never goes off the normal method I use to solve them.

However the table structure does help, though their explanation is confusing at certain areas. I guess TIME, India books do a much better job, at least for me. I did all the 15 basic level questions given at the end of the chapter, which cleared my head about how I usually solve them. I guess I will follow my method which I am more comfortable with.

Coming to Ratios, it was simply brushing through the basics, following by a set of 15 practice questions, out of which just one was comparatively time consuming. It took more time to read than to solve the question. Otherwise, this area is something anyone can crack provided he has good concentration. 

Material Covered:
MGMAT Word Translations - Pages 31 to 51.

Day 17 - Powerscore, CR Basics

After a hectic long week, I got into study mode again, with Powerscore CR Bible.. It has been informative and fun reading the first two chapters of the book. This bible is clearly a better option for CR than any other book, in the way that it goes step by step in lucid steps to make the seeker understand the GMAT perspective of the arguments and conclusion, and assumptions and inferences.

I have also been going through BTG forums, and have been actively participating in the discussions. It is actually good learning, through the forums. Also, we get to know a lot of off-info about the application details.

Will keep you posted about the details in the upcoming posts.

Materials Covered:
Powerscore CR Bible: Pages 1 to 46.

Day 16 - Kaplan Math Concepts

Right from the day I booked my GMAT, I have been ill / down for some reason or the other. I have been preparing though, but not at a full stretch. Over the past few days, after completing verbal basics from Kaplan Premier, I continued going through the book for the Math content, and its quite basic, considering the tough CAT preps last year. I have been doing some sample problems, that came with the book after every short chapter. Kaplan has general strategies which I guess a person decent enough at his math would already know. Nevertheless, it is a very good book for a starter.

Another good material to test your skills on, is the Manhattan GMAT flash cards that are available on their website. The best part is you can view the questions without even logging in.I spent quite sometime working on those questions, whenever I felt exhausted.

BTG videos are so interesting to miss. I watched a few videos, which is definitely a value add to the preps. Apart from BTG, there is this new website that I am feeling soo attached to, and that is gmatPREPNOW. The videos start from the basic and move to tough areas in GMAT, and makes us feel relaxed as we watch it, at the same grasping the concepts.

A pretty exciting break during these days was BTG badges. I could actually see a lot of users wake up in many forums, including me of course, to actively participate in discussions. As for me the fun was more about finding out what types of badges BTG offers; this meant that I be active on the forums. It actually made me involve in a variety of discussions, and skim through all the forums every now and then to see if any interesting discussion happens.

I felt there is also a bad part attached to it. Though we gain with every discussion on the forum, at a certain stage, it gets so obsessive that going back to study mode is difficult.

Ahem! But yes, we need a control over everything in life!

Material covered:
Kaplan 2011 GMAT Premier:  Pages 221-250
GMATPrepNow videos
MGMAT website flashcards (WT)

Tip for the day: Focus! Practice! Focus! Practice!