Few years fly by....

There's something about "May" that stirs strong MBA emotions in me. If you look at all the old posts, you will find that most of them were during this part of the year. And I'm here, yet again. I've seen lots of change in the 2-3 yrs since my last post - I feel a lot wiser (note the underline), gained an advanced degree, got married, changed careers but, the MBA dream is still ON! I love my new job (no longer new..its been more than a year) and can keep arguing how a B-School degree can still do wonders to my career. I just read a blog(can't remember who...) where the author sums it up as "having a rocket up your ar$e for the rest of your career". In hindsight, there were a lot of mistakes in my earlier applications and hopefully I learnt from them.

There are a few positives in my profile now, such as, I-

1. No longer fall into the MIT category (for the uninitiated, MIT = Male, Indian, Techie - by far the most common MBA aspirant pool I've ever seen)

2. Have an advanced degree. (It wasn't exactly fun juggling work and school. I was married by the last quarter and the demands for my time were no longer manageable by mortals. Obviously, I'm no he-man, and a few grades suffered but, I still had a strong finish).

3. Work for a rapidly growing company that has definitely turned heads in the space that it operates.

4. No longer have to give the GMAT. Though my 720 does not measure up against some strong numbers that we may see this application season, I strongly believe there is so much more I'm bringing to the table and what the heck...720 is still a great score :D

5. Have a total of 6 years of work experience and have age on my side. Oh, come on..is 27 really that old :)

As I think through this, I will not be applying to many schools this time round. May be 3 +/- 1. All of them will be round 1. Going back to grad school was a great idea. I know what I want (at least I think I do). I'll kick start the summer by visiting all the schools that I intend to apply to. This was something I missed last time round and I could feel the difference.

Good luck to me.

ChaZer

An year later.....

"Life goes on.." is probably the only truism that can describe the aftermath of what ever happened last year. I was so dejected by my performance in GMAT that I left blogging as a whole. Now, a year later, with no significant weight to add to my resume, I feel I've got something to look back and learn from and move ahead in life. In short, my first take at GMAT saw me getting 700 (Q: 50 and V: 35). I was convinced that this will never see me to a b-school given my background and I registered for a second shot on 9/30/08. 

In hindsight, may be I make things too complex for myself. With a hectic job, GMAT prep, mba apps and my new found interest in working out and learning music to juggle with, I was left with no time to do justice to anything. Yet, I multitasked and stayed put for an year. Take two of the GMAT was marginally better and the only reason for a cheer was that I did not score lesser than last time. I ended up with 720 (Q: 49 and V: 38). I felt like kicking myself for the 49 in math as I fancy myself in that area. I've always been good at math and when you have a few successes in life, people around you start expecting things out of you and in no time you start expecting it out of yourself.  

Anyways....I churned out, what in my opinion were decent essays but, looks like they weren't. Then came ding after ding and ding after ding. I applied to 8 schools and ended up getting rejected in all. Some would say I'm jinxed. The exact same thing happened when I applied for a masters degree in technology about 4 yrs back. People said that with an enviable GRE score of 1490, the sky was within reach. You now know what happened. I did not learn from that experience.

Sitting in the same chair in which I wrote the first blogpost last year, I still feel as strong about my abilities as I always have. No incident in the last year has broken my confidence...err.. it did for a while but, I have regrouped now :) (c'mon I'm human too !).

With hope.. I've thought about a long term plan. Given the economy, holding onto my current job is crucial. It pays the bills and burns the oil..so it lets me dream of living my dream ! I will now pursue a part time masters in Quantitative Analysis (Well,  I need to get an admit yet and you know..some people think I'm jinxed !). It''ll take me about a couple of years to complete the program. I'm also a candidate for the Dec-2009 CFA. 

I've spoken to a few mba students from top 15 schools and I feel for them because they've sacrificed a lot to get where they are now. Most of them have no internships. Hearing all this, I sometimes feel - maybe it was a good thing that I got dinged from all schools. Even if I had been able to get an admit. My profile isn't good enough to get a decent job post mba. Lets see how it goes.. I plan to be a bit more regular at updating this blog. Old blog posts are really nice to read... more like a time machine... you get to live those moments again and COME BACK !

"....Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past ...........You must fight just to keep them alive........."

Heave Ho...

The final leg of the GMAT journey has begun. Whether it will culminate in joy or another month in anticipation, time can only tell. In short, May 27th is the date...

--Maktub

Another week.....Another test(s)

I attended the free practice test at Kaplan's Cincinnati test center.Felt pretty much out of place as I was the only person to administer the test and it was a paper based test. To add, few of the questions were familiar. Yet, I stuck on and completed the test only to see a 690 (Q 45, V 40). I wonder if the scoring algorithm of Kaplan is skewed. I commited 3 mistakes in math and got a 45 while 7 mistakes in verbal gave me a 40.

My doubts about the scoring algorithm heightened when I gave the GMAT Prep Test-1 this morning. Having the real test at 8 AM, I want to get as much practice as possible during this time period. I took the AWA sections as well as my biggest fear is not lasting the complete length of the exam. It felt good to see a 740 (Q 50, V 40) but, I felt criminal on getting 7 incorrect in math and 11 in verbal. 7 mistakes and still a 50 in math ?? My stars must be perfectly aligned to make this possible... or may be it isn't the stars. Any answers blogosphere ?

I then decided to leave the scoring algorithm to the rightful people and sit down and do my job.....the "G" day ain't too far away!

One week later...

No improvement! Took Power Prep test 2 today 710 (Q 50, V 37).

I have decided that I will redo the OG and analyze each and every option (yes, the wrong ones and the right ones too..). It makes sense to get into the mind of the test makers to see why something is right or wrong. But, the explanations....the verb, the participle and the subject and all.... confuses me. I go by the " sound ", and have varied results . My attempts to master the nuances of grammar are horror stories. I've got more wrong than right, while trying to go by the "rule". I guess I must learn to accept it... I'm better off going by the "sound". May be its in my blood now..... I don't want the syntax anymore... just the semantics. I guess you must have understood by now, that I'm another one in "your" league - IT, Indian Male : )

I must get better at...

1. Reading the complete option (I tend to skip half the line...).

2. "Completely" reading all the options. (My heart tends to lean on the first optio which seems right)

3. Reading the question stem just once (Or may be twice... I just seem to waste too much time re-reading it.)

I don't seem to be having too much trouble parrying the quant questions. I'm in a doubt, whether to stop quant practice and focus totally on verbal, or to do both. Personally, I don't have much enthu in doing the math as I feel I need to buck up my verbal prowess.

Primal Fear....

It's been awfully long since I've studied anything and the biggest challenge seems to be concentration. I thought I was pretty good at it till sleep hit me as soon as 15 - 20 minutes are done. That's when I divert into a phone call or hit the bed.... In all the practice tests, I was eager to get to the verbal section (as I want to assess myself in this area) and that's when I hear that inner voice to get it over with, to get up, so much that it makes you believe that the first answer you think is correct....

gosh...I'm being a victim !

Practice Tests ++

I've figured that the best way to prepare is to give as many practice tests as you can. So far I've given 2 more practice tests...

1. Kaplan Free GMAT Test online

Q42 V 39

650 AGAIN !!!

2. PowerPrep (ETS times..)

Q49 V37

710 : )

I love the number 7.... but Verbal literally knocked my block off... I panicked and re-read and re-read...

I will just do what Dori in Finding Nemo says...just keep swimming...just keep swimming...