Verbal_Karen_03

This was another great class on Sentence Correction. Three hours long so took some time getting through but well worth it.

Pronoun errors. Got a lot of notes to study. And i only realised the other day that the one time i was studying SC at the Ampt center i ended up leaving my other notes there. So now to do the home exercise i gotta refer the pdfs on the laptop.

Bit of a pain i say.

CR

I didnt do any CR till i finished the GMAX course.

32/41

Thankfully there were no careless errors. Dont know how to interpret this one. On the one hand, there were no careless errors on the other getting 9wrong is worrying no? Or should i be optimistic and think that it was only my first time and i'm bound to get better. Considering i have only about 16days to go, i'd better be improving real fast!!

DS (Numbers and Algebra)

Done two of them so far. Numbers and Algebra.

First Score 32/40

Second Score 31/40 (greater mix of Algebra)

which means about 80% accuracy, which is ok considering there were atleast a coupla careless errors in each set.

The bigger challenge is remembering the AD/BCE trick. Hanging in there

Too many days like today

where i've gotten absolutely no work done. If I have a morning class, then bang goes my morning study. I've never gotten any work done in the evening and today was no different. Didnt get any work done. Plan on doing CR tomorrow morning as well as finishing CR from the GMAX course. That should bring a real sense of satisfaction that I've completed something atleast :-)

Gotta work harder :-(

Some more Numbers PS

36/40

That's a slight improvement over the last time but i dont know if i should be happy. i really should be getting 38/39 instead of 36. I mean, i've made some real stupid questions which is sad because once again i could have gotten a 39. Getting a 36 is good but i really need to score like really well in the Q section if i want to get a decent GMAT score.

Just done copying the CR questions for tomorrow. I have an early morning class so there's no way i can attend a session on the GMAX. guess i'm better off solving 40Qs since i'll for sure be using up all my alloted 80mins. Am a li'l worried i'll run short of time but hopefully that wont happen :-(

B +

Yeah that's my blood group :D

Verbal_Abi_03

1. Types of Argument
   
2. What you should be doing (for e.g. Causal Argument show an alternative cause)
3. Strengthening and Weakening an argument
4. Inference

All this in a mere 80mins. Of course, that's the length of the video, but writing the stuff, repeating it in your mind and answering the questions takes longer than that.

I'm really enjoying these classes. I've actually started to think that CR isnt so bad and is pretty easy. Perhaps I should volunteer to take some CR classes for the LST batch before i make up my mind :D

On the homework part, I've decided to copy the question numbers in my spare time i.e. after dinner. I usally end up watching tv at that point but that time could be spent more usefully. When i want to solve a set of Qs, i refer the GMAX split, copy the question numbers to my answer grid and sit down to solve them. All this one after the other. Which of course allows me to do a time pass for a cool 10mins. Abandoning this practice should hopefully help me spend my time more productively.

Verbal_Abi_02

Critical Reasoning

1. Intro to C.R.
   
2. Fact, Premise and Conclusion
3. Identifying which is which
   

In continuation with my policy of doing Verbal in the morning so that I can as usual skip through Q in the evening, i skipped the RC class and moved directly to C.R. (Lots of "skip" na in that line :D ) A really really good class. Well planned and explained, right pace so i didnt feel lost and examples to drive home the point. The class was fun and interesting.

I never seem to do the assigned homework though :D

Math_Aner_05

Algebra-1

Any of you remember the taj Mahal tea-bag ad??

Dip dip dip
Add a bit of sugar
and its ready to sip....

With due apologies

Zip zip zip
Add a bit of OG
and i'm ready to Rip :-D

yup, yet another class that i zipped through. Am beginning to think that while this course is fantastic for beginners, people like me who are at a slightly advanced(Ahem!) level are probably getting bored. So far I always used to take the Math class in the morning when the entire house is asleep and i'm the only one awake. I love studying in the quiet that envelops the world. Helps me focus and concentrate. LOL!! Given my powers of concentration( mom wont stop ragging me about how a small fly passin through is enough to distract me) it makes sense no?

But now i'm beginning to think that maybe i should swap Math for English. I end up spending the morning zipping through the class but that still consumes time. I havent done much on the English course but i really think i should especially after bombing so badly on the ONLY gmat test i took. And i probably should start taking a whole lot more of them.

So that's settled then. English in the morning and Math in the evening. Even if i zip through, i wont be missing much. And hopefully, i'll be covering a whole lot more work :-)

Math_Aner_04

Another lesson that in most parts i simply zipped through. Number systems is now done. I believe people who've not had much math are most likely to benefit from these 4lessons. For people who have taken Maths, this part's going to be a little boring.

I havent done any yesterday so have to really make up for it today. Am hoping to attend a coupla verbal classes since i'm really falling behind on those.

Happy Studying folks.

OG 11 Numbers

One of the advantages that the GMAX course has that it has neatly sorted out all the problems in the OG according to the subject. So rather than sitting and attacking the first 40Questions, I just marked off those that were from Numbers and solved those. While the intention was to try and finish them in under 80mins, I finished them in under an hour. No am no genius just that the questions were really easy. Wait till I hit Algebra or Geometry, 80mins is NOT going to be sufficient :-D

All right, before you think anything about how amazing i am at maths, know that I got 7 Qs wrong giving me an appros hit rate of 80% (82.5% to be precise). Out of the 7, there was only 1Q i didnt know (Q215 which is a Median Q). The rest were sheer carelessness. I mean, had I spent more than the 45seconds i did, I would have surely gotten them right. I keep lecturing a student of mine not to be careless but God help me if she ever found out i was so careless myself.

I was annoyed at the end of it. 39Correct was there for the taking!

Another thing that I did was use the GMATScratchpad i got. The annoying thing with this is that the ink will every once in a while rub onto your hand, you can't chew the pen ( i mean i'll chew mine but at the Center? Ugh NO!) and the ink dries up pretty fast if you keep it uncapped for long. Something to get used to i suppose.

Verbal_karen_02

Sentence Correction mein SubjectVerb Agreement. A 1.5hr lesson that i took 3hrs to finish. While I'm sure the class was good( i know i picked up a coupla points) actually it was a pretty good class but i was also distracted for a variety of reasons( i had just finished lunch, was drowsy as I had also woken up early in the morning). Plus, once you turn off your system, you can't play back the file. You have to log into GMAX which means another view down. I've already wasted 3views and I wasn't going to waste another one on Verbal.

Let's see might come back to it sometime.

Math_Aner_03

Ok, so this lesson i simply zipped through. A 2hr session i finished in about 45mins.

What more can I say??

:-D

Math_Aner_02

Another interesting session. I already know this stuff but for beginners, what's being discussed would be heaven sent for them :-D Every concept is explained in detail with examples plus you can stop the lesson and solve the question on your own before listening to the solution so those really interested in improving have a great opportunity to do it.

Verbal_karen_01

Not as impressed with the Verbal lesson as I was with the Math. I got a little bored. Then again, i'm reasonably good at the basics of verbal so all of this was a repeat for me. At the end of the lesson, I was asked to do an assignment from the material they had told me to download at the beginning of the course. That was fine. I was expecting them to do that. I was however surprised that nothing like this mentioned at the end of the Math class so i just assumed that since it was just the first class there would be no assignment.

WRONG!!

When i was taking out the verbal assignment i checked if there was anything for the math. Sure enough its there :-| which means yesterday when i didnt get any work done, I actually could have gotten some work done. And just yesterday a little panic started to creep in as my GMAT date approaches.

Lesson of the Day: Be more prepared!

Math_Aner_01

Took the first lesson from GMAXONLINE today and must say am totally impressed. I teach Quant myself and i really liked the way they structured their first class-- Intro to Number Systems. Complete and thorough. Nicely paced, with examples and solving questions from the OG.I know a couple of students who are really weak in maths and I think they would really benefit from this lesson. At first I thought it'd be really boring for me but I decided to stick it through and i'm glad i did. It was an interesting class :)

So far so good. Tomorrow have an early morning class so no chance to take English 1. Will probably come back from there and take it.

Check before you Plan

I have access to the GMAX course so i'll be using that( and reviewing it here after each class) but the thing is that the course is online. Or so i thought. I know they have a CD version but by the time they ship it to me, i wont have enough time left. Today's an off so i thought i would start off on the GMAX course. I actually got up a little earlier thinking that I would start the download process before going to brush my teeth and drink my coffee. That would give me 30mins of download time and the download would continue while i started class. Only when i logged into GMAX did i realise that i can even download the videos :-( . It never occurred to me to check whether i could download the videos.

So here I am, downloading all the videos not having started my prep. I had hoped to start with CR because i'm good with Q and i'll be (finally) picking up the SCG today. Instead i'm writing blog posts and updating my laptop :D

Time to go brush, drink my coffee and find something else to study.

Ebook success!

After days of unsuccessfully trying to get my e-book to work i've finally managed a temporary solution. I couldnt get the ebook to read books off the SmartMedia card so i finally had to transfer it to the in-built memory. I'm left with virtually no space after having transferred the 1000 series(CR,RC,SC) but that's ok. Otherwise i'd end up reading those instead of working on my GMAT :D

A lot of people who's study process I read, while vouching for the 1000series, also mention in the same breath that they never managed to finish them. I bet half the problem is that you need a computer while i'm sure there must be quite a few out there who've happily used their company printer to print out everything. To them all i can say is Lucky B#$%^&!!

The formatting is a little off on the e-book, almost half the screen is covered by something for the CR and the RC but i really dont care. I can read it and answer it so i'm focussing on getting them done. RC's going to be a bore but CR i'll be working my butt off!

Here's to some hard studying!

GMATSCRATCHPAD.com

One of the perks of being a Mod across two popular forms is that you get free stuff :D ok i know that sounds really El Cheapo but Hey! why dont you try dealing with dozen of mails a week asking for help with GMAT Prep, books, apps and the works!!!

Anyway sometime ago, the above mentioned company contacted me to know if I would be interested in testing their product. Dont we all love free stuff? So I said Yes and they promptly shipped me a free sample of their product. Its supposed to be a replica of the scratchpad that you get at the GMAT exam.

So the product arrived in due time and I must say i was very impressed. Prompt service, neat packaging, and a neat product. I spoke to a Ms Rohini and she promptly answered all my queries. Quite neat that no beating around the bush no marketing jazz just simple honest answers. Now i'm not gauranteeing you'll get the same treatment but i see no reason why you shouldn't. I'm a lefty so after reading a coupla reviews of how messy it gets for left handers i was a little worried. Its a relief to know its not so bad. The pad is really helpful and i've taken to doing all my work on it. I barely fill one page in a study session but me thinks that's partly because i do most of my math in my head. Pays to be a math faculty you know :D

Anyway, those of you interested might want to hop over to GmatSCRATCHPAD and get yourself one :)

Stagnant!

If you are even a cursory reader of this blog you would that I am the biggest procrastinator on this earth. Its been one of my major flaws for like forever :-(

Case in point--I've not yet gotten a print-out of the OG Test Grid for various reasons and today morning I had the time to actually sit and study and get started on the OG. But no Grid! Its times like these that I am really frustrated with my self. It was a simple two-minute job but I was combining it with something else that would probably take me another 30mins or so and hence the postponement.

Its not like i've even picked up the SCG which i was supposed to have picked up ages ago.

With work profile undergoing a drastic change things are only going to get a whole lot harder.