I couldn't decide which blog of mine to post this in, chose the MBA one as I'm applying for PGPX.
Taking a step back... I've had a series of not so constructive managers / peers to work with. Some of them were downright bad and lousy to work with, some were not located in India hence, out of sight syndrome and cultural differences effected. I now have a boss, errr recently turned into matrix manager who is very supportive. This helped me look for self development programs and where else should I have looked besides the top b schools, had to limit to India couldn't overshoot his generosity to sponsor.
So I get sponsored for this MDP program at IIMA. I arrived here earlier than expected, damn the availability of flights and I land on a Sunday with barely any visible soul on campus. I must admit that I did not do any research on my place of travel for the first time - translates to not connected with any current student, didn't know where the Library was, didn't know where to go outside the campus which I anyway had no intentions for. I spent half a sunday on IIM campus doing literaly nothing! well I did have a lot of office work and could complete some of it. By dinnertime I met some more teammates. When it comes to training I believe in power of preparation - we were provided with material with list of participants and groups in which we'd break up into. The first thing that struck me during my first lunch here was that I was the only woman in the dinning hall and the only person in casuals, later I did see one more. Same was the case during dinner time. I'm the only woman in my class of 20 for this MDP.
The experience so far has been good, not out of the world but there has been a lot to learn. Our professor Dr. Jerome Joseph shares his opinions on various topics and has been reasearching for years. There is so much take away from every session, added with the peer experience it is enriching. The participants are from various industries various stages of their career and most are very vocal. A person who talks as much as I do has had the challenge of finding time when to speak. It is also an interesting experience to work in our group of four consisting of much diversity. The classwork and homework is pretty gruelling too except that we spent an entire afternoon watching the movie 'Chak De' which all of us felt was a bit of a drag. Our first evening for group work was spent doing a presentation and by the time we were done it was dinner time already.
I've always been intrigued hearing from students that they sometimes schedule their group work meetings for late night and now I saw why. We only have one topic to work on in MDP and we spent 3 hours getting a presentation done, can imagine what it would be like working on multiple topics and with multiple teams. And working in teams has always been a challenge for me. I'm some kind of a assumed leader ending up intimidating and sort of bullying people which I've noticed sometimes stops them to throw their ideas or may be stop them from forming their ideas. If I analyze this further, I tend to form quick ideas or framework for anything and don't have the patience to keep my mouth shut until someone else comes up with theirs. This leads to people listening to my idea and go with it may be improve on it instead of bringing their own to the table. Yesterday I happened to jump in quick but took a step back and tried to blend with the team. We did discard my original thought on how to approach but picked elements from it.
Since I'm at IIMA I thought of meeting and asking questions about PGPX. Unfortunately, the only time I found yesterday was during lunch break and the office was empty. Will try to get in today during our first break. I do have some questions for them and anything more is always a help. Will post the findings and more on my experience.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
GMAT Day
My GMAT appointment was at 9 and the center about 15 kms away. I had booked a cab yesterday as I wanted to avoid driving myself. I planned to wake up at 6.15 which stretched to 6.45. I had called the cab for 7.30 and planned to leave by 7.45, it would have taken me about 45 mins to reach the center. I had it all laid out but everything was rushed this morning. The only thing that went as I wanted it to was doing 3 warm up questions for each section without checking my answers. My house help came in late and I let her clean the house while I took shower and got ready.
If I did not mention this earlier on this blog I had taken GMAT in Dec, 2006 with a score of 600. Let me take a bit to talk about that now. The day of GMAT I had caught cold, and was almost shivering by the end of the test. The other problem I faced was that by the time I reached verbal I was exhausted, I had not eaten anything between the break.
My preparations this time were to take care of these. I wore socks to keep my feet warm, full sleeved tee shirt and jeans. Breakfast was a boiled egg (protiens and energy) and pb n j sandwich. Not quite Indian breakfast but being a north Indian typical breakfast for me is paratha which is heavy and did not want to eat anything rice based (south indian breakfast) because it makes me stuffed and sleepy. Also I had to prepare the breakfast so it had to be easy. I took some sips of green tea to keep me calm, skipped milk and almonds today.
I got late and the cab I booked had left, so I had to drive down. I started from home at about 8.05 feeling scared that I would have less time at the test center. No morning traffic got me to the center in 25 mins.
There were 8 people taking gmat with me at 9. When I had booked a month back, there were only two dates available in July and only morning for today. I would anyway have picked morning, afternoon is my worst time of the day. I did not feel quite nervous but not very confident, probably a bit numb. Crossed through the screens of instructions, selected schools and started the test. Starting 10 mins were rough, I felt like I was in another world. AWA wasn't as straightforward. I went through the argument and finished right on time. Next was issue which I totally ruined. For first 5 mins I could come up with very little to write, and by the end of 20 mins I was almost done. When I started revising, I got some more ideas which came through well. Its in the last minute that I messed it up. I started editing a statement from while to and and time ran out. So I ended up with a misspelt and (as sand) and grammatical error. Not sure how it will effect my AWA score.
Took my break, stepped out, drank water ate chocolate. I took 2 ferrero rochers with me for the breaks. Its got chocolate and nuts which put something in my stomach, satisfied me (im a very chocolate person) and gave me energy without filling me. It took a bit of effort to keep reminding myself that its okay what I messed in awa and that I have to focus on the score.
Went back and finished Quant 13 mins before schedule. My pace was fine all through, I could tell which questions might go wrong and it was just as I did during practice tests. I was expecting 47-48 at the end of it.
Took my next break, ate some chocolate drank less water as I was beginning to feel a bit cold. Told the supervisors to up the temperature. Went back - was about 30 secs late. Something to remember is that while the break is 8 minutes, it is left for only about 5-6 mins with all the process of stepping out and in, opening lockers etc. Verbal started bad and I thought its like last time. After 9 questions I saw that I had eaten up 20 mins already. No panic but I was worried about finishing on time. I tried to focus but told myself that I could still spend some time on getting the questions right until time= number of questions remaining. At one point I got scared because I was getting simpler questions. I took a pause took 3 deep breaths and started off again. I made up for some of the lost time in one RC which was fairly easy to answer. My RC Strategy was to take notes of important points like words or suggestive words like opinion, assumes, however etc. This helped me a lot. By the time I had 15 questions remaining I had about 27 or so mins which relaxed me. In between verbal I had to call the supervisors to work on the temperature as I was beginning to feel cold again. Once I was down to last 12 questions I told myself that I have to get them right. I might have dropped to early 600s but I can pick and move my score to above 650 by getting these right. I still couldn't tell all the answers I got right or could be wrong but I could eliminate many wrong ones. By the time I was on last 5 questions I still had 13 mins left. I took my time to try to get them all correct, I had time to spend. I finished the test 3 mins before schedule.
Went through the screens on information about me and then it appeared, did I want to cancel? Took me a second to click that I did want to keep my score whatever it was. Clicked next and closed my eyes. Opened them to find a 710 which was perfect! Q49 and V37
Came out, called a friend to tell her I got 710. She was very happy for me but I was numb. Drove back home relaxed but not quite myself. I was numb for about 45 mins and then it sunk in that now GMAT would not be a deterrent in my applications.
If I have to give a tip to GMAT aspirants, it would only be to create self awareness. Know yourself, weaknesses and not only in terms of content but other like what time of the day works well for you, do you need longer duration to feel prepared, do you need to just get over with it the way I did, when do you get hungry, how much water you need, what keeps you motivated etc. Its just about knowing what you are and then there are many tips on various forums, from various experts and gmat takers to help cope.
If I did not mention this earlier on this blog I had taken GMAT in Dec, 2006 with a score of 600. Let me take a bit to talk about that now. The day of GMAT I had caught cold, and was almost shivering by the end of the test. The other problem I faced was that by the time I reached verbal I was exhausted, I had not eaten anything between the break.
My preparations this time were to take care of these. I wore socks to keep my feet warm, full sleeved tee shirt and jeans. Breakfast was a boiled egg (protiens and energy) and pb n j sandwich. Not quite Indian breakfast but being a north Indian typical breakfast for me is paratha which is heavy and did not want to eat anything rice based (south indian breakfast) because it makes me stuffed and sleepy. Also I had to prepare the breakfast so it had to be easy. I took some sips of green tea to keep me calm, skipped milk and almonds today.
I got late and the cab I booked had left, so I had to drive down. I started from home at about 8.05 feeling scared that I would have less time at the test center. No morning traffic got me to the center in 25 mins.
There were 8 people taking gmat with me at 9. When I had booked a month back, there were only two dates available in July and only morning for today. I would anyway have picked morning, afternoon is my worst time of the day. I did not feel quite nervous but not very confident, probably a bit numb. Crossed through the screens of instructions, selected schools and started the test. Starting 10 mins were rough, I felt like I was in another world. AWA wasn't as straightforward. I went through the argument and finished right on time. Next was issue which I totally ruined. For first 5 mins I could come up with very little to write, and by the end of 20 mins I was almost done. When I started revising, I got some more ideas which came through well. Its in the last minute that I messed it up. I started editing a statement from while to and and time ran out. So I ended up with a misspelt and (as sand) and grammatical error. Not sure how it will effect my AWA score.
Took my break, stepped out, drank water ate chocolate. I took 2 ferrero rochers with me for the breaks. Its got chocolate and nuts which put something in my stomach, satisfied me (im a very chocolate person) and gave me energy without filling me. It took a bit of effort to keep reminding myself that its okay what I messed in awa and that I have to focus on the score.
Went back and finished Quant 13 mins before schedule. My pace was fine all through, I could tell which questions might go wrong and it was just as I did during practice tests. I was expecting 47-48 at the end of it.
Took my next break, ate some chocolate drank less water as I was beginning to feel a bit cold. Told the supervisors to up the temperature. Went back - was about 30 secs late. Something to remember is that while the break is 8 minutes, it is left for only about 5-6 mins with all the process of stepping out and in, opening lockers etc. Verbal started bad and I thought its like last time. After 9 questions I saw that I had eaten up 20 mins already. No panic but I was worried about finishing on time. I tried to focus but told myself that I could still spend some time on getting the questions right until time= number of questions remaining. At one point I got scared because I was getting simpler questions. I took a pause took 3 deep breaths and started off again. I made up for some of the lost time in one RC which was fairly easy to answer. My RC Strategy was to take notes of important points like words or suggestive words like opinion, assumes, however etc. This helped me a lot. By the time I had 15 questions remaining I had about 27 or so mins which relaxed me. In between verbal I had to call the supervisors to work on the temperature as I was beginning to feel cold again. Once I was down to last 12 questions I told myself that I have to get them right. I might have dropped to early 600s but I can pick and move my score to above 650 by getting these right. I still couldn't tell all the answers I got right or could be wrong but I could eliminate many wrong ones. By the time I was on last 5 questions I still had 13 mins left. I took my time to try to get them all correct, I had time to spend. I finished the test 3 mins before schedule.
Went through the screens on information about me and then it appeared, did I want to cancel? Took me a second to click that I did want to keep my score whatever it was. Clicked next and closed my eyes. Opened them to find a 710 which was perfect! Q49 and V37
Came out, called a friend to tell her I got 710. She was very happy for me but I was numb. Drove back home relaxed but not quite myself. I was numb for about 45 mins and then it sunk in that now GMAT would not be a deterrent in my applications.
If I have to give a tip to GMAT aspirants, it would only be to create self awareness. Know yourself, weaknesses and not only in terms of content but other like what time of the day works well for you, do you need longer duration to feel prepared, do you need to just get over with it the way I did, when do you get hungry, how much water you need, what keeps you motivated etc. Its just about knowing what you are and then there are many tips on various forums, from various experts and gmat takers to help cope.
The last 3-4 days
I had my gmat today but i'm going to write about this before I write about the exam.
So I had taken 6 days at home before gmat which were not completely utilized. My focus was only on the OG now, the actual GMAT questions.
5 days before the exam, I spent a whole day on Quant section. I did about 100 questions and reviewed them. Added some notes to my flashcards, things I forget like I used diameter instead of radius in one of the complicated circle questions.
The next day was a waste, I was a bit under the weather and was zoned out the entire day. I watched an entire season of smallville and kept telling myself I have to study but did nothing about it.
3 days before I picked the Verbal section. The problem here was that I was finding OG verbal difficult than the Manhattan verbal which brought down my confidence. I had scored around 680 700 in MGMATs but with difficult verbal I feared my score would fall. I still had problem focussing on preparation.
2 days before was my last practice test, the second GMATPrep test. I scored a 720 Q49 V38. This score gave me some confidence I wanted. While taking the test I counted the number of questions I knew went wrong. In quant the number was exact - I counted 8 wrong and 8 they were. In verbal I could not tell which had me nervous. I went through my SC flashcards, reviewed some articles on beatthegmat site just to build some confidence. Went through my quant flashcards before I slept.
The day before I had read the advice to not study much. I had planned to do 15 questions from each section. So I woke up but had a nice relaxed morning, a nice eggs n sausages breakfast in bed (not exactly, cuz I live alone and had to prepare it myself). My focus was to keep my nerves today. I tend to lose confidence sooner than most people do. I went to the movies, watched 'knight and day' the old looking tom cruise and cameron diaz were still good enough. I shopped a little and then drove through the roughest traffic of the city cursing some listening to Lucky Ali to stay calm.
Reached home by 8ish, cooked simple home food, ate, looked through flashcars and some notes and slept. I could not do the questions as I had planned to.
So I had taken 6 days at home before gmat which were not completely utilized. My focus was only on the OG now, the actual GMAT questions.
5 days before the exam, I spent a whole day on Quant section. I did about 100 questions and reviewed them. Added some notes to my flashcards, things I forget like I used diameter instead of radius in one of the complicated circle questions.
The next day was a waste, I was a bit under the weather and was zoned out the entire day. I watched an entire season of smallville and kept telling myself I have to study but did nothing about it.
3 days before I picked the Verbal section. The problem here was that I was finding OG verbal difficult than the Manhattan verbal which brought down my confidence. I had scored around 680 700 in MGMATs but with difficult verbal I feared my score would fall. I still had problem focussing on preparation.
2 days before was my last practice test, the second GMATPrep test. I scored a 720 Q49 V38. This score gave me some confidence I wanted. While taking the test I counted the number of questions I knew went wrong. In quant the number was exact - I counted 8 wrong and 8 they were. In verbal I could not tell which had me nervous. I went through my SC flashcards, reviewed some articles on beatthegmat site just to build some confidence. Went through my quant flashcards before I slept.
The day before I had read the advice to not study much. I had planned to do 15 questions from each section. So I woke up but had a nice relaxed morning, a nice eggs n sausages breakfast in bed (not exactly, cuz I live alone and had to prepare it myself). My focus was to keep my nerves today. I tend to lose confidence sooner than most people do. I went to the movies, watched 'knight and day' the old looking tom cruise and cameron diaz were still good enough. I shopped a little and then drove through the roughest traffic of the city cursing some listening to Lucky Ali to stay calm.
Reached home by 8ish, cooked simple home food, ate, looked through flashcars and some notes and slept. I could not do the questions as I had planned to.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Last week
Five days to go... I'm nervous just enough to keep me focused. Workload is more than ever, hardly get any breathers, haven't been able to take a week off I so wanted to. The positive is I get to work from home, which saves my commute time. I believe in omens, got an email this morning that I got necessary approvals and confirmation for MDP at IIMA IMDC. I was looking forward to attending this program, benefits - knowledge, interactions and networking, get a feel of life at IIMA. Though its not in the main campus, it does give a high.
I took another MGMAT on 6th July and finally crossed the 700.
730 Q49 V40
This may be slightly skewed as I did not do both AWA, only one. One of the reason was I wanted to get a higher score as this was my last MGMAT CAT and wanted to give myself the confidence that I can cross 700.
The disappointment was that verbal is not crossing the 50 mark I wanted it to. I was very happy to find verbal touch 40, hoping it stays that way for my real test.
Last week preparation plans already in progress -
- look at the flashcards at least once a day if not more
- practice practice practice
- stick to OG
- Read others experiences and learn from them, pick whatever is relevant to me
- stay healthy, bad weather and I fall ill easy... eat almonds and an apple a day (I hate fruits)
- keep with the irregular yoga session
- stay away from stress
I took another MGMAT on 6th July and finally crossed the 700.
730 Q49 V40
This may be slightly skewed as I did not do both AWA, only one. One of the reason was I wanted to get a higher score as this was my last MGMAT CAT and wanted to give myself the confidence that I can cross 700.
The disappointment was that verbal is not crossing the 50 mark I wanted it to. I was very happy to find verbal touch 40, hoping it stays that way for my real test.
Last week preparation plans already in progress -
- look at the flashcards at least once a day if not more
- practice practice practice
- stick to OG
- Read others experiences and learn from them, pick whatever is relevant to me
- stay healthy, bad weather and I fall ill easy... eat almonds and an apple a day (I hate fruits)
- keep with the irregular yoga session
- stay away from stress
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Coping with stress
End of quarter is the time we plan for next one and everything suddenly becomes super hectic. Work has been stressing me out, working 10 hours a day leaves no energy to study. Plus my sinuses have not been kind with the rainy weather.
I thought of finding ways to cope with this. My first step was a proactive approach that I took a month back when I requested for work from home option for about 2 days a week. This gives me time to relax n study with calmer mind. Next step is what I've started only 2 days back is to do a bit of yoga. The breathing techniques calm my mind and it only needs 15-20 mins. I've been irregular with 'surya namaskar' which energizes me, trying to get regular since two days. This is the least for me to do two weeks before the exam. I tried gym but I'm definitely not a gym person and can't go for swim with rains, can't risk falling ill.
Let me review my preps in the days I haven't blogged - I took one more test MGMAT. List of tests and I'll keep adding so that I can track them:
13 Jun: 640 - Q45 V33 MGMAT
I thought of finding ways to cope with this. My first step was a proactive approach that I took a month back when I requested for work from home option for about 2 days a week. This gives me time to relax n study with calmer mind. Next step is what I've started only 2 days back is to do a bit of yoga. The breathing techniques calm my mind and it only needs 15-20 mins. I've been irregular with 'surya namaskar' which energizes me, trying to get regular since two days. This is the least for me to do two weeks before the exam. I tried gym but I'm definitely not a gym person and can't go for swim with rains, can't risk falling ill.
Let me review my preps in the days I haven't blogged - I took one more test MGMAT. List of tests and I'll keep adding so that I can track them:
13 Jun: 640 - Q45 V33 MGMAT
17 Jun: 600 - Q43 V30 MGMAT
20 Jun: 690 - Q49 V34 GMAT prep
29 Jun: 680 - Q48 V35 MGMAT
I always do my tests with AWA and timing and without pauses (may be one off for a min or so to answer the door, sad part of living alone!)
The number of questions I get right are increasing and careless mistakes reducing. The careless errors creep up when I've been with books for long or do the questions towards end of the day. I need to build on my strength so that it lasts me. Still some formula revisions required. For Indians I would recommend picking Class 10th ICSE Math book to revise Geometry and Algebra. Some resources I found online -
http://www.nointrigue.com/docs/notes/maths/maths_circlegeom.pdf http://www.ecalc.com/math-help/ (I find algebra very helpful)
I've picked some formulas I need and have added them to my flashcards.
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