Manhattan GMAT CAT Test #5 (Sample Test)
TYPE SCORE ESTIMATED PERCENTILE RANK
Quantitative 43 70 %
Verbal 42 96 %
Total 700 93 %
There is hope! Yay! Of course, my Quant seems to have gone down the drain. But Manhattan GMAT's quant always seemed... hard.. really hard.. :( My quant sucks.
But, yes Wannabe, there is hope you can get 700 for the GMAT!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
CuteColleague: ... and you know, I've been thinking, maybe I should go back and study, like do an MBA or something
Wannabe: (feigning disinterest since my wanting to do an MBA is hush hush at the office) Oh really? That's an interesting idea, why do you want to do an MBA for?
CuteColleague: Well, i dunno, take a break, and then do something after that. Like consulting. I don't really like this banking stuff.
Wannabe: Where do you want to do your MBA? I heard there are all these great schools, in the USA and Europe. Like Harvard and what not.
CuteColleague: I dunno, anywhere sounds like a good idea. Maybe Europe, I've never been there. But I'm seriously thinking about it. Maybe next year.
Wannabe: Really? Hmm. To be honest, I'm also thinking about doing an MBA, maybe we could have lunch and talk about it. I've been thinking about it for... maybe 2 years.
------
Lunch:
Wannabe: Applying for an MBA is pretty tricky. There's this horrible test called the GMAT and then there's the essay writing and applications, then if you're lucky, an interview or two before getting accepted.
CuteColleague: What test? What essays? Don't I just have to apply and get accepted? How hard can it be? What have you done so far?
Wannabe: Well, I've taken the GMAT once, and I'm going to take it again. I've enrolled for Maths classes to make sure I'm quantitatively abled. I'll probably start writing the essays next month until application deadlines in October.
CuteColleague: How long does it take to prepare for the GMAT? 2 weeks? A month?
Wannabe: Maybe about 3 to 6 months.
CuteColleague: And to write the essays and applications?
Wannabe: Maybe 3 to 6 months. But you don't even know where you want to go and study.
CuteColleague: That's true. How long will it take to research everything and get started?
Wannabe: 2 to 3 months.
CuteColleague: I have to spend nearly a year just applying to study?! But I want a life!
Wannabe: You will have a life. Welcome to b/school applications.
CuteColleague: Maybe I better think more about this....
So, I don't think she's going to apply to b/school this round. At least not this year. I would be happy to guide her though ;)
Back to my GMAT lifestyle then. :(
------
Lunch:
So, I don't think she's going to apply to b/school this round. At least not this year. I would be happy to guide her though ;)
Back to my GMAT lifestyle then. :(
Waiting for the GMAT to come. I'm hoping for peak performance for the GMAT. At this point, what is there left to do except read? Since it's my last week at work, I plan to bring GMAT stuff to the office to study.
I've been having anxiety nightmares about the GMAT again. Had another one where I was wondering the corridors of a school looking for a place to sign in and do the GMAT. I must be feeling a lot more anxious about it this time round, I guess since it's most likely going to be the last year I apply (I'm probably not going to b/school if I don't get in this time because of personal reasons.), the pressure to do really well is getting to me. I've finished the Quant section of the OG, scoring 90% or better on the overall. I am just reading the Manhattan GMAT series to round out my quant prep. As for verbal, i'm scoring between 76% to 80% of the 1000 SC questions and about 90% for the Critial Reasoning.
I'm left with doing Data Sufficiency and Reading Comprehension. While I never did prep for these two areas before, I'm planning to cover them by Thursday next week.
I'm just waiting... oh, and since it's the last week, no more hardcore for me. Have to get my brain into the right frame of mind.
-----
Somebody told me that I would find a girlfriend in b/school :) Now, that is an interesting thought. Haha.I can see a b/school relationship - it would be competitive, intense and probably a lot of fun :) God forbid that I start my conversations in b/school with regards to past jobs, the application process, post MBA goals or why MBA. I wonder what would be a good opening line to chat up somebody in b/school? Do different schools (Wharton/Tuck/LBS/Insead/etc) have different pick up lines?
I've been having anxiety nightmares about the GMAT again. Had another one where I was wondering the corridors of a school looking for a place to sign in and do the GMAT. I must be feeling a lot more anxious about it this time round, I guess since it's most likely going to be the last year I apply (I'm probably not going to b/school if I don't get in this time because of personal reasons.), the pressure to do really well is getting to me. I've finished the Quant section of the OG, scoring 90% or better on the overall. I am just reading the Manhattan GMAT series to round out my quant prep. As for verbal, i'm scoring between 76% to 80% of the 1000 SC questions and about 90% for the Critial Reasoning.
I'm left with doing Data Sufficiency and Reading Comprehension. While I never did prep for these two areas before, I'm planning to cover them by Thursday next week.
I'm just waiting... oh, and since it's the last week, no more hardcore for me. Have to get my brain into the right frame of mind.
-----
Somebody told me that I would find a girlfriend in b/school :) Now, that is an interesting thought. Haha.I can see a b/school relationship - it would be competitive, intense and probably a lot of fun :) God forbid that I start my conversations in b/school with regards to past jobs, the application process, post MBA goals or why MBA. I wonder what would be a good opening line to chat up somebody in b/school? Do different schools (Wharton/Tuck/LBS/Insead/etc) have different pick up lines?
Monday, June 25, 2007
GMAT
As the result of my tight schedule that covers
i) GMAT
ii) Maths course
iii) New job
I am considering taking my GMAT on the 9th of July (Monday). The 9th is a very special day, it's the only free day I have between leaving my old job, and starting on the new job. It's like the eye of the hurricane. However, I need to know, am I ready for the GMAT? My sample test was 680, my exercises are giving me 80% +- 5% and above for Verbal while for Quant, I'm scoring 95% +- 5%. Am I ready? Will the GMAT be ready for me? I feel ready actually, I feel that I could take it anytime and do decently well.
I've always planned on taking the GMAT towards the end of July, but because of circumstances, I'm bringing forward the date. At the moment, my revisions for the GMAT are just cruising along, spending 1 1/2 hours a day (weekday) doing exercises, while on weekends I do more exercises and maybe some reading. Should I do it? I haven't touched a 700 on my sample tests, but am I be ready?
Materials used this round:
Kaplan 800 (just some light reading to learn more techniques, nothing fantastic if you've read all the notes available on the Internet and done your practice)
OG 11 (re-did the questions for Quant to get a better feel)
1000 SC/CR (this question bank is pretty good, for the SC, use it with the GMATClub.com that has the explanations for the questions. Just copy and paste part of the question in the forum > search feature at GMATClub.com to find the question/explanation)
Manhattan GMAT Quant (5 book - covers the basics, pretty good to start from, but it doesn't get very advanced. a few interesting pointers and little notes to keep in mind)
BeatTheGMAT.com flashcards (not so intensively this time. this round, I relied more on practice than memorising the notes. However, it helps that I memorised quite a few bits in my previous attempt)
Am I missing anything?
i) GMAT
ii) Maths course
iii) New job
I am considering taking my GMAT on the 9th of July (Monday). The 9th is a very special day, it's the only free day I have between leaving my old job, and starting on the new job. It's like the eye of the hurricane. However, I need to know, am I ready for the GMAT? My sample test was 680, my exercises are giving me 80% +- 5% and above for Verbal while for Quant, I'm scoring 95% +- 5%. Am I ready? Will the GMAT be ready for me? I feel ready actually, I feel that I could take it anytime and do decently well.
I've always planned on taking the GMAT towards the end of July, but because of circumstances, I'm bringing forward the date. At the moment, my revisions for the GMAT are just cruising along, spending 1 1/2 hours a day (weekday) doing exercises, while on weekends I do more exercises and maybe some reading. Should I do it? I haven't touched a 700 on my sample tests, but am I be ready?
Materials used this round:
Kaplan 800 (just some light reading to learn more techniques, nothing fantastic if you've read all the notes available on the Internet and done your practice)
OG 11 (re-did the questions for Quant to get a better feel)
1000 SC/CR (this question bank is pretty good, for the SC, use it with the GMATClub.com that has the explanations for the questions. Just copy and paste part of the question in the forum > search feature at GMATClub.com to find the question/explanation)
Manhattan GMAT Quant (5 book - covers the basics, pretty good to start from, but it doesn't get very advanced. a few interesting pointers and little notes to keep in mind)
BeatTheGMAT.com flashcards (not so intensively this time. this round, I relied more on practice than memorising the notes. However, it helps that I memorised quite a few bits in my previous attempt)
Am I missing anything?
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
I'm having really strange fluctuations with my quant. Comparing to my past performances:
Official Guide: Questions 200 - 224 - 1st time 23/25, 2nd time 16/25
And again: Questions 175 - 199 - 1st time 20/25, 2nd time 23/25
And again: Questions 150 - 174 - 1st time 21/25, 2nd time 24/25
Was the 200-224 fluctuation just bad luck? That's a large difference. Was it just a bad day? Maybe I was tired and wasn't thinking straight? But other than that, the other fluctuations show some improvement. So that's pretty good, but I'm concerned about a bad day, will my score fluctuate -28%?
Just as practicing for the GMAT is about consistency, taking the GMAT should be about consistency. Test scores should be the average of 3 sittings, over 3 days (or 1 week). Maybe shorter tests. The current system allows too much of a chance/random factor. On a good day, you'll fluctutate up, on a bad day, you're doomed.
Yes, it will require more resource commitments from candidates but given that they have already committed so much to preparations and will commitment a lot more for the applications, shouldn't the GMAT score be as accurate and representative as possible? Minimize the fluctutations, if you're a 700, you'll score a 700 on average. Wouldn't you want your GMAT score to be as accurate as possible?
Official Guide: Questions 200 - 224 - 1st time 23/25, 2nd time 16/25
And again: Questions 175 - 199 - 1st time 20/25, 2nd time 23/25
And again: Questions 150 - 174 - 1st time 21/25, 2nd time 24/25
Was the 200-224 fluctuation just bad luck? That's a large difference. Was it just a bad day? Maybe I was tired and wasn't thinking straight? But other than that, the other fluctuations show some improvement. So that's pretty good, but I'm concerned about a bad day, will my score fluctuate -28%?
Just as practicing for the GMAT is about consistency, taking the GMAT should be about consistency. Test scores should be the average of 3 sittings, over 3 days (or 1 week). Maybe shorter tests. The current system allows too much of a chance/random factor. On a good day, you'll fluctutate up, on a bad day, you're doomed.
Yes, it will require more resource commitments from candidates but given that they have already committed so much to preparations and will commitment a lot more for the applications, shouldn't the GMAT score be as accurate and representative as possible? Minimize the fluctutations, if you're a 700, you'll score a 700 on average. Wouldn't you want your GMAT score to be as accurate as possible?
Sunday, June 17, 2007
I've decided to do both the Maths course and retake the GMAT. A bit tricky, but with some serious time management, I should be able to do it. However, it means for the next 1 1/2 months my time is all taken up.
i) GMAT to be scheduled end-July
ii) Maths course to begine 1st week of July
iii) New job begins 10th July
iv) Family is coming back for a holiday on the 25th June.
I'm hitting 680 on the sample GMAT tests. A good jump over my previous sample test scores the last time I took.
-----
I had some serious funky stuff to write about regarding Indonesia and the WHO. But I've lost track of what I wanted to say. :)
I was wondering about the costs of applications. What is the cost of an application to you? Aside from the financial side (Financially it costs me about 175 big macs per application). But in terms of time and effort, what does it cost for an application? For those who are married, how do you decide to apply to business school? Especially those that have children? Do the costs involved in applying to b/school and attending it scare you?
If I were married and had children, I doubt I would apply to b/school. Maybe for that reason, it's for the best that I'm now single. I have to admit, the resources that I have spent and will spend on applying affected my relationship in an adverse manner. This is the second year that I'm applying to b/school and I plan to apply next year again if I don't get in this year. I guess there's a limit for even me. Anyhow, I think I'll be hitting 30, and it would be tricky to get into the more competitive schools with a younger school population.
------
In regards to Indonesia, WHO and bird flu samples. How is Indonesia not wanting to share the bird flu with WHO to develo pa vaccine for the benefit of humanity? Indonesia, as should all other countries, is more concerned about the well being of its citizens than rest of the world. I'm willing to be that if Indonesia was a developed country and had a large number of pharmaceutical companies developing the bird flu vaccine, it would be saying that other countries had a moral obligation to provide the bird flu samples.
i) GMAT to be scheduled end-July
ii) Maths course to begine 1st week of July
iii) New job begins 10th July
iv) Family is coming back for a holiday on the 25th June.
I'm hitting 680 on the sample GMAT tests. A good jump over my previous sample test scores the last time I took.
-----
I had some serious funky stuff to write about regarding Indonesia and the WHO. But I've lost track of what I wanted to say. :)
I was wondering about the costs of applications. What is the cost of an application to you? Aside from the financial side (Financially it costs me about 175 big macs per application). But in terms of time and effort, what does it cost for an application? For those who are married, how do you decide to apply to business school? Especially those that have children? Do the costs involved in applying to b/school and attending it scare you?
If I were married and had children, I doubt I would apply to b/school. Maybe for that reason, it's for the best that I'm now single. I have to admit, the resources that I have spent and will spend on applying affected my relationship in an adverse manner. This is the second year that I'm applying to b/school and I plan to apply next year again if I don't get in this year. I guess there's a limit for even me. Anyhow, I think I'll be hitting 30, and it would be tricky to get into the more competitive schools with a younger school population.
------
In regards to Indonesia, WHO and bird flu samples. How is Indonesia not wanting to share the bird flu with WHO to develo pa vaccine for the benefit of humanity? Indonesia, as should all other countries, is more concerned about the well being of its citizens than rest of the world. I'm willing to be that if Indonesia was a developed country and had a large number of pharmaceutical companies developing the bird flu vaccine, it would be saying that other countries had a moral obligation to provide the bird flu samples.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)