Kaplan GMAT CAT 1

15th June 2008,
(Father's Day)

I took first of the de-everything Kaplan GMAT CATs. It was certainly not fun. Infact, it was test of nerves under extreme conditions. Well, not extreme surroundings but mentally it (the test) stretches you to the extreme.

Results of Kaplan 1: 590 (QA 39, VA 32)

Quite average scores. Again not bad, not too good. (I know Kaplan tests have a reputation of givind u such scores).

But I made a lot of mistakes
QA
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Correct: 24 Incorrect: 13
Silly mistakes: 4
Genuine mistakes: 3
Concepts weak: 3
Problem in understanding question: 3
VA
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Correct: 22 Incorrect: 19
Incorrect details:
CR: 7
RC:7
SC: 5

Analysis:
- Kaplan test is so difficult that completing test in the required time becomes an issue. In QA i cud barely complete the test. And the questions get more tougher under severe time pressure.
- Ditto with VA. I had 10/11 questions remaining to answer with 11 minutes left. I hurried through the first 3-4 and then hit a damn tough RC. It was 34th question and 7 mins remaining.

There are some decisions you have to take in life. I tried reading the RC but it was something related to 'contractarion'. Cudnt understand a bit of it. I decided to randomly guess the RC questions and reach the later questions which would be SC/RC and hence spend some time on them. Luckily RC had just 3 questions. 5 questions left, in which i got 2 correct and 3 wrong.

I remember reading somewhere "Pressure does funny things to mind". !

After the test, I realized, as of today, my score in GMAT hovers around 690. (590+100), Princeton Review 2(690).

There are 2 things I have to do now:
- Maintain my score at this level. i.e not to let it slip below this. ( by consistent effort)
- Build upon this score and take it to next higher level.

There is 50 marks difference between glory and mediocrity. I admit, its a huge gap. Consistent Effort and Passion to reach the goal is the need of the hour.

But will they be enough to crack RC under pressure conditions. It requires more than that.

As Morpheus told Neo in Matrix 1: "You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind. "

-i.dreem
_________________
"I want to crack it big time."

Kaplan GMAT 800 - Reading Comprehension

14th June 2008,
Bangalore - Pleasant weather, cool breeze :-)

Following "TwinnSplitter" debriefing from here, I decided to start the later half of my prep with nailing down Reading Comprehension.

Today was the first day of RC.

I did:
Kaplan GMAT 800 - RC. It offers 8 very tough passages. Topics roughly like: Mitochondria, Plate Techtonics, Thermocline, Symbiotic systems, Debt crisis, Direct Mail Marketing, Soviet Union, Health care.

My accuracy on these passages was 22/31 i.e 70%. Not Good, but not too bad either. I hope to improve on my accuracy on RC.

The RC experience from Kaplan is totally different from OG's RC XP. Kaplan is way too tough. Kinda CAT (India's fav MBA entrance exam-> CAT) level. But it's very much required. It gives u the required confidence for OG RC level.

I hope to continue my RC prep tomm. Looking fwd to do Kaplan CD RC practice tests or OG 10.

buona notte,

-i.dreem
_________________
"I want to crack it big time."

GMAT Preparation

This is not the start of my GMAT preparation. Rather it marks the mid of my GMAT prep.

I have been prepping for 2.5 months now and my GMAT is still 2.5 months. Long way i must say but i took too much time to book the GMAT date and they aren't easily available, especially in tier-1 cities.

Hence, Lesson 1:
- Don't take too much time to book GMAT date. If u have decided to go for it, go for it. Don't linger too much or don't let urseld reach a certain level, b4 u book the date. The reason as i have earlier told, dates aren't easily available.

I will write about the my preparation of past 2.5 months too as i will write for the next 2.5 months.

Hope information here is useful for the readers and the writing experience adds value to my preparation.

-i.dreem
_________________
"I want to crack it big time."