Adekku's journey to Bschool with every bit of tis and tat

Pre and postnatal

2010-11-03T21:17:00.001+07:00

17 days have past since my last post. I am going to write a brief update of my study progress into 2 sections: prenatal and postnatal.

Prenatal
In my last post, I was confused as to which exam, GMAT or GRE, I should take. After further consideration (thanks to valuable advices from aimingtomba, Lisa Rocks, Linda Abraham and Naveen), I decide to give GMAT another shot.

I resume studying MGMAT materials. I completed all of the 9 labs of the MGMAT. I like all of them, particularly the strategic speed guessing, split and resplitting and DS rephrasing.

Postnatal
As I mentioned in the 2 October post, I signed up for the Beat the GMAT’s 100k challenge. I am fortunate to win a free access to the Beat the GMAT Practice Questions. Thank you BTG! Everyday, in between baby nursing, I practice the GMAT questions on my iPad. Unfortunately I need to use my laptop to view the video explanation. I hope one day the video can be viewed on iPad.

I also win 30 day access to 1 interview from www.zoominterviews.com from Stacy Blackman Twitter Tuesday contest. Thanks Stacy!

Should I take GRE instead of GMAT?

2010-10-16T00:33:00.000+07:00

I’ve never considered taking GRE ever before but now I am considering it. So how can this be happening?

Last night, when I was browsing through my target school’ website, I looked at the class statistics to check the 80% range of the GMAT score. I had done this before but somehow I just wanted to make sure again that night.

So, beneath the GMAT score, my target school also posts the GRE score. I was intrigued and started to think what if I take GRE instead of GMAT. I remember a friend who studied for both exams telling me that GRE is much easier than GMAT. She took GRE and did well in the exam. So, I googled GRE to research what subjects are tested and how GRE is different from GMAT.

My first impression was that the quant is not as hard as that of the GMAT. There is no DS for one thing but the verbal bothers me with its analogies and antonyms. This is absolutely an obstacle for non-native speakers like me. So the first doubt is whether I can study new vocabularies (something like 3,500 words) in less than 2 months if I still want to apply in R2.

The second doubt arises when I read several comments on the controversy of GRE vs GMAT. Jose Ferreira, the Founder and CEO of Knewton, clearly favors GMAT as can be read in Knewton’s blog (http://www.knewton.com/blog/gmat/mba-admissions/2009/10/07/the-gmat-or-the-gre). He further said that giving GRE score when it’s clear you could just as easily have taken the GMAT could hurt your application. This comment really scares me.

Businessweek also relates the decision whether to take GMAT or GRE with post MBA plans. If planning to work for investment bank or consulting firm, the applicant should take the GMAT because recruiters from such places uses GMAT scores as a screening tool. A complete post can be read here http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2009/bs20091228_716386.htm

However, there are positive comments about GRE, such as Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com in her post: http://blog.accepted.com/acceptedcom_blog/2010/1/3/gmat-or-gre-which-is-best-for-you.html.

After reading these comments, I am somewhat torn between GRE and GMAT. Do you have any suggestion?

My GMAT study story so far [part 2]

2010-10-14T14:37:00.000+07:00

Now there are plenty of GMAT prep courses available like Grockit, Knewton, GMATFix etc.

Grockit [http://grockit.com/gmat/]
What I like the best about Grockit is that you can choose to study on your own or on a group of people. I first tried Grockit about a year ago and still join the free collaborative study group once in a while.

Grockit recently presents Comprehensive GMAT and MBA Admissions Course. The enrollment is free and the course meets every Wednesday and Saturday for 8 weeks. There are 2 sessions left which will be held this Saturday and next Wednesday.

Knewton [http://www.knewton.com/gmat/]
I tried this prep course for free some time ago. I took the free test and it was quite reflective to my actual GMAT score. If I didn’t purchase the MGMAT Self Study Prep plus, I might have bought this course because I am particularly lured with its 50-point increase guarantee.

Here is a little more background on Knewton’s GMAT prep course:

* Live and interactive web-based classes
* One-on-one attention from world-class GMAT instructors
* 5 full-length CATs created by the architects of the actual GMAT
* Live office hours and 24/7 academic support from GMAT experts
* Hundreds of concept videos
* Flexible 1-year membership
* Guaranteed 50-point score increase

Students can also go to http://knewton.com/gmat/ for a free GMAT Prep trial and diagnostic practice test.

GMATFix [http://www.gmatfix.com]
I’d like to say thank you so much to Patrick Siewe who had kindly given me free unrestricted access to all the GMATFix tools for over a month.

There are 3 basic tools in GMATFix and I like all of them:
1) GMATFix Solutions Engine. This is the most powerful tool available. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to use the most this tool because of my workload. The features I like about the tool are its more than 600 video solutions, which provide step-by-step, easy-to-follow solving techniques and ability to customized drill according to selected topics. You can also mark or flag questions in case you want to return to those questions in the future or even make notes for each question. I am also impressed with the performance report. From the report, you can track your progress according to topic and difficulty.

2) OG Companion (11th and 12th). This book is to be used in conjunction with the OG. It provides very detailed solutions, solving and guessing strategies, and take-away lessons to the OG questions. Although it only covers the math section, it has over 500 pages! It organizes each question by difficulty, topic and sub topic. Very detailed indeed! The OG Companion also has an Advanced Speed Drills section for those already scoring high. I recommend this book, if you want to increase your quant score. Initially, the book was not available in hard copy. Now it does! Hopefully it will be available for download too.

3) SC Flash Lessons. These are meant to be studied in details and many times over, to master the concepts tested by the GMAT SC questions. There are 5 SC lessons: verbs, modifiers, idioms, pronouns and parallelism. You can buy them in bulk or individually. In each lesson, there are a number of sentences in which you have to fill in the blanks. After that, a box will pop out explaining the concept and why the sentence is correct. The concepts presented are those commonly found in OG SC questions. I hope there will be math Flash Lesson in the future.

GMATFix also offers private tutoring at $150/hour and from what I heard, it is worth the money.

My GMAT study story so far [part 1]

2010-10-12T22:19:00.002+07:00

This is a long overdue post. I promised to post about Knewton and GMATFix in early September and failed to do so. This time I decide to share about my early experience with GMAT, how I end up with MGMAT materials and prep course and also about other available GMAT prep resources. Because of the length of the post, I will break it into 2 parts.

Most GMAT test takers post this topic after they nail the test. I’d like to do the same thing but I am not sure whether I will have the time by then. So here it is the half story so far.

When I was still new in the game, I thought that I could nail GMAT with few prep books. While this is proven to be effective for some people, it is not for me because apparently I have so many basic concepts to brush up.

Initially, I purchased Princeton Review Crack the GMAT without doing any research about the book or any other prep books. I did not even purchase the OG! I did not know OG at that time. If I could turn back time, I would not purchase this book because although the book is good for preliminary introduction to GMAT, it does not suit my needs.

Afterwards, I read so many posts about GMAT study and one of the suggestions were to set your GMAT test date because people tend to discipline themselves with a definite time set ahead. Again, this is proven not working with me. Only take the real test when you feel ready!

I only took a few-day annual leave and crammed for the test. I did not reschedule despite the fact that I scored 500 in GMAT Prep CAT (even with lots of pausing during the CAT). I scored 420 in the real GMAT test.

I was devastated. I realized I needed more time to study and began looking around for GMAT prep books. At that time, there were only several famous prep companies like Veritas, Kaplan, and MGMAT. I scoured BTG and GMAT Club’s websites and got the impression that MGMAT almost always received good review for its GMAT study guides, particularly SC. I decided to order all MGMAT strategy guides on line because they were not available in book stores.

After studying the books for over 6 months (on and off), I did not see significant improvement. So I decided to enroll to a GMAT prep course by a local company. The teacher was an MIT graduate who consistently scored above 700. He was great at explaining math materials but not so with verbal. I felt that I improved in the math section specially DS. However, halfway through the course, I was again pre-occupied with my works and so the study suffered. I was falling behind my homework and started not showing up in most of the remaining classes.

Sick of not being able to concentrate on my GMAT study, I asked for a 2-week leave in July and really studied seriously for the whole 2 weeks. I got 580 in the real test and so it was a 160-point improvement from the first real test.

After the second attempt, I decided to purchase the self study prep plus of the MGMAT. I was torn between Knewton and MGMAT since Knewton has a 50-point guarantee increase. I eventually choose MGMAT because I like its strategy guides.

The last CAT I took is MGMAT test in which I scored 630. That was the first time I actually broke the 600s level score. If I take any CAT again, I am not sure if I can gain the same score because I have not studied intensively for over a month.

So, here are a few of the lessons learnt during the course of my GMAT study:
1. Take GMAT Prep test ahead of your GMAT study. GMAT Prep test is the best indicator of what score you might get in the real test. From analyzing the result of your GMAT Prep test, you can map out your plan whether you need an extensive study schedule or a light one.
2. It is good to study regularly but it is more important to have a high-quality study. It doesn’t matter if you only has 15 minute a day as long as you get the most of your study.
3. Take GMAT test regularly to see whether you are improving but not every week. It is so true that we will not get so much improvement within 1-2 weeks. So instead of wasting your GMAT CATs and time, it is better to invest in improving your weak areas.
4. Learn to pace since the very beginning of your study.
5. Build stamina for the test is very important. I still remember how my head hurt so bad and my body ached when I first took the GMAT CAT. It was a disaster.

So that’s it for part 1. In part 2, I will share several of my experiences with other GMAT prep resources.

After giving birth

2010-10-03T23:55:00.002+07:00

I am a Chinese descent. Although our great-great grandparents migrated from China for so many years ago, our families still follow the Chinese culture to certain extent. The tradition of the month after giving birth is an example. So, for so many times, my mother told me that the month after giving birth, I should not go outside, wash my hair or do anything else that could allow “bad wind” into the body. In addition, I am not allowed to watch TV or working with my laptop. I said what? It’s already hard to bear with itchy scalps but no laptop? What am I going to do?

I don’t know whether I will be 100% obey to her instruction because I want to make the most of my maternity leave to GMAT study (and of course my baby). But, I hate to argue with her. So the week before my labor, I plan to focus on MGMAT labs and recording sessions as much as possible.

Right now, I am studying the 4th lab: RC – prove it. It mainly explains how to use headline lists and skeletal sketch to organize reading passage. Although these methods are covered in the MGMAT RC guide, the explanation in the lab complements that in the guide. I find the lab to be very useful to get more thorough understanding on how to use those methods. The recording session # 3 also covers the same topic. There are concept repetitions but I think it’s still worth it because it provides several examples of how to implement the methods in RC passages.

That’s it for now. It’s 12pm and I am going back to my lab.

Wow, it’s October!

2010-10-02T15:06:00.000+07:00

Time flies and it’s been 1 month and 1 day for not posting. Where have I been? What have I been doing? Why was no update?

I was so busy with tons of office works in September. I will be taking maternity leave starting next Monday as ordered by the doctor. Some parts of my works haven’t completed yet. I plan to work on them before my labor.

Needless to say, I am so way behind my GMAT study. I hope I will have time to study during my maternity leave. Can I juggle between baby and GMAT study? I have to!

So last month I signed up for the Beat the GMAT’s $100K challenge [http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/100k] and only starting this week I have been able to participate in the game. The first drawing will be conducted on Sunday. I hope I can win something nice.  I also register in the GMAT Club 100K Celebration [http://gmatclub.com/forum/win-a-school-visit-of-your-dreams-register-here-100224.html] but did not actively participate in the game because participants were expected to post during the month of September when I hardly had the time to do anything else but office work. So my chance depends on that 1 point I got when I posted to register. Finger crossed!

On the last note, I want to compliment the founders of Beat the GMAT and GMAT Club for holding such big games for us. Thank you so much!

GMAT study update: Number properties

2010-09-01T13:19:00.002+07:00

This week, I did several sets of number properties problems from OG 12. Here is the result:

PS
Number of problems: 23
% correct: 78%
The worse: exponents and roots (57%)
The best: odds & evens (100%), positive & negative (100%) and consecutive integers (100%)
Average time: 1 min 40 secs
The worse time: consecutive integers (2 mins 15 secs)
The best time: positive & negative (54 secs)

DS
Number of problems: 20
% correct: 55%
The worse: Positives & negatives (33%) and consecutive integers (33%)
The best: odds & evens (80%)
Average time: 2 mins 33 secs
The worse time: consecutive integers (2 mins 59 secs)
The best time: exponents & roots (1 min 34 secs)
Almost all areas, except exponents & roots exceed 2 mins

PS and DS combined
% correct: 67%
The worse: divisibility and primes (58%)
The best: odds & evens (86%)
Average time: 2 mins 4 secs
The worse time: consecutive integers (2 mins 30 secs)
The best time: exponents & roots (1 min 27 secs)

From the statistics above, consecutive integers pop several times and my performance in DS is worse than PS. I tried to apply the CLA method when approaching a DS problem but it seems to take more time. Is it because it is new to me? Has anyone use the CLA method before? Can you share whether the method is working for you?

Action plan:
1. Reread strategy guide on consecutive integers
2. Analyze my errors and find out why I took more time to do a DS problem (refine DS strategy)

All this time, I only talk about MGMAT courses. Next posts I will write about Knewton and GMATFix, hopefully this week.

MGMAT online lab (DS - Yes/No testing)

2010-08-23T13:03:00.000+07:00

Last night I studied the online lab (DS – Yes/No testing) until 1.30am. It was supposed to last for 1.5 hour but I took at least twice the time to complete because I wanted to really understand the concept and process. I really like the detail of the presentation: the 3-step method (CLA: criteria, list, answer), how to pick numbers through NPZ (negative, positive, zero) and FIZ (fraction, integer, zero) and how to implement the strategies in real GMAT questions. Hopefully, the strategy will help me to tackle DS Y/N question problems better. I will do some OG problems using this strategy tomorrow or the day after. We’ll see whether I can improve my timing and accuracy in this area.

Tonight, I plan to study session 3 of the class recording. The session covers SC- parallelism, RC – short passage and EIVC. Typically a recording session lasts for about 3 hours but generally I spend more than twice because I keep notes during the entire session and repeatedly pause the recording so I can catch up with the topics discussed. I will post what I like about this session later.

Now, I must get back to work. I have a meeting with a director to discuss presentation materials for a client’s update seminar in mid October, right before I take my maternity leave.

Behind schedule

2010-08-19T16:28:00.001+07:00

Work has taking its toll on my GMAT study these past few weeks. My department is having some major changes. The first assignment was to prepare a strategy map. I’ve never done it before in my life, not even my bosses. At first, I did data mining to get information of what we had done and thought of what we want to be in the long run and how to get there. Then, I referred to numerous strategy books, mainly authored by Kaplan and consulted back and forth to one boss to the other. Exhausting yet exciting.

Because of the new responsibilities, the study time becomes limited. I struggle to find effective time slot but manage to get at least half an hour study time each day. I am in the third week of the MGMAT study planner. Tonight if I don’t watch the recording session or listen to the lab, I will be studying parallelism and doing some OG problems. I am so behind schedule. Clock is ticking; August is nearing to an end. Gosh…

GMAT study update: MGMAT CAT

2010-07-24T19:57:00.002+07:00

This morning I took MGMAT practice test and scored 630 (Q40, V36). This is the first time my practice test hits 600. I feel strange because I didn’t study verbal much these past 3 weeks. Is it partly because verbal questions in MGMAT test easier than the real test?

I spent roughly 2 hours evaluating the practice test according to Stacey’s posts (http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/09/23/evaluating-your-practice-tests and http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/10/01/evaluating-your-practice-tests-part-2-of-2). Those 2 hours does not include analyzing the questions. Am I being ineffective? How long do you analyze your practice test?

Contrary to the real test last month, my pacing in quant section was really bad. I had less than 8 minutes for the last 10 questions! I wanted to bang my head on the table. I know the rules yet I was so stubborn to stick on those difficult questions. On the other hand, my pacing in verbal section was good. This is also to the contrary to the real test.

At first I planned to evaluate each questions after evaluating the practice test. However, I was so tired that I went to bed and doze off immediately :)

On the work side, this month is not less hectic than any other month. Although most auditors are in low seasons, having fewer clients and more leaves, this is not happening to me. Fortunately I have been able to study regularly at least 1 hour each day. It turns out re-reading strategy guide is worthwhile. I find several key points that I missed during the first read. I write these points in my cards and review them every other day.

I also find MGMAT labs and recording sessions useful. For example, the diagramming lab, which runs for 46 minutes and has 46 slides, helps me to better understand the diagramming process in the CR guide. However, I am still not sure whether reading CR using the MGMAT way will improve my CR performance. Anyway, I will take another shot and see how it goes. If my performance is still not improving, I will use the Powerscore way instead.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I am pregnant. My belly is huge now and I am entering the third trimester. I can feel the baby moving under my skin. Just now the baby kicks! Strange or not, every time I study GMAT, the baby moves around :) I want to get the GMAT done before my labor. If not, it will be more difficult to find time to study. So baby, help mommy pass with flying score, okay ^_*

GMAT update: study plan v2

2010-07-07T10:09:00.000+07:00

I got my official GMAT score last Saturday. The score and percentile are still the same. I got a 5 for AWA. Not bad considering I studied the writing section on the last 2 days and I didn’t even practice writing! I only read the writing guide from GMAT club and studied the writing template. The guide is so well written. You can get it from here http://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html

Two days ago, I send the official score to Knewton and yesterday, I got the $100 as promised sitting in my PayPal account. Thanks Knewton!

I have started studying again since Sunday. From my last score, I need to focus more on verbal and still have room for improvement in quant section. This time I decide to enroll to Manhattan GMAT Guided Self Study Prep Plus. I believe that MGMAT quant strategy guides helped to increase my quant score from 30 to 40. I hope that by enrolling to the prep plus I can get more thorough quant skills. For the verbal part, particularly RC and CR, I plan to use LSAT materials. I read in GMAT forums (BTG and GMAT club) that these materials are often suggested by many test takers.

My target for retake is in August. I have around 6 weeks to go. The plan for quant is to reread each strategy guide, study Foundations of GMAT Math Strategy Supplement and Official Guide Companion. I will redo practice problems in the strategy guides, OG 11 and MGMAT question banks. I will spare OG 12 for mini practice test.

The plan for verbal is to reread each strategy guide and CR Powerscore bible. In addition to MGMAT practice problems, question banks and OG, I will do problems from LSAT materials. Since my verbal score is lower than quant, I will spend time around 70% for verbal and 30% for quant. I also start reading English materials regularly, i.e. Harvard Business Review, McKinsey quarterly, etc. I hope that doing so will increase my reading speed and thus help in my RC section.

Does this study plan adequate? Any advice is strongly welcomed!

GMAT test

2010-07-04T12:33:00.001+07:00

I took the test last Tuesday and scored 580 (40Q and 29V). I will retake again, maybe around August. I notice decent improvement in quant. This means I need to spend more time studying verbal.

Any advice on how I should study differently in my prep?

GMAT study update 3: 2-week leave

2010-06-25T12:28:00.001+07:00

I decide to take a 2-week annual leave starting last Monday to focus on my GMAT study. Every Monday to Friday, I study in 3 to 4 sessions at 2 hours each and 1 or 2 hour-break in between session. To avoid burn out, I only have 1 session on Saturday and Sunday. I also make 3 rules that TV must be turned off during my study, that I must study on a table, and that I must sleep at least 8 hours per day. These study habits help me to concentrate even better than the regular 2-hour per day after office hour. I notice that at night my concentration to study, especially after heavy work loads at the office, drops significantly.

During the first 2 days, I studied EIVC, one of my weakness spots, FDP and NP. Along the way, I did OG quant review questions, except the challenge set. My hit rate was around 75% – 85%. After that I started with SC. Originally, I planned to finish SC guide in 3 days and continued with CR and RC guides, spending 2 or 3 days each. Apparently SC took me at least 5 days to finish. So many things I learn and memorize especially idioms and modifiers. Thankfully, the hard work pays off. My SC hit rate improves from 50% to around 80%. In between verbal study, I also did one set of quant questions each day to keep my quant skill fresh.

I have finished reading RC guide. I did 4 RC passages yesterday and from the questions got around 80% correct. However, timing is an issue for me. I need to practice how to read and understand a passage and how to answer questions correctly based on the passage within allocated time.

I know that CR is hard for me so I decide to study not only from MGMAT guide but also from Powerscore CR bible. The latter book is recommended by Dana when she reviewed the book for BTG. She is right; the book is so detail that it covers every aspect of CR. In my opinion, this book is superior to MGMAT CR guide. Unfortunately, I haven’t finished reading the bible. I hope I still have time to master CR.

Yesterday, I took the free GMAT test from Knewton. Knewton offer $100 to take its GMAT test with certain conditions. I know this offer from BTG. So you better check out BTG’s website.

At first, I tried to take the test in the morning. My internet connection was so bad that it took so long just to submit an answer. After more than 10 minutes of trying, I gave up the test. At night, I tried to take the test again. This time, the internet connection was better. I did better in quant than in verbal. I finished quant section 2 minutes earlier than the allocated time. However, I missed one last question in verbal section. Well, I rushed through the 10 or so last questions because I took so long to answer some questions at the middle of the test. As expected, RC and CR were the prime cause. My score was 570 (41Q and 29V). I got 8 quant questions incorrect and 17 verbal questions incorrect. When I saw the score, my heart sank. Although there are some improvements in my study, especially quant, it seems I still have a long way to go to get my dream score. There is little chance I can nail the real test, not with only 3.5 days left.

Today, I review my condition. I need to finish CR at least within 2 days. In the meantime, I will reduce the quant set from 37 questions to 20 questions per day and increase the verbal set. I will take GMATPrep2 on Sunday and see where I stand. I talked to my husband today and told him my condition and the possibility of GMAT retake. He cheered me. He said he was okay with the retake and he was certain that I could get my target score. He pointed out that at least I have improved. I am so lucky to have such an understanding and cheering husband.

GMAT study update 2: quantitative

2010-06-08T13:12:00.001+07:00

Aimingformba were so kind to ask for my update. After reading her blog, I am actually impressed with her preparation. She is very meticulous and diligent. She is officially one of my inspirations. Thank you aimingformba!

As I mentioned somewhere before, I am not an early riser. So most of the time, I study at night. Sometimes I manage to stay focus for at least 2 hours but there are times I doze off. I asked a coworker how he did his GMAT study. He said that the best time would be in the early morning when you are bright and fresh. He has kindly offered to watch my study habit by arriving at the office at 6.30 every morning. So I thought that if I slept early, I would wake up earlier too. Last night I went to bed at 8.30 pm and slept like a baby until 7am! I am so disappointed with myself. This morning when I read aimingformba’s blog, the quote really hits me: “If it is important enough to you, you will find a way. If it is not, you will find an excuse”. So true!

I have finished reading all the MGMAT quant guides but I am still struggling with some sections, particularly EIVC. This week I should have started with SC but I decide to postpone for at least another week until I really grasp the quant concepts. Today at lunch time, I practiced 29 number properties questions from OG quant supplement. I finished under an hour and got 13/14 for PS and 13/15 for DS. All of the incorrect answers are careless mistakes. I also find that I took several questions (odds and evens and primes) too long to finish. This means that I need to go over the concept one more time before continuing to other sections.

GMAT study update 1: quantitative

2010-05-24T15:56:00.000+07:00

Here is a brief update after a week.

I began with analyzing the quantitative section. From the answer sheets, I noted the following:
1. careless mistake in performing simple calculation
2. lack of mastery in basic materials, particularly geometry
3. long calculation that took more than 2 minutes

From these mistakes, I plan to review MGMAT prep guides. After I finish reading each guide, I will test my understanding by doing the OG. I will look for ways to answer the questions in more efficient manner.

During the week, I studied geometry and words translation. I have 3 more guides left. I plan to finish these guides by the end of this week. Therefore, I can start with verbal study.

GMATPrep Practice Test 1

2010-05-16T21:16:00.003+07:00

I took GMATPrep test today at 10.30. I worked through all of the sections. Of course it was so tempting to leave the AWA section blank, especially when my left leg went numb. I had to stop writing and began stretching and rubbing my leg for several minutes. I told myself to keep going because I wanted to simulate the real test condition, including the 8 minute-breaks.

I knew that pacing would be a problem, especially in quantitative section. I rushed through the last 4 quantitative questions and, sure enough, got all of them wrong. After not studying for more than half year, my math becomes rusty again. I only score 34 (18 incorrect answers out of 36 questions). In the verbal section, although I got 62% of all questions right, my score is only 28. The interesting part is that I got 92% of the RC questions right. With 34Q and 28V, I score 530.

As I said in the previous post, I plan to analyze my test result for a week. I will not only focus on the questions which I got wrong, but also the ones that took me too long from the average allotted time of 2 minutes per quantitative question and 1 minute and 45 seconds per verbal question. I will also start keeping an error log to track my performance and continue making flash cards.

I am not a morning person and I have difficulty studying more than 1 hour, let alone finding time to study. So I will break the suggested 2-hour study session into several mini sessions. For example, I will start recording idioms and put it in my iPod so I can listen during my commute to the office which typically takes at least 2 hours back and forth.

Let’s see whether my plans work. So, until next week..

Important notes:
1. Pacing and learn when to let go
2. Take the next practice test at the same time as the actual GMAT test time (11.30)
3. Error log, flash cards and voice records
4. Writing template

Hi again

2010-05-15T22:15:00.002+07:00

Almost two years since the last time I wrote. Lot of things have happened in my life. To make it short, I haven't applied to any school. I am now married and pregnant with my first baby.

Right now I am reassessing where I stand and which path I should head, particularly given the baby coming to my life. I still want to go to business school. I have scheduled GMAT retake test next month. Can I survive the test? We'll see.

The first thing to do is to create a game plan. I replicate the plan from many sources (BTG mainly) and tailor it according to my needs. As a start, I plan to take GMATprep tomorrow and then allocate a week to analyze the areas of strengths and weaknesses. From there, I will decide which section I should study first or spend more time on.

So, until tomorrow...

Business school selection

2008-08-28T19:20:00.005+07:00

I think almost everybody gets headache when it comes to business school selection. Well, at least I do. The word “fit” is the keyword. I have struggled to find that fit since my whole application process began. I do have some criteria. There are strict criteria and loose ones. So let’s see what those criteria are:
1. Strict: Schools without loan-friendly option (loan without co-signor) are absolutely out.
2. Strict: I don’t like all case-based teaching method, so Harvard and Darden are crossed out.
3. Loose: Because I live in tropical country, I prefer schools located in warm area.
4. Loose: Based on my undergraduate experience, I prefer schools with close-knit community.
5. Loose: I dislike schools in remote area, so schools like Tuck is out from my radar.
6. Loose: I love schools that offer dual-degree programs in education because it will help sustain my career goal.

Based on those filters and other personal thoughts, here is my temporary list in the order of preference.
1. Stanford. Strength: location, dual degree program in education, strong brand name
Weakness: my chances are somewhat remote
2. Ross. Strength: dual degree program in education, good brand name
Weakness: location
3. Yale. Strength: close-knit community, good brand name
Weakness: location
4. Fisher. Strength: I think I have decent shot for acceptance in this school, close-knit community, attractive scholarships program
Weakness: Not considered as top US business school, brand name in Asia is not as strong as other US business school I select
5. Nanyang. Strength: close proximity to my home country, top 50 in FT MBA 100 2008, good brand name in Asia, likelihood for acceptance (in accounting terms) is probable, attractive scholarhips program
Weakness: Does not in line with my dream of getting an MBA from US business school

I’m still thinking whether to apply to Stanford. In the mean time, I use GMAT score as indicator. If my score is below Stanford’s average, I will opt out Stanford from my list. Well, my first GMAT attempt is horrible. I’m even ashamed to share the score in this blog. Anyway, I’m planning to retake in October. If the score gets better, maybe I will apply to Stanford in round 2. So guys, what do you think of my list?

Nervous breakdown

2008-06-27T23:51:00.003+07:00

Alright I exaggerate… a bit.. There were two I considered important events these past two days. The first one was the assignment as instructor for training held by my country’s institute of public accountants. About 50 participants showed up from small and big accounting firms. Small firms were mostly critical and annoying! Big firms were rather quiet. A participant tested my accounting knowledge by questioning a particular area he already knew the answer. My senior manager later told me that he was just showing off and that I shouldn’t bother to take him so seriously. Well, it was quite an experience. I bet most of them were confused: why me, a "little girl”, about half his/her age or even one-third! I heard a participant telling his friends that I could be the chairman of our accounting institute 20 years later. Whether he was joking or for real I couldn't tell. I don't care anyway.. I'm not interested.

The second one was promotion day. My name was not listed as one of the promoted ones in the pop-up message in our system or the announcement board. True, I was disappointed but I kept my head up, smiling and congratulating those who succeeded. I tried not to think at all and concentrated more on my job.

Later in the afternoon, HR partner announced that the salary letter was ready for collection. I was reluctant to get mine as my boss was on leave. But I was deadly curious. Perhaps deep within my heart I wished the letter would say differently and that I was promoted. Until I opened my letter and said: Congratulations, you are promoted to XXX position with salary XXX!! The next morning, the HR manager realized the mistake himself then came to apologize and promised to get my name on the promotion list. I didn’t really care anyway. All that matters was that black and white letter signed and sealed! Hmmmm, it gave me shock therapy for the entire half day.

Dreams still alive

2008-06-20T21:11:00.003+07:00

Thanks to all of you who have been supporting me, specifically to Bee, Paige, Soni, and anonymous. And yes, I’m keeping my dreams alive!

I’m still cramming for GMAT. I make new study plan and force myself to study at least 2 hours on weekdays and 4-6 hours on weekend. I’m planning to take the test around August. Yup I know it’s rather too late but that’s the month I have less commitment of. Hopefully I will get decent score.

In between my GMAT study, I'm preparing for the upcoming internal and external training. While I'm pleased to be trusted for such important events, the thought of big 4 accountants firing complex questions is more a horror than honor.

Early this month, I'm announced as champion for one of my office CSR projects. I’m organizing the 1708 book drive. Yup, we aim to collect 1708 books, children’s books. Why 1708? Hmmm.. If I share, my location will unveil :) I'm glad my friends support me. They help me design posters and pop-up messages, take pictures for the posters, arrange storage bin and spaces for the books, etc. A close friend promises that if I don’t reach the 1708 target, he will donate the remainder. So I guess we will accomplish the target. Pray for me folks :)

Having second thought

2008-04-29T18:37:00.001+07:00

It’s been almost 2 months off the blogging community. In these past 2 months, I’ve been dealing with a difficult family situation. I can’t tell what the situation is but it is the reason why I’m having second thought: whether I should go with my plan to apply this year, defer or the worse case is let go my whole dreams.

I could deal with being far away from my family but there is no way I can loose my 2-year income and become indebted to huge amount of money. Given current situation, my family will not allow me because I know they need my support, either in terms of my physical presence and financial supports.

I don’t know what to do. I’m so confused. Any advice friends?

PS: Congrats to all admits and welcome aboard 2009 applicants!!

Short update

2008-03-05T12:43:00.005+07:00

Been almost a month since my last post.. Why? Not much have happened. It's busy season.

The INSEAD Information Session. Didn't go. Why? I had meeting. I won't apply to INSEAD anyway.

Still manage to spend about an hour each day to study GMAT. I intentionally haven't taken the free test prep from mba.com. Will do after I finish the PR. So far, I like PR. It's easy to understand. This week gonna be data sufficiency.
Thanks to Paige and Bee for their advices. I will use the Manhattan GMAT.

Plans:
1. Going to Seoul in May for training.
2. Set GMAT test date.
3. Teach again. Just one class: current issues of accounting.
4. Discuss with my ex lecturer about my career goal. He already volunteered himself to be recommender!
5. Finalize bschool list. I have 2 or 3 "fit" schools but given my profile, it's too beyond my reach. I'm gonna need safety school.
6. Networking!

Gotta go.. Have another meeting.. [sigh] I'm so sleepy... zzzzzzzzz

Felt relieve

2008-02-05T20:27:00.002+07:00

Last week, I got the "unexpected" call. I finally passed national public accountant certification.. And today my pic, along with 7 other pics, was posted in a national newspapers which also stated that we (18 participants) were the new graduates among 306 participants who took the exam. I'm so excited.. coz that means no more tax study (I hate it since college time)... What a relieve..

Bout my progress.. Well, I took Curly Bee's advice (Thanks Bee!). I leave the TOEFL and start attacking the GMAT. I bought the OG 11th ed and Princeton. At first I didn't want to buy Princeton, however, after reading a blog that said Princeton was good with basic math, I decided to go with it. FYI, I suck at math, particularly high school math. I'm also thinking to buy Manhattan and Kaplan. I don't know. Is it too much?

Work, work and work

2008-01-29T20:45:00.001+07:00

Last week I got the much "dreaded" appraisal from my direct boss. I've been expecting the "red flag" since I join the technical department. I don't like public speaking or rather... I'm not used to it and I don't have the confidence. My mind keeps talking: if you don't deal it now, how can you handle the MBA? That also discourages me from this whole process. My heart tells me: don't give up! Cia you!

This morning we had this urgent meeting discussing a delicate transaction. All of the meeting participants were male except me (most of my firm's leaders are male.. quite the opposite to next door firm) and I'm also the youngest (most of them are about twice my age!). So, after talking back and forth for 3+hours (in addition to a total of 5 hours spent on last Friday and Monday), finally the technical concluded that we could not conclude!! Gosh.. So why spent long hours to discuss something that we even didn't come any closer to an end.. It's a process, process, process.. Dissenting opinions or no position are normal in our technical world.

Last week, I attended a meeting with tax and legal department of my firm to advise a publicly listed client whose parent incorporated in Japan. From the client side, the CEO, GM, and the Finance & Accounting Director were all Japanese, except one local GM credit. The client wished to set up a new business for their company. I was needed to present local accounting standard relevant for the business. Luckily, my tax director has quite an understanding of accounting standards so she presented what she knew to the client before I took over for the details. The night before the meeting, I was so freak out. I was afraid I could not handle it. After the meeting, I knew I could do anything with confidence and proper preparation.

Last week, my firms held US Risk & Quality training update. One of the topics presented was relating to the credit crunch in the US. We have assessed that insignificant impact would rise in our region. So, what if I decide to study in the US, whether I will be impacted too? I read a post in clearadmit.com on this topic [Darden Dean: Don’t Let the Current Financial Crisis Dissuade You From an MBA Thursday, 17 January 2008]. If I may quote from Dean Robert Bruner "My advice to MBA students and applicants is still to pursue your long-term career vision."

That's all about the work front. Bschool application progress? Not much. All I can say that a local foundation invites me to a scholarship information session. Does it mean that I have the potential? Hehe.. I don't think so. The scholarships are so limited, only 4 goes to USA. Tough competition I would say. So, I don't rely too much on this. No matter what, with or without the scholarships I will go to apply this year, definitely. I'm pretty much determined.

....

2008-01-21T12:32:00.003+07:00

Been violating my own resolution. Quite busy lately and procrastinating a lot!

So, without further ado, these are my progress:

1. Wharton Coffee chat
Didn't make it. I'm totally a loser. Don't ask me why.

2. TOEFL
No progress at all!! I'm thinking of taking up a class but it's so pricey!

3. At work
11 - 16 working hours per day. Been so long not staying up till dawn.
I don't think I want to come back to the audit world again.. Well, maybe on part time basis. One of my bosses suggested me to take up at least 5 clients a year to keep me on the cutting edge and stay competitive. I think I'm gonna do exactly that.

My office is experiencing resource shortage at an alarming rate. I guess every big 4 does.
Everybody works crazy hours. Today I spot the "imported" staffs from South Africa and Phillippine! I've heard stories that one of them asked my friend places to hang out. Other responds sharply that we here never hang out.. Everybody works diligently and goes home straight after work to get decent sleep. Ha!

4. Personal life
Broke up yet again... after restless reconciliation and long hours of consideration.. I'm tired and it actually distracts my concentration at work and study. I just can't control it.
After only 1 day, I begin to think to reconcile again. hmmm... I don't know how long I could stand it.

5. Upcoming event
I'm going to attend the INSEAD MBA Information Session on 20 February 2007 hosted by McKinsey. In addition to that, I also register the on campus event in Singapore on 16 May 2007. Wish I could make it.

So, I guess that's it! Time to return to the land of reports..

First ever

2008-01-09T19:56:00.001+07:00

For almost 2 years, today is the first ever my working hours start exactly at 8am. Yippeee... I broke my laziness!! It is also the first ever I see the sky so blue after all these cloudy and moody months!! Hmmmm I love morning sunlight, morning breeze...

So.. I've made no significant progress on the speaking and writing sections since last week. Same old song.. no time, no time baby... or lazy.. lazy? Within the coming 2 weeks, my working hours will be getting worse as I need to meet the crazy deadline. I have 2 clients in the same time. The reporting package and critical documentation will be due within 1 week. This means the numbers must be locked by then. I will spend the remaining week furnishing the final accounts and dealing with the rubbish. Despite these all burning tasks, I'm still active on my other job desc, the technical staff one. O God, I really need the strength.. or maybe a nice and sufficient sleeping hours? Well, no need to be ashamed of.. I loveeee sleeping a lot.. I can do it endlessly... I usually need at least solid 8 hours to get myself fresh and bright. But this is not the case if you are an auditor.

One last news, I will join the Wharton coffee chat on 11 January 2008 (my birthday ^_^) at 6.30pm, and my first ever meet and greet with Bschool student. I'm so excited. My manager have grant permission to leave early from the client site. Hmm.. I think I will prepare the question list tomorrow..

New Year & Resolutions

2008-01-03T19:01:00.001+07:00

Happy New Year 2008..

Hi.. welcome to my blog (yeah yeah.. another MBA aspirant blog)

To have a brief picture of me, this is my stat:
Sex: female
Age: going to be 27 this month
Year of experience: 4+
Occupation: technical staff/auditor in one of the Big 4
Location: South East Asia
Undergraduate: accounting major from local college
GPA: above average

With the New Year spirit still high, these are my only two resolutions:
1. regular blogging (at least once a week, revisit 20/06/08 once a month)
2. apply to Top Bschools this year (and get acceptance!!)

I have this MBA passion since I graduate and this year I want to keep it for real. The process itself has started last year in early November. Ever since, I never stop researching. These are my progress:
1. Career goal: soul searching stage hasn't ended but it gets clearer than ever
2. Bschool selection: in progress
3. TOEFL study: still polishing the speaking and writing abilities, plan to take the test on February 2007. TOEFL books I currently use: Kaplan, OG from ETS, Barron
4. MBA books currently read: Your MBA Game Plan, MBA Admission Strategy, How to Get into the Top MBA programs

So little time so much to do.. [sigh]

Folks who read my blog, kindly leave your comment.. I appreciate any input, critics, questions, anything relates to MBA, my life, the blog.. Thanks bunch!! ^_+