Doubting Thomas
I have been wishy washy in my B-School goals. Things in my present job are going great. I am getting greater exposure to business aspects and more interaction with high level clients.
Compensation is better than most other jobs with similar skill needs.
However my current company is kind of limited in what it can offer me. We are a very small company of less than 20 people. I am at rung 3. The top 2 personalities are entrenched in the domain. So not much room to move up further. Also, the chance of our company making it public (IPO) is ruled out. We are privately owned. So no big bucks waiting for us!
At the very least, I have decided to give the GMAT my best shot. The best part is not having stress of wanting a high score. I think that I would get a good score. And I would like to give it when my brain cells are younger!
Here is my current status on the GMAT prep:
1. Finished math section of Kaplan. ( 4/40, 7/45 and 6/46 wrong in the three sections viz session 4, 6 and 8)
2. I am reviewing some material on the
www.sentencecorrection.com site. It is good but I suspect it is using material from OG. So I am going to stay away from it. My goal is to give OG without any prior info on the material. I have heard that OG matches the final scores more closely.
GOAL: Take the power prep test by end of February
TO DO 1. 4 PR CAT tests
2. 2 Power Prep tests
3. 1 paper test
4. All the Kaplan Higher Score CD tests
GMAT Prep - Flash Blog (akin to flash card)
From my last post, my GMAT prep tempo has reduced a bit. We had a major software release at work. And the bugs introduced by that release has had me busy. At the same time, my responsibilities have increased and I am handling more Clients directly. It would definitely reflect great on my performance review.
I am listing the tests I have completed and what I have pending:
Completed
1. Princeton Review - Verbal Tests - Bin 1, Bin 2, Bin3
2. Kaplan Coursebook - All Verbal section questions
3. GMAT reference - All math reference material
4. Kaplan - Math - did session 4
To Do
1. PR - 4 CAT tests
2. PowerPrep - 2 CAT tests
3. Kaplan Higher Score CD - 8 Verbal tests & 9 Math tests
4. Kaplan Coursebook - All Math section questions
Link for English Grammar
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Good Link for Permuation and Combinations
http://www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/col_algebra/col_alg_tut57_comb.htm
Probability
http://www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/col_algebra/col_alg_tut58_prob.htm
I am going to have to list the common mistakes I am making so that I try and improve on them
English:
1. RC - Need to formulate the central idea while reading
2. SC - Need to pay attention to idioms when in doubt
3. "A number" of vs "the number of"
4. Fewer is for countable. Less is for uncountable
5. Not only...but also
6. Pronoun - Remember to subsitute the single entity when in doubt...You and I need to go there (Drop the you and the sentence should make sense)
7. whom and who. If the sentence can be recast as a question and the appropriate usage is him, then whom should be used. If the appropriate word is "he" then who should be used
8. Each, Anyone, Everyone, Everybody, cache, crowd is singular.
9. Remember that the modifier may be wrongly placed.
10. Parallel structures - sometimes may not be underlined. So pay attention to the sentence in its entirety
11. If the sentence does not sound grammatically incorrect, remember that choice A may be the best.
12. Read all choices and use POE
13. Avoid extremes in answer choices - GMAT is not extreme.
Math
1. Quarter is 3 months not 4 months
2. Units should be right
3. Look at all choices.
4. Pay attention to "at least"
5. Use substitution of numbers. "Plugging in"
6. Substitute the final result in algebra to ensure correctness
7. Percentages should be carefully done
8. Work formula T = (AB)/(A+B). Remember to multiply this by the number of units being worked. For e.g If person P1 takes A units of time to paint one room and person P2 takes B units of time to paint the same room, how much time would both of them take to paint 2 rooms? First find the answer for one room and then multiply by the number of rooms: 2
9. Probability: Sum of all probability = 1.0
10. P(A not happening) = 1 - P(A happening)
10. P(AB) = P(A) * P(B) [independent events]
10. P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) [ mutually exclusive]
10. P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) - P( A and B) [ not mutually exclusive]
11. Combinations (Order does not matter) - n!/(k!)(n-k)!
12. Permutations (Order does matter) - n!/ (n-k)!
13. Probability
My GMAT prep so far
It is almost a month since I started working towards my MBA. It is time to reflect on where I am with my GMAT prep. My plan is to take my GMAT by end of May. I would spend June and July on my essays. Then work on all the satellite issues regarding the application process.
I have finished all the verbal sessions listed in my Kaplan book. I had gotten this book secondhand from a student who attended the Kaplan course. It is informative and the questions are kicking my posterior. I got 72% right on the last section - advanced comprehension and sentence correction. I am still repeating some mistakes and I am unhappy about it. However, I always mark the questions I got wrong. This helps me revisit them to understand the flaw in my analysis. I am getting better at some types. So I do feel good and bad about my prep so far.
I have not yet taken a full fledged test. I have amassed only 7 computer tests so far. I would like to start taking them, only after I feel that I have done due diligence to the test material. At this point, I think end of February will be when I start on the full tests.
I have been spending 4 hrs in the weekends and 4 hrs in the week days. Life is tough with balancing a career, family and MBA prep.
I would like to start narrowing down my choices of MBA schools. It would be the focus of my next entry.
MBA - Is it for me?
I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately regarding my quest for a MBA. This post will address all of my thoughts till now:
I seriously took stock of all the traits of mine - positive and negative. I am well educated with 2 Masters degrees in my bag. I am presently an IT Development Manager. I have had a progressive career with a promotion to a new title at an average of once per 2 years. My salaries and the reviews reflect the growth that has occurred over the past 8 years. My best traits are my analytical skills, teamwork and sense of humor. I have had good success with motivating my team members and by bringing the best in them by providing encouragement and constructive criticism whenever necessary. I have also improved at my delegation skills in the past 2 years. I have worked with a very diverse range of people in my career and all these interactions have made my experience richer.
The negative traits of mine include procrastination and instant gratification. I have been getting better at making these traits less influential on my personality. I am now managing to procrastinate my need for instant gratification. Hey! that feels good. I love to play with words a lot.
When I put the MBA in perspective, there are other negatives that I have to grapple with. I am of East Indian background in IT industry. I am 33. By the time I apply to Business School, I will be 34. I would like to apply only to Ivy League schools for a full time MBA program. Having done a part time Masters in Computer Science, I know fully well that my personality cannot do justice to MBA without full-time requirement.
I am presently well paid by industry standards. So the ROI with an MBA would probably take at least 8-10 years for me. My desire is to change my career and focus on finance or in marketing. My people skills and quantitative skills are very good and I would like to put them to use. Regardless of the MBA ROI, I have to sow the seeds for my future career (procrastinate the instant gratification part).
I am married with two kids. My wife is fully supportive of my MBA. Financially we will not have a problem with funding my MBA. This further reinforces my need for a full time MBA instead of part time. I don't think I can do justice to my family with a career and a part-time MBA commitment. My kids are fairly young (4yrs and 1 year) but the worst part (terrible twos) will be over, by the time I start my MBA program. I fervently hope! I come from a family where I was the first engineer. I had to chart the way myself career wise. And I am proud of where it has taken me. I have always felt that I did not try and get an Ivy League education. At least for the sake of my kids, I should do the MBA.
The average age of full time MBA students seem to be around 28 years. From my reading, it seems like I am too old for a full time MBA and too young for an Executive MBA. I wish (like many) that I had explored the MBA option 4 years ago. However, I think I needed that time to mature in my thought process and establish my career goals. I feel that I am at a point where I can contribute as well as get enriched by what an MBA can offer.
I have a good mix of academic and extra curricular pursuits on my resume. I was the President of the Indian Association when I was doing my first Masters degree. That experience taught me to improve on my networking and public speaking skills. I notice that some of the applicants mention about their diverse and awe inspiring volunteering activities etc. My background (coming from India) did not allow me to spend time on volunteer activities. The only thing I recollect was being a blood donor multiple times since I have B-ve blood. It is rare in the region I come from. I read in some of the MBA posts that a leadership role in an organization is more valued than a volunteer role. I am hesitant in trying to enroll in a volunteering activity at the moment. I think the adcom committee would see though this facade.
I am still working on my GMAT prep. I will outline where I am in my next blog.
This is my current state of mind. Not a fun state to be in. Hopefully it will change and take shape in the next few months. This is a challenge year for me!
My first blog ever
Ah! Writing the title of my first blog was an exhilarating experience. From a spectator, now I have transformed into a player. Ever since I caught the MBA bug, I have been reading countless blog entries of so many MBA aspirants. Information overload of the Nth order.
I guess the only way for me to keep my sanity would be to keep track of what would be important for me. Ironically, the best way to keep sane from all the blog information is to create another blog. Talk about internet bandwidth bloat (assuming someone does read my words) .
Hmmm....Now to think of what all I want to store in here. I think I would like to save my analysis of which MBA schools would suit me. Also, anything about the application process that I need to make myself aware of.
My current reading list includes the following:
1. Stunk and White - Elements of Style
2. How to Get into the Top MBA Programs by Richard Montauk
3. Writing Right - Zimmerman
4. 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays
I am concurrently reading the following GMAT books:
1. Official GMAT guide 10th edition
2. Kaplan guide
3. Princeton - Cracking the GMAT
4. Princeton - Verbal and Math Review
If someone has any suggestions for me, please do post a comment.
