Sensex touches 700 mark

I took PR 3 and got 700. M49 V38. Hmm.. 100 to go.
Field Correct Wrong
Data Sufficiency 11 3
Problem Solving 21 2
Critical Reasoning 10 2
Sentence Correction 12 3
Reading Comprehension 11 3

I am not all that pumped up with this score though i should be. The reason..

1. Princenton is little bit easier than Kaplan. Kaplan being my next test. It makes me sad that i might get less than 700.
2. This was not a usual timed section. The first time i sat for the test, i had sever stomach ache. When i was nearing the compleletion of maths section, i left as i could no longer take it. By the time i came it was all over. I had to restart again. This time i know what was the question coming. Questions were same for the first 10. Then afterwards, it began to differ. Probably i should have made mistake in the first 11 in my previous attempt. From then on, it was a real test. I completed maths section by a good 20 minutes.

Maths
Last time i got all PS correct. This time 2 wrong.
Last time i got 5 wrong in DS correct. This time 3.

Verbal
I was really surprised by my verbal section. The highest i have got is 30 till now.
I would like to ask a typical CR question.

Last week, I worked hard in CR. This week i got more in CR than last week. This week i didn't practice verbal at all. I practiced OG11 Quants review. In free time, i did OG 10 DS. The Verbal score is more than the previous week.
Explain the paradox.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

I could think of only one reason. My concentration is improving week by week ...........along with the fear to perform.
As i am typing this at 8:47PM, i still have 174 questions to practice in OG10 DS section. An impossible task for this night given the fact that i sleep at 10PM. But then, isn't it this blog is all about.

Next week.... I am going to write the essays as well to really test my concentration level for 30+30+75+75 minutes. :)

IF (Infinite Fidelity, Indian Fanatsy, Idiotic Fumble.. whatever)

IF... nice word isn't it? One always try to use this word after making a failed attempt .......what IF i studied MBBS or what IF i became a painter.
The fact which we can't deny is that we chose the position what we are today ...o.k atleast played a part in it. So, all the IFs become useless since we are the one who made the condition true of false when the control flow came to that statement.
Still i can't resist myself asking many IFs. I would like to categorize my ifs to two sections. one positive and one negative.

ONE
what if i didn't chose GMAT to write and stuck with my techie job?
what if i don't cross even 700 mark (yes, EVEN 700 mark)?
what if i didn't get a job after spending much in a foreign b-school?
what if i really don't like the MBA stuff after learning what it is?
what if i meet an accident in the mid air leaving all my loans to my father?
Am i going too far?? May be yes but can some one deny all these possibilities.

TWO
what if i got 800 in GMAT?
what if i got to my dream college(do i have one?? yes:)) and get into a great company as a manager?
what if MBA is really what i expected?
what if i met with a strikingly young intelligent women in the plane who was destined to be my beloved wife?
Am i going too far?? Again..... may be yes but can some one deny all these possibilities.

Two guys in the entire universe have the strength to make a difference.
1. Me
2. God (oppurtunity, fate, luck, destiny - the name might differ based on who you are)

Power prep 1

Taking back to back tests is not an easy job. After completing the GMAT prep 1, i decided to take power prep 1. I was angry at myself for my low score in verbal. The annoyance came out not on the low score but rather on not concentrating during the verbal phase. In power prep, i attacked verbal questions and i was in full concentration. I had nearly 10 minutes to spare while finishing the exam. Techniques could be corrected at even the last moment but concentration needs to built over a period of time. I am happy that i finally sat through the entire test without loss of concentration.
The score is 660 M50 V30. Just 140 away from my target 800.

I didn't review the wrong questions after the test. Ideally i should have done that. But, since i didn't have explanations for the answers, i didn't feel like reviewing the questions. Are explanations given in GMAT and Power prep or did i miss it?

The Power prep s/w takes much time to load. It really irritates at times. Reason....?!?!?! ofcourse, it is written using Java applets. Dai ramu onakkula oru techie yepavumae mulichikitu irukaanda.

GMAT prep 1

I took this in the afternoon. I slept at 11am just to make sure i won't sleep in the afternoon and had early lunch. Still i was not able to control my sleep and lack of concentration. I won't blame the timings for my lack of concentration. In the previous four tests that i took, i was not able to concentrate for the full test. It slowly declines and by the time half of the verbal questions are over, no concentration is left in me. Somehow managed to finish the test and it showed in the results.
620 M48 V27
This is the first time i breached the 600 mark.
I am happy that i got 48 in maths despite flunking the very first question which was a lollypop. Verbal less said the better it would be. I know it is too early to guage on my verbal skills with morethan one month to go for the exams. It clearly shows where i need to concentrate.

Last week... CR week

Whole of last week was dedicated to ..err... office. :) As per plan, i was supposed to finish CR basics.

What i learnt
1. Read the passage carefully word by word since every word is important.
2. Read the question before reading the passage. This would give you an idea what to expect.

Areas of improvement

1. Some of the CR questions i didnot understand at all. So, i chose the wrong answer.
2. I go wrong especially when the question involve words like EXCEPT and LEAST i.e they provide a twist at the last word. I don't read this word inspite the word being in caps. So, a strengthen or weakening questions, it would be like which among the five, strengthen the argument the LEAST. I see the word strengthen and off i go.
3. When i choose a wrong answer for a question, in all probability the next answer will also be wrong. This clearly proves that i have high concentration for few minutes and low concentration for few minutes. Need to work on concentration more before it is too late.

A Teaser (atleast for me)
An empty metal box weighs 10 percent of its total weight when filled with varnish. If the weight of a partly filled box is one-half that of a completely filled box, what fraction of the box is filled?
The calculation for this problem is very easy but i didn't understand what this question is all about. I would have understood the question had they rephrased the question better. Something like........
An empty metal box weighs 10 percent of its total weight. When filled with varnish, if the weight of a partly filled box is one-half that of a completely filled box, what fraction of the box is filled?
Anybody hearing in ETS and kaplan??? Hello!!!

DS on saturday and sunday

As usual here is the list of questions that made me to have a second look.

1. Is x2 equal to xy?
(1) x2 - y2 = (x + 5)(y - 5)
(2) x = y

I answered it D but the answer given is B.

Option 2 is sufficient as it says x = y which means that x2 equal to xy.
So, A & E are eliminated.
Lets see the option 1.
x2 - y2 = xy + 5y - 5x - 25
x2 = y2 + xy + 5y - 5x - 25
x2 = xy + some value (y2 + 5y - 5x - 25)
So, i came to a conclusion that x2 not equal to xy. What i missed is when y = 0 and x = -5, x2

equal to xy.
So, option 1 is insufficient.


2. At a certain university, if 50 percent of the people who inquire about admission policies

actually submit applications for admission, what percent of those who submit applications for

admission enroll in classes at the university?
(1) Fifteen percent of those who submit applications for admission are accepted at the

university.
(2) Eighty percent of those who are accepted send a deposit to the university.

This sort of questions confuse me. Sometimes we shud assume that when a university has accepted

an application then it means the student has enrolled. Sometimes u don't.

3. A jewelry dealer initially offered a bracelet for sale at an asking price that would give a

profit to the dealer of 40 percent of the original cost. What was the original cost of the

bracelet?
(1) After reducing this asking price by 10 percent, the jewelry dealer sold the bracelet at a

profit of $403.
(2) The jewelry dealer sold the bracelet for $1,953.

I answered D and the actual answer is A.
I didn't understand why option 2 is not sufficient. Is it because the asking price is different

from the selling price?

4. The surface area of a square tabletop was changed so that one of the dimensions was reduced by

1 inch and the other dimension was increased by 2 inches. What was the surface area before these

changes were made?
(1) After the changes were made, the surface area was 70 square inches.
(2) There was a 25 percent increase in one of the dimensions.
I answered C and the actual answer is D.
I didn't understand how?


5. If ? denotes a mathematical operation, does
x?y=y?x for all x and y?
(1) For all x and y, x?y = 2(x2 + y2).
(2) For all y, 0?y = 2 y2
I answered D and the actual answer is A.
I didn't understand how? Based on option 2, we can say that x?y not equal to y?x for all x and y.

isn't it?


6. If b is the product of three consecutive positive integers c, c + 1, and c + 2, is b a

multiple of 24 ?
(1) b is a multiple of 3,
(2) c is odd.
I answered E and the actual answer is A.
I didn't understand how?
if c = 1, b = 1*2*3 which is not divisible by 24.
if c = 6, b = 6*7*8 which is divisible by 24.
if c = 6, b = 15*16*17 which is divisible by 24.


7. Is the integer n a multiple of 140 ?
(1) n is a multiple of 10.
(2) n is a multiple of 14.
I answered C and the actual answer is E.
I didn't understand how?

Areas to improve.
1. Not reading the question stem properly.
2. Though i know the correct answer i mark it wrongly.
3. Concentration shud improve.

There were some 12 DS sets of questions each containing 25 questions to be answered within 30

minutes. Most of the time i took less than 25 minutes. Whenever i took a long break (indicated

here by a line break :)) i scored less and took longer minutes to complete.

Correct/Wrong

19/6
20/5
22/3
19/6

18/7
20/5

23/2

23/2

19/6
20/5

SC here i come

Before booking for some non-bailable offence, let me clarify this is about Sentence Correction in short SC.
As i enter into SC phase, i have one small word doc to finish.
The name of the doc is 1000SC. The name frightens me just like the movie name "ayiram thalai vaangiya aboorva sinthamani". I have decided to take this during the build breaks in the office. On an average, the build i do takes atleast 17 minutes - this time i have been usefully ?!?! utilising in staring at the monitor and atmost reading some nonsense blogs. Now, its time for SC to fit in.