## Thursday, December 30, 2010

### Back to OG12 Quant

Wohkay! Seems like I've been out of touch with OG type Math questions for too long.
Did 20 PS and 20 DS questions (timed) today.
Got 4 wrong in PS and...wait for it...9 wrong in DS! Eeeks!
Gotta review and get back to official questions! Good thing I have only the medium-difficult questions remaining... :)

GMAT love to the rest of you! Hope you're studying hard for the next 72 hours...to be able to party tomorrow night without guilt! :)

## Tuesday, December 28, 2010

### Practice Test #5 (#3 in second round)

Got a 670 (Q47 V35) score on PowerPrep#1. Had a major pacing problem on verbal, had to guess atleast 4-5 questions randomly in the end. No repeats on Quant. but did encounter around 1 CR, 1-2 RC from OG12. But had to rework these questions cos they were difficult/long ones anyway, so don't think it skewed my score. Normally I finish Verbal with time left on my hands, but I think i got really tired - did AWA sections also.
I plan on completing leftover OG12 questions by 31st Dec and give 2 more GMATClub Math tests on 1st Jan. I am NOT doing any more questions from Grockit, because I felt I had seen similar questions on Grockit that I saw on PowerPrep today, or questions that just really helped me figure out the answer quickly.

Anyone think I should buy PowerScore CR bible? Yet to look at my accuracy on PowerPrep so I'll update in the evening once i'm through putting in everything in my error log.
Feeling good with the Q47 though...looks like practice really helps. And I'm confident that i have a large potential to increase my verbal score...so i'm hoping for the best!

## Saturday, December 25, 2010

### CP #23

From GMATClub.com's m#05:

4. Two watermelons, A and B, are on sale. Watermelon A has a circumference of 6 inches; watermelon B, 5 inches. If the price of watermelon A is 1.5 times the price of watermelon B, which watermelon is a better buy?
(Assume that the two watermelons are spheres).
(C) 2008 GMAT Club - [t]m05#4[/t]
• A
• B
• Neither
• Both
• Impossible to determine

Approach 1:
Value = Volume / Price
The volume is proportional to radius^3 and the circumference is proportional to the radius. Increasing the circumference by 6/5 = 20% increases the volume by 1.2^3 = 1.728 (72.8%) and increases the price by 50%.
The increase in value of Watermelon A is 1.728 / 1.5 = 15.3% .

### GMATClub m#05

Again got 26/37 correct. This time percentile ranking was 45.2% 60.1% (for some reason, my percentile ranking just changed in that last 1 hour) - haha, I guess I did get a little better.

But I ran out of time on this test - had to pause in order to finish it. Yes, concentration was wavering.

Got frustrated with Probability and P&C questions - I really need to understand this topic before attempting any more questions. Maybe I should ask my school Math tutor if he'd help me out with this topic??? I'm seriously considering it now.

Incorrect Qs Summary:
Topic - No. of questions incorrect
Geo - 1
TSD - 1
Probability/P&C - 2
Inequalities - 1
Number Properties/Is x divisible by y type - 6!

Hmmm...

### CP #22

GMATClub m#02 test:

Is $x \gt y^2$ ?
1. $x \gt y + 5$
2. $x^2 - y^2 = 0$
(C) 2008 GMAT Club - [t]m02#19[/t]
• Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but Statement (2) ALONE is not sufficient
• Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but Statement (1) ALONE is not sufficient
• BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient
• EACH statement ALONE is sufficient
• Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient
Statement (1) by itself is insufficient. Consider $(x,y)=(5, -1)$ or $(5, -3)$ .
Statement (2) by itself is insufficient. Consider $(x,y)=(\frac{1}{2}, \frac{1}{2})$ or $(2, 2)$ .
Statements (1) and (2) combined are sufficient. The absolute values of $x$ and $y$ are equal and $x \gt y$ , implying that $x$ is positive and $y$ is negative. Therefore, $x \gt y^2$ is false.

## Friday, December 24, 2010

### GMATClub m#02

26/37 correct on GMATClub's m#02. My percentile is 31.1% :p

Managed to finish the test on time. Some questions were pretty easy, some I answered incorrectly due to silly mistakes, and some I thought I got but apparently I didn't. Pretty good mix in terms of difficulty, although I got a little annoyed with the large number of questions from Number Properties.

Any comments on how this score is at this stage of studying? And post having worked on Time & Work (1 qs in the test - which i got wrong!), Time/Speed & Distance (0 qs. on test) and Averages/Mix/Allig (1-2 qs. on test)???

### Classy Career Girl's post

http://www.classycareergirl.com/2010/12/10-tips-for-young-career-professionals.html

Awesome! Very relevant tips. I believe in pretty much all of them.

## Thursday, December 23, 2010

### CR Help by Farbood

Going through free CR lessons by Grockit here. I think they're nice lessons, but I could be biased. Anyone else think Farbood Nivi is totally hot? ;)

Did some more Work questions today. Will practice some more TSD questions, and then go through FCs.

## Wednesday, December 22, 2010

### Planning & Executing

Got it, well...kind of. Alligations that it. Managed to find my old TIME notes, and went through quite a few questions from the book. Have a much better hang of averages too.

To Do:
1. Have to do some more questions from that book for DST & Work.
2. 19 tables (yes, still not done...should probably get to it NOW). FYI, learning my tables has really helped in calculating faster :) I loveeeee it!
3. Go through my FCs.
Am giving practice tests from GMATClub.com on Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday morning (free access to all tests!). So I must revise all this math stuff. Friday morning, I might do some Verbal if I have time so that my Saturday morning test can be a Verbal one.

Sunday morning (26th) is TEST DAY. Someone might lend me Kaplan practice tests, so will def give one of those.

Happy studying till then!

## Tuesday, December 21, 2010

### A Mixture of Topics

Worked through some Averages & Mixtures problems from TIME material. Didn't really understand Alligations. Also managed to revise Interest problems.

Off to start questions from CAT Prep on pagalguy.com

Other things I wish to dabble in today:
Grockit.com / Tenaday.co.in / 19 tables / a lot more math practice!

## Monday, December 20, 2010

### 42 days to go

Did the chapter on Time & Work from TIME (CAT) material. :) Feel a lot more confident about it!
Tomorrow I'll dig into averages/mixtures/alligations and then onto practicing all 3 topics (1st one being Time, Speed & Distance) from Pagalguy.com's CAT Prep questions.

I'm practicing Quant from Grockit.com randomly. Good way to stay in touch with all Math topics.

Not really in the mood to practice verbal at the moment. Want to get great at Math, or atleast confident about all the stuff - I knew at some point and have forgotten along the way/ I can do.

Have done my tables from 13-18, still need to do 19 and revise all of it. Then onto squares and cubes and fractions (to decimals). :)

I'm feeling happier by the day!

Off to catch up on Psych episodes now. :) hehe.

## Saturday, December 18, 2010

### CP #21

A train travels at an average speed of 200 km/hr without any stoppages. However, its average speed decreases to 120 km/hr on account of stoppages. On an average, how many minutes per hour does the train stop?

Options: 12, 18, 20, 24 minutes.

OA: 24 minutes

Solution:
You have to find out how many minuter PER HOUR does the train stop.
So, use T = 1 hour.
In 1 hour, the train travels 200 km.
If the distance travelled reduces to 120 km, how much time does it take the train to travel a distance of 120 km? The remaining time (1 hour - time taken to travel 120 km) will give us the stoppage time (per hour).
S = D / T
200 = 120 / T
T = 3/5 hour = 3/5 * 60 mins = 36 mins

So the train has taken 36 mins to travel 120 km in 1 hour. This means that the train stopped for how many minutes? 60 - 36 = 24 mins of stoppage time per hour.

### Easing My Way In

Spent quite some time on Grockit yesterday, doing Math problems. Just trying to ease myself back into the groove.

My official leave from work starts today. 1 month and 15 days to go for my date with the GMAT.

Today's To Do List:
1. Modifiers - MGMAT SC (revise chapter)
2. Math practice from Grockit
3. Begin theory review of TSD from TIME
4. Revise Speed Math strategies you've learnt till now
5. Do 1 new Speed Math chapter
6. Tables from 15 - 19 (yup, all...!)

I was also thinking today, I'm going to feel so odd not working for the next 1.5 months! I'm already missing work :( . Yes, I love my workplace, and I love the work we do, and I love helping someone out to finish a deadline, etc etc... I miss my people!

## Wednesday, December 15, 2010

### To Apply in Round 3 or Round 1 in 2011?

HBS: 31st March
Stanford GSB: 6th April
Chicago Booth: 13th April

Hmmm...I'm contemplating applying to these schools in Round 3. Anyone else think it's a good idea? Not sure of how I'll convince my bosses to write my recommendations though. They want me to apply in for Sept 2012 intake. Hmmm...might be a better option too since their recommendation letters will have a lot more positive stuff to stay by Round 1 of next admission intake session. Thoughts anyone???

### Multiplication Worksheet

Found a great website for practicing Multiplication tables (am currently learning my tables from 13-19), and for putting to practice all those Speed Math techniques I've learnt!

It's called MathsIsFun.com and I love the worksheets they have here!

Thought I should share this great practice spot to all my fellow Gmatters!

## Monday, December 13, 2010

### The Day I Score an 800 has been booked!

I booked my GMAT date. It's on the 1st of Feb. Taking 1.5 month's leave from office for the test, so it's now or never baby! :)
So excited and relieved to have booked it. 250 USD charge has been initiated on my credit card...! :)

Over the next 2 weeks, I'm going to:
1. finish OG11
2. go through Pronouns, Modifiers & Verbs from MGMAT SC and GMATClub's Grammar book
3. work on DST, Work and Mixtures/Averages chapters from TIME material
4. learn tables from 13-19 (13 & 14 done), learn squares & cubes & fractions to decimals
5. go through some Speed Math chapters
6. go through all my flash cards

24th Dec - Give free GMATClub.com tests (one Q, one V; or 2 Q)
27th Dec - Give GMATPrep #1.