More about this course in the coming days. For now though, let me just say that the Kaplan User Interface is the best of the lot.
I heard that they revamped their whole system recently. Boy, they have done a good job. I love the dashboard, the smart report card, and the personal attention from the tutors. Though they are not 'personal tutors' per se, they come ever so close to offering the 'personal tutor' feel... without charging the 'personal tutor' FEE :P
I will be spending loads of hours on their course this week, so expect a more detailed and analytical review in the next couple of days. Once I'm done with that, I'll probably draw out a comparison of all the major test prep providers.
Bye for now.
Showing posts with label gmat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gmat. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
The GMAT... Coming Soon
OK, as things stand, I'll probably retake the GMAT in late December.
Granted, my 700 score is good enough for most schools, but having spent so much time on the GMAT, I want the elusive 760+ score. It's not a question of ego. I just believe that I have put in so many hours into the GMAT, that i need to do justice to it with a 760+ score. And while I haven't quite put in the 10000+ hours that Malcomm Gladwell advocates, I think I'm almost there. Just another 50 hours will do ;)
Granted, my 700 score is good enough for most schools, but having spent so much time on the GMAT, I want the elusive 760+ score. It's not a question of ego. I just believe that I have put in so many hours into the GMAT, that i need to do justice to it with a 760+ score. And while I haven't quite put in the 10000+ hours that Malcomm Gladwell advocates, I think I'm almost there. Just another 50 hours will do ;)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
MBA Applicant Calendar of Events
It's quite hard to keep track of all the relevant events. I've lost count of the number of events I wanted to attend, but forgot or learnt of only after the event was over. I was scouring the web for an ultimate, MBA -Applicant specific calendar of events when it hit me: Who knows more than most about the pertinent events? Yep, that's right: we, the applicants. So why don't we have an open source calendar where we can all take ownership and reap the rewards.
I've setup a public google calendar and referenced it in the 'events' page of this blog. I'll add a few events, and hope that we can take it from there. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be more than happy to accommodate them.
I've setup a public google calendar and referenced it in the 'events' page of this blog. I'll add a few events, and hope that we can take it from there. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be more than happy to accommodate them.
Beat The GMAT Practice Questions GIVEAWAY
Want a free BTG Practice Questions account? Drop me an email.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Veritas GMAT Essentials - Review
Sorry for the delay folks. A lot of you have dropped in emails enquiring about the course, and I've been asking you to hold on for a couple of days. I've been real busy, but hey, enough with excuses. Let's get talking about the course.
Disclaimer: This post is just going to dive into too many details. I'll be following up with a more detailed post once I have had a chance to go through the course recordings. Also, I haven't reviewed this post, so please excuse the numerous grammatical & spelling mistakes that you are bound to encounter.
I've already posted a brief intro on the course. For the benefit of those who haven't read the earlier post, Veritas Prep recently launched the GMAT Essentials course - A 2 day (8 hours/day) weekend workshop. I was lucky enough to attend the inaugural launch event. Going into the course I was a tad confused as to who were the target audience. Was it meant to be a "get to know the gmat" course for beginners, or a "what you need to know to cross 700" course for those who are already somewhat familiar with the test. I even had second thoughts as to whether i should actually attend because the course was scheduled to run through the day for those in the US, so for me it translated to 7:30 PM - 3:30 AM. I have no problems with staying up until 2 AM, but staying up until 3:30 would definitely leave me with a splitting headache and a hangover the next day, and the day after. However, I weighed up the pros and cons. On the pros, I had the following points:
OK, enough about Brian, more about him in another post. Moving onto the course. The course started off with a brief intro, where we got to know each other. We had two instructors: Brian Galvin, and David Newland. Brian, i knew about before. While David was introducing himself, I did a quick google search to get some extra info: JD, LSAT guru, Veritas Prep Instructor of the Year award to his belt. I don't know about you guys, but I tend to work/ prep much better when I know that I'm in safe hands. There have been so many instances when the instructor is not entirely sure of the subject matter - there is no bigger turn off. Okay where were we? Oh yeah, the instructors: I knew I was in safe hands, and so got into GMAT mode straightaway. After the intros, we quickly shifted into top gear.
On Day 1, we covered Problem Solving, Critical Reasoning and Data Sufficiency. On Day 2, we started off with Reading Comprehension, before moving on to Data Sufficiency and wrapping up with Sentence Correction. Okay, I know you guys must be thinking "hey, hold on. How on earth can you cover all that? Surely you must have just glanced through a few pointers and done some random problems, noting more". That's exactly what I was expecting. I was in for a welcome shock. What the smart folks @ Veritas did is that they mapped out the important concepts for each area e.g. For Problem Solving, they had listed out all the major concepts that are tested, such as Odd & Even, Property of the Number 0, Divisibility, Probability. And for CR, they had their SWIMMER outline. Okay, so most courses cover all these topics. What's the big deal? I'll tell you what the big deal is. The questions that they chose to explain each topic. On each subject we focused on the "must-knows", and learnt by doing. For each "must-know" Veritas had designed a sample problem. In most courses, I'm able to pin down at least half of the problems without even picking up a pen/ pencil. And when this happens, I tend to get bored with the course and drift off. However, with this course, each of the problems was carefully picked. Some problems were designed just for the course. Each problem was a challenge, and once we were done solving/ attempting to solve, we came away with an important lesson - sorta like those fairy tales, which have a moral of the story at the end. This was along those lines. I enjoyed each problem that was presented. There was none of that "oh, no - not this problem again - how many times have I seen this?"
And now onto another important question: How did I survive 16 hours of prep in 2 days, that too over time periods that put me out of my comfort zone. For that, I have to thank the course makers. Yes, the 5 minute breaks that were interspersed gave a breather. But what did the treak was the quality of the course. No, seriously! It was amazing. It was by far the best course that I have attended, and that's saying something. It was a hell of a ride. And the 16 hours just breezed by. You know when you smoke weed and get high (not that I've ever done that - I've just watch
Okay, enough with the superlatives. To sum up, I had a blast. I recommend the Essentials course to anyone and everyone who wants to get that 700+ score. This course will definitely take you there. I wouldn't recommend it for beginners, though coz it's a tad advanced. However, by purchasing this course, you do get access to the Veritas GMAT on demand content, which goes through all that you need to know. So what you can do is purchase it, go through the on demand content, and then attend the live online essentials course.
Tray Recommends this Course? Most Definitely, Yes!
Click here for more information on the Veritas GMAT Essentials.
I will be following up with a more detailed description of the course sometime down the line.
Feel free to drop me an email if you have any lingering questions.
Over & Out!
Disclaimer: This post is just going to dive into too many details. I'll be following up with a more detailed post once I have had a chance to go through the course recordings. Also, I haven't reviewed this post, so please excuse the numerous grammatical & spelling mistakes that you are bound to encounter.
I've already posted a brief intro on the course. For the benefit of those who haven't read the earlier post, Veritas Prep recently launched the GMAT Essentials course - A 2 day (8 hours/day) weekend workshop. I was lucky enough to attend the inaugural launch event. Going into the course I was a tad confused as to who were the target audience. Was it meant to be a "get to know the gmat" course for beginners, or a "what you need to know to cross 700" course for those who are already somewhat familiar with the test. I even had second thoughts as to whether i should actually attend because the course was scheduled to run through the day for those in the US, so for me it translated to 7:30 PM - 3:30 AM. I have no problems with staying up until 2 AM, but staying up until 3:30 would definitely leave me with a splitting headache and a hangover the next day, and the day after. However, I weighed up the pros and cons. On the pros, I had the following points:
- Veritas Prep
- Brian Galvin
OK, enough about Brian, more about him in another post. Moving onto the course. The course started off with a brief intro, where we got to know each other. We had two instructors: Brian Galvin, and David Newland. Brian, i knew about before. While David was introducing himself, I did a quick google search to get some extra info: JD, LSAT guru, Veritas Prep Instructor of the Year award to his belt. I don't know about you guys, but I tend to work/ prep much better when I know that I'm in safe hands. There have been so many instances when the instructor is not entirely sure of the subject matter - there is no bigger turn off. Okay where were we? Oh yeah, the instructors: I knew I was in safe hands, and so got into GMAT mode straightaway. After the intros, we quickly shifted into top gear.
On Day 1, we covered Problem Solving, Critical Reasoning and Data Sufficiency. On Day 2, we started off with Reading Comprehension, before moving on to Data Sufficiency and wrapping up with Sentence Correction. Okay, I know you guys must be thinking "hey, hold on. How on earth can you cover all that? Surely you must have just glanced through a few pointers and done some random problems, noting more". That's exactly what I was expecting. I was in for a welcome shock. What the smart folks @ Veritas did is that they mapped out the important concepts for each area e.g. For Problem Solving, they had listed out all the major concepts that are tested, such as Odd & Even, Property of the Number 0, Divisibility, Probability. And for CR, they had their SWIMMER outline. Okay, so most courses cover all these topics. What's the big deal? I'll tell you what the big deal is. The questions that they chose to explain each topic. On each subject we focused on the "must-knows", and learnt by doing. For each "must-know" Veritas had designed a sample problem. In most courses, I'm able to pin down at least half of the problems without even picking up a pen/ pencil. And when this happens, I tend to get bored with the course and drift off. However, with this course, each of the problems was carefully picked. Some problems were designed just for the course. Each problem was a challenge, and once we were done solving/ attempting to solve, we came away with an important lesson - sorta like those fairy tales, which have a moral of the story at the end. This was along those lines. I enjoyed each problem that was presented. There was none of that "oh, no - not this problem again - how many times have I seen this?"
And now onto another important question: How did I survive 16 hours of prep in 2 days, that too over time periods that put me out of my comfort zone. For that, I have to thank the course makers. Yes, the 5 minute breaks that were interspersed gave a breather. But what did the treak was the quality of the course. No, seriously! It was amazing. It was by far the best course that I have attended, and that's saying something. It was a hell of a ride. And the 16 hours just breezed by. You know when you smoke weed and get high (not that I've ever done that - I've just watch
Okay, enough with the superlatives. To sum up, I had a blast. I recommend the Essentials course to anyone and everyone who wants to get that 700+ score. This course will definitely take you there. I wouldn't recommend it for beginners, though coz it's a tad advanced. However, by purchasing this course, you do get access to the Veritas GMAT on demand content, which goes through all that you need to know. So what you can do is purchase it, go through the on demand content, and then attend the live online essentials course.
Ratings (Out of 5)
- For Beginners: 4
- For Veterans: 5
- User Interface: 4
- Content: 5
- Value ($$): 5
- Overall: 5
Tray Recommends this Course? Most Definitely, Yes!
Click here for more information on the Veritas GMAT Essentials.
I will be following up with a more detailed description of the course sometime down the line.
Feel free to drop me an email if you have any lingering questions.
Over & Out!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Beat The GMAT Practice Questions
The Beat The GMAT Practice Questions, will be/ was (depending on when you are reading this) today.
Granted, I wasn't able to go through all the questions, but I've gotten a good 'feel'. Here's an overview of the features:
Granted, I wasn't able to go through all the questions, but I've gotten a good 'feel'. Here's an overview of the features:
- More than 700 GMAT math/verbal practice questions
- Every GMAT practice question features a video explanation for the given question, written/produced by a veteran GMAT instructor
- Completely online practice - study at work or at home, without carrying books around
- Ability to customize your prep based on subject area, with just a few clicks
- Performance reporting to identify your strengths, weaknesses on GMAT subject areas
- Adaptive practice algorithm that mimics the real GMAT -- the better you do, the harder the questions become in your practice session
- 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee if you're not satisfied
I am not going to waste too much time sharing my thoughts on the course. I love it, and i think it's well worth the $99. At the end of the day, all said and done, what really makes the difference between potential and how you perform on test day is how much effort you have put in. Not how much material you have covered, but how much you have practised. I'll try and explain this with a football analogy. I may know how to dribble, do a drag-back, nutmeg an opponent, play a long ball, but at the end of the day, what matters is how i use all these skills on match day. If i run straight into a competitive fixture having just practised the skills alone, I will end up looking like a bumbling fool. Only the hours I spend on the training field and friendly matches will help me star on match-day.
You'll have noticed that the last bullet point in the features overview is in green colour. Why? Because that's your signal to go for it. You have the option to try it and see for yourself whether you think it's worth your $99! Enuff said!
Edit*: Turns out there's also an ipad give-away. 3 ipads up for grabs! + limited time offer: $50 discount
What are you still doing here? :D
Edit**: Link fixed: http://practice.beatthegmat.com/
Over & Out!
Edit*: Turns out there's also an ipad give-away. 3 ipads up for grabs! + limited time offer: $50 discount
What are you still doing here? :D
Edit**: Link fixed: http://practice.beatthegmat.com/
Over & Out!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Google Power
Over the last month, the traffic on this blog has been crazy. Result? My blog has jumped up the google rankings
Exhibit 'A' - Search for "gmat on demand" ranks yours truly at #4:
If only I had SEOd my URL to read something like http://mba-gmat-mba.blogspot.com ...well, you can't have it all i guess. Thanks y'all. Stay tuned!
Exhibit 'A' - Search for "gmat on demand" ranks yours truly at #4:
If only I had SEOd my URL to read something like http://mba-gmat-mba.blogspot.com ...well, you can't have it all i guess. Thanks y'all. Stay tuned!
Coming Up - Beat The GMAT Practice Questions & Kaplan GMAT Advanced
Two GMAT products (or should I call them services) that I am very excited about are the Beat The GMAT (BTG) Practice Questions and the Kaplan GMAT Adavanced course.
First up is the BTG Practice Questions, which is due to officially launch on November 02, i.e. next week Tuesday. This weekend i'll go over the 200 or so questions that have been loaded into my reviewer account, and hopefully I'll be able to give y'all my feedback by the launch day. Plus there are some freebies that I will be giving out courtesy Beat The GMAT, so watch out for that.
Next up, and something that has me smacking my lips in anticipation is the Kaplan GMAT Advanced course. There are so many of the 'one-size-meets-all' course offerings out there, but what is in short supply is the course that caters to those who have already done significant prep and are looking for the extra something to shift their prep to top gear. I think this course could be THE ONE.
And before you ask, I haven't forgotten - i will also be posting my review of Grockit & Knewton sometime down the line.
First up is the BTG Practice Questions, which is due to officially launch on November 02, i.e. next week Tuesday. This weekend i'll go over the 200 or so questions that have been loaded into my reviewer account, and hopefully I'll be able to give y'all my feedback by the launch day. Plus there are some freebies that I will be giving out courtesy Beat The GMAT, so watch out for that.
Next up, and something that has me smacking my lips in anticipation is the Kaplan GMAT Advanced course. There are so many of the 'one-size-meets-all' course offerings out there, but what is in short supply is the course that caters to those who have already done significant prep and are looking for the extra something to shift their prep to top gear. I think this course could be THE ONE.
And before you ask, I haven't forgotten - i will also be posting my review of Grockit & Knewton sometime down the line.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
PowerScore GMAT on Demand - Review
Manhattan GMAT, Veritas, Knewton and Kaplan - These are the four 'pillars' of GMAT Prep. A couple of years ago, it was just the big three, and little did they realise that Jose Ferreira was plotting to take over the kingdom. Knewton has made such huge strides since its genesis, that it has since displaced Kaplan
However, there is one old warhorse that has regained its lust for the top spot. A name that is revered on the GMAT world not for its course offerings, but for its bible - The PowerScore CR Bible. Yes, PowerScore had long been consigned to the backyards of GMAT Prep, so much so, that even Princeton Review was better placed :)
Anyhoo.. back to the point of this post. I was lucky enough to get access to the PowerScore GMAT on Demand course, and I had promised to submit a review of the course, so here it is:
The course consists of 10 3-hour sessions, so that's 30 hours of archived sessions. The topics covered are pretty much the standard fare; click here to view the course structure. The course comes with a big book that's shipped off to you - mine arrived within 5 days. The book is a compendium of the necessary Quant & Verbal topics. The CR material is straight off the bible, albeit a condensed version. The book covers all the basics pretty well, and has loads of practice questions - 10 after every sub topic, which works great. I hate reading piles and piles of material before being able to apply it, so this was a treat. After every two pages, there's a drill consisting of 10 questions. This format meant that i breezed through the book and finished it in no time. Surprisingly, the book covered RC as well - again nothing too detailed, just the essentials, and in just the right dose.
Once I was done with the book, I switched over to the on-demand sessions that are available online. To my surprise, the online content was exactly the same as that in the book - word for word. After the initial shock, I came to the realization that this was not so bad after all. The online sessions are presented by a Jon Denning, who is a 99%iler and has also co-authored the PowerScore GMAT content...talk about creme de la creme. In these sessions Jon basically went through each page in the book. He covered the underlying concepts and explained how to work through each problem, quant and verbal. Even though i had answered most of the questions correctly, watching how Jon attacked each problem was a real eye opener.
After each session, there's a set of additional problems to be done aka homework. The folks @ PowerScore compiled a list of problems to work on from OG 11 & 12 after each session. This was not a bad way to wind down, and I'm sure anyone who has gone through the MGMAT Course/ Guides will be familiar with this approach.
The icing on the cake is access to 5 Complete 800Score CATs. For all those who are not familiar with 800Score, word on the street is that the 800Score CATs are second only to the MGMAT CATs.
In conclusion, the course was not bad, not bad at all. It felt a bit of drag at times, but only because I had already prepared so much for the GMAT. The course is perfect for beginners and/or those looking to for a crash course. For $495, its well worth your time and money.
Tray Recommends this Course? Yes
Click here to access the first session of the GMAT on Demand course for FREE!
Feel free to reach out to me if you would like any additional information,
However, there is one old warhorse that has regained its lust for the top spot. A name that is revered on the GMAT world not for its course offerings, but for its bible - The PowerScore CR Bible. Yes, PowerScore had long been consigned to the backyards of GMAT Prep, so much so, that even Princeton Review was better placed :)
Anyhoo.. back to the point of this post. I was lucky enough to get access to the PowerScore GMAT on Demand course, and I had promised to submit a review of the course, so here it is:
The course consists of 10 3-hour sessions, so that's 30 hours of archived sessions. The topics covered are pretty much the standard fare; click here to view the course structure. The course comes with a big book that's shipped off to you - mine arrived within 5 days. The book is a compendium of the necessary Quant & Verbal topics. The CR material is straight off the bible, albeit a condensed version. The book covers all the basics pretty well, and has loads of practice questions - 10 after every sub topic, which works great. I hate reading piles and piles of material before being able to apply it, so this was a treat. After every two pages, there's a drill consisting of 10 questions. This format meant that i breezed through the book and finished it in no time. Surprisingly, the book covered RC as well - again nothing too detailed, just the essentials, and in just the right dose.
Once I was done with the book, I switched over to the on-demand sessions that are available online. To my surprise, the online content was exactly the same as that in the book - word for word. After the initial shock, I came to the realization that this was not so bad after all. The online sessions are presented by a Jon Denning, who is a 99%iler and has also co-authored the PowerScore GMAT content...talk about creme de la creme. In these sessions Jon basically went through each page in the book. He covered the underlying concepts and explained how to work through each problem, quant and verbal. Even though i had answered most of the questions correctly, watching how Jon attacked each problem was a real eye opener.
After each session, there's a set of additional problems to be done aka homework. The folks @ PowerScore compiled a list of problems to work on from OG 11 & 12 after each session. This was not a bad way to wind down, and I'm sure anyone who has gone through the MGMAT Course/ Guides will be familiar with this approach.
The icing on the cake is access to 5 Complete 800Score CATs. For all those who are not familiar with 800Score, word on the street is that the 800Score CATs are second only to the MGMAT CATs.
In conclusion, the course was not bad, not bad at all. It felt a bit of drag at times, but only because I had already prepared so much for the GMAT. The course is perfect for beginners and/or those looking to for a crash course. For $495, its well worth your time and money.
Ratings (Out of 5)
- For Beginners: 5
- For Veterans: 2
- User Iinterface: 3
- Content: 4
- Value ($$): 3.5
- Overall: 4
Tray Recommends this Course? Yes
Click here to access the first session of the GMAT on Demand course for FREE!
Feel free to reach out to me if you would like any additional information,
Monday, October 25, 2010
GMAT Course Reviews - Coming Soon
I have been fortunate to receive free access to the PowerScore and Grockit courses, along with the BTG Practice Questions.
Many of my friends have been hassling me for my opinion on the various GMAT prep companies out there. I've grown tired of dishing out the same dialogue each time, so I have decided to pen them down in this blog.
I will be posting reviews of the following GMAT courses:
Review of PowerScore's GMAT on Demand course will be posted tomorrow. Stay tuned!
Many of my friends have been hassling me for my opinion on the various GMAT prep companies out there. I've grown tired of dishing out the same dialogue each time, so I have decided to pen them down in this blog.
I will be posting reviews of the following GMAT courses:
- PowerScore GMAT on Demand
- Knewton GMAT
- Grockit Complete GMAT Course
- BeatTheGMAT Practice Questions
Review of PowerScore's GMAT on Demand course will be posted tomorrow. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
GMAT - Dusting off Knewton & PowerScore
My oh my. It's been well over a month since I touched anything related to the GMAT. I have been exploring other opportunities to beef up my profile, but have neglected the GMAT in the process. If I am to apply in R2, i need to take the GMAT by end of November. Times running out. I think i'll look up my PowerScore on demand course, which I have barely touched, and then follow it up by going through the entire Knewton 'syllabus'. After that, i'll stick to the official material i.e. OGs, GMATPrep et al.
In the meanwhile, fingers crossed that I win something significant in the ongoing BTG giveaway
Reviews of Knewton & PowerScore to follow in the coming weeks.
Go, go go!
In the meanwhile, fingers crossed that I win something significant in the ongoing BTG giveaway
Reviews of Knewton & PowerScore to follow in the coming weeks.
Go, go go!
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