Ask Psychodementia..........

Camp - November Edition

2006-12-08T02:46:00.000-08:00

GMAT Bootcamp in November
Date: 19th & 16th of December 2006

Venue:
Harsha Hotel & Convention Center,
Park Road, Bangalore - 560001
Phone : +91-80-22865555/66
(3-star hotel about 2kms from MGRoad and not hard to find)

Schedule of bootcamp:

9th December (Saturday)

9:30am - 10am: GMAT Introduction (with tea/snacks)

10:00am - 11:30pm: CR-1 (CR fundamentals)

11:30pm - 1:00pm: RC-1 (Reading technique)

1:30pm - 4:00pm SC - 1 (SC fundamentals & rules)

4:00- 5:00pm: RC-2 (Answering techniques)

5:00 - 6:30pm: CR-2 (Practice for 2/3rd of GMAT CR questions)

16th December (Saturday)

9:00am - 11:00am: CR-2 (Focussing on advanced concepts - what to expect on 700+)

11:0am - 1:30pm: SC-2 (Advanced concepts including test strategies and flashcards)

1:30pm - 2pm: Lunch

2:00pm - 4:00pm: RC-2 (How to answer without understanding everything)

4:00pm onwards: Diagnostic Test & review answers

Post Camp:

This contact program is followed by a period of mentorship from our side till you take your GMAT. This includes an exlusive email id to send your queries plus option of having a personal session with the experts anytime till you take the test.

Registration: Please call on 9886212835/9886241819 to confirm your participation. Alternately, hit the enquiry link on www.crackverbal.com and someone will get back to you.

Cost: Rs.3000/- paid at time of registration. This all inclusive for the entire program- taxes, food, class handouts etc.

New Website up & running

2006-12-08T02:20:00.000-08:00

Finally, I got it done. A new website has been up & running for somedays now. The url is:

www.crackverbal.com

Please let me know your comments/feedback once you have a look at it.

I know there are many points to improve upon. But to give a background I got it done in less than 3hours - coming up with a name, registration of the domain name, building the site, getting server space, creating email ids, typing out the content and finally publishing it.

Before you hit upon any conclusion regarding my ingenuity and start passing undeserved compliments let me tell you that I had started my own business in 1997 - making webpages. I would like to call 1997 - as the pre-google era. With limited bandwidth and arcane UIs we struggled hard writing HTML and JavaScript codes into textpads before previewing it on Netscape (yep! IE still had just a 5% market share). There were infact no good resources and I relied heavily on a kind soul called Joe Barta, who among technical stuff also taught me how to make things simple and interesting. (www.pagetutor.com). I even started a company - www.eximlookup.com. In those days, businessplans would come up on the back of a paper-napkin and companies would start out overnight. Unfortunately for all the enthusiasm and energy I had, I lacked skills which on hindsight were more important than knowing HTML.

Which brings me to my other part - what is happening with the GMAT Verbal Bootcamp? To put it in a nut-shell - Everything under control. I probably bring in a lot more in terms of perspective, teaching experience, people management, marketing and most importantly gumption & chutzpah 10years after my first failed venture. And it shows! I have had about 22 students so far. One of the faculties has got an admit to Darden. And more importantly I see more enquiries flowing in then when I started of.

I will use this blog from now on to write more thoughts than to focus just on publicizing the GMAT Bootcamp. I am sure a lot of you might be happy to hear that.

GMAT Bootcamp in November

2006-11-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

Date: 12th & 19th of November 2006

Venue:
Harsha Hotel & Convention Center,
Park Road, Bangalore - 560001
Phone : +91-80-22865555/66
(3-star hotel about 2kms from MGRoad and not hard to find)

Schedule of bootcamp:

12th November (Sunday)

9:00am onwards: Diagnostic Verbal

9:30am - 10am: GMAT Introduction (with tea/snacks)

10:00am - 1:00pm: CR-1 (Strong fundamentals to crack 2/3rd of CR questions on the GMAT)

1:00pm - 1:30pm: Lunch

1:30pm - 4:00pm SC - 1 (Power-packed foundation session covering concepts & strategies)

4:00- 6:00pm: RC-1 (How to understand without reading everything, advanced reading techniques)

19th November (Sunday)

9:00am - 11:00am: CR-2 (Focussing on advanced concepts - what to expect on 700+)

11:0am - 1:30pm: SC-2 (Advanced concepts including test strategies and flashcards)

1:30pm - 2pm: Lunch

2:00pm - 4:00pm: RC-2 (How to answer without understanding everything)

4:00pm onwards: Diagnostic Test 2 & review answers

Post Camp:

This contact program is followed by a period of mentorship from our side till you take your GMAT. This includes an exlusive email id to send your queries plus option of having a personal session with the experts anytime till you take the test.

Registration: Please call on 9886212835/9886241819 to confirm your participation. Alternately, drop a mail at gmatbootcamp[AT]gmail.com with your contact details.

Cost: Rs.3000/- paid at time of registration. This all inclusive for the entire program- taxes, food, class handouts etc.

Some pictures from the bootcamp

2006-10-11T05:45:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from the class on 8th Oct (psst....thats me teaching ;)

Bootcamp DAY 1

2006-10-09T02:30:00.000-07:00

Day 1 got over yesterday. I was very pleased overall with the way it went. Spending 11hours inside a room with 10 other people helped in forging a personal bond. It is exciting to actually see people who I had spoken to earlier on the phone. Nice to put a picture on a name.

Harsha hotel (Tiger Trails) seems to be a very nice place - everything was arranged when I came in the morning including bottles of water and a jar of mints on each seat. It had a nice U-shaped arrangement around the whiteboard. Nice huge white-boards and markers of different colors. Something the consultant in me loved. I am known for impressive white-boarding skills ;)

There was some shuffle in the plan. We started off with CR - a marathon 4-hour session taken by yours truely. We spent almost 2 hours focussing on the basics - looking just at stimulus and figuring out the conclusion, premise and assumption AND diagramming. The next 2 hours we did close to 2 dozen questions practising the concepts on actual application - "real" GMAT questions on Find assumption/conclusion, strengthen/weaken arguments.

We broke for lunch at 2pm, a good 1-hour off schedule. Lunch was served in the same board room. Not bad but not sure it's 3-star quality.

Post-lunch session was SC. An unconventional way to approach it - we never discussed the rules of grammar. That is for day 2. Rohit Dhingra (GMAT - 740) took the session focussing more on stuff like style (clarity, concision), idioms and also conventional things like subject-verb agreement and pronouns.

Finally, at 6pm I started off with RC. A challenge which required me to draw on my decade-long teaching experience to engage the students into another long session on RC - focussing purely on how to attack the passage and types of question - individual approach to each question type. Next class, I promise, would be a lot more interesting with special emphasis on "What to do if you have 3mins to finish a RC passage ?" :)

Closed a long day (11-hours) with a feedback session. Its very important me to get a "feel" of how things went so I can use that to alter the next sessions. The response has been positive and I hope my excitement and passion for GMAT rubs into the students :)

Thanks to everyone who has been supportive of this venture. It has been tough at times to pull it off all by myself. Right from content & delivery to marketing & logistics. But now that the first step has been taken, I am sure things would be a lot smoother.

Another piece of good news was I have a new partner joining in. He is as passionate and and as dedicated to teaching as I am. A verbal raw score of 48 to boot ;)

Arun

Bootcamp Starts in Bangalore on 8th & 15th October

2006-10-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

Date: 8th & 15th of October 2006

Venue:
Golden Tulip Conference Hall,
Harsha Hotel & Convention Center,
Park Road, Bangalore - 560001
Phone : +91-80-22865555/66
(3-star hotel about 2kms from MGRoad and not hard to find)

Schedule of bootcamp:

8th October (Sunday)

9:30am onwards: Tea & Snacks

10am - 11am: Diagnostic Verbal + GMAT Introduction

11am - 1:30pm: SC - 1 (Power-packed foundation session covering concepts & strategies)

1:30pm - 2pm: Lunch

2pm - 4:30pm: CR-1 (Strong fundamentals to crack 2/3rd of CR questions on the GMAT)

4:30pm - 5:00pm: High-tea

5:00pm - 6:30pm: RC-1 (How to understand without reading everything, advanced reading techniques)

15th October (Sunday)

9:30am onwards: Tea & Snacks

10am - 1:30pm: SC-2 (Advanced concepts including test strategies and flashcards)

1:30pm - 2pm: Lunch

2pm - 4:00pm: CR-2 (Focussing on advanced concepts - what to expect on 700+)

4:00pm - 4:30pm: High-tea

4:30pm - 6:30pm: RC-2 (How to answer without understanding everything)

6:30pm onwards: Diagnostic Test 2 & review answers

Post Camp:

We would be collecting personal details and our panel of experts would devise a personalized plan. This is followed by a period of mentorship from our side till you take your GMAT. This includes an exlusive email id to send your queries plus option of having a personal session with the experts anytime till you take the test.

Registration: Please call on 9886212835/9886241819 to confirm your participation. Alternately, drop a mail at gmatbootcamp[AT]gmail.com with your contact details.

Cost: Rs.3000/- paid at time of registration. This all inclusive for the entire program- taxes, food, class handouts etc.

GTTPQ - GMAT Bootcamp

2006-09-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Whenever Im rambling about anything, my old friends usually retort - GTTPQ, which means Get To The Point Quickly !

Let me do the same about the GMAT Bootcamp

(1) When is it and where will it be held ?

October 7th & 8th. Venue is in the process of being finalized - should be in central Bangalore.

(2) How do I register ?

Registrations will be on-the-spot. We will be accepting the money (Rs.3000/-) in cash and you would be asked to fill a form which we would have for our own records.

(3) Who are the other people behind this ?

There are 4 people currently behind this venture other than I - Keya (GMAT-770), Iday (GMAT-750), Neha (GMAT-770) and Rohit (GMAT-740). They would not only be the driving force behind the content and the delivery mechanism, they will also act as facilitators/guides/mentors during the entire period till you take the GMAT.

(4) When will the bootcamp happen again ?

The 1st and 2nd Sundays of each month starting November. I will be up with the spanking new website soon - by end of this week. All the details including registration form will be put up then.

(5) What is the name of this venture ?

I am too busy working on the course so haven't had time to think about it. Possibly you can suggest. Shoot a mail to gmatbootcamp [AT] gmail.com, else call me on my number.

(6) What about Quant ?

Right now, we want to focus on our core competency - Verbal. Including a 3-hour session on advanced math concepts (Inequalities, P&C, Statistics etc.) is on the anvil.

(7) What about helping in Quant and AWA ?

Needless to say every aspect of your GMAT prep is covered through the course. This includes quant and AWA. All you need to do is pick up the phone dial or shoot a mail. You will always have an answer for each of your questions.

(8) Are you full-time faculty ? What are your credentials ?

I hold a Bachelors degree in Science and Masters degree in Computers, and work as an Account Manager for a software product-based company. Teaching has been my passion and have been doing it for over a decade now (yes I'm relatively "old"). I have been teaching at various places including ZAP Infotech, Aptech, IMS, Career Launcher etc. earning a reputation for passionate instruction and personalized delivery. I go under the name Psychodementia in pagalguy.com and have close to 2000 posts over the last 3years.

(9) What is the material you will be getting during the course ?

The class is almost entirely exercise-driven and would compose of:

(a) Class exercise - Questions would be from OG 11. We would cover the entire OG 11 book in the course of the 2 days.

(b) Handouts - These would be simplified notes that would supplement the content taught in the class.

(c) Books - Please contact me over mail/phone to know more about this.

(10) Is there are any guarantees for a great score ?

What we guarantee is the best faculty, the best content and the best support model in the GMAT prep industry right now. However, as with other things, nothing in life can be achieved without hard-work. We will show you the way but it then has to be your own persistence and passion with the test which will help you excel.

Please let me know if any other questions need to be answered, I can update this post.

The die is cast

2006-09-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

Yes ! Finally, the wait is over (how conceited to think that people were actually waiting for this :)

The camp (its not "classes") would happen at a central location in Bangalore, on the first weekend of each month.

Details:

Date: October 7th & 8th (Saturday & Sunday)

Time: 10am (I don't wake up early on weekends) to
7pm (Just before the happy hours in the bars get over)

Venue: To be declared

Here are the details (in no particular order)

(a) 12 hours of intensive Verbal prep camp. 6 hours each day over 2 days.

(b) The best approaches to each problem area that the publishing and the internet world has to offer. The entire program will be exercise driven and class handouts will be used for ample practice. Over the course of the 2 days the aim to is to solve atleast a few hundred problems.

(c) A welcome kit will be couriered to everyone registering for the course, which will explain in detail what they need to come with, what they can expect, what they will need prepare themselves, how to maximize from the camp etc.

(d) There will be a short diagnostic test on Saturday morning and another one on Sunday morning to quantify the improvement you show through just 2 days of intensive focussed study.

(e) The day would like this (subject to change):

Day 1:
------

GMAT Orientation - 10am to 10:30am

Diagnostic Test - 10:30am to 11am

Sentence Correction 1 - 11am to 1pm

Lunch - 1pm to 2pm

Critical Reasoning 1 - 2pm to 4pm

Tea Break - 4pm to 4:30pm

Reading Comprehension 1 - 4:30pm to 6:30pm

Day 2:
------

Sentence Correction 2 - 10am to 1pm (okay you *will* have a short break)

Lunch - 1pm to 2pm

Critical Reasoning 2 - 2pm to 4pm

Tea Break - 4pm to 4:30pm

Reading Comprehension 2 - 4:30pm to 5:30pm

Diagnostic Test 2 - 5:30pm to 6:30pm

General Discussion - 6:30pm onwards

(f) The camp size would be small and focus would be on individual progress. There would be a seperate tracker maintained to analyze your problem areas. Then, the board of advisors (panel of distinguished GMAT takers - with an average score hovering around the 99th percentile) would work up a personalized plan for you to follow depending on when you plan to take the test.

(g) There would be a special email id sent to you after the camp where you can mail the doubts and difficulty you encounter during your preparation. The turn-around time for the answers would be less than 24hours along with a detailed explanation. Initially there is no restriction on the number of questions you can post.

(h) At any point before your test you are free to have a personal discussion regarding your progress. A detailed analysis of what you have to do (or what you need to avoid) will be given within the next 2 to 3 days after consulting with our board of advisors.

(i) If for some reason you feel you did not score as much as required in your GMAT in the Verbal section and wish to take it again, the next camp will be free of cost to you (if you promise not to open your mouth and give out all the answers).

(j) Moreover, we would be providing you with all material you might require during your prep (but hey - you need to pay for the books) as well as giving you pointers about where to get the best prep material on the internet. Yes, we also include maths here.

(k) Tips regarding college selection, how to plan your application, reviewing your draft essays, where to apply etc will be provided. This is more on an advisory basis. This is, needless to say, free of cost to students in the first three batches (Oct-Nov-Dec) only.

(l) The faculties as well as members of the advisory board are geniune people - all of whom have scores in the 700 range. Many of them in the 99th percentile. The content of the camp presentation as well as the delivery mechanism has been prepared taking all the inputs of people who have "been-there-and-done-that" to ensure optimal learning curve.

(m) Yes, I know you have been waiting to hear this. The course fee is Rs.3000/- paid by cash (I can refer you to the nearest ATM incase you present me a cheque).

(n) Those inquisitive can join the 1st session *free of cost* by prior appointment. If they make the payment then and there, they can (obviously) attend the rest of the course. Or else they are free to walk out with whatever little they learned.

If you want to register or know more, call either of these numbers: 9886212835 or 9886241819. Or alternately mail gmatbootcamp [AT] gmail.com

Arun

GMAT Prep Classes

2006-09-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Firstly, let us explore why you want to do a prep class in the first place ? Not just for GMAT but for anything else in life ?

There are 2 reasons methinks:

(a) "I-don't-know-what-I-don't-know". This is the area where most candidates get lost. You don't want to touch that book if you are going to waste 1 week getting no where. You don't want to focus 3 weeks wasting your precious time on a testing area when you could rather be spending that time watching TV or playing with your dog. And worst of all, you do not want to be "surprised" on the test day and have a wish-I-knew-that-before feeling about your prep *after* the test. 12,000 bucks is a lot of money at the end of the day.

(b) "Don't boil the ocean". I keep saying this all the time. In my job. At home. And this is the single guiding principle in my life. Never do more than what you are supposed to do to get the job done. Yes, you can read all the stuff on the net. Yes, you can finish off Kaplan Verbal Workbook, Kaplan Quant Workbook, Kaplan 800, Kaplan Higher Score, Princeton Review's Cracking the GMAT, OG 10, OG 11, OG Math workbook, OG Quant workbook, Spidey's notes, Saahil's notes, 1000 SC, 1000 RC, 100 CRs .......... phew AND go through pagalguy.com, sentencecorrection.com, scoretop.com, gmatclub.com, 800score.com ........... you can go ahead and crack a great score. Heck, if you have time to spend doing all this AND 6months without a job then go ahead. You do not need a prep class.

What a prep class does for you is simple. It keeps you on the "straight and narrow". It tells you exactly what you need to do and how you go about doing that. It tells you what are the best stuff out there you need to hit. It gives you a personal plan followed by a backup for resolving your queries. It gives you faculties who know the game inside out - who have been there & done that.

But do the prep companies in India right now do that ? Can you ask your faculties questions and be confident that you will have the answers you are looking for ? Do you think they are giving the best of the material or just trying to push their own course material ? Worse - do you think some of the techniques they use might not be useful and you want to pick up something else but are constrainted by propreitary issues ? Do you think they have turned a blind eye towards the effect of the Internet on GMAT over the last 2-3 years ?

As someone who knows the game (a 700-score is just a part of it - people who know me on online forums know that I talk sense - be it CAT or GMAT), I am apalled at the fundamental flaws in these test prep institutes across India. The only reason I think is that the GMAT pie (a few thousands across India) is far too less than the CAT pie (potentially 2.25 lakhs students each year and growing) for them to invest in this. The way it looks they are never going to get to GMAT *ever*. Money matters. Not the content/delivery.

So lets look at the issues:

(a) Excessive stress on tips and tricks and not on actual content:

Any guy with a decent GMAT score will vouch that the questions you see in the 700+ range cannot be tackled by using just POE and some "strategy". One needs to be a lot more discipline and *has* to know the underlying theory and approach.

Food for thought 1: How about a prep class which gives you all the know-how about each subject area that you want ? How about the institute equipping you with all the tools required and a personal plan to chart out your path to that 700+ score ?

(b) Focus on the frills:

Out of 14-16 classes typically for GMAT prep, typically 2 will be wasted on AWA (which methinks can be done in less than fifteen mins plus practice at home). Another 4 will be on Quant. Ask yourself, do you really need to attend classes for quant ? I feel, on a bad day, most Indian would get a 47/48. Its just pushing your score closer to 50/51. And in anycase coaching classes never get above covering basic concepts. The tough P&C and inequalities are just skirted through for 15mins. Rest of the time is spent learning concepts like odd X odd = odd etc.

Food for thought 2: How about having just classes for Verbal ? No AWA. No Quant. Going for just what you need. No excess flab. Just lean meat.

(c) Copyright issues:

There are hardly any sessions on the more advanced topics. Thirdly, all classes have a huge constraint thanks to the copyright issues. So a PR/Kaplan can never give you the best approach for say SC, though some of its technique might be the best for CR. Manhattan might offer you the solace for SC. But will coaching classes tell you that ?

Food for thought 3: How about a institute which tells you "Look this is best way to solve this kind of a problem" - across all the stuff available out there ? An institute which does not shirk away from naming the big brands if it feels it will help *you* the candidate.

(d) Ignoring the Internet:

What has happened over the last few years is that there are a plethora of resources out there on the net Spidey's/Saahil's/Panchi's notes etc. No one ever tells you which one is good and least of all says how to plan out your prep with these in mind. The fact is since the faculties themselves have never taken GMAT they themselves don't know what is good.

Food for thought 4: How about getting links and notes from the internet (no copyright violation) ? An institute which does not fear using the internet as a resource to gleam the best practises across testing areas ?

(e) Faculties:

Walk into the Kaplan and Princeton Review offices and ask the faculties if they have taken the GMAT themselves. I have been a part of Princeton Review and Kaplan at some point and I know for a fact the quality of teaching of the other staff. You will have faculties walking into the SC class with a Wren & Martin in hand !! That is for high-school not GMAT.

Food for thought 5: How about faculties with an average score in excess of 700, with indepth knowledge of the testing process ? How about those who are passionate for education and teaching and are not in it just for the money ?

(f) Time:

Though it might not look that way but sacrificing every weekend for the next one and a half to two months and commuting to the classroom is something one needs to consider seriously. Do you really want to do that ? Leaving you with barely any time to spend with those books. Leaving you with absolutely no time to take the full-length tests which you *must*. Why can't they wrap it up fast ? How about 1 weekend of prep which teaches you everything you need to know about the content and equips you with all the tools to crack the test.

Food for thought 6: How about a prepping institute which says "look this is all there is to know, let me not waste more time and charge bigger bucks for this. Good bye" An institute which requires you to commit just 12hours spread over 2 days ? An institute which will help chart your personalized plan so you no longer have to change your priorities in life.

(f) Cost:

Finally, the most important point is, all this is fine if it were to come cheap. But for 20,000 bucks for a prolonged 2month weekend course, its freaking expensive. You are paying for what ? Free online tests when you already have over a dozen free tests ? For some dumb books which you probably dont want in the first place ? For some fancy infrastructure like PCs when you can always download the software to your machine and take it from the comfort of your home ? For fancy classrooms and fancy faculties who are unproven themselves ? 2 months of weekend for what can be covered a lot sooner ? What would be a price you would pay for a very structured and unique class-room delivery mechanism ? What would you expect from a proven expert on GMAT test taking (and MBA apping) faculty ? What time can you cover the entire Verbal portion of GMAT in coaching ? What would you be needing to equip yourself to tackle the test ? Think about it and let me know what you want (this is open to all) and let me reply to that.

Food for thought 7: An institute which says if you want to pay 20,000+ (the market rate) then go ahead and take the GMAT twice rather than paying for prep. An institute which brings in an Air Deccan no-frills model into test prepration. Gives you all of the above for the cost of a 2-meal drinks & dinner at Koshy's ?

So why the heck am I writing this blog ? Because I want to fix this problem. I am committed to changing the way people view GMAT test prep.

I getting in GMAT test prep in a way that has never been done before - in India or in the world. And I am sure that this is going to "revolutionize" the way GMAT prep is seen in India.

Watch this space for my plan.

GMAT Scoring demystified ..... atleast partly

2006-08-22T02:11:00.000-07:00

Let us deal the top 3 questions on GMAT scoring one by one.

(1) How does the GMAT CAT work ? How does it figure which questions to ask ?

If you have not already done so, please do go through this page:

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/gmat-and-related-discussions/16716-manhattangmat-how-gmat-finds-your.html

It is amazing to see the Master from Manhattan take the entire scoring process apart. A must read for anyone wanting to peek into the intracasies.

Now, that you know how the questions pop up, we go to the next question:

(2) For given RAW scores what would be the corresponding scores ?

Here is a nice little table to compute your scaled scores, given that you have Q and V raw scores:

Q+V Raw Score ScaledScore
48-50 400
49-51 420
51-53 430
52-54 440
54-56 450
55-57 460
56-58 470
59-60 480
61-62 490
62-63 500
62-63 510
62-64 520
63-64 530
65-66 540
66-67 550
67-69 560
68-71 570
69-72 580

70-72 590

71-73 600

72-75 610

73-76 620

74-77 630

75-78 640

76-79 650

78-81 660

79-81 670

81-83 680

81-83 690

82-86 700

84-86 710

85-87 720

87-90 730

89-90 740
90-91 750

92-93 760

94-96 770

96-98 780

97-100 790

100-101 800

Remember that GMAT looks for your expertise across areas. Which means if you make similar mistakes in the same subject area your overall scaled score will be lower than an other person who uniformaly distributes his mistakes in all the subject area. For example, my Q+V raw score is 87, but scaled score is not 720 (according to above table). So use the above table more to estimate with a fair degree of accuracy where your scaled scores would be.

Now, let us get to the third problem:

(3) How many mistakes can I afford in each section ?

Now, this is a slightly tricky question as it is not just the number of mistakes per se, but also 2 other factors which need to be considered:

Frequency of the mistakes: If you get questions wrong one after the other, you are in greater risk than if you distribute your mistakes over a range. For example, lets say, from questions 21 to 30 there are 2 candidates X and Y and their frequency of mistakes is: X marks the wrong answers for questions 22, 26 and 29, while Y marks the wrong ones for 23,24,25. Then Y would be penalized heavier than X.
Position of the mistakes: Has been said a gazillion times before, but the first 10 odd questions have a greater variation/fluctuation while assessing your score than the questions towards the end. Think about it. If you want to guage a person in an interview you start out asking the "average" questions if he cannot answer those, you would immediately drop down to the "basic" ones and it would be a long time before you could throw anything challenging at him. Whereas if he answered all the average ones you would pose him the "difficult" ones and it would be a long, long series of wrongs answers before you get fed up and start asking him "basic" questions.

However, it is possible for very high scores (read as "very few mistakes") to show with a fair degree of accuracy what the association between mistakes and RAW scores. The following data I found from the net to be fairly representative:

Verbal
# mistakes score
0-1 51
2-4 50-45
5-7 40-44
8-13 39-35

Quant
# mistakes score
0-2 51
3-5 50
6-1 49
11-14 48

Now that you know how GMAT scoring works, go ahead and hit those GMATPreps and PowerPreps !! All the best !

GMAT FAQs

2006-08-09T02:03:00.000-07:00

Note: I had created this post as a document shortly after I took my GMAT last year in November. I thought it would be better read/shared if its here.

GMAT FAQs is conversation between Arun (AJ) and his alter-ego Psychodementia (PD)

PD: Firstly, tell us you claim to fame. Why would anyone want to read the crap you throw at us?

AJ: I agree that I am unlike a Twinsplitter who got a 790 but I feel that I am an average guy who struggled through college math and is a non-native speaker of English. I am, what Princeton Review, would call a “Joe Bloggs”. However, unlike Joe who would have got a 600 in this test, I ended up with a 700 (Q-49/V-38) in Nov 2005. I had taken this test 3 years ago - with far less prep (around 3 weeks with no OG ) and ended up with a 640 (Q-47/V-31). This clearly shows that with proper prep you can beat the system.

PD: We love numbers, so gives us some statistical pizzazz.

AJ:

Okay, Number of weeks of prep = 8 weeks
Number of weeks of “solid” prep = 4weeks
Number of hours of study = 180hours (appox)
Number of tests taken = 13 full-length GMAT-CATs
The Joy of reaching the 7-mark = Priceless !

PD: Quit kidding, you studied all those hours and just got a 700?

AJ: I have mentioned this before and shall repeat it again. I am just an average guy who performs below average on the test day. I had to raise the bar as much as possible for me to reach this. There could be people who will read for a few weeks and get a 770 and a few who slog for six months and end up with a 610. This brings me to my philosophy- everyone has a range within which he/she will perform. What needs to be seen through the preparation is how consistently you are able to reach the top end of the range. So on the day of the test you are able to reach the maximum of your potential.

PD: What is the “range” of a person? Can’t you increase this “range” by preparing more, studying harder and taking more tests; in short doing the Full Monty?

AJ: Here is the good news: You can easily increase your GMAT scores by a few hundred points from the time you start your prep. The bad news is there is no way you can improve it beyond a certain point. This is, to quote the Peterson’s principle, your GMAT point of incompetence. Let me explain:

(1) The golden rule of GMAT: I think anything that has to do with such kind of aptitude is calibrated on a scale. The scale itself is never wrong just that the calibrations at times a bit blurred. So though it safe to predict ranges it is never easy to predict exact scores. For that reason, I think every one taking GMAT should know their "range". The range of scores with the worst-day score as a lower boundary point and best-day score as the upper boundary point. I would like to think of my range as 670-750, which means on the worst day I could end up with score a 670 (anything below that I should shoot myself) and up to 80points more depending on which side of the bed I get up in the morning. Also this is a bell-shaped curve peaking at around the 710 mark. Which means that is my median score. I ended up pretty close to it. Pretty dangerously close, I might add. Having said that, I feel that one should realize this as soon as they start their prep. Possibly within the first few weeks. And once that is done, should hone to make this median their mode rather than mean. I know this is statistical hocuspocus which I am dishing out after my own GMAT. In simple words it means focus on getting a 710 in each test rather than pushing the upper boundary point of my score towards the 800 mark (and consequently in that effort, fall below the 700 mark). The reason being there is only so much one can do from a preparation point of view. So, consistency is the key. I desperately tried to cross the 700 mark each time. I succeeded in 10 out of the 13 efforts which is not too bad. I kept this going till the 22nd November. Its not the best prepared who wins the war, it is the guy who is tougher on that day.

(2) Prep v/s Scores: We are fed with this idea that "practise makes a man perfect" right from the time we are knee-high. And miraculously this is actually true. Most of the toppers we have known right through our childhood have been of the geeky varieties who have been sitting in secluded corners of their rooms mugging up all their waking hours. Our belief is just confirmed when that odd-ball genius comes up and licks the field clean. If a majority is like me, we convince ourselves that our genius does not lie in the cognitive field. So the only recourse is to work harder to see better results. Then once in a while in life we meet exams like the CAT and GMAT when this entire philosophy goes out of the window. I strongly believe that once the basics are in place, then no amount of prep can actually help your transcend a particular barrier. The sad fact is that a lot of us from say vernacular medium might never cross the 99th percentile in verbal or the 40 raw score in GMAT verbal. But then that is the truth. A quantitatively challenged guy like me has got 90.xx twice in CAT but can never equal a Phillip Jacob, a TDubey , Vikuboss or a Pendyal EVER. Give me a month, a year, a decade. I just cannot do it. That is the truth. So the first thing that I told myself getting into this prep is choose the best material available out there and stick with it

PD: Okay smart guy you talk too much. The readers now want you get to the dirty details. What is the “best material” out there?

AJ: Again this is a very subjective thing as my natural levels in quant and verbal might be more/less than what the other person might have. But according to me following is the best out there, and for a reason. Let me bucket in the various categories.

PROBLEM SOLVING:
Kaplan Higher Score CD CBT: Went through the basics from here. Did the 4/5 practice exercises (22 questions and about 25minutes). Helped develop a basic approach of plugging in values, back-solving, re-reading the question stem etc.

OG 10th / 11th Edition: I went through the 10th and don’t know if the 11th had things any different. I did questions from 1-100 and got 0 mistakes. Then started from 200-441. I ended up with around 15% mistakes in all. Many of which were silly errors. I had taken a printout of this OG Answer Sheet

I would then use different colors of highlighting for questions that I got wrong and questions I found tough. In the end, I reviewed only these questions. Rather the concepts underlying these questions.

Kaplan800. The best book for harder questions. To take an example from Xbox’s Halo, if others are “normal” this is “legendary” J My advice is to invest in this book for sure.

DATA SUFFICIENCY:

Kaplan Higher Score CD CBT: Went through the basics from here. Did the 3 practice exercises (22 questions and about 25minutes).

OG 10th/ 11th Edition: I would advice you to go through the last 100. And if required all the questions. I went through all. The concepts tested are the same as problem solving but the hitch here is that the answers might be tricky. Used same technique as mentioned in PS.

Kaplan800. Did it thoroughly.

SENTENCE CORRECTION:

Started off with the Kaplan Higher Score CD. After the basics, I was getting barely 12/13 rights out of 22/25 questions. Utterly frustrating because I was not able to keep a tab on ALL the damn rules in grammar that were being tested.

OG 10th/ 11th Edition: I cannot emphasize the importance of this book enough. I spent close to 22hours reviewing each question and the answers provided in the end. This is the best bet you have for SC in the actual GMAT. I would advice everyone to make notes, flashcards, whatever that helps them retain the information. And more importantly, revise all the 268 questions a week before the test. I felt I missed slightly by not doing this.

Manhattan SC Guide: Yes, the book that everyone talks about but few have seen J. This is indeed a valuable resource because it clearly elucidates concepts in GMAT-Land not found elsewhere. Also, it categorizes the OG questions into 8 clean buckets. I would study the concept and then tackle the questions involved. Again the printout-highlighter method mentioned above.
Internet Notes: Spidey’s and Saahil’s SC Notes. Actually Sumeet Thakur had collated all the notes in one place so had gone through that. But essentially it was a compilation of these and other stuff on the net.
Princeton Review: I used to go through it for fun. Like reading a comic book. Especially the verbal concept. It helps explain stuff in a fun manner. But this is for questions in the 30-range in verbal. Does not equip you for the 40+ range. But fun reading all the same.

Kaplan Verbal Workbook: Though I would have loved to proclaim that I have been through it completely, I profess I did not. Primarily because a lot of questions from the Kaplan Higher Score CD were repeated here. Just went through the concepts.

CRITICAL REASONING:

OG: I got a remarkable accuracy in the first 172 questions – almost 95%+. But from that point I made a huge number of mistakes. I don’t know if my mental makeup while taking it was poor or the questions were genuinely difficult. Still, remember 172. Again, important to go through it with the printout-highlighter method.

Kaplan Higher Score CD/Kaplan Verbal Workbook: Went through this during the initial week of my prep. It would hold you in good stead to go through the basics. I consider myself strong in CR so didn’t worry too much about the basics. But incase you do need to go through stuff, you won’t need to look beyond it.

Kaplan800. Anything I say here would be redundant.

READING COMPREHENSION:

OG: Don’t try this at home. I did about 5 passages in all. Quickly figured that there was little I could do with isolated practice. My CAT prep was enough.
Kaplan800. Went through 2-3 passages. That’s it.

Princeton Review: Niet.

Kaplan Higher Score CD/Verbal Workbook: Nix

PD: Whoa! Are you a Shakespeare-reborn? Do you read voraciously?

AJ: Far from it. I have completed only 10 books in my life. My entire life!! In fact each of them took me over a month to complete. There are only 2 books that I have read cover to cover – “The 10-minute manager” and “Who moved my cheese?” in one sitting.

This is exactly my point. Different strokes for different folks. What worked for me might not necessarily work for you. So remember to take my (or anyone’s) advice with a pinch of reality salt. My take on RC is that everyone knows the rule. I had high focus on easier passages. For the denser ones I relied on the process of elimination and regression (reverting to the passage to cross-check the answers). A majority of my practice was through the full-length tests that I took.

PD: Finally you blabbered less. Okay now tell us – what’s the deal with the tests?

AJ: I would like to underline the importance to test-taking. Realize that when you do a particular concept from say the Manhattan book and immediately solve a bunch of questions from OG your accuracy is inflated. In an actual test, you are at the fag end of your concentration while you are tackling the questions from 25-41 in the test. A hard SC over there will be infinitely more difficult than taking it in the cool confines of your house. Take as many practice tests as possible. I took just 13. But you can take as many as 20.

Both Powerprep and GMATprep give 2 full-length CATs. The scoring algorithm, the difficulty of questions and more importantly the adaptability of the test is as close to the real GMAT as possible. Coming from the same company (ETS) you cannot go wrong. I really don’t see this situation getting different with Pearsons Education taking over the GMAT administration. The swell thing about them is that you can uninstall and re-install the software to take the tests again. So in all you have around 8 tests here. Unfortunately the questions from OG get repeated here. Which means you should aim to get a lot more in these tests. Maybe you can take 1 AFTER you finish the Kaplan material and BEFORE starting the OG. But even if you finish OG the focus should be on getting all the OG questions right. My scores were:

Powerprep1: 640 (Before any prep and with less than 3hours of sleep the previous nightJ)
Powerprep2: 740 (after OG)
GMATprep1: 710 (Half OG done)
GMATprep1: 700 (OG revision remaining)
GMATprep1: 740 (OG revised)

I was not particularly happy with my performance as after each test I would review and find I had made a lot of silly mistakes. According to me, the key to maximizing ones performance will come only if one can eliminate the errors through oversight. The only errors should be due to lack of conceptual clarity OR improper approach in solving.

I have an old Kaplan CD, dating back to 2002. It is totally different than the ones Kaplan produced after 2004. Here even having a high number of mistakes yielded very high scores. I remember getting a 42 in verbal after making 15 mistakes. I took a total of 3 tests:

Kaplan Test 1: 710
Kaplan Test 2: 700
Kaplan Test 3: 760

Princeton Review really let me down. The tests had an irritating ID number coming up on each question. The higher the ID numbers the more difficult the question. Also, it gave progressively difficult questions till you finally made a mistake. Also, according to PR the only way to nail a test-taker is by giving questions which are ambiguous, un-ETS-like and calculation intensive. Also, the scoring algorithm was weird to say the least. I took all the 4 tests:

Princeton Review 1: 650 (My first sub-700 score, this was during the initial days. Maybe around the 2nd week of prep)
Princeton Review 2: 640 (It was thoroughly frustrating. The lowest I ever scored after starting my prep.)
Princeton Review 3: 690 (This was a farce. I had prepped hard to cross the 700-mark. 4 mistakes in Quant gave me a raw score of 44 :( )
Princeton Review 4: 730 (Took it in the last 10 days. I had no hopes of crossing 700. Surprise)

I also took a one-off test from Cambridge Review. I though the test was extremely good. It very closely simulates the actual test. I ended up with a range (not a score) of 710-750.

PD: 13 tests and an average of about 703. Wow you are a real joker -- that’s real close to the actual scores. What were your key take-aways from the test?

AJ: Save one of them, I took all the tests without attempting the AWA section. On hindsight, though I saved precious time I was not able to stress myself as much as I should have. But I took it pretty much with as much sincerity as the actual test - taking it without breaks. Except the odd phone calls which have messed up some of my scores. But it has been compensated by the fact that I was in a comfortable environment at home. But I think I pretty much built up some stamina to take two consecutive sections of 37 and 41 questions. I also built an ability to estimate the pace at which I should answer the questions (which eventually I screwed up on the day of the test). No amount of practice can compensate for taking tests.

Secondly, there is another aspect to it. I used to analyze pretty thoroughly. I used to build up patterns of my mistakes and try categorizing it into different buckets. I also used to kick myself in the butt for getting a question wrong if it were a silly mistake. I remember being extremely harsh on myself even on getting a 760 because there were questions which I could have definitely avoided. This is a sense of aggressiveness you should have while taking the test. You should not be complacent or get unduly scared on seeing the 3-digit number. What matters at the end of the day is what you have learned from it and how effectively you can utilize that information. The more mistakes you make, remember, the wiser you get.

PD: Given you knew you had a range [680-750]; did you set any standards of dunce for yourself before each test? Did you meet them?

AJ: My only challenge for each test was, as I have mentioned above, to get atleast a 700. But my more important challenges, which came through in the last week or so were:

(A) No silly mistakes in Quant. Which means re-read the question stem and backsolve once to confirm the answer choice.

(B) If you know the right answer in Verbal, you should also be confident why the rest of the 4 is wrong.

As long as I was not making these mistakes I was happy. I obviously didn’t meet the target each time but I progressively improved. Towards the end I was making fewer mistakes then when I started off. The whole process is a culmination of what you have learned over a period of time. It just cannot be improved unless you identify mistakes, rectify them and ensure you don’t repeat it in future.

PD: Okay you have spoken enough. Now give us a short and sweet preparation plan. We don’t have time to waste on figuring through the large volumes of crap you just threw.

AJ: Unfortunately, GMAT is a lot to do with perseverance and dedication. There are times when the days might seem long but you need to be consistent in your prep. Put in at least 2 hours everyday, come rain, hail or high waters (or whatever the original phrase was). This is absolutely essential. I don’t think GMAT is cracked by someone who slogs for 12hours a day for a week. Rather a guy who puts in a couple of hours everyday for a month.

Though there is no cookie-cutter solutions for anything in life, I would propose the following 2-month plan for someone who gets around the 600-mark in the GMAT diagnostic.

Take GMAT Powerprep – as a diagnostic test. Give yourself a feel of GMAT, type of questions, importance of mental stamina, how it gets adaptive – essentially a kind of SWOT analysis.

Week 1: Do basics of Maths/Verbal from the Kaplan prep material. I used the software, you may use the book.

Week 2: Same as above. Take any test to gauge your performance.

Week 3: Buffer

Week 4/5/6/7/8: Basics over. Now do OG and Kaplan800 in each of the areas.

There would be a total of 1500 questions you might end up doing (considering you don’t do around 300 easy questions in OG). Intersperse your prep with visits to various sites http://www.gmatclub.com/, http://www.sentencecorrection.com/, http://www.pagalguy.com/ and various other sites like http://www.beatthegmat.com/, links from http://daveformba.blogspot.com/ and yes of course http://www.google.com/
Also, take at least 3-4 full-length tests during this period. It’s crucial to keep your eye on the larger goal. Not to miss the forest for the trees.

Week9/10/11: Revise OG. Take at least 3-4 more tests.

Week12: Analyze and focus on areas you are making the maximum errors. Chill and prepare yourself mentally. Read GMAT 700 stories

Obviously many have studied for 2 weeks using OG and cracked a 750. But this is under the presumption the test-taker is someone like me.

PD: We are getting to the end of this. Most of the folks have long stopped reading this. In case no one has told you yet, let me break the news: You are extremely boring. Let’s keep this short and simple. Walk us through each key section and tell us what your focus areas were.

AJ: Okay. Let me try putting down the key aspect of each section according to me. The intention is not to give a huge set of links or to replicate the information you can find in any book.

Problem Solving: I am good at algebra and arithmetic. I analyzed my tests and figured that I sucked big time at Permutation-Combination, Probability, Set Theory, Progressions, Geometry and Inequalities using modulus. Key is to know all the concepts and practice like hell. The actual test you should be able to get all the easy and medium level questions correct. The problem was with the tougher questions. This is where miscellaneous resources on the Internet helped me:
GMAT Club’s notes on P&C. Simply the best!!! Within 1hour of reading this I was more confident then ever before.
Bell-curve’s P&C/SetTheory/Probability: This is an amazing resource. Though not all of it is free. I have no clue how good the paid part is. But the trailer surely makes it look like a great deal.
There were some miscellaneous documents that I downloaded from the internet. I will put it up here soon

I also used some old CAT material to brush up concepts. But would not be more than a couple of hours efforts. Realize that CAT and GMAT are 2 different ball games.

Data Sufficiency: There is a link on testmagic (http://www.urch.com/) which contains links to a thread where a guy has posted some really tough DS problems. Those were real good. Apart from that nothing else.

Critical Reasoning: At some point I realized the importance of knowing how to work out the assumption. For example, say you are told that Einstein was a genius because he scored a 150 on the Stanford-Binet scale. The only way to break this argument is to attack the assumption. The assumption here is NOT if Einstein scored that much or if he was a genius or not. The assumption is that anyone scoring above a particular score in that scale is a genius. Even for questions on other areas I used to find the underlying assumption and this greatly helped me. The moment you know the assumption you can strengthen/weaken almost anything. Second point is to remember that most of the answers choices would be “out of scope”. The moment there is some talk about something the passage does not mention; chuck it out of the window. Kaplan800 is invaluable.

Reading Comprehension: Three things to remember (a) Regress to find the actual answers EVEN if you know it (b) Use POE for extremely dense passages (c) Immediately eliminate answer choices which look harsh.

Sentence Correction: OG till you die :P

PD: One last question and be quick answering this: How did you manage to type out this whole stuff?

AJ: The key is that my thinking and typing are totally in sync J. Hence, I have typed this document in less than 2 hours. All the best !!

Whats wrong with IT ?

2006-06-15T02:45:00.000-07:00

I know I could have cooked up a better headline than that, but considering that my writer's block is worse than

I got prompted to write this bit after hearing a whole lot of IT bashing that is happening around. Especially among the starry-eyed 20-somethings, fresh out of college and brimming with an almost adolescent optimism, wanting to conquer the "new" world, slay the mystical monsters that real-world poses. Unfortunately all they end up caught in the same skullduggery that has come to become a trademark of IT today.

However, having said that, let me try widening the perspective by presenting a scenario.

Just imagine you join a company and the only thing you are supposed to do is turn some levers and shafts (that too computerized) and generally monitor the status so nothing goes wrong. There are emergencies once in a blue moon for which you might need to do some firefighting. Else everything else is related to monitoring some numbers (which in turn controls some valves). The job is some remote village in Madhya Pradesh or Gujarat. A company bus that takes to you work at 8am and drops you back at 5pm. There is no computer, no internet .... heck not even a personal phone. Now, add to it, you are slated for a promotion once every 5 years come hail, storm or highwaters. And you know that there is no room for meritocracy and no one above you will move any faster. You come into a company planning to retire there (or atleast spend a few decades). There are no airconditioners in the office. But you had to wear formal clothes - possibly a uniform - blue shirt and gray trousers. Only a rickety old fan that goes ..making a plonk, plonk, plonk sound. And here is the icing on the cake. You get paid about 2000 bucks a month. That too with once a year. No formal appraisal, no one to report your issues to and worst of all, no chance of escaping from this scenario. Everyother company is like this.

Like it ? Niet ? Well, this was a typical job that a fresh engineer would get in any manufacturing company in the early 90s. Not too far off. Just about a 15 years ago. Sounds scary ?

Now let us revisit where we were. A swanky office, fully airconditioned with smart people wearing jeans and sneakers all around. A pay of around 20,000 per month with annual appraisals happening more than once a year. Entirely performance based 360 degree appraisals. Opportunity to travel around the world getting per diems which will help you make a hefty package at the end of the year. More importantly, a work place which gives you an opportunity to be heard if you have a problem - an ombudsman perhaps. Not to mention, 24X7 highspeed internet connections and a personal phone to boot. Proper training program, certifications for which the fees are remitted if you pass it, value addition through a variety of different forums and seminars. And the final deal - an ability to directly deliver to the bottom-line of the company. I mean, I know that I need to fix "n" number of defects before the product can get to the Beta-stage, which means I have to adhere to the SLA, which in turn means I am directly contributing to the revenue of the company by putting in "x" hours per day. Sounds great ? Atleast a lot better than turning knobs not know how you are adding value to the company.

So, I hear the next question "Do I get complacent about whatever crap that is thrown at me without complaining ?" Nope !! I don't want to sound like a "hamare zamaane mein" grandad. The stereotypical Indian engineer is hyper-competitive and never known mediocrity all his life. The best college, the best clothes, the best mobile phone.........so why not the best job ? But what I want to emphasize is that Indian engineers and any other people in the knowledge industry have an opportunity that hitherto unheard. You are at such a junction in time, which anyother era would give an arm and a leg to have. Yet no one seems to be understanding the importance of it. Just another day at office when you return without having learnt a thing at office is going to motivate anyone. Not you, not me, not anyone. That is just human psyche. So do you expect the HR team to come over to your desk and beg and plead you to "grow". Heck, no one cares for that either. If you are out, there are plenty of others to choose from - its common knowledge that India produces the highest number of Engineering graduates each year.

So what does one do about it ? Though I hate putting cookie-cutter solutions, here are some that I have to offer:

(1) Certifications: A great way to establish credentials, learn new stuff and more importantly stay motivated on the job. Choose the technology or the career path that you want to follow and take certifications in it. By itself they won't give you a job. But when supplemented with some real world project experience, they can go a long way in knowing your current (or even potential) employer know that they have people who have skills which can be readily deployed. Maybe there is an onsite opportunity and there are a couple of people marked for that position. A certification would clearly evince your mastery (albeit theoretical) in your area of specialization.

(2) Training programs: Don't just take it, also involve yourself in creating them. I am sure if you have enough bandwidth, requisite experience and good communication skills your company would love to have you on the team which designs these courses. One of my classmate who went onto join Patni. A smart chap, he was bored sitting on bench when projects did not come through (around the slowdown in 2001) and went onto write numerous articles for IT magazines and finally a book on J2EE.

(3) Soft-skills: If there were every a number one factor why people fail to get ahead in career, Im sure "lack of soft-skills" would top the list. And I am taking about a plethora of different things under it - facilitation skills, communication through email/phone, networking, understanding human behavior, doing your own personality assessment to see where you stand. I am sure there are plenty of stuff available in your company intranet or there is always google. Plus, maybe improving your general awareness. Start quizzing. Or maybe pickup a topic and do extensive research on that. "Greeky mythology" for starters. There is no dearth of stuff on the internet. We all know that.

(4) Domain knowledge: Frankly how much about your industry vertical or domain do you really know. There is life beyond pointers in C and objects in Java. Do you want to know more about finance ? How about doing a PG diploma from ICFAI ? Or maybe even taking up one of the exams offered by NSE. All in all, there are various ways in which you can gain competence in any industry though education is not the only (and certainly not the best) way to do it. But heck, that is as good a starting point as any whitepaper. As mentioned in point (2), certifcations have a huge benefit than not having any. It not only looks good on your resume, it also shows people that you learnt things by going through a structured curriculum.

(5) Have a goal: More specifically read it as - Career planning and mentorship. Pick a mentor to bounce ideas off. Either in your own company or from someother place - your professor, neighbourhood uncle etc. Unless you know what to do there is no way you can get there. Once you figure out what you want to do, say 5 years from now - equip yourself with the right skills. If you want to be an architect trying learning design patterns. Try putting up a website where you can share this knowledge. Or maybe what is written in point (2). Infact a lot of what has been written in the previous points is tied closely to this one. This is the lynchpin. Unless you know the destination there is no fun in taking up a journey in the first place. Having a clear goal (which ofcourse can be changed depending on circumstances) gives you something measurable, something tangible and something definitely motivating than any pep-talk.

The usual caveats apply, this is not intended to be a guide "What to do when you are on bench ?". Rather, re-read the subject line and you will understand the original objective of this post. So enjoy work, be happy and have a good night's sleep. IT is good. Not only for the country's economy but also for you and your career. Come to office with this realization and see things around you changing for the better.

Why MBA ?

2006-04-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

Ketan asked me to write my thoughts on this profoundly philosophical question. It is so complicated that people fail to find answers even *after* an MBA. Heck, it makes the Kennedy assasination look like an open and shut case :)

Firstly, look at what an MBA help you achieve. An MBA, is at best a "general management" programme. It is not a specialization even if you choose to take up some electives during the second year. Let me clarify by giving an example. Let us presume that you get to be a CEO, CIO, CFO, CTO ....... in short any CXO, it equips you with general tools and tricks of the trade for you to do your job effectively. Think about it, you will have a dozen CAs working for you, so it is pointless to know the nitty gritty of Mercantile law. You just need to be able to pick up a balance sheet or a P&L statement and make sense. Rather go a step beyond what is the obvious and figure out the subtle implications. You are not expected to even understand each account the marketing team is handling. But you are expected to look at a sales graph and understand what is going right, and more importantly, what is going wrong. You should be able to look at a sales report and figure out what is working and what is not. When the HR teams gives you the attrition rate, you ought to be able to make sense out of it and figure if its okay or not. If not, you should be able to figure out how to plug the leak.

Secondly, if it is a top school it gives you credentials and opportunity to build a network. Someone from IIM-A need not "prove" himself as hard as someone from say Mahaveer Jain Institute of Management Studies. What would otherwise take possibly weeks or even months of hard work from the latter is immediately granted to the former purely on basis of the pedigree of the institute. In a country like India, which is so hung up on academic credentials, it makes a huge impact in opening doors, in giving opportunities, in shortlisting resumes, in impressing interviewers. All the more if it is used along with solid networking. If you have thousands of your
breed out there chauvinistic enough to hire you any day, you already start with a headsup the day you get the admit.

But having said all this, if there is a reason to do an MBA for me it would be more because an MBA affords you an opportunity to take out two years of your life away from the remote corner of your isolated cubicle tucked away on B-wing at the 7th floor of one of the many buildings your company owns, away from the skullduggery of having to deal with socially challenged project managers who thinks working 14hours a day including weekends is what the company pays you for, and more importantly - away from the realization that the rest of your life things are going to be pretty much the same. If you ever felt about doing a Rang de Basanti with your career, MBA seems to have a simple and seductive formulae to effect the change.

Let me quote something that I had written someplace earlier. There are 2 extremes in the work arena. On the left side you have the most productive people (who actually do the work). For eg. a junior programmer spends every second that he is working producing actual code. On the far side you have the non-producers ie. people who produce nothing tangible. At the end of the day they don't grow food, they don't help sick people, they don't write code etc. These are CEOs, lawyers, management partners, program managers etc. But the kick is - the left side gets paid the least and the right side gets paid the most so if you plot $ on the y axis its a 45 degreeline. Almost everyone spend their time trying to traverse that line so the further to the right side you begin the sooner you get where you want to go. MBA helps us traverse that line faster. It gives you an opportunity to land that dream job with an ace company with a crackjack role.

With an ordinary BE + couple of years Software experience there is no way you are going to get to be an Investment Banker on Wall Street. Or a top notch consultant with McKinsey or BCG. I am not saying its impossible but the pigeonhole is simply too deep. An MBA I feel is one of the few reliable routes to a career change.

But at the end of it no amount of opportunity can really be of any use unless you have the ability to utilize it. Leadership is not about making decisions, it is about making sense. It is an ability to thrive in chaotic circumstances, to cut through the ambiguity and show a path when none seem to exist. Leaderhip is about being passionate in whatever you do, in infusing a sense of ownership, commitment, pride and loyalty in not just yourself but everyone around you. Leadership is something no MBA - Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, can teach you.

What is this blog all about ?

2005-10-31T02:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a simple and seductive truth that I realized a few moons ago. I was advising so many people both on public forums (like www.pagalguy.com) and through other media that I wondered if my answers would carry more value if they were collated at a single place. This is my experiment with that idea.

So how does this work ?

(a) For starters, let me clarify that I would still post under the avataar Psychodementia on pagalguy. What this site will do is answer generic queries that are broader in nature and perspective. Also this is open to anyone who might google through and reach here. No need to browse through threads.

(b) Let me add the pizzazz to the site later. Right now its going to be a blog format. I have a few ideas with which I have been toying around and my first few articles might revolve around those concepts. Gradually I intend to answer through the details of my post - your questions. This blog is all about that - your queries and doubts.

You can start off by shooting those emails. For starters any question is fine, as long as you provide me with your background, the problem and your proposed solution. It could be anything from editing SOPs to IT industry career questions. I will try my best to answer them through a more generic format in this blog. Excuse the "Is XLRI GMP gud enuf ?" kinds :)

For those who don't know me yet, my credentials can wait. For those who know me, start shooting your questions !!! :)

Psychodementia