Right. Now, first of all, I'm glad I managed to put in this post. [It's getting harder by the day :) ]
I started off the day (albeit late afternoon) with a sample online GMAT test that I had received as part of my Veritas course. Before I get into the details of the test, I want to mention that the Veritas test was the closest I've seen to the PowerPrep test from MBA.com. The difficulty level was quite similar, and the interface was far better than Princeton Review and far far better than 800score. But that doesn't matter.
Hardly an improvement from before, I scored a 620, with Q 40 and V 36. It may seem that I've got stuck at this score. But not to me. You see, I did take a few positives out of the test again. My number of errors in the first 10-15 questions had not only reduced, the first error was also pushed further behind compared to my previous tests. What I mean is, in Quant, I got questions 10, 14, 15 wrong out of a total 9 errors; verbal 7, 13, 16 out of a total 11 errors. So my performance in the first 15 questions, though still not close to ideal, has improved from my previous tests. That gives me confidence and hope that I'm doing certain things right, and I have to continue doing that.
I didn't take the AWA section since I feel quite comfortable with it, thanks to the Veritas lesson. Besides, the blog gives me sufficient typing practice :) Anyway, I've already practiced the AWA section on my previous 3 tests. I shall not, however, skip the section in my next test, which again would be Veritas.
In quant, I believe I could have done far better had I been in touch a little more with the section. The past few days I was concentrating solely on verbal, which compromised my basic quant concepts. What I mean is I got confused between the formulae for nCr and nPr (!?), and some simple geometry properties did not strike me. I'm sure a little more balance in my study schedule can eliminate that. My problem area in quant still remains DS of which I got 5 wrong on the test.
With that cue, I picked up the Official Guide to solve some DS problems. Since the first half of it is considerably easy, I did questions 1-20 and then 71-90. I noticed I made some errors in Yes/No problems there. So that's something I need to be more alert about.
Tomorrow some more quant, both DS and PS.
SUMMARY OF WORK
Veritas Sample Online Test
OG Data Sufficiency problems #1-20 & #71-90
LESSONS LEARNT
1. Take every sample test score with a pinch of salt, and find the positives in your performance
2. Balance your quant/verbal practice before a test.
3. Don't be satisfied/depressed with your score. You WILL do better. Practice harder.
Day 19 - DS Practice & Veritas Sample Test
I'm tha Baack!! *Ok. Big Deal! Like ur some celebrity...*
Alright I'm back! :) I've been away from the blogging scene for about 10 days now, but somehow coudn't avoid it. Yes, I do understand that not documenting a week and a half out of a 4 week schedule doesn't really help a reader, which is why I shall be filling in the the gap at a later date, most probably after my GMAT.
Now, 2 important pieces of news in this period of absense -
a. I've taken a date for my GMAT - it's the 25th of August '07
b. Making my target looks extremely difficult to reach, given my past 2 performances on sample tests
Yes, after my first score of 600 (Q 44, V 28) on the PowerPrep, I scored a 610 (Q 28, V 36) on an 800score.com test on Day 14 and a 590 (Q 36, V 28) on a Princeton Review test on Day 16. More on that as soon as I have the time, including why I don't completely trust these results.
For now, I'm happy that despite my potentially depressing results, I'm optimistic, positive and confident that I can make the 120+ point climb in the next 10 days. I'm also going to try my very best to feed in my performance update every day. Even though it sometimes can take more time than I'd like to devote to non-GMAT stuff, more than anything else, it acts as a reality check every night, as to where exactly I stand as against where I need to be.
So I'm out for now. I'll be back soon with my current day-to-day prep status. Ciao!