I started off, by looking at AIM, Manila. Sadly I did not make it to AIM, though I had cleared the AIMAT and was also invited for the GD and Interview. God only knows why I was not admitted into the school. No reason was provided by the adcom for the rejection. This happened sometime in Novemeber last year. At that time I only thought of AIM and no other school. Upon hindsight I think the reason- most probably- behind my rejection was that I sounded too casual. My essays could have sounded "not so serious" to the admission committee. But then the case might be other way round too, for the simple fact that AIM invites prospective students for the GD and interview only after thuroughly reviewing the submitted essays. But one thing is for sure, only God and AIM adcom know the real reason.
However, I must say I applied to AIM as a trail run to get a feel of what the MBA application process looked like. I had heard that MBA application was like climbing Mt Everest, and it indeed was, but it was also fun and enlightening- in every sense of the word. I wrote a woopping 14 essays for AIM, and that made me realise that I had so many good achievements and so many areas for improvements. I realised that that there were things that I had overlooked and things that I had overemphasised in my application.
Putting aside this "failure" I decided (sometime in early January) that I needed to consider applying to other schools( AIM does not entertain reapplication for the next three years after a attempt). And the first thing on my mind was the GMAT. I started my preparation for the GMAT by researching on the net about GMAT. I came to know of conductors of the test, the structure of the test and so on. My next question was "where do I stand in my writing, verbal and quant abilities?". I took a few practice tests doled out free by innumerable websites on the internet. I scored a paltry 530/800 on the first practice test. That result struck me like a bolt of lightning. I realised that I was lacking concentration, had forgotten basic mathematical and verbal concepts and had found it too tiring to sit 4 hours straight for the test. I thought I needed professional help and joined Comprehensive Pgm of IMS at their Jayanagar Branch in Bangalore. Half way through the classes I realised that IMS could teach me nothing new. IMS only thought me things that I already knew and things that were not required to crack the GMAT! I realised that all I needed was more practice and no new gyan from the tutors at IMS. The hasty decisiosn of joining IMS put me back by Rs24000/-. My advice to all you readers and prospective MBA students look for alternatives before you have no choice but to shell out huge sums of money on institutes.
Half way through my 6 month preparation for the GMAT, I came across some sites such as the scorechase.com and scoretop.com. I was most attracted to the former and became an avid participant on the many GMAT forums on the site. People like Hagrid, Guardian, Fizzler, Big Boss, KPsreenath, and many others helped me hone my basic concepts and helped me correct my inncorrect assumptions and concepts then and there. And the best part of it all was that the advice and help came for a puny of an amount compared to the Rs24K I paid to IMS. At Rs1.5K for the Gold memebership, I came across such questions and solutions that helped me feel confident and that were actually reflective of the real GMAT. My practice test scores jumped from a pathetic 530 to 680 and then to 730 in matter of weeks. With the new confidence I booked my GMAT appointment for June 18 2007, 13:15 slot. I scored a 680(Q49,V34, AWA 5.5). I was pleased with the quant score but felt a bit let down by the verbal score. I was doing really well in the verbal section untill I came across an RC at the 22nd Q mark. The RC was so tough that I could not comprehend it even after a second read. And the 5 questions that followed on that RC were even spooky. From that point on till the last Q, I started getting simple CR and SC Q's from which I realised that I had screwed up the last half of the verbal section. The only happy aspect of the whole episode was the fact that I was able surpass my average practice score. The average of my practice test scores came to 675 and I was pleased to see the 680 score on the screen.
ok..gotta hurry now..will continue in my next post...
posted by Akhilesh @ 10:37 PM
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