[sharktale]

Hello BHPians,

I just gave my CA exams, and am thinking of appearing for GMAT in Jan 2019. Would really appreciate if anyone could guide me through the general tips/recommended resources, etc. I am an absolute dunce in this regard and have many friends who can effectively guide me through the same.

Thanks in advance.

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by sharktale

Hello BHPians,

I just gave my CA exams, and am thinking of appearing for GMAT in Jan 2019. Would really appreciate if anyone could guide me through the general tips/recommended resources, etc. I am an absolute dunce in this regard and have many friends who can effectively guide me through the same.

Thanks in advance.

Prep for any such exam now has a problem of reverse: information overload. Start following advice from forums and you'll think it takes a couple of years to prepare!

My advice would be, take a couple of mock exams at some center. Or if you have the discipline, you can do that at home. Then start with the official guide concentrating on the areas you realized that you struggled. Keep giving mocks (at least one test a week) and monitoring your progress. These mocks will also help build your stamina to last the entire duration of the test, which is an often overlooked aspect.

Manhattan/Kaplan are decent enough for covering gaps but no need to go through each and everything. Anyway, increasing GMAT scores dramatically is a big scam by most institutes. The score is mostly a function of your academic journey in life and typically does not see a huge upward movement even after months of preparation.

Anywhere between 2 and 3 months is when you will hit your peak and the law of diminishing returns will kick in. So without over analyzing, book the test date for as early as possible. The sheer fact that you can book any date and give the test, causes decision paralysis in many

[rovingeye]

I totally agree with avisidhu on this one. I had written the GMAT about 10 yrs back and remember not devoting more than a couple of months to the preparations (not full time prep mind you, whatever work hours permitted). I don't know if I got lucky or what, but I ended up with a decent score that got me into NYU.

Thinking back, I would say start building endurance by taking as many mock tests as you can. During my time, the Official Guide was the one that turned out to be the closest to the actual test. Kaplan, Princeton were a bit of a time waste, in hind sight.

I also followed this strategy - 1. Gave maximum time to the first 20 questions and guessed through the rest and 2. Did not even try to finish all questions, thus saving myself the mental pressure of time running out.

However, note that I took the test a decade back and please pardon me if the format has changed over the years.

Don't procrastinate my friend, book the date and dive right in. Sharp concentrated focus can do wonders.

[akshaymahajan]

Originally Posted by sharktale

Hello BHPians,

I just gave my CA exams, and am thinking of appearing for GMAT in Jan 2019. Would really appreciate if anyone could guide me through the general tips/recommended resources, etc. I am an absolute dunce in this regard and have many friends who can effectively guide me through the same.

Thanks in advance.

Gmatclub has all the information you will need. Take the OG tests once you have done your prep. Before that, there are a lot of tests (free) you can take - Manhattan, Kaplan, etc

I will however emphasis on figuring out why you want to sit for the GMAT and what your goals are before picking a date. Having a clear picture of what schools you are aiming for will help you decide what you want to build up on in parallel to all the exam prep.

[sharktale]

Originally Posted by avisidhu

Prep for any such exam now has a problem of reverse: information overload.

Originally Posted by rovingeye

I totally agree with avisidhu on this one.

Originally Posted by akshaymahajan

Gmatclub has all the information you will need. Take the OG tests once you have done your prep.

Thank you all for the kind advice.

I am actually preparing for GMAT right now, because I have time during the while my CA result is awaited, and personally feel a 2 month internship is not worth proper value addition, apart from brand-stamping.

I was actually speaking to a relative who is remotely involved in this sphere. She guided me to take up a professional training class, so that I could minimize the time spent training, learn critical tips/tricks, and get to solving questions, ASAP.

She recommended me Sandeep Gupta, (www.top-one-percent.com) as his package is pretty reasonable and comprehensive. She found his verbal tricks better than what Princeton and Magoosh offered.

Would like your opinions further in this regard. I know self-study is always better, but the issue is that I have, for very long, been used to the rote-learning environment prevalent in CA studies. Therefore, I think i'll be able to have an more effective & efficient score, if I undertake online classes, rather than try to figure out tips and tricks myself.

Thanks.

[sidpunjabi]

Originally Posted by sharktale

Would like your opinions further in this regard.

I just gave the GMAT and I can tell you that the effort needed is directly related to the score you require (not desire). Basically, which college and which country you wish to go to decides the required score.

Visa / immigration issues in US/UK actually makes getting admission over there a breeze. I know of many who have walked into a Top-10 (Non Ivy League school) with a sub-700 score.

Many ASEAN / European schools don't have English as their primary language - a blessing in disguise - one can walk in even with a 650.

Since you've already given CA, I'm presuming you're already good at math and reading, so Quants and RC should be a breeze.

People find Verbal difficult because over the years, our English tends to get corrupted, mixed, and mutilated with scores of other regional languages . It is actually very easy if you remember your rules of Grammar from school (tenses, articles, nouns, prepositions, etc).

From your posts, you seem to have a good command over the language. Just go through the reading material once (Manhattan / Kaplan - whatever you have) and you should be good to go. No need to boil the ocean.

[akshaymahajan]

Originally Posted by sidpunjabi

Visa / immigration issues in US/UK actually makes getting admission over there a breeze. I know of many who have walked into a Top-10 (Non Ivy League school) with a sub-700 score.

I disagree with this statement when talking about US schools unless this is a very recent post-Trump development.

If yes, do you know what the average GMAT scores are (Indian students) in these schools?

[sidpunjabi]

Originally Posted by akshaymahajan

I disagree with this statement when talking about US schools unless this is a very recent post-Trump development.

If yes, do you know what the average GMAT scores are (Indian students) in these schools?

Couple of my friends gave it last year, and they got in the 670-690 range. They got letters from Georgetown, Smeal and 1 more uni which I can't remember for the 2018 class.

While they have 5-6 years of work-ex, it didn't involve working in the deep jungles of Africa, curing cancer, working in the office of the PMO or any other outlandish experience that used to be considered the norm a while back.

[Senna4Ever]

Hey folks!

I'm preparing for the GMAT these days and have done a decent amount of research into MBA programs and their requirements.

What I've understood is that the top-ranked MBA programs in the US or elsewhere receive quite a large number of applications from India. If you take a look at the class profiles and the average GMAT scores of the good B-Schools, you'll find that the average GMAT score hovers around 700-720. Also, the 'Indian Male Engineer' is present in large quantities in the application pool. Therefore, I believe that an Indian GMAT test taker should aim for nothing less than a 720 score.

Of course, the admission committees take a holistic approach to evaluating applications, and your overall personality and quality of work experience greatly influences your chances of acceptance. In some cases, these 2 parameters are so good that the school admits the applicant with a sub-700 or even a sub-600 score.

I joined Princeton with no prior preparation in September, and have gone from a 500 score on the mocks to a 640 last Sunday. Don't mean to advertise here but I'm pretty satisfied with the teaching. Of course, it has to be supplemented by regular self-study.

I propose we try and help each other out in the preparation whenever needed. Let me know your thoughts please.

Thanks

[anilkumar]

Originally Posted by sharktale

Hello BHPians,

I just gave my CA exams, and am thinking of appearing for GMAT in Jan 2019. Would really appreciate if anyone could guide me through the general tips/recommended resources, etc. I am an absolute dunce in this regard and have many friends who can effectively guide me through the same.

Thanks in advance.

If you can PM me your profile i can suggest how to go about the exam depending on your Future Goals

[Cessna182]

Reviving an old thread here.
Do not visit Singapore for an MBA even if you get a scholarship. The local sentiment is very bad against Indians and these folks would rather hire a high school Chinese graduate over any qualified Indian MBA graduate. All the universities here, except INSEAD, have sub par career counselling services. My friend spent 20 lakhs despite getting a generous scholarship, and has a lot of FMCG + Strategy consulting experience. He has not managed to find even an entry level job. I did a bit of research and noticed that the amount of vitriol against Indians is spectacular. The government in Singapore is very good, but the China dominated populace makes sure that you need to know their language to survive there. Don't waste your money on NUS, NTU etc. The universities are world class but the local hiring scene means that a chinese literature graduate would be preferred over a qualified and experienced engineer from India even in a tech company.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

Reviving an old thread here.
Do not visit Singapore for an MBA even if you get a scholarship. The local sentiment is very bad against Indians and these folks would rather hire a high school Chinese graduate over any qualified Indian MBA graduate. ....

Why can one not do an MBA in Singapore or wherever and then return to India to pursue a career? Why presume that if you have studied abroad you need to work there or migrate out somehow? Any way the experience of one person seeking a job in an economic down turn does not necessarily expand to be a universal truth.

[Cessna182]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Why can one not do an MBA in Singapore or wherever and then return to India to pursue a career? Why presume that if you have studied abroad you need to work there or migrate out somehow? Any way the experience of one person seeking a job in an economic down turn does not necessarily expand to be a universal truth.

The value of an international MBA is not good in India. I peronally know people who spent more than 2 cr on Ivy league MBAs but did not get a job in the US and returned for 20 to 30 lakh salary jobs in India. These are superb salaries but the debt is too much for one to have any meaningful savings in the first few years of the career. Later on, the MBA is an embillisment not a requirement for progress.

As for Singapore, the local situation is quite bad. There are articles against Indians posted on government owned forums daily, and these use language that would be barred in any other country. Hardwarezone is an example.

Many from NUS or NTU like world class institutes return to India, and do well. That's an option. At the same time, if a middle class student is spending 40+ lakhs without scholarship for an MBA, he or she should get a fair chance at the employment market. Hence places like ISB are better.

There are rental ads specifying No Indians Allowed in Singapore and this was published quite widely in the last few years. My friend faced the same even today. The discrimination is real.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

The value of an international MBA is not good in India. I personally know people who spent more than 2 cr on Ivy league MBAs but did not get a job in the US and returned for 20 to 30 lakh salary jobs in India.

You make very valid points. Till the mid-1960s studying in USA, UK etc and taking up a job there was not really an option. That generation of Indians came back to help build this country instead of being solely focused on municipal services and salary. FC Kohli who built TCS was one of them. I too did a post graduate course at the best IVY league University but there was no desire to stay back in Yankee land. Last forty years it is assumed that if you study abroad the sensible thing to do is to stay there. Personally I don't agree with that but to each his own. Different strokes for different folks.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

Do not visit Singapore for an MBA even if you get a scholarship. The local sentiment is very bad against Indians.

The Government of Singapore has always tried to maintain a balance between different communities, and an appropriate mix of citizens and foreigners. There is some pressure from parliamentarians who have found that there is a massive over representation of Indians in senior positions in Banks in particular, and hence it is very difficult for Indians to get a work permit in such sectors.

But there is no discrimination against Singaporeans who are ethnic Indian whatsoever. Anecdotally, one reason for the anti Indian citizen sentiment could be because many Indian professionals have chosen not to take Singapore Citizenship or PR status since they do not want their sons to have to do compulsory National Service.

However, studying at NUS or other top Universities in Singapore is certainly not a dead end - you are far more likely to be seen favourably compared to any Indian degree (including those from IITs and IIMs).