Hi Amit,
Which test do u plan to take today ? and otherwise also..which tests do u suggest we should take that would give us an accurate idea as to where we actually stand ? i have heard that Powerprep software on mba.com gives us a fair idea.i have been trying to download it for weeks now.but i m unable to do so. :(

Guptaaastha,

Try the crack-gmat.com free full length diagnostic test. I thought it was close to the real GMAT CAT.

If you buy the Princeton review material, it comes with 4 full length tests, which are of decent quality too.

GMATPrep has two full length CATs, you can take one of those two ( only if you want to
gange your skills for sure, otherwise I suggest you to keep both these), and reserve the second for taking it just before the real GMAT CAT.

Also there are quite a few paper based tests ( example, retired ETS ) which have a mix of easy and hard questions that you can use for practice ( esnips download contains many of these paper based stuff )..

Hopefully you find this useful and get going with your preparation.

Cheers,
ChivaS

and regarding the materials.... i just have the OG11 hard copy with me which i got it from a friend. and a lot of online material as softcopies which i collected while doing lot of research on gmat a couple of months back....

so if anybody wants any material you can let me know and i can check if i have it....its nothing new...collected from the same sources mentioned all over pagalguy.....

and can anybody suggest me which books hardcopies are needed in any situation and where i can get them in bangalore.. . i just know the regular places like sapna book stores,gangarams,book paradise, so suggestions of any cheap places are most welcome ....and is it advisable to spend on new copies or if we get hold of some second hand copies,its good enough???

ok hoping for a quick reply......
c ya.......enjoy!!!!

Avinash,

Good to know about your interest. And I welcome you aboard.

For the question related to which material you should buy ( physical form ),

Kaplan 800
OG-11 ( which you already have )

should suffice the need considering that you have the other xsniped stuff like OG-10, 1000 SC/CR, manhattan, Nova etc....

Start with Kaplan 800 , becoz , it nicely explains each of the answer choices, why
correct/incorrect. Once you are done, you would have already swallowed a medicine
of high performance, which will give you enough strength to attack the OG-11 and
eventually the official GMAT exam

Good luck in your pprn !

Cheers,
ChivaS.

Hi Amit,
I have not given a lot of tests. I am working as well so its kinda tough to give a lot of time to studies..I gave like 2-3 tests and was not able to cross 600 in any of them. I m very comfortable with the Maths sections and manage to get around 34-35 correct but Verbal is a problem for me. I just cant get the Reading Comprehension and Sentence correction right. Hope to improve my score in the near future.
Does anyone have any suggestions ?

Aastha! :)

Aastha,

Practice, Practice and Practice .

Thats it ! there is no easy way to success in GMAT for those who are not as good in Verbal
sections ( types ME )

My scores started improving ( though my starting score was 660, and aiming to add a hundred) , once I completed Manhattan SC, and then did some practice in OG-10 ( especially SC part ). CR is ever OK for me ( not the best though). For reading comprehension, there are some tips'n'tricks by Funnan sometime ago " which are basically extracts from GIN's posts" please look around for possts by Funnan in GMAT Prep materials, if you can't locate, I will give a try and send it across.

Cheers,
ChivaS

Hi,

Answer to first one is "B" and 2nd one is -"D".....

I didn't get the 2nd one...It says with the help of chemicals they are able to emerge from the cyst but nothing explains why they will starve to death.It might be possible that they emerge from the cyst and are still active when potato crops are laid.Please explain....

Cheers

Naive

I think answer choice D explains it :)

Because the option says, spreading of chemical in potato fields
makes the nemetodes come out of the cyst.

And then, look back to the manifacturer's suggestion to spread the
chemical while the potatos are not planned.

So, option D quantitatively explains that 90% of nematodes indeed emerge from their cysts and if the chemical is used while potatoes are not planned "starvation" logic is explained.

Puys ! one more DS qn!
x > y > 0. If x and y are integers, is y even?
(1) x - y = 1
(2) 2x + y = 32


A,B,C,D,E , just the usual DS answer choices ( 1 alone, 2 alone etc ... )


Cheers,
ChivaS

Answer choice as pointed by dumbJoe, man-h , is B ( 2 alone sufficient ).
The reason I shared this question is, to let you all know the following points :
1) One has to keep in mind that there is secondary information avaiable within the given
information. example (2x+ y =32) is the given info. and from here 2x is an even number, even + Y = even so Y has to be even.
2) If somebody asks an apparantly simple qn, one may tend to think a bit more, approching the question in a skeptical manner to double check if there is any hidden thing.
So, believe me, this type of questions can really trick you in a real exam, when you are hurrying to catch up.
3) General DS confusion: sometime ( this question for example) , when you read both the inputs, you kind of think that together they can get you the answer.
In this question for exaple: 1, 2 are to two equations of two variables,
solving which you can get values.
But its not enough,
particularly when it looks so very simple; one should look at each option seperately and see either of them alone ( more in particular, input 2 ) is sufficient.
I missed out 2 of this kind of questions during two of my practice exams: ( ironically my scores were 36/37, 36/37 , so understand how much I was tricked).
OK then, bahut hogaya hain !
May be everyone knows about this type of questions
Haffun ,
ChivaS

Puys ! one more DS qn!

x > y > 0. If x and y are integers, is y even?

(1) x - y = 1

(2) 2x + y = 32


A,B,C,D,E , just the usual DS answer choices ( 1 alone, 2 alone etc ... )


Cheers,
ChivaS

Hey Puys, one small DS question,
Give it a try , I will post the answer with explaination by evening today!
If the square root of the product of three distinct positive integers is equal to the largest of the three numbers, what is the product of the two smaller numbers?
(1) The largest number of the three distinct numbers is 12.
(2) The average (arithmetic mean) of the three numbers is 20/3
A, B , C , D , E are,
as per DS standard answer choices. (1 alone, 2 along etc....)

As told ealier , posting the explaination for this question :
If you call the three numbers x, y and z, and let x be the biggest, then the question tells you that x = square root of the product of x, y and z. If you square both sides of this equation you get:
x = xyz (which gets rid of the square root). Dividing both sides by x gives you:

x = yz.

So, if you can find a value for x, you can answer the question, which ONLY asks for 'the product of the smaller numbers'.

Statement (1) tells you that x is 12, plug that into x = yz and you get: yz = 12 (because the question asks "what is the product of the two smaller numbers?", this is what you are looking for and it is sufficient.)

Statement (2) tells you that (x + y + z)/3 = 20/3. Now, if x = yz and x + y + z = 20, then the only possibility is (2,6) and (12) as the (y, z) and (x). Every other combination of three integers summing up to 20 fails. 1,2,17; 1,3,16; 1,4,15; 1,5,14; 1,6,13; 1,7,12; 1,8,11; 1,9,10; 2,3,15; 2,4,14; 2,5,13; 2,6,12; 2,7,11; 2,8,10; 3,4,13; 3,5,12; 3,6,11; 3,7,10; 3,8,9; 4,5,11; 4,6,10; 4,7,9; 5,6,9; 5,7,8; and that's the end of the possible combinations of three integers whose sum equals 20. The only combination that works is 2,6,12. If it were 1,9,10, then yz would not equal x. If it were any other combination, such as 5,7,8, then yz would not equal x. The only solution is 2,6,12. This means that yes, Statement 2 is sufficient because the product of yz is 12. Note: this is an extremely hard question that few students get right.

Since both statements are sufficient, the answer is D.

Anyother time saving tips/tricks are welcome.

1. In the traditional Japanese household, most clothing could be packed flatly, and so it was not necessary to have elaborate closet facilities.
(A) flatly, and so it was not necessary to have elaborate closet facilities
(B) flat, and so elaborate closet facilities were unnecessary
(C) flatly, and so there was no necessity for elaborate closet facilities
(D) flat, there being no necessity for elaborate closet facilities
(E) flatly, as no elaborate closet facilities were necessary

Choice : A.




2. In the minds of many people living in England, before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes, the opposite pole to civilization, an obscure and unimaginable place that was considered the end of the world.
(A) before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes
(B) before there was Australia, it was the antipodes
(C) it was the antipodes that was Australia
(D) Australia was what was the antipodes
(E) Australia was what had been known as the antipodes


Choice: D

3. In the mid-1920s the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company was the scene of an intensive series of experiments that would investigate changes in working conditions as to their effects on workers performance.
(A) that would investigate changes in working conditions as to their effects on workers performance
(B) investigating the effects that changes in working conditions would have on workers performance
(C) for investigating what are the effects in workers performance that changes in working conditions would cause
(D) that investigated changes in working conditions effects on workers performance
(E) to investigate what the effects changes in working conditions would have on workers performance

Choice : B : experiements investigating the effects that
chages in 'X' would have on 'Y'.

A: "as to" not appropriate
C: intense experiments.. should be be followed by "for"
D: alterred the meaning :
investigated changes in working conditions' effects
rather than
investigated effets of "changes in wonrking conditions"
E: "to" is not appropriate.

Hey Puys, one small DS question,
Give it a try , I will post the answer with explaination by evening today!



If the square root of the product of three distinct positive integers is equal to the largest of the three numbers, what is the product of the two smaller numbers?

(1) The largest number of the three distinct numbers is 12.

(2) The average (arithmetic mean) of the three numbers is 20/3


A, B , C , D , E are,
as per DS standard answer choices. (1 alone, 2 along etc....)

See the above file once X=7
sides are 7+6=13
7+8=15

Sharad, good explaination that the lengths of tangents from external point will be same.
So, the sides have to be x+6, x+8 ;

but then the later explaination in the solution diagram assumes that the extension of the
angular bisectors are going to become parpenticulars onto the apposite side, which may not hold good ( just think about it , perpenticulars are different from bisectors ).

This qn could be solved by Area= rs

Also from the answer choices we can eliminate the combinations that don't differ
by 2 , and the order given ( which one is shorter/longer ).

Cheers,
ChivaS