OCCAM'S RAZOR

The one thing that one realises while going through ream upon ream of case material is that the solution to all great problems in life/work have a beautiful simple solution. The simpicity with which Alexander cut through the Gordian knot is case to the point.

And, it was with the same surgical beauty that Ziev Katlan taught us Monte Carlo simulation on crystal ball (In that liquor case crystal boll!!!). The passion for the subject and the involvement of the professor comes accross when you look at him explainining a small point for over two hours and I sat there in stunned attention listening and seeing the dramatic instruction style. And, his response to the silence to his question in the class-DONT LOOOK At MEE, LOOOK At THEE BOARRD!!! The answer is there.

An overly complicated reply to a question, elicited a passionate NOOOOOOOOO! from Ziev and then came the advice that I take away from the course- Keeep it siimple!!

And, it is in this advice I found resonance to what Waterman taught us in the Multiple Regression class- OCCAM'S RAZOR. Keep it Simple!!!!

IN THE ISB NOW !!!

It is exactly a week since the batch of 2008 landed at the sprawling campus at the ISB. The week has passed by in a flash. The week has been dedicated to orienting the class of 2008 to the nuances of the ISB way. The role played by the class of 2007 during the ISB orientation week was stellar. A series of team building exercises, section gyan sessions, case study, sports, club presentations, ISB radio competition and the talent nite were all seamlessly arranged in a period of a week. The tremendous bonhomie of the class of 2007 is something that should be emulated by the class of 2008.

The quality of the facilities at the ISB are brilliant. The squash courts have a glass wall and paraquet flooring, there is a well equipped gym and a beautiful swimming pool. There are many more avenues for people who prefer other sports. But, for me the above three are what matter. Also, our team entry came second in the ISB radio competition. Radio is definitely good fun.

The extraordinary achievements of my classmates makes me proud to be a member of the class of 2008. They say that there are three things that matter in a MBA institute- the faculty pool, the peer group and the alumni. And, ISB is brilliant on all these three parameters. If we throw in the brilliant facilities at the ISB- ISB is MBA heaven.

I AM LOVING IT!!!!

GMAT STRATEGY

My score
QUANTITATIVE SCALED SCORE-47
VERBAL SCALED SCORE-42
TOTAL SCALED SCORE-720- 96 PERCENTILE

My Strategy:
Took the diagnostic test from the Original Guide-11th edition and zeroed in on topics that I was reasonably comfortable with. Percentages, Ratio and proportion, indices, numbersand Geometry. Luckily these are the critical chapters for the GMAT. After the initial diagnosis I realised that I did some unforced errors - errors made not because I could not understand the question buterrors made because I rushed the solution and in the bargain did errors like multiplying instead of adding. Initially, I focussed on eliminating these unforced errors while taking tests. Also, aimed at understanding chapters mentioned above in greater detail by solving greater number of questions and also questions with greater complexity from these chapters.I used OG-11, Kaplan premier course and aregular mathematics book. My preparation for CAT(Common Admission Test) came real handy. Another useful preparatory material source was the quant material from T.I.M.E, a coching institute in India that prepares students for CAT.

The next step was to focus on chapters like probability, permutations and combinations, absolute value and co-ordinate geometry. I knew that if were to get a tough question from these chapters there was a bright chance that i would get the answer wrong - whatever the level of preparation. So rather than making these chapters the focus of my preparation I aimed at geetting a decent level of proficiency in these chapters.I did get around6-7 questions from these chapters in the actual GMAT and I am quite sure that I got 5 of them right. Lesson- donot leave any chapter totally out of your preparation.

The decision to be taken for quant is which chapters are essential rather critical for thr GMAT and hence require greater focus and which chapters can be prepared at a more basic level. For example in co-ordinate geometry if you know how to calculate the slope of the lne, the meaning of positive and negative slope and the equation of the line, you are quite OK to handle most of the basic problems of this Chapter at the actual GMAT.

DATA SUFFICIENCY my fundas in the next post.

ISB CLASS OF 2008 ADMITTED

It has happened . The great moment in life. The moment of truth. The feeling of reding the sms on Friday, 9 Feb 2007 will remain with me forever. A sense of dejavu- the kind of feeling I had when I had got a confirmation from SCMHRD, 12 years ago. Great! feeling after the shell shocked state I have been since Friday. Meeting the round one and round two admits from Hyderabad at Cafe Cofee Day was a very plesant experience. I was totally impressed by the Hyd gang- Absolutely electrifying. The coming year promises to be an eventful one,plesantly eventfull I hope & Pray. Cannot help but thank God Almighty for the way things are. Details of the interview and application process in the future posts.
Chao!

chuck-de-phatte

Dhoom2: CRAZY KIYA RE

Man! these guys have kicked it.
Going for a drug deal with a gangster waiting in the middle of a lake, short cut; use a super- bike to jump onto the waiting boat.
Boss! if I were a gangster I would shoot the bike out of the whillee before it lands. But, our friend Uday Chopra has to have a dhoom entry.

And, ofcourse Mr. Abhishek Bacchan is the genius who uses a water scooter like a submarine. And, like all submarines this one flies in the air too!!!!
Then the genius' after burner really takes off, cracks A's(Hrithik Roshan) modus-operendi and knows where and when A will strike again. Now, Mr. A is trying to make a massive A that can be traced by joining the cities where he has struck or plans to strike. Bombay happens to be on the horizontal line of the A. Me ask, how did they manage to fit Rio-de-jeniro on the A. Man Aditya Chpora has been reading - The life of the Incas too seriously. Crazy Kiya Re...

chuck-de-phatte

ISB application submitted

The application is in and the status shows all received. Now, the wait is getting quite excrutiating. The experiences of the round 1 interviewees is freaking me out. Trying to keep cool.
But, that my friends is quite a task.

AWA score for GMAT & the official score

It's official-720 it is. Thankfully the "un and the of" tally.
The AWA score is 5 and am quite happy with it. That gives me some measure of my essay writing skills. Atleast they are better than average.

The application process is on. I have completed 3 essays and the fourth should be in today.

Waiting for two recommendation letters to come in. The cut-off is Monday.

chuck-de-phatte

GMAT AND BEYOND

Took the GMAT on the 6th of Nov and got a score of 720. Absolutely pleased. Not bad, especially considering that got back to studying after eight long years.

GMAT as an exam is quite an accurate measure of verbal and quantitative skills. The consistency with which the test scores the test taker, is what impresses me the most about the GMAT. On the GMAT prep tests I scored 720 in all four of the tests and that was exactly my score on the GMAT. So consistent it definitely is.

The debut! what's in the name

Hi! cyberspace
This is my first entry in my blog. Let me start with the name of my blog.
It has two meanings the generic meaning of chuck-de-phatte in punjabi is - Just MAX it. That is ofcourse one of the intents of my blog. The second meaning of the phrase is chuck's(my nickname) phatte (stories).

The debut!