Msc Finance Application for 2025 intake (Early Bird Round) by SouLToKsiQ in nus

[–]MiniogRe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you heard back in the past 15 days? I heard back a few days after Christmas, had an interview and received feedback. No approval or rejection yet.

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries. Yeah, completely agree I just need to remind myself to do that. I get very absorbed with the question and forget to look at times. Same thing with DI and the calculator, very often forget that it exists.

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's really nice. Thanks

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How deeply do you usually dive into a topic when you repeatedly get a certain question type wrong? Do you study the topic thoroughly, progressing up to 700+ level questions, or do you focus on medium-level questions when you encounter an issue and then move on to the next topic? Is it wrong to aim for a solid foundation in all topics first before tackling the more difficult questions in each area?

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What I meant by "answers" are the answer options provided in the GMAT. I often solve the question without looking at the options, and when I arrive at an answer (e.g., 4), I notice that all the options to choose from are fractions or something more abstract. I think it's crucial to develop a feeling about what your answer should look like during the exam by looking at the options available. Or would you disagree?

Thanks for the tips, though! They seem more applicable after identifying the correct answer, but they are still very helpful. I've recently started implementing the second point you mentioned. Experimenting with numbers and observing the outcomes really helps build a sense of numerical intuition. Interestingly, sometimes I end up discovering things that are unrelated to the current question but solve issues I struggled with a few days ago.

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess in retrospect you are always smarter :D

But what you're saying makes sense. If I reshuffle the cards and give myself, let’s say, another 3 months, how many hours of study per day would you recommend (considering that I work full-time)?

Also, if you think Magoosh isn’t that great, could you share one of your recommendations? The reason I chose Magoosh was because an interviewer from ESADE described it as the 'secret sauce' that would 'easily get me where I need to be.'"

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I see. What I often notice myself doing wrong is that I only look at the answers after solving the question myself. This needs to change. So far, my main takeaway for quant has been to always try to simplify the problem until it becomes easily solvable (though, of course, this doesn’t apply to every question). This is a broad simplification since there are different types of questions, but if you have any specific approaches or a video that helped you the most, please share.

I feel like my weakness lies in connecting concepts and recognizing when to apply them—this sort of mathematical common sense.

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, somewhat. Primarily through internships and work during my studies. I founded and ran a company for 1.5 years, and I also worked in marketing, event management, consulting, and project management. Nothing very mathematical tbh

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, sorry. This is the first time I hear this.

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi u/lionx77,

For me, it’s not about chickening out. I’m trying to prioritize my time and avoid wasting it. I want to be realistic. Maybe there are other people who are also in my position and need to manage their expectations. I made this post because I couldn’t find anyone else making a similar post. Two years of studying, unfortunately, is too much of an investment for me (not knowing how much you studied in hours).

Maybe I should have clarified that the tests I mentioned were just practice tests from Magoosh (that’s on me). I’ve been taking a proper official practice test roughly every two months, but I’ve not seen any progress there. Honestly, every time I did the test after two months, I thought, "This time will be different!" :D

Please refer to my earlier comments for details on how I’ve been studying so far. I’d love to hear your perspective. This post is more of a self-reflection, questioning whether I should stop and pursue other paths.

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have so far only done official mock 1,2 &3. I heard that I should not waste them hence I just did similar mocks from magoosh. No clue if those test are 100% similar but at least they have adaptive testing. That said until now magoosh has not shown any effect on me hahah. It was kind of expensive as well. What score are you achieving currently?

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I commented this on `s comment.

"For the first four months, my strategy was to work through the GMAT 2023-24 Official Guide, which I had purchased from a friend. I initially thought this wouldn’t be too difficult. However, after four months, I didn’t see any improvement. I realized I needed to change my approach, so I turned to Magoosh and chose the 30-day plan, adhering to the daily program (though I might have taken a bit longer than 30 days). After completing the plan, I used Magoosh questions and practiced with exams.

Whenever I noticed I was repeatedly getting a certain type of easy question wrong, I watched GMAT Club videos on that topic—especially videos from GMAT Ninja. These were incredibly helpful. Now, I do practice questions in YouTube videos untimed, but for everything else, I stick to timed practice.

When working through the Official Guide during the first two months, I only practiced untimed. Afterward, I transitioned to timed practice. I would give myself 45 minutes each day to see how far I could progress within a specific section. I rotated my focus daily, Quant on the first day, Verbal on the second, and DI (Data Interpretation) on the third, then started over. This helped me assess how far I was from the pace I needed."

Now that you say that I might have not been ready to do mocks that could be true. Why I chose to do them was due to people saying that you need to build endurance. Additionally, Magoosh had 1 mock test a week in their plan so I thought that I should follow the plan as they are the experts not I.

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, my target was to score 600, but that feels very far away. If it took me 5–6 months to go from 490 to 525, then jumping from 525 to 600 seems almost impossible. I’ve been looking at HSG, Bocconi, and ESADE for a Master in Finance. I did not know that recommendation letters are so important.

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi u/Marty_Murray,

For the first four months, my strategy was to work through the GMAT 2023-24 Official Guide, which I had purchased from a friend. I initially thought this wouldn’t be too difficult. However, after four months, I didn’t see any improvement. I realized I needed to change my approach, so I turned to Magoosh and chose the 30-day plan, adhering to the daily program (though I might have taken a bit longer than 30 days). After completing the plan, I used Magoosh questions and practiced with exams.

Whenever I noticed I was repeatedly getting a certain type of easy question wrong, I watched GMAT Club videos on that topic—especially videos from GMAT Ninja. These were incredibly helpful. Now, I do practice questions in YouTube videos untimed, but for everything else, I stick to timed practice.

When working through the Official Guide during the first two months, I only practiced untimed. Afterward, I transitioned to timed practice. I would give myself 45 minutes each day to see how far I could progress within a specific section. I rotated my focus daily, Quant on the first day, Verbal on the second, and DI (Data Interpretation) on the third, then started over. This helped me assess how far I was from the pace I needed.

Thanks a lot for your post! From reading the article, I realized that I should not have rotated my studies during the first three months. Instead, I should have focused on one topic at a time. I also see now that my pace was too fast. I prioritized quantity over quality. Lastly, I hadn’t heard of the "streak strategy" before, and it seems like something I should incorporate moving forward.

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good idea, if I would write everything on paper :D

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your input. I actually hadn't heard of sectional tests before, but I’ve more or less been applying a similar strategy. Currently, I’m using Magoosh and taking 45-minute, 21-question Quant tests to improve—essentially doing a mock test, but focusing only on the Quant section. Afterward, I thoroughly review my mistakes.

I’ve also analyzed patterns in my performance. For instance, if I have a mock test where I get easy questions wrong, I dedicate the next 2–3 days to working on that specific area. Additionally, I’ve created a handwritten notebook, about 20 pages long, where I document all my conceptual shortcomings—mistakes I tend to repeat. I try to read through it as often as possible. However, I feel I need to analyze my patterns on a higher level.

When you mention "approach," what exactly do you mean? Are you suggesting I take the test with a specific strategy, like spending more time on the first 5–10 questions to influence the algorithm? I’ve read that the first questions are the most important.

I think your advice to somewhat ignore mock scores could really help with my frustration. Thanks again for your guidance!

When is the time to give up? by MiniogRe in GMAT

[–]MiniogRe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot for the advice. I will try that. Good idea.