AWA Argument#1:: Olympic Foods

The following appeared as part of an annual report sent to stockholders by Olympic Foods, a processor of frozen foods:“Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrate its 25th birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits.” 

The author assumes that since organizations engaged in color-film processing were able to increase efficiency and cut-down costs over a period of 25 years; same must be true of Olympic Foods, which is about to celebrate its 25^th anniversary. The arguments is based on questionable assumptions and weak analogies and appears to be a result of a hasty generalization.  

The main problem with the author’s reasoning is the weak analogy he develops between the two “processing” industries. One fails to see any logical connection between the two and the author makes no effort to show the connection either. The two industries are too dissimilar to be compared. For example: frozen food industry faces problem of storage, transportation, contamination etc; no similar problems are observed in the film-processing industry. Even the markets for the two differ widely. The argument could have been strong if the author could show the missing connection or if he had compared the frozen-food industry with a similar industry.  

Also the author fails to recognize that it’s not the number of years of experience that matters; what actually matters is what is learnt over all those years.  An industry may mature over a couple of years, yet another may remain stagnant even after 25 years. The color-film industry people may have tremendous learnings that may have contributed to the cost-reduction; but the report shows no evidence of Olympic Foods doing the same. 

Another point that the author misses completely is that there may be factors other than just the expertise and experience gained over the mentioned period. For example: developments in technology may have resulted in the cost-reduction for the color-film processing industry. The author could have strengthened his stand by showing that it’s merely the increased efficiency that has brought costs down. He could have also chosen to highlight similar developments in the food-processing industry too. 

To sum, the author’s conclusion doesn’t appear to be convincing at all. The author could have made it a bit persuasive by presenting the evidence mentioned above. Without these, the argument is weak and fails to impress the reader.  

AWA Issue #6:: Definition of Success

“There is only one definition of success — to be able to spend your life in your own way.” 

The author suggests that success can be defined only as spending one’s life in his or her own way. I find this definition totally unacceptable. The scope of the definition is too limited and simplistic. Moreover it fails to take into account whatever the person has achieved in his life.  

The major problem with the author’s definition is that it’s too limited. As any successful person will know, no success is possible without its share of setbacks and pitfalls. No achiever can say that he has spent every moment of his life in the way he wanted. For example: In 2001, Microsoft suffered a major setback in the famous anti-trust case; but nobody can negate the reputation the company has created in the world of software.

 

Furthermore, the author fails to notice that life has different facets. Though a person doesn’t get to do things he wanted on one front, his achievements on the other may still make him a success.  A person, who may be an utter failure on the social front, can be tremendously successful in his profession. So if Einstein did not have a very good family life, does that in any way interfere with his status as the best known Physicist of 20^th century?

 

Another category of category that the author’s definition misses completely is the physically challenged people, who conquer their limitations, to attain the goals of their life. They surely don’t want to spend their life as disabled, but their goals drive them to ignore the fact that they’re not able to spend their life in the way they wanted. Stephen Hawking and Helen Keller are just two of many such successful people.

Moreover, there surely are people, who’ll fit the author’s definition of success. Perhaps a non-ambitious person, who easily attained whatever he wanted and never tried to aim any higher, can spend his life in his own way. Similar can be the case of a millionaire’s son, who gets everything that he wanted in inheritance and indulges in every pleasure that life can offer. But no sensible society can term any of these to be successful in their life.

To sum, I strongly disagree with the author’s notion of success. It’s the goals one achieves that make him successful, not the way he leads his life.

Kickstarting GMAT Preps

Hey..

I haven’t taken the GMAT yet.. So perhaps I’m not the right person to rely upon for guidance or anything.. But still with about 4 months of preps n research, I may be of at least to those, who’re at Level 0 as of now..

This is a mail that I had retain 4-5 weeks back to a guy, who wanted to kickstart his preps.. SO thot of posting it here as well for the benefit of janta..

Repeating again, all this is my personal opinion and none of this has been tested to work..

Strategies vary from person to person.. So whatever I’m suggesting, is my personal opinion.

1) First things first:: You dont know anything yet abt GMAT..
Download Powerprep and GMATPrep first..
http://www.gorillatestprep.com/ppgmat30.exe
http://www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT/ToolsToHelpYouPrepare/GMATPrepProducts/FreeGMATPrepTestPreparationSoftwarein2006.htm

First one is older version of GMAT software from makers of GMAT.. Second one is the latest one..
Both of these can help u know what all things r asked in GMAT..But I’d suggest u use Powerprep now and save GMATprep for a later stage , when u hav a fair amount of preparation under ur belt.. At that time, GMATprep score will giv u a fair idea of what u r likely to get on the G-day

2) Now u know what r the Qs asked in GMAT..And also what r ur weak points…For 8 out of 10 indians, it’s Sentence correction..( Statistics purely cooked up ) IF u r one of those, I’ll suggest, go for Manhattan SC guide at this stage..

3) Parallely pick up some strategy book.. Kaplan(comprehensive/premium) or Princeton Review…. From whatever I’ve heard, I’d suggest stay away from Barrons

4) Once u r done thorough with ur strategies, go for OG11 (Official Guide to GMAT).. Complete it from cover to cover.. Excellent collection of Qs.. No strategies.. But u already know them from step (3)..Better do all 5 sections parallelly.

( Most ppl preparing for GMAT do (3) and (4) in reverse order; I too did the same as suggested by many ppl.. Did OG11, then Kaplan Comprehensive) Still I’d suggest u to do a strategy book first.. OG11 will give u lots of chance to apply those strategies)

5) By the time u reach this step, u’ll know a lot of things, and u can decide for urself what u want to do next.. WIll suggest u to do Kaplan 800.. There r many other options..

In between all these steps, keep taking timed tests to guage ur progress.. Also read success stories from PagalGuy ( hope u r already a member) That’ll keep u motivated..

Also do join som active mailing list/forum to discuss Qs…. It particularly helps u utilize ur free office time when u dont have access to books and would not like to open GMAT forums..

Feel free to ask anything else on this group..

Regards
Shobhit

Three tests::three different pictures

The last three tests that I took have presnted a very mixed picture to me..

I took Kaptest #4 with full intentions of seeing a 680-690 on the last one.. Aftre all, I had completed Kap800, the toughest book even by Kaplan standards..

But what I actually scored was a lowly 610 No probs with maths.. It was my 4th 50 in as many kaptests.. But Verbal!! It was hard to believe what I saw.. Just 32.!! :’( And worst part was that I thought that I had done pretty well….

At this time, I needed a morale-booster.. And 610 made it sure that I wont wait for the next weekend for this morale-boosting exercise.. Took up Powerprep #2 after a hectic day in office.. Boo-hooo..the test was a total waste… As was for PP1, all the Qs were from PG.. Moreover, I was so tired n sleepy that I slept for abt 10 minutes midway thru the quants section.. But thanks to the repeating Qs, I finished on time… Finally, I ended up with a decent 740.( Q50,V40) But this didn’t gimme any satisfaction.. as there were almost no new Qs

Finally last weekend, I picked up the sectional tests Maths4 and Verbal4 from 800score.. And yes, this was the confidence booster that I needed.. I got 51 in maths; but the best part was getting a 47 in Verbal.. This is the best that I’ve got so far in any test.. I guess the scoring algo of 800score test is a bit lenient. But I liked the quality of Qs.. particulaly in the Maths section…

So what next? Planning full-length tests now.. (including essays too)

The G-day is not very far.. just abt 3+ weeks to go..

Still left on my agenda ofr G-day::
1) Essays:: Have written just 5-6 of them so far.. Planning to get the arco book..

2) Bold-faces:: Have not faced them much; have messed up on whatver occassions I’ve encountered them..

3) Finalising the school-list for the G-day::
So far ISB and NUS are certainties, Also considering Boston and Fisher..

GMAT Reschedulded :-(

Murphy baba ki jai ho!!!

As always his law holds for my GMAT..  In first half of April, when I was sure the preps are in a gud shape and the rest of the stuff can easily be managed in the next 4-5 weeks.. I decided to take the date for my G-day.. At that time, I was convinced that the work-pressure wont be that much during mid-may.. So it was ideal to take the test at that time.. So on 11th of last month, I picked up 15thMy as my G-day..

But the thingsstarted turning souralmost the very next day.. Stable  builds started giving errors.. Resolved bugs were reopened/bounced.. and meeting the deadline of 30th April started looking impossible..

But this time, I cud not afford the deadline  to be extended.. I was scared at the thot of deadline being extended by another  2 weeks.. (That would have made it coincide with my G-day).. So I decided to slow down the preps a bit and worked like hell to meet the deadline.. The Result:: Late hours on weekdays, working weekends and almost no preps…

Finally I was able to meet the deadline… But the flow of preps was broken.. I was low on confidence on even the well-practiced concepts.. AWA was almost untouched.. Add to this the kiler punch by Kaptest#4 and I knew I was in no position to take it on May 15..

Another 2 weeks cud have been fine.. But this time I did not want to take any risks.. So got it postponed by almost a month.. It’s June 13 now… 13 has been a gud num for me at times.. Hope it continues to be so..