sensational achievement in gre

8/12/2019 Sensational Achievement in GRE

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For the first time since a revised format was introduced in 2011, an

Indian has topped the Graduate Record Examination with a perfect 340

out of 340 score. um!ai"s #shwini $ene te%%s us how she achieved the

impossi!%e.

Ashwini Nene could not believe her eyes when she obtained her Graduate RecordExamination results on March 11 this year.

The computer displayed a perfect score of 1! in both sections of the exam "" #erbal

and $uantitative Reasonin% "" ri%ht after she completed them.

&hen the '!"year"old computer science en%ineerin% student shared the news with

her father Anil Nene( he as)ed her to contain her excitement until she received an

official confirmation from ET*( the or%anisation that conducts the GRE worldwide.

The wait for the next ten days was an excruciatin% one for Nene.

+,urin% my -lass 1! boards( a lot of us couldnt score too well in En%lish and lost out

on the a%%re%ate. *imilarly( in -lass 1'( / did not score too well in the -ommon

Entrance Test due to silly mista)es. Althou%h / had expected to score over 00 in

GRE( the perfect score of 02! seemed too %ood to be true( so / did not want to share

the news with anyone until / received an official confirmation on March '1(+ she says.

Nene is a third year student of the *ardar 3atel -olle%e of En%ineerin% in Andheri( a

Mumbai suburb( and is now preparin% for the T4E56 7Test of En%lish as a 5orei%n

6an%ua%e8.

*he credits part of her success to her supportive parents who never put any pressure

on her.

+They appreciated me for my hard wor) and / am %lad / could return their blessin%s(+

she says( addin%( +At the same time( / dont see this as a %reat achievement9 it is :ust

the be%innin%. / have a lon% way to %o from here.+

Nene hopes that the score will help her secure admission to one of the top"ran)ed

institutions in the ;* when she applies in the fall semester of '!12.

5or now( she and her family are en:oyin% the moment.


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Nene is one of the few from her colle%e to have received an offer to intern with

Microsoft at their


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Each time / made a mista)e( a teacher would be there to %uide me and ensure that /

did not repeat the mista)e a second time. ou cannot %et that professional ed%e when

you are preparin% on your own.

o &ou thin- !ein) an en)ineerin) student he%ped &ou achieve theperfect score'

/ wont deny that en%ineerin% students perform better at calculations. At the same

time( the sub:ects in @uantitative reasonin% re@uire basic conceptual )nowled%e and

their application.

>esides( GRE also demands that you have a %ood command over En%lish. *o you

have to have a %ood balance of both lan%ua%e and @uantitative s)ills.

+ow did &ou prepare for the exam' *hen did &ou start stud&in)'

/ started preparin% in Au%ust '!1'( first revisin% the concepts and understandin% the

@uestion paper pattern. /nitially / would spend about two to three hours a day

studyin%( but as Banuary approached( / focussed more on full"len%th practice tests(

which demanded more than four hours a day. The more / practiced( the more

confident / felt about ta)in% the exam.

*hich section accordin) to &ou was the most difficu%t and wh&'

/ found Readin% -omprehension to be the most difficult( because you dont )nowwhat to expect. /nitially / would not read the passa%es and would proceed strai%ht to

the @uestions. Eventually / learnt that that wasnt helpin% much.

5or R-( you have to be prepared to understand the sub:ect matter irrespective of

your interest or li)in%.

Te%% us a!out &our interests outside of academics.

/ love readin% boo)s "" from classics to fiction and non"fiction( we have a collection of

over '(!!! boo)s at home. / also started learnin% *panish recently.

&hen / am not readin% a boo)( / am either listenin% to music or s)etchin%.

ou%d &ou recommend a few !oo-s to our readers'

5or be%inners( the self"help boo)s by *tephen -ovey can be of %reat help. / would

recommend readin% The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. /t will cultivate

leadership s)ills in you and also tell you how you can be a successful person.


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As a student of technolo%y( / absolutely en:oyed readin% the bio%raphy of *teve Bobs.


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/ndian American economist Ra hett&won the presti%ious Bohn >ates -lar)Medal for '!10( often referred to as the >aby Nobel because one in every three

economists who won this award went on to win a Nobel.

Notable amon% those who won the Bohn >ates -lar) Medal and later went on to winthe Nobel include Milton 5riedman( Boseph *ti%litC( 3aul Dru%man( 3aul *amuelson

and -hettys mentor Martin 5eldstein.

Awarded annually by the American Economic Association to ;* citiCens under 2!( it

appreciates si%nificant contribution to economic thou%ht.

/n his *tate of the ;nion speech( 3resident >arac) 4bama cited a study led by ,elhi"

born -hetty( which ar%ued that students who had talented and motivatin% teachers in

elementary school "" mainly in )inder%arten "" had si%nificantly hi%her incomes as

adults and better future life outcomes.

+/ hope some of my research(+ -hetty( 00( toldIndia Abroadsoon after winnin% the

MacArthur 5oundation 5ellowship( +will help lower income children in /ndia and in

this country too.+

To celebrate -hettys >aby Nobel we post this four"part profile by#rthur

aisfirst published in 4ctober '!1'.

Ra: -hetty became an assistant professor of economics at the ;niversity of -alifornia(>er)eley( at '0 and became a tenured associate professor at '. At a%e '?( :ust ei%ht yearsafter %raduatin%summa cum laude7a 6atin expression meanin%with the greatest honour8

from


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The MacArthur nominees are not told( and the winners learn throu%h a phone call from the

foundation. &hen -hetty told his mother the news( she wept with :oy.

The MacArthur 5ellows this year include a pediatric neurosur%eon( a marine ecolo%ist(

a!ashington Postreporter( a photo%rapher( an optical physicist and astronomer( a strin%ed"

instrument bow ma)er( a %eochemist( a novelist( and an arts entrepreneur.

All were selected for their creativity( ori%inality( and potential to ma)e important

contributions in the future( the MacArthur 5oundation( which will %ive away F!!(!!! to

each 5ellow over the next five years with no strin%s attached( said in a statement.

-hetty is the second"youn%est recipient this year. The oldest is '.

4f the nearly ?!! MacArthur 5ellows over four decades( less than 1' have roots in /ndia.

They include sarodmaestro ;stad Ali A)bar Dhan( poet and professor A D Ramanu:am( and

computer scientist and professor *hweta) 3atel( winner of the /ndia Abroad 5ace of the5uture '!11 award.

+&e believe in their creative instincts and hope the freedom the fellowship provides will

enable them to pursue unfettered their insi%hts and ideas for the benefit of the world(+

MacArthur 3resident Robert Gallucci said about the 5ellows.

The foundation described -hetty as a +public economist( elucidatin% )ey policy issues of our

time in theoretical and empirical studies that refine our understandin% of the impact of

public finance on economic activity.+ 4ne of -hettys earliest studies to %ain wide attention

was conducted at a lar%e supermar)et chain in -alifornia. /t showed that althou%h most

customers )new about sales tax rates( they purchased less of a product when the posted

prices indicated the tax than when the tax was added at chec)out.

+/t was a very in%enious way of showin% how taxes actually affect shoppin% behaviour(+


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-hetty is +uni@ue because hes very serious about economic theory( but also very serious

about the real word and empirical stuff(+ 3h, student Adam M Guren was @uoted as sayin%

in The Harvard $rimsonnewspaper. +And he combines the two of them in a very powerful

way.+

Another 3h, student( 3eter N Ganon%( was @uoted as sayin% that -hetty see)s +transparentanswers+ to the @uestions that he wor)s with( rather than +hidin% behind abstract+ math.

Ganon% called -hetty +a fantastic mentor.+

*pea)in% to The Americanin '!!H( Bames 3oterba( chairman of M/Ts economics

department who served as a member of the 3residents Advisory 3anel on 5ederal Tax

Reform( cited -hettys wor) in '!! on how corporations responded to a cut in dividend

taxes.

/n their study( -hetty and his collaborator Emmanuel *aeC found "" The Americannoted ""

that efficiency suffers when the dividend tax rate is too hi%h "" or when top executives owntoo few shares.

Those factors can drive a wed%e between the interests of -E4s and shareholders(

encoura%in% mana%ements to reinvest earnin%s in lower"priority pro:ects or frivolous

purchases( li)e a non"essential corporate :et or a plush office.

&hen rates were hi%her( -hetty told The American( executives +had a stron%er incentive to

)eep that money within the firm and %et that private :et( instead of payin% it out in the formI

of dividend income.+

-hetty( who studied in New ,elhi till a%e nine and mi%rated to America with his parents( said

his studies "" li)e on teachers @uality "" can resonate abroad( particularly in /ndia.

+/ hope some of my research(+ he toldIndia Abroad( +will help lower income children in

/ndia and in this country too.+

sensational achievement in gre

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