The $100K Challenge

Well i have seen lots of people write their GMAT success debrief here.

(This is not a complain.This is just my experience.No blames and allegations.Plain debrief)

I am going to write my game failure debrief.(Just like may people write GMAT debrief)
Week 1:154-----Beat the gmat Practice---$14 dollar book
Week 2:119 -----0
Week 3:198-----0
Week 4: 2 hours of consulting with an mbaMission Senior Consultant
(around 5x42=210+ likes and shares)

How does it feel when you prepare for 3 months and you score 350- in gmat?.
How does it feel when you work very hard whole month and your employer says 'its no work' you get 0$ at the end of the month?..he he
How does it feel when you work hard to get result all the month and result is 0.

I am feeling the same.(he he)

I think it wont be ideal to say it is just 'bad luck only'

Any way just my debrief nothing special.

Don't worry, Cheer up.

You are due for something big!!!!!

I had 244 points (1st place in week 3) and I didn't win anything either. That's part of the game - it's only thrilling if you win when there is the possibility that you can lose. If winning were certain, then it wouldn't be a game. All the points do is increase your chances that your name is randomly drawn. It guarantees nothing. Many of the examples you provided have a component of unfairness to them. I don't feel that this game is in any way unfair - it's just nice to have a chance to win great prizes. That's my opinion.

I'm sure the mathematical chance of winning is far less than you think - even with 198 or 244 points.

Frank1, I'm sorry that you feel that our game is unfair in not rewarding you for your efforts. Here are some data points for you to think about:

1. You already won 2 prizes in prior drawings: a BTG Practice Question Premium Subscription (worth $99) and a Princeton Review book. I believe that you should have already received access to the BTG PQ product. We still haven't sent the Princeton Review books because we haven't received them from our contacts yet. (They told us that they shipped them last week.) As soon as we receive the book, we'll ship it to you.

2. You are correct that you had 198 points. The total number of points that players earned in Week 3 is 26,807. And so, the probability that you'll win any given drawing is 0.74%, which is just slightly less than 1%. The probability that you won't win a prize in a specific drawing is 99.26%.

3. Since you already won a Practice Question and a Book prize already, you're only eligible to win a GMAT Course or Admissions Consulting prize. We gave out 6 GMAT Course or Admissions Consulting prizes in the Week 3 drawing. The probability that you would not win any of these 6 prizes is 95.65% (99.26%^6 = 95.65%). So the probability that you'd win one of the GMAT Course or Admissions Consulting prizes is 4.35%. In terms of odds, your odds of winning any one prize this last week was just better than 1 in 25. For any sweepstakes, I think that a 1 in 25 chance of winning a prize that could be worth between $179 - $1,800 is quite awesome. But, of course, there's still a 24 out of 25 chance that you won't win.

OK. So given that your chance of winning was slightly greater than 1 in 25, I hope that you're not surprised if you don't win a prize.

frank1 wrote:Well i have seen lots of people write their GMAT success debrief here.

(This is not a complain.This is just my experience.No blames and allegations.Plain debrief)

I am going to write my game failure debrief.
How does it feel when you prepare for 3 months and you score 350- in gmat?.
How does it feel when you work very hard whole month and your employer says 'its no work' you get 0$ at the end of the month?..he he
How does it feel when you work hard to get result all the month and result is 0.


How does it feel when you are always an exception for the 'worker of the year' awards though you may be in very high position in merit list.
How does it feel when people say its silver raining in the place called xxxxx but you never know where that place is or either if there is indeed some place like that or not.
While playing computer game,you know how to score but you dont know how to advance to second level or win the game or Game ends in level 1 though you did everything right in level 1.
How does it feel when you are sure than you won't catch that vechile but you still run behind it,in a hope that you might catch it.(lol)
How does it feel when you take a leave from office to watch game of your favourite team,but it loses its game(may be because of some decision/mistakes)
When employer says from next month though you work for 10 hours/day,you will get salary of 4 hours/day only(he he)
The employer says 'higher the work-higher the pay' and you work hard but when you are paid, the person who worked may be 1/10 of your work gets 10 times more than you.
How does it feel when you fight for each cent and collect some money but that money cannot buy you even a bread(he he) or somebody says it all fake money or your money is useless.
You feel you have done everything right(that you could) but result is wrong.

I am feeling the same.(he he)

I think it wont be ideal to say it is just 'bad luck only'

Any way just my debrief nothing special.

ezhilkumarank wrote:Don't worry, Cheer up.

You are due for something big!!!!!

I even dont see it in my dreams of my dreams....lol....
why:see the calculation above....
+ i have not said it is unfair any where but 'lottery draw' system somehow seems to have some sort of disliking for my number he he(having seen person who have 10 times less possibilities than me winnig big prizes..)

Plus i think i wont be playing for grandprize.
As that prize is not what i want now(you can say it is not that useful for now.......)..i am planning to take gmat so in terms of money that visit may seems big for me gmat courses and other are more valuable than that.

If i can score very good in gmat(ok it is just a part) and get to some good school that prize may be quite small(when we see overall mission).
So it is just like when make a person who has been hungry for 10 days chose between food and money ....she will definately chose food...it may be just like that...

Plus i have not removed a single post from my wall,So,last time there was a post "i scored 117/120' of Danaj....i liked it and posted it to my wall....
as the post read 'i scored 117/120 in TOEFL'....
i had around 50 congratulations comments and message...lol
people thought it is me who scored it...(The post title was so...)

and i had to explain every one it was not me....(may be some people might have thought i bluffed them...he he)

and all these trouble for nothing.....? ...huh..
i have started question myself now...lol

Any way best of luck for your chances.....(numercially you are strong but cannot say anything others as i am puzzled myself...)

Don't worry ,frank1. I scored in the top 5 every week.Even in the 3rd week my score was 233 but still was unable to win any prize....Lets hope for something better the nxt time..

I'm sorry it's not working out for you. However, here are a few points to consider.

The rules of the game are clearly stated. David has neatly presented the probabilities of you winning or losing so it's definitely no one's fault that you are not winning.

However, since you've been so keen to speak what's on your mind, I feel compelled to do so as well: you post a lot complaining about the game, about not winning even though you have a lot of points. Your signature says "Prizes: ..Coming out of utopian world." which to me means that you don't believe these prizes are awarded or the likes. At all times, you also write that you are in fact not complaining or criticizing the game.

But you ARE doing it. And you are the only user who does this. Doesn't it seem weird that everyone is happy playing the game, but you need to constantly draw attention to yourself with these posts that virtually read: "hey, I didn't win this week, so I believe that this reflects the unfairness of the world we live in." Isn't that a bit too extreme? Just think what would happen if every user were to write such posts!

I am terribly sorry that you did not get the prize you wanted, but at the same time you need to understand that this is the way the game works, once and for all. It is a raffle system: no matter how many points you get, you can still be beaten by someone with just one point. If you believe the game is unfair, just stop playing it.

harsh.champ wrote:Don't worry ,frank1. I scored in the top 5 every week.Even in the 3rd week my score was 233 but still was unable to win any prize....Lets hope for something better the nxt time..

Thanks
I am not worried at all.It is just may be some sort of disappointment only when you put every thing to get something and you have nel as the result.
I agree it is part of game losing but i think being disappointed is also part of human tendency.I guess.

Ok,Yes in last two week draws the high scorers (who are really serious about the game,who play for every single point) have not won any thing.(i agree there are relatively more high scorer winners this week)

I dont blame anyone or the system.But doesnt it raise a red flag the way prize system is set up(I am not saying it is unfair or it should be changed).A new comer who has 59 point winning the top prizes and pool of top scorers who have 3 times more possibilities than new comers sitting in side congratulating them on their win.
Ok i may have won Beat the gmat pratice but i have seen even a 1 pointer winning that.
Why do someone need high score then ? Are top pointers just playing for practice test only.?

I think if we really think,then i think it is bit unusual sitaution that there are tons of prizes and top scorers are playing for just 6-7 of them only.Not as per standard and custom of normal games.

I think top scorers were eligible for those books atleast (or is it that once you have won 1 book, you are not eligible for other books?) but even in that lower scorers(9,26,33) got better of high scorers(for eg 233,200..)....lol

We should not forget whole motto of the game was "More you score,higher you chances"
Thats why i feel that 9..,33..,26.. pointers book winners and 52 pointer top prize winner would have been very lucky and top scorers who scored 200,233+ and have 0 for them are unlucky.
May be part of game.

Once again,I am not saying it is/was unfair. .To be frank it dont feel there is anything left for me in the game.( but will be still playing....but not for prizes....prizes are out of equation and my mind...he he) and atleast i wont complain next week

But we have this situation and i think it will ideal to ponder "has this logic got any merit?" ..."Can we make or change prize system better so that there is something for top scorers as well?"..."is game based on higher the score more change theme" rather than saying "this guy always complains"....(there were lots of things i could have complained but i never wrote anything unless it was really serious...)

thanks any way.
I salute the motive.May be i was not able to adapt according to it.
thanks
Any way happy for 52,60,84 point winners and 200+ satisfied non winners

I think we're going in a circle here. David and I have tried to explain that this is a probability/luck thing, but for some reason it doesn't make sense to you. I will make a last effort to explain (after which I will not comment further on the matter and I hope you won't either).

Let me tell you a little story: we have this lottery system where I come from. You need to guess 6 out of 49 numbers. A regular ticket has 6 numbers on it and it costs about $2. The odds of someone guessing these numbers are 1 in 16 million or something like that. Because what isn't won last week is reported to this week, we had a pretty big jackpot a few years ago - something like $15 million. What some people did is they bought a ticket with 23 out of the 49 numbers on it. Yes, it is possible, but you pay exponentially more for it - they ended up paying about half a million for that ticket, by pooling their money. They hoped that with the $500k investment, they'd get $15 mil. Of course, on the day of the drawing, a regular ticket won and out of the 49 numbers, these guys had only guessed 1. They lost their savings. It's just chance and this is how this game works as well.

I've also written about this in the thread "Nature vs. Nurture." You are missing the ultimate purpose of the game, i.e. learn more about the GMAT and b-school application. We don't just toss in random articles in the treasure hunt, they are there because we believe they're worth reading. The pop quizzes are driven by the same logic: read the articles and get something out of them. If you win or not, at least you helped yourself in your b school journey.

We have had contests before where we rewarded members with the highest points. We had issues with gaming and posting useless stuff, so we changed the system. Btw, this is the third contest this year when we award prizes - it's no small effort and no other company does this. I think the team deserves some recognition for this.

It's up to you what you do now. I for one am less patient than David (who has done so much for this game you can't even believe it), so I am backing up. Just please stop contradicting yourself at every turn:

But doesnt it raise a red flag the way prize system is set up(I am not saying it is unfair or it should be changed).
vs.
But we have this situation and i think it will ideal to ponder "has this logic got any merit?" ..."Can we make or change prize system better so that there is something for top scorers as well?"

(I think we were posting at same time.So it might have added to the confusion as well)
Thanks
I respect you and know that i wont be able to win agruement with you(here).So please pardon me,i wont be able to write as you say "how i feel" about every thing.
I agree with those.
It is not a counter agruement but explanation in my part.(so things are clear)

DanaJ wrote:
However, since you've been so keen to speak what's on your mind, I feel compelled to do so as well: you post a lot complaining about the game, about not winning even though you have a lot of points. Your signature says "Prizes: ..Coming out of utopian world." which to me means that you don't believe these prizes are awarded or the likes. At all times, you also write that you are in fact not complaining or criticizing the game. .

I know signature has nothing to do with the game here.If it is misleading i can remove it.I still say i am complaining.I have NOT said "game was unfair","mr x removed my name","i was not in lottery"....i have always presented my situation only and let the people decide on their own...(just debrief: i tried,but i dont win any thing....just like gmat score debrief:i have seen people posting i dumped gmat ,i just got 450 i am very unlucky)

DanaJ wrote:
I am terribly sorry that you did not get the prize you wanted, but at the same time you need to understand that this is the way the game works, once and for all. It is a raffle system: no matter how many points you get, you can still be beaten by someone with just one point. If you believe the game is unfair, just stop playing it.

You should not be.It is not because of you that i have not won the prize.

With my debrief that bold part(upper-in your quote) is what i am bit confused.The theme of the game was "higher you score,more chances you have",here even 9 pointers is able to get better of 200 pointer not one time only many times.


Any way,respecting all the thing i was not planning to write any thing but i felt i should atlease explain my situation.

DanaJ wrote: If you believe the game is unfair, just stop playing it.

Thanks for your kind words.Still i have not said game is unfair,but i am not playing for any prizes any more

When i wrote these,my intension was never to counter argue.

Thanks Guru.

@frank1

I do agree that the title of the post 'My TOEFL iBT - 117/120' created confusion misleading your facebook friends.
I knew this would happen and I realized this at first place at the time of sharing the post on facebook and hence I took precautionary measures.

So next time if you realize that a particular post might mislead your FB friends, just change the privacy settings until the GAME is over. You can do that by allowing the posts to be visible only to specific friends(including David). Hope that helps...

Take it easy!!

frank1 wrote: Plus i have not removed a single post from my wall,So,last time there was a post "i scored 117/120' of Danaj....i liked it and posted it to my wall....
as the post read 'i scored 117/120 in TOEFL'....
i had around 50 congratulations comments and message...lol
people thought it is me who scored it...(The post title was so...)

and i had to explain every one it was not me....(may be some people might have thought i bluffed them...he he)

and all these trouble for nothing.....? ...huh..

Hi Ashok,

Sorry, but your advice is dangerous. Before giving out the Grand Prize, multiple members of the Beat The GMAT team will friend the winner just to verify whether the winner actually shared the articles and likes or not. If we notice that the winner didn't share the articles with all friends, then we will disqualify the winner and pick an alternate winner.

Frank1 did raise a very valid point about not wanting to confuse your FB friends. There are 2 ways to avoid the situation the Frank mentioned. First, you can just not share a particular article. Second, you can actually add an explanation in the form's textbox before sharing it. Something like: "hey, here's a great article on how someone got a high TOEFL score."

David

ashokkadam wrote:@frank1

I do agree that the title of the post 'My TOEFL iBT - 117/120' created confusion misleading your facebook friends.
I knew this would happen and I realized this at first place at the time of sharing the post on facebook and hence I took precautionary measures.

So next time if you realize that a particular post might mislead your FB friends, just change the privacy settings until the GAME is over. You can do that by allowing the posts to be visible only to specific friends(including David). Hope that helps...

Take it easy!!

frank1 wrote: Plus i have not removed a single post from my wall,So,last time there was a post "i scored 117/120' of Danaj....i liked it and posted it to my wall....
as the post read 'i scored 117/120 in TOEFL'....
i had around 50 congratulations comments and message...lol
people thought it is me who scored it...(The post title was so...)

and i had to explain every one it was not me....(may be some people might have thought i bluffed them...he he)

and all these trouble for nothing.....? ...huh..

After seeing this thread..
I see myself luck enough to get two prizes...
One BTG questions n one book frm accepted..
Kuch to mila!!

frank1 wrote: The theme of the game was "higher you score,more chances you have",here even 9 pointers is able to get better of 200 pointer not one time only many times...
Thanks for your kind words.Still i have not said game is unfair,but i am not playing for any prizes any more....

Thanks Guru.

Just see the two lines in red color written by u .....
U wanna come up with whole Wikipedia explanation for a word and then in the end u say that u still haven't said that......

David, you are right. the latter way should be a better solution...thanks!!

DavidP wrote:Hi Ashok,

Sorry, but your advice is dangerous. Before giving out the Grand Prize, multiple members of the Beat The GMAT team will friend the winner just to verify whether the winner actually shared the articles and likes or not. If we notice that the winner didn't share the articles with all friends, then we will disqualify the winner and pick an alternate winner.

Frank1 did raise a very valid point about not wanting to confuse your FB friends. There are 2 ways to avoid the situation the Frank mentioned. First, you can just not share a particular article. Second, you can actually add an explanation in the form's textbox before sharing it. Something like: "hey, here's a great article on how someone got a high TOEFL score."

David

ashokkadam wrote:@frank1

I do agree that the title of the post 'My TOEFL iBT - 117/120' created confusion misleading your facebook friends.
I knew this would happen and I realized this at first place at the time of sharing the post on facebook and hence I took precautionary measures.

So next time if you realize that a particular post might mislead your FB friends, just change the privacy settings until the GAME is over. You can do that by allowing the posts to be visible only to specific friends(including David). Hope that helps...

Take it easy!!

frank1 wrote: Plus i have not removed a single post from my wall,So,last time there was a post "i scored 117/120' of Danaj....i liked it and posted it to my wall....
as the post read 'i scored 117/120 in TOEFL'....
i had around 50 congratulations comments and message...lol
people thought it is me who scored it...(The post title was so...)

and i had to explain every one it was not me....(may be some people might have thought i bluffed them...he he)

and all these trouble for nothing.....? ...huh..