GMAT Prep 2: 720(q:49, v:40)

Done with practice tests. I came a long way in two months - from 710 in prep1 to 720 in prep2; 10 points that is ;) Jokes apart, given my current situation, I will be really really happy if I get such a score in the real GMAT. Wish me luck!

Practice Test Marathon...

I am down with fever. So I went crazy and took three practice tests back to back yesterday - GMAT Prep 2, GMAT Life by CATPREP, and Manhattan CAT2.

Quant scores: 47, 51, and 47.
Verbal scores: 35, 42, and 40.

The above scores just show how different various tests are. Though I got a disappointing score in GMAT prep2, I identified my weak areas in quant. Verbal, I am unable to focus - could be because of my fever. I just hope I will be able to concentrate in the real GMAT, which is less than a week away.

Taking off till I get rid of the fever. I just hope I have enough time to brush up my weak areas, and to solidify my strong areas... 

Sentence Correction in my pocket...

Sentence Correction was the apparent problem area for me when I started my preparation. I am done with the preparation part of it finally. I think I am pretty comfortable at it now. Though my speed in solving SC questions leaves something to be desired, I don't have the bandwidth to work on it. But, no complaints whatsoever. I am pretty happy with my progress :)

Materials used:

1. Manhattan SC guide.
2. Aristotle SC guide.
3. Total GMAT verbal.
4. GMAT Official Guide 12th edition(OG).
5. Aristotle's one minute explanation to the OG SC questions - very useful.

What have I done:

1. First I went through the Basic part of the Manhattan SC guide. At the end of every chapter, I solved the corresponding questions from OG. 
2. Then I read Aristotle SC guide cover to cover - except the chapter on idioms. Solved 100 questions given at the end of the book.
3. Then I read Sentence Correction part of Total GMAT verbal. Solved 60 odd questions from it.
4. Read the advanced part of the Manhattan SC guide.
5. Solved all the OG questions in untimed conditions.
6. Took the SC portion of the OG diagnostic test under timed conditions.

SC Scores

1. SC OG score: 128 correct out of 140.
2. SC OG diagnostic score: 15 correct out of 18.

A word on Idioms:

I skipped idioms chapters in both Manhattan and Aristotle guides. I think I already know the most tested idioms anyway as I have seen quite a few in the OG questions. I Hope not memorizing idioms won't come back to haunt me in the exam.

PS: I know, I know; the heading of the blog is a run-on sentence :)

Life takes over GMAT...

Attending weddings, receptions; Work-related late night problem solving; Playing Table Tennis, Lawn Tennis; Roaming around Passport office; Catching up(read: night outs) with old friends who are in town... you get the essence - life takes over GMAT :)

Irony is that when I had lot of time, I didn't utilize it properly. Now when I actually need time, I just can't have it :) There's got to be a name for this phenomena. 

A genius scored only 710 in GMAT...

Today, my dear friend took GMAT without much preparation and scored (only)710. This is the guy whose intellect inspires me. He didn't do justice to himself with that score; he is definitely 800 material. This is the guy who cracked IIT entrance without preparation. This is the guy who got 750 in GMAT prep without preparation. But then everyone has his or her own priorities. In my book, a score of 710 for a doting husband and father is equivalent to 750. All the best mate. You truly amaze me.

To get the creative juices flowing...

Desperately felt that a break from the preparation is needed; creative juices were just not flowing :) So took a five day break from GMAT. Will resume the prep tomorrow. Would like to think this as a "decisive" break ;)

Meanwhile, I attended the MBA tour and UCLA's info session.

MBA tour complicated my already existing problem of finding the best-fit schools. There are simply TOO MANY good schools to choose from. I will have to take a pretty hard look at Rottman and UC Davis.

UCLA is simply irresistible  - people, location, culture, RA/TAships, scholarships, hassle free loan process, and the list goes on. 

GMAT Prep I Retake 720 (Q48, V40)

Finally a sigh of relief. After taking three Veritas tests and scoring in the 600's, I started doubting my abilities and went for the big one - GMAT prep I; scored 720. Moral of the story - don't take scores awarded by test prep companies seriously. Use the tests to improve your timing and strategy.

Even though 720 is a good score, I am really disappointed as I have done many mistakes in quant - 13 mistakes altogether(11 in DS, 2 in PS). Clearly Data Sufficiency is killing me. Now what do I do to tackle Data Sufficiency? Anyway, I haven't done much for the verbal till now. I will concentrate on it for now.

GMAT Focus diagnostic 1: tough road ahead...

Took the GMAT Focus diagnostic to identify my weak areas. Focus predicted with 80% confidence that I will get any where from 47 to 51 in the quantitative section of GMAT :) Not very useful, right? But at least it's honest :) Apart from that, I am pretty much satisfied with GMAT Focus. The questions are exceptional. I don't think I have seen such questions anywhere else. May be I will see similar questions in GMAT :)

Work-GMAT balance

Let me first confess that GMAT gets to you. In the beginning, I just can't stop thinking about GMAT. All I want to do is study for GMAT. It's hard not to prepare for GMAT all the time. But, at the end of the day, GMAT is just a means to an end. Work is much more important.

When I started the GMAT preparation, I made it a point to keep my work & GMAT preparation separate, and not to neglect the work. I have a great boss and he is very supportive of my MBA plans from the start (yes, I am one of the few lucky guys). He is supportive to the extent that he offered me to reduce my work load(yes, you read that right). Worst thing I could do, during the whole MBA application process, is straining my relationship with him. So I compartmentalized work and GMAT. And boy, am I happy! I am much more efficient at work now as I am utilizing my time optimally. And you know what, my boss was saying the other day that I don't seem like putting enough time into my GMAT preparation :) See, the beauty of compartmentalization!

The road ahead: GMAT

OK, I booked the date with the destiny. On October 10th, 2011, I will try to tame the GMAT beast(hopefully, not the other way round). That leaves me with a month to do my magic. I am hoping to spend 4 hours a day.

After taking GMAT prep1 and scoring 710, I analyzed the results and came up with the following plan.

To read

1. Total GMAT Math by Jeff Sackmann
2. Manhattan Sentence Correction guide
3. Manhattan Advaced quant strategy suppliment

To practice

1. Veritas prep Sentence correction guides - 2
2. Veritas prep Data Sufficiency booklet
3. Jamboree Sentence correction sets
4. GMAC Official guides 10th, 11th and 12th editions
5. GMAC Official reviews - both verbal and quant
6. GMAC paper tests

Mock CATs

1. GMAT prep - both one and two, twice.
2. Manhattan GMAT - 7 tests
3. Veritas prep - 5 tests

I am overwhelmed by the amount of study I need to do. Can I do it?

update: The new test date is November 4th, 2011. Had to post-pone the exam as my passport didn't arrive in time.