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 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.