Revisit

I thought I'd be done with my first attempt of GMAT ( circa Aug31st ), but thanks to my near dismal performance ( 660 :( ), I'm back to prepping for gmat and blogging my status.
The GMAT date this time is Nov 14th. Barely 5 weeks from now.

Here's the new material that I got after attempt1
1. Kaplan 2010
2. Princeton 1000+ questions.
I will update the CAT info once I decide on which tests I plan to take. I have afew things on my mind now viz., GMATFix, 800Score,etc.,

Since, I already took the MGMATs, I'm left with the Kaplan tests and ofcourse the new GMATPrep tests once I download them.

I do feel that I'm in a much better position than I was when I was about to take the test for 1st time, as I'm not aware of atleast a few of the pitfalls that can be overcome with diligence. But since I dont have the luxury of time this time around, I need to pace my preparation and try to utilize wk days in a better way than last time.

So, here's the plan.

Sunday's left:

Oct 18th, Oct 25th, Oct 31st, Nov 8th.

Every week: 2 CATs ( no essays ofcourse ) ( preferably on Wednesdays, Sundays )
I am going to revise the following material from last time:

1. OG 12th, OG 11th, OG Verbal 12th ( I dont have this book as of now ), OG Verbal 11th
2. Kaplan 2009, 2010
3. MGMAT SC guide ( That's what I did today - 5 chapters done, 5 to go )
4. Princetons 1000+

Also, I am going to make a habit of surfing beatthegmat forums a few minutes everyday to look at some of the inspiring posts and gameplans.

As of now, here's my plan on each weekday ( except the test date ):

1. 50 Quant questions, 20-20-20 Verbal questions.
http://www.beatthegmat.com/710-v-39-q-48-dream-come-true-t46242.html#195407

Preparation, hithertho

My preparation has been going on and off for a few weeks now. I used to work in Maryland up until November '08. I changed jobs and moved to Chicago area back then. I should say the winter here kind of motivated me to get back to reading, since there wasn't really a lot to do in my free time during early days of my stay here. Howerver, I procrastinated for a couple of months and finally decided to buy material and jumpstart my GMAT prep. This happened in early January.( not exactly one of my primary new year resolutions ! ). To cut the matter short, here are the books I bought.

1. Princeton review

2. The Official Guide for GMAT, 11th edition ( OG from here on )

3. The Official Guide for GMAT - Verbal Review

4. Kaplan GMAT Premier Progam - 2009 edition

5. Manhattan GMAT ( CR, RC, SC ) - Need to purchase.

6. Flash cards - Need to make yet.

I have been working on Princeton review for the past month in a very hapazard fashion. By now, I finished the verbal and quant sections of the book. I got good scores ( 3 out of 26 wrong, 4 out of 26 wrong ) on the math 1 ( easiest ), math 2 ( easier ) bins resp. . I also took the diagnostic test in the book and scored a 550. I still need lots of work to do!

After going through the forum at beat the gmat ( an excellent resouce for gmatters, btw ) and a few othe blogs, I decided to design my schedule in as below and stick to it.

1. Weekdays - 8 hrs ( 4 days a week - 2hrs each day )

2. Weekends - 10 hrs ( 5 hrs each on sat, sun )

That sums up to 18 hrs each week, for the next 8 weeks.For now, my plans falls somewhere in between the 100hr and 300hr gameplans. I am currently working on my gamplane and I will update you all with that very shortly.