I plan for GMAT!!!

Long time no see!!!

Had my TOEFL today..went okayish...Got a range of 237-280.....dont know really what it formualtes to finally However, hoping for the best.

Talked with Mihir today. Was fun talking with him. Actually it reminded me of my begining of GMAT preparation. Started it all alone. Was surfing a lot in those days as I was waiting for my MH-CET (MBA) result. Went through some cool GMATPrep links and set my mind on GMAT. However, I followed my own path as it opened up. This is just a log of that....next parts will be focussed on improvements possible.

I went and bought OG 11th ed andPrinceton review straight away as both the books were as common as the word GMAT across all the forums. Started with OG as that would give me an insight of GMAT. It was quite entertaining and informative. Entertaining because of the depth it went in to make the solution understandable. Inormative because it is made by the people who make the GMAT test and hence a bit verbose too. Started with Math as that was my favourite section after CAT and other aptitude tests. It is based on the 8,9 and 10th basics. English section was tougher compared to 'desi' competitive exams and rightly so.

English section was quite vast and had many practise problems. I planned to finish minimum 100 in a day during the initial days. Was quite good at RC and CR section. However the accuracy of the SC section was not to the limit. To start with it, it was well below the standard. I remember after my first GMATPrep test, in which I scored mere 440, SC was the weakest link and was very well reflected in the OG prep as well. So thought of understanding SC well. For that Princeton Review book proved significantly helpful. The simple and live language it uses makes it very user friendly. It was like a friend helping me with my difficulties.

I used to study for 3.5-4 hours in the initial 3/4 weeks. This was possible because I had left the job for competitive exams. I used to practise a lot in that and used to get up all frustated because of the low accuracy percentage in SC, which improved a lot later on. Sundays were religious test days. I used to miss swimming, F1 races for the test. As I had read on a blog that one should give the test in the time he is alert I chose the morning slot. I started giving tests on each and every Sunday from one or the other test CD. Its important to know and judge your performance on a regular basis. It is like the signpost and helps a lot.

Keeping track of all tests was one thing which helped me a lot. I kept learning about my strengths and areas of improvement. I analysed how the scores were getting affected by the number of right answers, order of correct answers and other facts. I made it a point to discuss the mistakes with a CAT group and on forums so that common mistakes get registered in my mind and I dont repeat them. It worked!!!

If you feel you are getting good at one thing dont leave it that way, improve is what I learnt next. As I used to solve more papers from Kaplan and scores improved I felt like I was on a high and needed to improve the level of it. So doing right things consistently correct and understanding that there is a scope of improvement also helped.