Quest to do my Best - My GMAT Journey Log Dear Readers, I graduated from college in 2008 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering. During my last semester, I was offered employment by a major Engineering and Construction Company which visited my college campus to recruit fresh graduates. I worked with the company for a span of two years, during which I had the privilege to work in two countries. All in all I got a very good exposure and things were great! However, I felt the time was right for me to broaden my horizon and spread my wings before I grew too comfortable. So, I resigned my job, returned to my country and started to prepare for GMAT. I wrote the GMAT on 26th Dec and got the following score: Verbal – 37/80 %ile Quant – 43/65 %ile Total – 650/79 %ile AWA – 5.0 I plan to take the test again this coming Feb because I am not entirely happy with my first attempt. The disappointment stems out of many things I realized after I took the test. I made a series of foolish assumptions which resulted in a sub-optimal performance on test day. PITFALLS: 1. I underestimated the test. 2. I took the verbal section for granted and practiced very little. I own a copy of MGMAT SC, RC and CR, but I only went through them peripherally. 3. As far as quant goes, I solved all the Problem Solving questions but didn't do as many DS questions. I assumed that if my PS skills are strong, DS would take care of itself. 4. I did not have a strategy. Like they say "Failing to plan is like planning to fail" With that said, I recall the words of Zig Ziglar: "Failure is an event, not a person" So, with the ghost of GMAT past locked up in GMAT purgatory, I forge on full steam ahead! There is a Hindu philosophy which I believe in. It says " Do your job without worrying about the result " Therefore, I'm not setting a target score because my aim is to do my best! If I give it my best shot, I will automatically get the score I deserve. (right?) Here is how this thread is going to work. It will consist of two posts. The first post would be about what I did on that particular day and the second post would be about what I plan to do the next day. I will start my preparation from tomorrow. So you can expect the first post within a few hours. Wish me luck and do support me in my journey! Regards, Amrith MAN-HOUR CLOCK - 5hrs

Update: I've read through the Manhattan RC book 5 times today. I think I've grasped the general feel of the strategy. Now, my focus is to apply what I've learned on dummy RC passages rather than go for the GMAT passages in the OG. So now I'm gonna forage through the forum to collect a few RC passages and go through them tomorrow and the day after. After that, I'm gonna go for the passages in the OG

Good Morning to one and all Today, my goal is to do 25 LSAT RC Passages. I downloaded a document containing some 116 LSAT RC passages. I will not time myself. However, I will use these passages as a test bed to practice the strategies given in Manhattan RC Guide. Apart from that, I will do 25 DS and 25 PS Questions from the OG. I will time them though. Target time per question: 2 min Target Accuracy: 90% I'm off to the gym now :D

Damn.... I haven't started solving them RCs yet I did do something useful though - I condensed the entire Manhattan RC Guide into 4 pages of handwritten notes! Mighty pleased with the end result :D Wooohooo!

Brain dead and mind *****d GMAT prep does take it's toll! Not for the faint hearted

Blast you RC! I'd rather read a Batman graphic novel and answer questions but we live in an imperfect world .

In a perfect world, I would be hand crafting Hollow Bodied Guitars! and I would be teaching little kids how to play the guitar... But... I gotta write the GMAT Only thing common between a guitar and GMAT is the frickin' alphabet 'G' P.S. and 'T'

Have you started practicing RCs. I am procrastinating too. May be we should play a game in GMATClub - every week we should do 10 RCs otherwise pay the other person $1 per RC.

ha ha! Nice! :D But I don't have that luxury dude... I'm writing the GMAT on 24th of this month... So I'm doing 10 RCs per day I'm starting the OG tomorrow. So far, I was practicing on LSAT passages. Main intention was to internalize the strategy given in the Manhattan RC Book!

Another difference- you play (songs on)/tune the Guitar, but GMAT plays on YOU. Good luck for RC though.

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