Starting my journey by posting on GC

I went out of town and could not prepare for my GMAT. I guess I need to log this as well so that I feel guilty

Good news is that I found Manhattan Sentence Correction and Powerscore GMAT CR Bible. Anyone having problem finding these two can PM me...

I have almost wasted a week now. I will start studying the CR bible from tomorrow. Hopefully I will keep my experiences posted here. I am starting to feel excited about the day when I will take GMAT-Prep1 (both Q and V) and see my score on screen

Summary of DAY-11,12 (14,15Aug08)
Nill

I am now studying Powerscore CR Bible. I will post my progress by the end of week.

There are two CR bibles- One for GMAT and the one for LSAT. I found that the LSAT one was very comprehensive. Do we even need that much of depth or the GMAT one is good enough?

jallenmorris, which one did you follow and which one do you recommend?

Thanks.

Leonidas, Manhattan-SC bible is a small book in terms of volume but Powerscore CR bible is a different story.

The LSAT versions is approx 500 pages (I guess its a super set of the GMAT version). The GMAT version is approx 300 pages. I think you should study the GMAT tailor made version and spare the time to prepare for other modules.

[/quote]
Leonidas, Manhattan-SC bible is a small book in terms of volume but Powerscore CR bible is a different story.

The LSAT versions is approx 500 pages (I guess its a super set of the GMAT version). The GMAT version is approx 300 pages. I think you should study the GMAT tailor made version and spare the time to prepare for other modules.[/quote]

new2Gmat, thanks. I already have the LSAT CR bible. I am thinking of picking the weak areas of CR (especially assumptions in my case) and concentrate on them.

I used the GMAT CR bible. I haven't seen the LSAT once in 6 years since I took the LSAT December of 2002.

I have got stuck with some things at work. Finding very little time to give for my preparation. I am studying Power Score GMAT bible these days. Its an excellent book.

Today I have rescheduled my GMAT. The new date is now 6th of December. I have got into some business which will waste a lot of my time by end of October and beginning of November

I will post my GMAT prep-I result as soon as i feel comfortable with verbal section and take it.

At last I have finished studying Powerscore GMAT bible. To be very honest, I read it in so many small episodes that I really feel that I need to thoroughly read it again.

GMAT is slowly killing me... I need psychological help...

Days are passing by very quickly. I am lazy mostly because of confused action plan. I have so many books/information with me that I have no clue at all where should I start studying.

I keep thinking, will I do all of this or will I just do some books. Although I know its about quality of studies but the excess of information is making me crazy.

I am working four hours everyday (kind of a consultant) so I have fair time to prepare. Next question that makes me crazy is, "should I study like 5 hours on a working day and 8 hours on a weekend, or should I study 3 hours every day, or should I study in the morning, should I study in evening....." Different no of combination that I keep deciding and switching in between are almost unlimited. I feel exhausted if I study more, on the other hand I feel guilty if I study less.

I have that "perfectionist" stupid nature when it comes to studies that rarely helps. At the end of day I end up doing very perfect job on a very small portion of the mega task in hand.

There is a constant cycle of doing little and then feeling guilty that is actually disturbing me a lot. I am a victim of "GMAT DEPRESSION".

When I go to market with my family, I take some book with me. When I go to doctor, I take a book with me. I take book me with everywhere. I take it to work. I think i need to quit this.

I am even in a dilemma whether I should go for tracking everyday or not (takes about 1.5 hour for me to drive to the mountain, climb up 2 kilometers, climb down and reach back home).

I keep counting the days left till the test, making different time tables.

I have following with me

Books: OG10&11, Kaplan, kaplan verbal workbook, Arco, Peterson, Manhattan SC,Powerescore CR bible, barrons
Software: GMAT prep, PowerPrep, Kaplan Cd that comes with book

I can imagine how stupid I might sound telling all these problems with my GMAT prep but I can not share this with people around me who are not in GMAT MODE. They will never understand.

Perhaps some of you who have suffered from similar lack of commitment while preparing will understand my misery.

I need someone to give me a shut up call, someone to tell me to get rid of useless books, someone to tell me the science behind the no of hours.

I know that spoon feeding teaches you nothing at the end of the day except the shape of the spoon itself. Still I would be very thankful if someone proposes just an outline of action plan. e.g sequence of books that I should do in next couple of weeks. or the outline of things that i sould complete in Month-1, Month2, Month3

Another problem is that the section that I focus becomes quite well but my performance in other sections (eg the one that i prepared last week) decreases as soon as i lose contact with these.

If I commit suicide (just joking...) it will be because of Data Sufficiency,No. properties and Probability.

I am very sleepy and tired and frustrated at the moment. Please ignore "spelling/grammar/lack of communication" mistakes if any. Consider them "careless errors" instead of "concept errors"...

I have gone through Manhattan SC and Powerscore CR Bible once in last few months in broken episodes.

I guess achieving following short term targets till 27th September will help me regain control of my GMAT LIFE...

10 Sep through 20 Sep-------> OG11 complete with Review, Questions and Analysis
20 Sep through 27 Sep-------> Manhattan SC thorough stidy with OG10 SC Questions

Guys, do you think time allocated for both these activities is balanced? Again, how many hours should I spare daily to be able to achieve this target.

I was in the same boat as you a few weeks ago with carrying my books everywhere and obsessively studying. I think my wife was ready to kill me.... take a few days off and relax and try not to think about the GMAT, especially a few days before the test or you will stress yourself out too much. I think that you're on the right track with your prep and if you aren't taking it until December you have more than enough time to prepare. I might spend a little more time with the OG because the answer explanations help you to see how the test makers think. Especially take your time with the DS explanations.

Also, I got a 48 on quant when I took it and there was maybe 1 permutation/combination problem on the whole test so don't stress out about those types of problems since it's likely you won't see them. (I think others will back me up) Data sufficiency is also a small part of the test (less than half of the quant section) but if it's giving you a hard time I would focus on doing those problems. The Princeton Review book really helped me organize my thoughts about Data Sufficiency so you may want to take a look at that (though others will probably disagree)

Also look at the questions posted on the Math Challenge board. The folks over there give really good explanations and may be able to help with your thinking on the problems.

I'm sure you'll do much better than you think when you sit for the actual test. All of your prep will pay off! (even if you don't believe it now)

Thank you so much cereal255 for your kind reply. Its sure is encouraging. I will postpone my efforts for probability etc until I master the basis fields...

ever think of doing the MGMAT online course or something? i can't speak for it because i haven't started yet, but i know that i was concerned about how to structure my studying and that's why i signed up for it.