Its all about being organized, Stupid

That's what I keep telling myself. Especially after I got a 620 in GMAT Prep Test 1 last Sunday.

While I have been preparing for the last 4 weeks or so, I was always wary of taking a full length test for two reasons.

1. Didn't want to exhaust my test material
2. Was not sure how the score would affect my prep.

Guess what? I was totally wrong on point 1. I really needed some kind of direction on where I was going with all the prep I was doing so a full-length test was not just much needed, but, as they would call it in tech jargon, was mission-critical. I can alwyas spend a few extra bucks to get more material, but I'll never know if I'm on the right track if I don't evaluate myself- especially in the early stages of my prep.

As for point 2, I got the mother of all doses of reality one could ever get once I saw my score. I was like Huh?And a little 'Obviously' thrown in.

See, I knew all along that my prep was not focussed. I kind of knew my strengths and weaknessess, so to speak, but my prep was not addressing the same. As I blindly covered the concepts in Math and English, I knew I was operating at low concentration levels and that I was not working toward targets. Bambi always told me to get a damn time-table but I always shrugged it off.

Now I know I need one. Desperately. Otherwise I better kiss my dreams goodbye.

So here's the analysis of my first prep test.

1. 12 Wrong in Math. 16 in English. I don't have my notes rite now, but I think it was 38Q and 34V.
2. I suck at DS. Mostly because I do not evaluate all the answer choices independently. Number Theory and Coordinate geometry are the topics I need to work on.
3. I messed up an entire passage in RC. My verbal started off with an RC -which was a tricky passage - and I needed to focus more.
4. I also messed some SC's. I need to get back to some basics here.

Takeaways:
1. Get a damn time table.
2. Get through the concepts quickly and more importantly work as many problems as possible
3. Take a full-length test every week. This is the bare minimum. Do more tests as the magic date nears.
4. CONCENTRATE while doing 2 and 3.

Moral of the story: Get Organized, Stupid.