GMAT - 1 day

In movies, at the end of a countdown, when the dead line comes; you will see a collage of actions shots, sometimes with a voice over saying what was accomplished. Unfortunately, as the GMAT comes tomorrow, I don't really have a voice over in my head saying what I've accomplished.

Lessons I learnt from preparing for the GMAT.

i) Get Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction - not just for the explanation, but for the 6 online CAT tests that come alone with the book.

ii) Use flashcards as early as possible - spend 30 minutes to 1 hour a day starting from 3 to 6 months before the GMAT. You want to internalize everything on those flashcards.

iii) Use the Official Guide. It's the official guide! How can you not use the official guide? While we're on the Official Guide, download the official GMAT Prep for the 2 sample CATs as well.

iv) Kaplan is a grey area. A lot of people use Kaplan, I used Kaplan. The 2 sample CATs are a lot harder than other sample CATs. There are a bunch of sample questions (by topic) on the CD that comes along with the book. I think Kaplan is a decent primer to the GMAT. Only thing is that the sample CATs don't have answer explanations.

v) Practice. You don't have to practice 24/7, just do maybe 30 - 50 questions a day on the weekdays and 1 CAT a day on the weekends.

What I wish I had done

i) That I had done more sample CAT tests.

ii) That maybe I should have bought the entire set, for Manhattan GMAT, or maybe even just the Problem Solving book.

iii) That I had used GMAT forums to help find the solutions. I did my prep like a hermit.

What I feel I've accomplished.

i) My maths skills have improved. A lot, since from day one. When I first started preparing for the GMAT, I thought calculators were allowed (I obviously didn't read the GMAT properly). I scored lower while using a calculator as compared to now, when I'm not using a calculator.

ii) My verbal skills have improved. Although, not as much as I would have liked. I've gottten the basics down, but am lacking a bit on the high level stuff. I'm hoping that I make my verbal mistakes on questions that aren't counted.

Am I ready?

No. Not ready. Give me another month, or maybe longer. But school deadlines are around the corner, so it's time to bite the bullet and hope for the best.