GMAT Strategy

Hi Everyone,

I'd like to share a couple things about my background regarding the GMAT and would like to get your advice regarding specific questions that I have.

Graduating from RIT with an BSEE degree helped me graduate and become an IT Business Analyst. I moved from working in IT operations to help IT executives solve strategic problems. My main focus is primarily towards quantitative work.

Last year, I decided to crack the GMAT and horribly failed, getting practice scores under 600. I skipped the GMAT exam because I didn't want to record my horrible score. It's frustrating because it was primarily due to my verbal communication skills. Of all the topic areas, my reading comprehension was the weakest. I'm sure it still is.

This year, I'm in it to win it. However, I want to do this RIGHT and I have the aptitude for it. I've set myself out to a 10 week time frame so that by the end of July I can get the median score range between 670 and 730 to get me into schools I'm targeting.

I consider this week as my first week of studying, and included in my 10 week plan. This week, I'm focused on the following:

1. Take the 2012 diagnostic in the OG GMAT book. Based on my results, focus on my weakest areas.
2. Keep looking at schools that match my criteria. I have 3 US-based and 3 international schools.
3. Complete a post-Morten analysis on things that went WRONG last year. Initial thoughts suggest that I was burnt out, focused too hard on the quantitative section, never really understood what I was reading.

My questions:

1. Overarching question: I have numerous questions I want to ask, but I'd rather speak to someone on the phone. Where can I find a GMAT Strategy adviser to answer ALL my questions? I have about 20. Asking them on forums is a very back-and-forth exhausting exercise. You could argue that putting all your questions in 1 thread might do the trick, but it doesn't simplify the message for the author, reader, and answerer.

2. I've gone through several postings regarding what should happen in the first week of the GMAT. To those who struggled in the past, what were YOUR line-item approaches to successfully studying? Did you create a tracker? What did you factor in? Did you create a 10 week plan or did you change it weekly?

3. Last year, I was burnt out and stopped internalizing from the 8th week onwards. How do I factor in burnout rate in my preparation? I don't want to study 7 days a week. It kills me. I'm thinking - study 5 days a week and use the other two days to review using the note cards I create.

Your help and guidance is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.

BUMP.

I need help.