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Joined: 26 Sep 2013
Posts: 151
Given Kudos: 40
Concentration: Finance, Economics
GMAT 1: 670 Q39 V41
GMAT 2: 730 Q49 V41
Re: T-Minus 2.5 hours!
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07 Nov 2013, 21:01
Alright, so here we go.
I got to the test center early; I went to IHOP for breakfast and had a huge meal so I would be fueled up for the test a few hours later. I brought water, a couple bananas, and 3 energy bars. I found the test center easy enough. I wasn't really nervous for the check-in, it was just as described on the videos. The staff were courteous.
So I get to my little cubicle said my prayers and dove in. I'm glad there's an essay first. I write a mean essay, and love writing persuasive analytic arguments. It also helped any adrenaline rush I was feeling burn off. As I wrote I noted I was half done with the essay with about 20 minutes left, so I had plenty of time. I was actually almost giddy at this point. Note to other applicants: A lot of schools aren't that concerned with your essay unless you don't speak English as a primary language, in which case they use it to judge your ability to communicate. It's a great section to start with I feel, as it lets you ease into the exam. So I finished up with the essay and proof-reading with about 5 minutes left.
Then the fun starts. The first IR question was actually pretty easy for me, had to do with selecting a value in each column based on some prices of tickets or something. I didn't do a ton of IR studying, but the stuff I had studied was similar. What little jitters I had disappeared after that. I had been getting around a 4 on the IR in prac exams, so I didn't have big expectations really. I kept getting questions that I found fairly easy, but didn't feel like I was getting anything wrong, so I was confused why I kept getting served up easy questions. I got a lot of graph questions; I feel like the IR will change in the coming years as right now so much depends on the type of questions you get served up. I love graphs, and used to make them for fun in grade school, so it wasn't a big deal to answer questions on them.
Now here's where the trouble starts, apparently. After that IR/Essay I was feeling pretty good. So I go use the restroom real quick, come back to the lockers, eat a bar, drink some water. Stand around for a minute, then realize I should use the bathroom again real quick, lest my small bladder get in the way of quant. Well I get back, and when I signed in I had apparently gone over the break time by about 90 seconds. I have no idea how, I was counting in my head the whole time. So I sort of panic on the first question, it was about averages and mean/median. I just picked the answer that looked best, trying to catch up. The next question I felt rushed on too. Then the third I actually thought I had solved, realized none of the answers matched, panicked for a second, then saw I had missed a part of the question and found the right answer. After this I had a couple easy ones, or at least stuff I was prepared for. I start going through the questions fairly confidently. I'm ahead at this point by about 5 minutes. About halfway through I hit a hard question, I take about 4 minutes for it, but figure I can afford to. Then the next question is just as hard, and I take another 4, and now I'm behind by like a minute. I press a little bit and catch up fairly easily on the next few questions. On the latter half of the quant section there are a few questions I feel 'iffy' about. Especially DS. There's always some obscure formula no one has used before, or ever will again, that people just seem to 'know' for these questions. So what looks like a dead end for 1) or 2) will actually be viable. Also on the latter half there were a few PS questions I wasn't too sure on, I got close to one of the answers, but not quite there. I ended up finishing with about 2 minutes left. I didn't think I had done bad, I figured maybe a 44 or 45 or so.
I wasn't too worried about verbal; I usually finish it with about 25 minutes leftover, and I had been in the 99th percentile on my prac exams. So beforehand I took the break, and wasn't too worried about going over. Of course I came back and it had only been 5 minutes. Go figure. So I have to say that this was actually the toughest group of verbal questions I hit between the 7 pracs I took, and the exam itself. Lots of close calls, tough decisions. I actually used up more time than usual, but still had several minutes left by the end.
So after that I clicked on submit scores or whatever, got my scores, grabbed my stuff, left and went out to my car and almost drove off a bridge on the way home. The next couple hours are a blur really. I put everything I had into this exam and preparing, specifically for the quant. Getting a 41 on Verbal is bad enough, if only because I didn't do well enough to push over 700, but then to get a 39 on quant. I have no words. I knew I got a couple wrong at first because I had to rush to catch up on time, but that was maybe two questions, and then on the latter half there were 5 or 6 I wasn't sure on really. Throw in a few extra DS's that I probably got wrong and that's still only maybe 8 or 9 wrong, which is what I was getting on the prac exams. I was still around 47 on those though. I don't even know what to do or say at this point. I'm rambling right now; I'm mentally exhausted, my life was virtually destroyed today, and I may have permanently lowered the quality of life that my family will have in the space of about 4 hours. Not good times gang, not good times.
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