I gave my GMAT exam today in Bhopal (India). Thought lockdown was the perfect time to prepare and hence opted for the date when I started seeing good marks in GMAT official mock tests (760, 770, 780). I went to the exam with a target score of 770, with the thought that it should be 720 at least in worst case scenario.
The exam started on scheduled time, 10.30 am, at the LNCT exam Center where the invigilator named Nawaz assisted me with the pre-exam processes. I had never practiced AWA previously, but went through few templates just last night, and was fairly aware of how I am supposed to write the same. However, back of my mind, I was also sceptical about seeing a score of 750+ in Q+V, but <4 in AWA. As I began writing the essay, words came one after the other and within no time, I was done with a worthy piece which I thought would be good enough to fetch me 5+ score in AWA section. I was delighted, because my weakest part was gone, and that too very decently. Now was the time for real action.
IR had been my slowest area during the mock tests. I was fearing missing out last 1-2 questions because of my slow speed. The questions were not too difficult, and I was able to solve many of them correctly (presumably), and I was left with 7+ minutes when I was at the last question. Wow! I was nailing the exam like never before.
I then ignored the break to keep the momentum going. Quant had been my strongest area during practice days and hardly any mock test scored me at less than 50 in this section. I was mostly 51, and sometimes 50, that too finishing all 31 questions within 55-56 minutes. I began Quant with the same accuracy and the same speed. There were few easy questions in the beginning which I could solve orally within seconds. I solved 15 questions in around 25 minutes and was getting confident with the exam.
Then came Question 16, the villain of my story. It was a work problem which I'm sure I would have solved easily on any other day. However, today was a different day. It was a question where I could not assume numbers for variables, and it had to be solved. So, being a quant expert, I started scribbling on my writing sheet. I tried, came to a final answer, but none of the answers were even close. I tried again, in vain. I lost over 12 minutes of my time, and the time advantage, in the question which I finally had to mark by guessing. Next was a probability question, which needed some thought. Obviously, just out of a panic situation, I thought for 1-2 mins in vain and then took an educated guess as I could not afford to waste much time there. So, now I had just around 21 minutes left, 14 questions to go, and no confidence anymore. The villain question had done its job.
I had to solve each remaining question in less than 1.5 minute, which is slightly difficult for DS questions, especially towards the last part. Although I could solve some of them, I knew that my day had been ruined already. For the final two questions, I just had 2 minutes left, and had to take a guess on the final question, which I solved orally just after closing the window. Nothing could be done now.
I realized that if I don't take a break, I'm going to screw my Verbal section too. Hence, I opted for the break, went to the rest-room, cursed myself for the stupid heriocs I did while solve Question No. 16, and tried to calm myself down. With around 2 minutes remaining in the break, I was back in the room, to complete the final one hour of the exam.
Verbal section began with 2-3 easy questions, and I hoped that it saves me from getting an embarrassing score. RC has been my weakest part in verbal, and I knew I had to focus on the passages in order to answer the questions well. However, the thoughts from what had happened just some time back were haunting me, as if making a fun of my aspirations of getting a 750+. Obviously, it was a little difficult to focus on those parts, but I tried hard. CR questions are always my favourite part in verbal, and I could solve them using the same strategy which I always follow (hoping that they were correct). SC were particularly easy for me.
Finally, after clicking on the answer for the final SC question, before pressing the NEXT option, I prayed badly to God to fetch me a good score. And the screen displayed:
710 (Q49, V38, I8)I had expected the same from verbal, but quant badly disappointed me. I wish I could go back in time and save good 8-9 minutes on Q. No. 16, to correct few other questions in quant. Had it been 51 there, I think it'd have fetched me additional 20-30 points, making the score look closer to my target. However, there are many opportunities in life when we just wish for things which cannot happen. So this is it. This is where I stand (and what I deserve).