My Rendezvouz with the GMAT...

It was the last week of June, the hot summer day was somewhat reflective of how I was feeling. Even though i had relaxed myself in all the ways i knew, there was a feeling of an unprecedented sense of nervousness somewhere within me. The next course in my life would be decided partly by how i perform in the GMAT. I reached the testing centre half an hour before the appointment. The girl at the reception asked me to present my passport and after verification she handed me a printout describing the rules of the game. I glanced over it and she told me that I could start the exam before the appointed time.
I logged in and after filling in and verifying the data coming on the screen i was ready to list the five Business schools of my choice that the GMAT guys would send the exam scores for free.

Dear Gmatters , Before you go for the test please be 100% clear in your minds w.r.t. the list of 5 schools where you want to send your scores. These may not be the only schools but if you are smart you can avoid paying more dollars to send the score in a second round.

My test had started and the first bomb fell. I was thinking about the 2 essays questions and spent a lot of time thinking. Suddenly half an hour was not enough for me to put my thoughts correctly as i wanted to. I somehow put an answer in place and proceeded to the next one just in time.

Friends, consider the 2 small essays an integral part of your preparation. More importantly as i indicated in a previous entry, when you run through Mock test complete these questions and then move on to the real test. It is important to have a feel of these "Killers".

Quant was not tough - i had prepared enough and except for a couple of questions i got almost all. I did not skip any questions.
The difficulty came when I started the Verbal part. Even sentence correction was not easy. Why was everything looking so tough ? One wrong answer and another and I started imagining a score well below 730. That was my target. The problem is that i got overwhelmed by the fact that i got a couple of questions wrong in the beginning part. I almost gave up and thereafter i had a tough time with the GMAT. I completed the test by random guessing the last 3 questions. I was waiting for my score. Those were moments of real tension. Soon the score flashed across the monitor. It was much less than what i expected. I was not happy with my performance.

Readers, the GMAT is more of a mind game. It all depends on how you manage the 4 hour duration of the test. It is fundamental to be very cool. If you get upset because you get some questions wrong, it will spell doom for you. Just carry on with a light mind. Forget the tough ones , if you don't get an answer - select the one which at least doesn't look wrong and proceed to the next one. Don't waste too much time with the questions that you are unsure of.

Failures often are the greatest teachers. But i listed some points here so that at least it helps you if you are planning to go for the GMAT.

I ran out of the test center to where my car was parked, got in and hurried off home.

take care,
-The Omnibus Blogger