GMAT

Today I took the GMAT. I've studied for several hard weeks, with the knowledge that my GMAT score will determine what range of schools I can target. A low or high score doesn't guarantee anything, but it would be very difficult to get in to a top school with a sub par score. The benchmark score for "doing well" is usually the 85th percentile score, much like a 1300 on the SAT.

I arrived early at UNCC (University of North Carolina Central) in Durham for my test. Unfortunately, the directions I had led me to the center of campus, not the testing site. Thanks to Michele for suggesting I arrive early. I was directed by a security guard to the other side of campus. After 10 minutes of driving and hunting for a parking space, I park. I walk toward the building and find the door locked. Wrong side. Walk more, faster now. I'm directed to a small room on the 3rd floor. When I arrive, I'm given a parking pass and told to go put it on my car. Running now.

I return to the test room with only a few minutes before my test will begin. I'm sweaty and pissed off at this point, but I have to focus, no extra credit is given for pissed-off-ness. I ask for a couple extra minutes to catch my breath and walk around. I'm told, "Your test will begin in 2 minutes." Focus... The room is small with a giant air conditioning unit sitting in the middle with huge air tubes feeding it. This looks low budget but the room and test situation are quiet and comfortable. I ignore the ear plugs and headphones available and proceed with the test.

The GMAT consists of three sections (in this order)
1. essay (aka analytical writing)
2. english (aka verbal)
3. math (aka quantitative)

As an engineer, math tends to come more naturally than english. For better or worse, however, the math on the GMAT is much more logic based than advanced concepts, testing true understanding rather than ability to memorize formulas. On the contrary, the english sections are very mechanical including comma placement, parallelism and subject-verb agreement. The good news was that I was able to make good progress in studying for the english, the bad news was that I was starting from scratch. I'd never even heard of many of the concepts I was being tested on two months ago.

The essay section is essentially a warmup, it is a separate score out of 6 points. I figured I could at least do decent at this but I had no scores in practice to find out. On both essays (30 mins each) I scramble for time at the end but manage to get out solid content with certainly some grammar and spelling issues.

English comes next and I am a bit shaky to start. I rehearsed some common themes to calm me down, as each problem is always a test of one or more of a few simple topics. 75 minutes later I'm feeling good about getting through with all the questions at a good pace. There were a few that I had no idea but I felt good about most of my guesses.

Math comes last and my brain is feeling the effects of the first time in many years that I had to stay so focused for so long. I decided I'm off to a good start when my fourth question is outrageously difficult. The GMAT is adaptive, meaning that the more you get correct, the harder the test gets, and vice versa. Seeing hard questions means I'm doing well, but in this case means I'm not super-genius and toss in a wild guess and hope the questions get easier. They do. Must have been a wrong answer.

As I near the end of my 75 minutes I'm left with 3 questions and 10 minutes. I slow way done and double check all my answers since I have so much time. I'm also anxious to complete the test however since the scores are given instantaneously. I patiently submit my answers and wait for my scores...

I smile when my scores are displayed. I won't be getting any calls from the nerd-herd but I shouldn't be denied anywhere for my scores alone. Next step... Applications.