Bye, bye, GMAT

I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I got a good night's sleep, ate my regular bowl of morning oatmeal with blueberries, took a vigorous walk (up the hill behind my apartment), packed some snacks and headed to the Pearson Test Center. I gave myself an hour and 15 minutes which was much needed given the terrible state of traffic. I ended up exiting I-5 three miles before my exit to escape standstill traffic and freestyling through completely unfamiliar suburbs. Luckily (due to my excellent sense of direction ;) I made it to the center with 30 minutes to spare before my 12:15 appointment giving me time to eat my lunch (pastrami and sauerkraut, anyone) and check in a little early. Phew. Given the fact that I have absolutely no retake opportunity, I was terrified that some logistical snafu would derail me before the fact.

It seemed like everyone at the center was also there for the GMAT. I took my breaks but did a poor job of watching the clock after the essays because I was docked 45 seconds on math. This was especially unfortunate because my greatest trouble on the math section is pacing. I always run out of time. Maybe losing time helped because I kept my pacing and finished with 30 seconds to spare. Second break I was more careful with but then, maybe just because I was tired, I ran out of time in verbal which is something that never happens to me. Normally, I finish several minutes ahead. And then came the fateful moment ... I was terrified that I might click "Cancel Scores" by accident, so stared at that screen for a little while to make sure "Report Scores" was definitely chosen :)

.... 710. Sigh. But then I expected 710 since that's what I've scored on the last three practice tests. Quant was 45 (78th percentile) and verbal was 42 (95th). I was a little disappointed but that's just silly. It's a perfectly fine score and given that I'm sick and had only two months to prepare while writing my essays I should feel grateful. As I've said before, I doubt that a 760 would make the difference for me in terms of acceptance. And I am definitely not retaking it! (What's wrong with some people?) I am ready to move on in life! Move on to those essays, move on to uploading this damn thing and then move on to exercise and reading for pleasure and talking with other human beings.

Amen.