ITS OVER

I beat the GMAT. :) Details later. I'll leave you with this Kanye West lyric:

I just thought you should know
We hit the liquor store
Got some Cris and some Mo
And we about to let it floooooow
Had some problems before but see we let em go
Got an ounce of that dro
And we about to let it bloooooow

Yeah, you know what this is
It's a celebration, bitches!
Grab a drink, grab a glass
After that, I grab yo ass

Whatever doesn't kill me....

The flea situation seems to be in control, though I have a feeling that the war is far from over. There is no lower life form on earth than the flea. Yet they seem to be rather advanced little parasites. Did you know they could detect CO2, vibrations on the ground, and body heat so that they know when to emerge from their little disgusting cocoons? I think I can now write a fucking book on fleas and pesticides.

On the GMAT front, I took a GMATPrep test and scored a 710. Hooray! All is not lost, after all. Snot-filled and flea-ridden, I will conquer this test, so help me god.

Now while I can't exactly dispense any advice given that I haven't taken the real test yet, I do want to mention that while I started early (April), I realize now that I didn't make the best of my study time. I was intent on getting through all my prep books, so I just charged through problems everyday and read the solutions for my incorrect answers. While this exposed me to hundreds and hundreds of gmat questions, I never really sat down and really reviewed/memorized math formulas, idioms, methods to tackle specific types of problems. I figured I would save this for the last month, which I did. Now that I've reviewed thoroughly, I find myself successfully solving quant problems more efficiently (duh). And I'm kicking myself for not doing it earlier. So in other words: Sounds obvious, but don't just do the problems--study them and their solutions in depth. Slow and steady!

Less than 7 days to go.

GMAT + flu + fleas = HELL

What better to complement my single-digit number of days left till D-day than a stuffy nose, phelgm-y throat, and 30+ flea bites on my right leg??? How exactly does one catch the flu in July in Southern California when it is 110 degrees outside? And can someone explain why, after my cat's three flea-free years of life, does she decide to host an army of them NOW?

And here I was worrying about breaking 700. Hell, will I even manage to make it to the test center without passing out from the pesticide fumes in my lungs or wigging out from my flu medications???

bitch, bitch, whine, whine

Why is it that all the things that have been bothering me over the course of 2006 are now back in my head, fighting for me to spend all my brain power agonizing over them? Why now, when the GMAT is a few days away? Is it that I’d rather be thinking about my aging parents’ health, my unyielding crush on an impractical someone, my financial woes, my uptight new trainee at work, my lack of general direction in life, my overall unhappiness—than be perusing through another prep book? Perhaps, but whatever the cause, it is not putting me in a studying mood.

I know, I know--I will get a grip. My troubles will always be there waiting for me, but the GMAT is at hand. I just needed to blog about it, I guess. It’s lunchtime. My math flashcards and iced americano await me at Starbucks.

chi-town travels

Okay, enough test stuff, before I shoot myself. Here are some photos from my recent trip to Chicago. I didn't get a chance to visit Kellogg, but I'm hesistant to apply anyhow. I know when I'm beat. But the city is great.

panic!

I decided on a whim to take a Kaplan CAT test yesterday (my second), and did poorly. Much worse than my diagnostic test. I pray this is not reflective of how I will do on my actual test day (which is approaching rapidly!!). The room temperature (freezing--but I didn't want to sacrifice time to turn the a/c off), time of day (late afternoon, after work), my nerves, and my inexperience with doing problems on a screen all help to account for the low score. Or, maybe I'm just a mediocre working stiff loser who doesn't deserve to go to B school. Ha...ha...joking. I think. But I do feel discouraged. Especially since I've been doing so well on the problems in my prep books.

Oh well, at least I learned first-hand a few things about test day (that i should have already known): dress warmly/comfortably, get a good night's sleep/a few hours of relaxing, and calm the fuck down.

Hardcore (and I mean HARRRRD) studying/reviewing begins 07.17.06. Uh, after a short stint in Las Vegas, that is. :)