My GRE

I finally overcame my biggest mental hurdle, and successfully appeared for my GRE General test. I had always wanted to give this test since the time I became aware of it as an important precursor to gaining admission in US universities. It was a clean examination, unlike the semester exams which we used to undergo every 6 months during engineering days. The thought of scoring max was too delightful, an accomplishment par excellence. I had been preparing for this for quite some time, and one fine day after overcoming all those emotional jitters, I decided to take the plunge. My aim was not going for MS, but to give GRE. The score would decide my next step.
The preparation, while doing routine office work, can be a drag and a pain. I used to drink 'Barrons word list' by glassfuls during office-hour commute, a task supported by endless traffic-jams which seem to have become a tourist attraction of Bangalore these days. I used to cringe and cry on weekends especially Saturdays while going through Barron's whilst the rest of Bangalore partied. Guys, I made a host of sacrifices just to ace this magical exam .
The culmination of my efforts was rather tame and bit chaotic, I scored 1490 ( Verbal 690 + Quant 800 + Anal 5.0 ). Chaos contributed by the feeling that this was the most important exam in my life, and 2 sleeping pills. Wondering about sleeping pills ? Ya, I made the ungodly mistake of (a.) registering for the morning slot of the test , 9:00 a.m (b.) not having faith in a single sleeping pill.
Historically, I have always felt jittery on the eve of major exams, so much so that I used to lose sleep and hence perform below my potential in the exam the next day. Sleeping pill (in its various forms) came as a relief and helped me improve my performance in the final semseter. So, with such background, it wouldn't surprise the reader that when one sleeping pill didn't work the night before GRE, I took 2 in haste. And the next morning, I almost destroyed my loo with vomiting of such horrifying intensity that I fainted twice. The thought of skipping the test and forfeiting 130 dollars seemed very appropriate. However, all the preparation and tension was swirling along with the drug, and my feet dragged my body to the testing center. I gave the test in a numb state of mind and body with only my instincts carrying me through. However, the results were anything near what I used to be get during those Kaplan, Powerprep, cambridge tests at home : my average used to be 1550 with frequent peaks of 1600.

And so my dream of snatching 1600 in GRE was rudely snatched by fate. I would still term this episode as successful because I realize that it could have been worse. A second rung result is better than no-result at all.