I'm All Jacked Up on Mountain Dew!

Well, the GMAT came and went. I feel like that might be all I have to say, which probably gives you some indication about how pleased I am with the result. I did raise my score slightly. Sadly, I went from a 95% to a 97% on verbal and from a 66% to a 67% on math. Since we all know that speaking english clearly is not a requirement for college professors, the verbal score is hardly worth the paper it's printed on. I am moaning about an overall score in the 92nd percentile, but I had hoped for a little more mathematical progress. *************************************************************************************I selected my top five schools before taking the test and here's the list: 1) Univ. of North Carolina 2) Univ. of Wisconsin 3) Univ. of Maryland 4) Univ. of Arizona and 5) Univ. of Utah. I will leave the obvious conflict between my love for alcohol and my applying to a school in Salt Lake unexplored. I will also have to pretend I am in jail if I decide to select the Univ. of Arizona since my family is composed of die hard Sun Devils. For an ASU fan, it would generally be better for a family member to be incarcerated than to attend U of A. Carolina is my dream school all around, but don't let them know, I don't want to seem over eager. I will add 1-2 more schools to the mix, but these five lead the pack. ************************************************************************************* The best part of taking the GMAT was how I spent the rest of my day off. I got to eat lunch at California Pizza Kitchen with my husband, get a massage and then finish the day like any budding accounting scholar... I drank a bottle of champagne while watching Talladega Nights and then sang my heart out to a few of my favorite Guitar Hero World Tour songs. I can almost guarantee that a person who gets a good score on the math portion of the GMAT probably wouldn't enjoy an evening spent in this manner, so I guess I am happy just the way I am. If I have to pick between Ricky Bobby and grad school, I'll take Ricky Bobby any day.

And Now it is Upon Me

On Wednesday, I take the GMAT for the 3rd time. While I have consistently scored in the 90-95th percentile on the verbal section of this test, I have earned a 49 and 66 percentile ranking on the math part in the earlier sessions. While that means I am better at math than 66% of people taking the GMAT, many PhD programs like to see scores in the 90s and well, that's just plain unlikely to happen for me. Often people assume that my accounting background would make me good at math. What it makes me good at is excel and that's not allowed in Wednesday's effort. When's the last time you calculated 13! by hand? How many of you even know how you would begin to caluclate 13!? ************************************************************************************* Either way, Wednesday will be the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. For a while I can put the study books away (at least until I take linear algebra in the spring...woo-hoo party!). On Wednesday, I will begin the month long process of actually applying to schools. Last time I applied to eight schools, got three interviews and accepted admission at Michigan State. (Enter economic crash - stage left.) This time, I will apply to at least six schools and max out at eight. (The schools have a 3-8% admission rate for this sort of thing, so I think it's wise to cast a wide net.) I have selected two of the finalists, but can't seem to fill in the rest of the list. As I explained this dilemma to my husband yesterday, he suggested that since the decision is such an important one, one that will likely impact the rest of our lives, we use a highly scientific system. Essentially his system involves examining NCAA football records and applying to those schools with the best records. I asked him what we would do about schools that didn't have football teams and I believe his response was something like, "Why would you apply to a school that doesn't have a football team?" ************************************************************************************* Ironically, my mom would tell you that my dad selected his PhD school based on the football team and it seems to have worked out okay for them. At this point, it's probably as good of an indicator as any in the school selection process. That and the proximity of a Chipotle.

The Time of My Life

I've been MIA from the blogosphere for a few weeks. First I got sick (thankfully not H1N1) and then I started my studying for the GMAT. (Last week, I studied over 15 hours of algebra, geometry, etc. It was a real party.) Excuses, excuses, but even more unfortunately, I took two full weeks off from running or really exercise of any form. Last week I was mostly back on track with the training schedule for January's marathon and finished the week with a respectable 18 miles ran. Tuesday was an easy 2 miler, Thursday was a 6 mile death march. (As a tip, no matter how hungry you are, don't ever eat a hot dog, a tortilla and several handfuls of beef jerky and then hit the road for a six mile run. Around mile 3, I was praying to throw up and considered committing my first bulimic act. I kept my food down and finished the run, but it was ugly.) ************************************************************************************* On Sunday, my 10 miles represented my first double digit run since the marathon. Up to this point, I have seriously doubted the existence of the "runner's high" that I have heard so much about. The best feeling I have ever felt during or after a run was a combination of disbelief and relief at the completion of each mile. Well, call me a believer, but I think I caught a glimpse of the running holy grail on Sunday with the best run of my ten-month long running career. The weather was perfect, I felt great, I was in the zone and my pace felt completely natural. Through some magic feat, I was able to keep a pace just below 11-minute miles for the entire 10 mile run, something I haven't done in a long time. Since I am targeting a 12-minute mile pace for January, I am thrilled with any run that adds distance and keeps me below my goal pace. Essentially, I kicked that run's ass! At the end, I felt like I could have kept going, but we were running late for a Humane Society event that involved us walking two miles with our dog. I will admit that some of the euphoria was gone at the end of the dog walk and I didn't have much desire to move for the rest of the day. I was ready for bed at roughly 8pm, but as I fell asleep, I was still very much on the high of my best run ever.