I Am An Intellectual Originator

Last night I took a personality test at MyPersonality.info after reading about the test at many random places. I knew already that the test results often surprise people with their accuracy and I have to say that I was not disappointed. While taking the long test, I wondered how accurate it could be with such haphazard questions that people obviously answer in a hurry. But whatever the testing strategy is, it works.
There are 4 broad personality types and my results placed me in the intellectual category. No surprises there. I have held that opinion about myself since I was 3 years old :) Within the intellectual category, I was described as 'The Originator'. Here is a short review of an Originator:

Logical, innovative, curious and downright inventive. They see possibilities for improvement everywhere and possess the ability to understand complex concepts. They are introspective and carefree nonconformists. They often neglect the more common areas of life while pursuing new solutions. They can be good conversationalists and exciting company.
I loved every word of it :D

My personality type is basically the 'ENTP'. Let me decode it for you. It means that I am more of an Extrovert than Introvert, I am more iNtuitive than Sensing, I prefer to Think rather than Feel, and I Perceive more than I judge. I guess that pretty much sums me up.

The test was interesting and I feel it should be made a mandatory part of any person's CV.

PS: I am longing to write a post on my French classes as they are so much fun. It will be coming soon :)

A Breather - TOEFL

I watch the news, get angry when I see a complacent politician, fight back the tears when I see a martyr's family, and feel agitated when I watch large crowds of people demanding action. I find myself in an emotionally charged mood the entire day every day.
A respite came in the form of my TOEFL result. My score is 115/120, which is reaaallllyyy good. Reading - 30/30, Listening - 30/30, Speaking - 27/30, Writing - 28/30.
No mood to celebrate but this at least made me get back to work on my applications, else since the night of 26th all I have been doing is watch the news, talk to people, show my anger and express solidarity with the nation. Not that I am moving on and going to forget 26/11. Some things in life are not supposed to be forgotten, though they hurt, we refuse to nurse such wounds. They have changed the way we think forever.

What It's Like Being Devil's Lil Sister

Finally.... the effing exam thing is over. I partied yesterday with a careless abandon that I had forgotten I was capable of and then slept like a dog only to wake up late and groggy this morning. And yet, where is the feeling of relief??? It just isn't there. I feel like I have stepped from a storm into a tornado. I just hate documentation and paper work and financial statements and running around offices and you know what I mean. However, I have to do it all and do it fast :-(

Meanwhile, something very annoying happened with me. I was getting some anonymous comments on my blog, which I admit initially made me quite curious. I really wanted to know who the anonymous reader was and does anyone blame me for that? I mean, aren't all girls curious about such things? However, after a somewhat sleazy comment from the anonymous reader, I decided to not pay attention or at least pretend to ignore, as it obviously was some prankster trying to be funny. After ignoring for a couple of days, I started wondering why the anonymous reader wasn't commenting anymore. And then, I had this conversation with my sister yesterday

Dido: hey, I read some anonymous comments on your blog. Who do you reckon that is?

Me: Dunno. Some creep, but I have decided to ignore now. Sooner or later there will be more comments and probably I would be able to figure out who that is.

Dido: (Cruel maniacal laughter)

Me: (Stunned but obstinate silence)

Dido: Well, they were from 'Yours Truly'

Me: (Insane maniacal laughter) I knew it.

Dido: Haha.... you didn't and you never would have. Gosh, I shouldn't have told you, it was such fun. I could have carried on more.

Me: Shutup.

Thus I came to know that my sister, in one of her usual fucked-up efforts to provide amusement, had targeted me and pulled one on me succesfully. She did get a lot of amusement from the episode, as she always does when I am her victim. She is devil personified and I have the enviable honour of being devil's lil sister.

Introspection and Retrospection - 2 Days 2 Go!!

Yesterday I took another practice test of GmatPrep (from mba.com) and guess what my score was............. a 7.... 5... 0....... yeah a 750!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw my score. It took time to register that grand figure in my head and to digest the fact that I just scored nearly 100 percentile. My score was 49 in Quant and 42 in Verbal. Yeah, I know.... 49 Quant is amazing :-) Everybody has been telling me that. I just wish I could score a wee bit better in Verbal. I am greedy, I admit.

However, there's someone who has been dampening my high spirits with loads of doubts, apprehensions, misgivings, qualms, dreads, and fears. That someone is the other half of my personality. No, I am not a twisted character suffering from MPD, in case somebody is getting any such ideas. Like everybody else, I have this high-spirited, vivacious, confident, optimistic and happy self; and another gloomy, pessimistic, agonised and dispirited self which sometimes brings me down. Now the pessimistic-me is worried that since all the material that I have studied consists of just one book (Official Guide), the scores that I am getting in practice tests are just a stroke of luck, and this lucky streak may or may not be there on the D-Day. Since I have decided to take the exam on 25th October (Yes, I preponed it by a whole month. Gulp!), I don't have time to go through any more material. All I can do is take as many tests as I can and then work on questions that I get wrong.

2 days to go and all I have studied is the OG! I don't believe I am actually doing this. Heck, I got above 700 in all three practice tests.... I will just keep my fingers crossed now (except when I am typing).

I don't have any preparation for AWA, will work on it in these 2 days as best as I can.

2 days.... GULP!!!!

News News News

Gosh! So many things happened since I last posted that I don't know where to start. Let me give the news in bullet points.

* I got a 710 again in my second practice test (Quant 47, Verbal 41).
* NV has gone to US and will have her baby there. (Did I mention that she is pregnant? Well, she is.)
* I bought knee-high boots for winters. Can't wait for the weather to get cold.
* Priya is going to California during Christmas and New Year's.
* Mom and Dad have gone to Sikkim, leaving me alone at home
* I have decided that I will pre-pone my GMAT date to 1st week of November

Whew! I will elaborate now. I downloaded test software from mba.com just to be sure that my score is reliable. I really doubted my last score, but a 710 again has boosted my confidence. What was surprising this time was my quant score. I jumped from 39 in quant to 47, although dropped in verbal from 48 to 41. But I don't mind the drop as long as my points stay in the 40s range. The decision to pre-pone my exam has come after this new found confidence in my preparation.

NV is almost 7 months pregnant and was going to have her baby in Kanpur but suddenly her husband had to leave for U.S. and after much thought she decided to accompany him. The shocking part of the story is that none of us had any inkling that she is leaving for US. Well, I admit we were not in touch with her since something like 15 days. She mailed us all today to inform us that she arrived in Virginia yesterday and will be back in Februray after having her baby in Jan. Now, were we shocked? We felt flabbergasted, thunderstruck and similar stuff. When a 7 months pregnant female suddenly decides to have her baby in US instead of her in-laws place, it's normal to be shocked. She and her hubby will look for an apartment now and for doctors who will take care of her. I support her as always, may she have a baby as unpredictable and daring as she is.

My knee-high boots look sexy. However, I had a tough time buying them. I had no plans of buying any such thing but so wanted to have them when I spotted them at a shop in Janpath (I am an impulsive shopper). I was wearing a long skirt and chappals on that eventful day when I bought my boots. I pointed out around 4 pairs to the shop attendant and said I wanted to try those. Now, I have small feet and always find it tough to find footwear in my size. This shop attendant said he had boots in my size, took out various boxes and sat down to help me try the boots. He took out the first pair and I stepped out of my chappals and sat on a sofa to try the boots. It now occured to me that I will have to pull up my long skirt to my knees to try the boots. It would have been so much better if I was wearing capris or a short skirt. Anyway, feeling awkward I put my leg into the boot that the shop attendant was holding out for me. It fit my foot perfectly. Now the attendant started pulling up the side zipper. Damn!! It was tight, the zipper wouldn't close and I embarassingly asked him to take off the boots and let me try another pair. My sister gave me a laughing look which meant, "You should start dieting". I scowled and tried another pair but the same thing happened again. This time the attendant tried hard to pull up the zipper and even asked me to stand so that the Boots could fit me. I guess he was desperate to sell because the boots in his shop were weird (I am sure the boots were weird and my legs are absolutely fine). I finally bought a bigger size but they fit me well and I will soon post a pic of them.

Omigosh!

I took my first GMAT full length practice test today and was no less than shocked with the result!
I am quite confident about my verbal skills but I come from an engineering background for heaven's sake!!!! I should score better in Quant :-(
Anyway despite my poor performance in Quant, my score was a whopping 710. Ye Ye Ye!!!! Clap Clap Clap!!!! Kudos!!!! Am I getting too excited??? Well, I have to be, coz I never aimed that high even for the main exam, much less for the first ever full length test I took. My score was 39 for Quant and 48 (Grinning) for verbal!! Verbal score is better than I expected but Quant was the dampener.
Still, a 710 is shocking for me. Probably I underestimated myself, or worse, probably the test software I used is total crap. I downloaded the GMAT prep software from prepwizard.com. I am satisfied with the level of questions that I got, but a 710 still gives me doubts about the reliability of the scoring. Anyway, a quick analysis of my quant section made it clear that there are certain types of questions at which I totally suck (excuse the expression). These are probability, sequences and series and Data sufficiency questions. Need to work harder in these areas. Also, I totally mismanaged my time for quant, randomly guessing the last 4 questions without even reading them properly. I am happy with my verbal section, though there is always scope for improvement, particulary in Reading Comprehension.
Still, I got a 710 folks!!!! :-) This has acted as a big boost for me and I am now aiming for a higher score in the real exam. I hope that my scores go up from here.