Folks, like I said before, I was terribly upset about my previous GRE score. I spent a month cribbing but then I asked myself why I don't give it another shot. I listed the universities that have deadlines in February and March to see if there would be any use in retaking the test. To my surprise, I found out that there are a lot of top ranked universities that have late application deadlines like NYU, Rutgers, OSU, etc. So, I decided to retake GRE and registered for Jan 21 2013.
For two weeks, I prepared Manhattan GRE Prep Maths books assiduously. I didn't concentrate much on the verbal part, as I scored 115 in TOEFL and I thought that would be enough to show the admission council that my english does not suck. My aim hence, was to secure the perfect score in Quants. I went through all the 6 books, practised with sample tests from ETS and Manhattan GRE. My problem solving skill and speed improved tremendously and along with that my confidence too.
Jan 13 2013
I received the shock of my life. Received an SMS stating that GRE test has been cancelled all over India.
Jan 14 2013
Executive from Prometric Helpline confirms that it has been cancelled everywhere except Hyderabad and Gurgaon. They offer to schedule a test in March/April if I'm willing to travel to Hyderabad. I get confused whether I should reschedule to Hyderabad or wait till they fix the issue in Bangalore.
Jan 15 2013
Received an SMS from Prometric saying the exam will be conducted as per schedule. I felt so relieved to read that and continue to study.
Jan 17 2013
Received a call saying the exam has been cancelled.
Helpline personnel confirms that the exam is still cancelled. Offers to reschedule to April!
I was not even sure whether my scores will reach in time for meeting the deadlines on Feb 01. Now I completely lost hope that I would even be able to go to the US this year!
Jan 20 2013
One guy from the helpline offers a seat for Jan 21 in Hyderabad! I told him that I'm still in Bangalore. He asks to call him after reaching Hyderabad and told me that he would book a seat for me the very next day. My joy knew no bounds! Booked a bus to Hyderabad.
Jan 22 2013
Reached Hyderabad. Booked a hotel room for 3 days.
Received an international call from a foreigner working for ETS who offered to schedule a test on Jan 31 in Bangalore! That wont fly! I'm in Hyderabad already. I want the test day after tomorrow in Hyderabad.
Jan 23 2013
I freshen up and right at 9 am, called the Prometric Helpline asking them to schedule a test the next day. To my horror, they said they cant! I called them thrice and pleaded to them, explained my situation and how one of them had asked me to come to Hyderabad for the test. They either rudely disconnected my call or asked me to wait for a new test date from the international ETS guys. I got really frustrated and angry and finally, I snapped. I kept calling them one by one until I had spoken to everyone of their helpline team. I threatened that I will sue them for playing with my life and that I have recorded the conversation with their team member who asked me to come to Hyd. They asked me to send them the recorded audio file as they thought I was bluffing. I sent them all the details needed and also sent a copy to their lead. After a lot of heated calls, finally the lead called me and said she will take this on priority and do the best she can and asked me to stop calling as she needs some time to sort things out! I laughed, thanked her and said that's all I wanted to hear. Half hour later, she called me and told me that I can take the test on Jan 25 in Hyderabad itself. Bingo!
Jan 25 2013
After a lot of preparation, chocolates and Red bull, I gave myself "All the best" wishes and headed to the exam hall. Because of unprecedented traffic, I started losing hope that I would reach there in time. I begged the auto driver to go faster and offered him 50 bucks extra to drop me at the gate. I checked in exactly on time as if right on cue!
While taking the test, I felt that the test is too easy this time. Which could mean two things. Either I am doing extremely well or I sucked so bad that the exam is throwing easy questions at me (GRE is an adaptive test).
Four hours later, I come out with a huge smile on my face. V 158, Q 168 (which is equivalent to the 800 perfect score on old scale), A 4.
Apr 2013
Received admits from New York University, Ohio State University, Northeastern and Indiana University.
May 7 2013
Preparing financial documents. Considering to take a loan from Credila, HDFC.
Publishing this blog after such a long delay!
Edit:
Jun 2013
Admit from USC (University of Southern California). That's where I'm going. MS in Computer Science, Fall 2013 @ USC :)
Dec 2013
Completed this blog post while sitting in my room in downtown LA, California. What a year, this was! :)
For two weeks, I prepared Manhattan GRE Prep Maths books assiduously. I didn't concentrate much on the verbal part, as I scored 115 in TOEFL and I thought that would be enough to show the admission council that my english does not suck. My aim hence, was to secure the perfect score in Quants. I went through all the 6 books, practised with sample tests from ETS and Manhattan GRE. My problem solving skill and speed improved tremendously and along with that my confidence too.
Jan 13 2013
I received the shock of my life. Received an SMS stating that GRE test has been cancelled all over India.
Jan 14 2013
Executive from Prometric Helpline confirms that it has been cancelled everywhere except Hyderabad and Gurgaon. They offer to schedule a test in March/April if I'm willing to travel to Hyderabad. I get confused whether I should reschedule to Hyderabad or wait till they fix the issue in Bangalore.
Jan 15 2013
Received an SMS from Prometric saying the exam will be conducted as per schedule. I felt so relieved to read that and continue to study.
Jan 17 2013
Received a call saying the exam has been cancelled.
Helpline personnel confirms that the exam is still cancelled. Offers to reschedule to April!
I was not even sure whether my scores will reach in time for meeting the deadlines on Feb 01. Now I completely lost hope that I would even be able to go to the US this year!
Jan 20 2013
One guy from the helpline offers a seat for Jan 21 in Hyderabad! I told him that I'm still in Bangalore. He asks to call him after reaching Hyderabad and told me that he would book a seat for me the very next day. My joy knew no bounds! Booked a bus to Hyderabad.
Jan 22 2013
Reached Hyderabad. Booked a hotel room for 3 days.
Received an international call from a foreigner working for ETS who offered to schedule a test on Jan 31 in Bangalore! That wont fly! I'm in Hyderabad already. I want the test day after tomorrow in Hyderabad.
Jan 23 2013
I freshen up and right at 9 am, called the Prometric Helpline asking them to schedule a test the next day. To my horror, they said they cant! I called them thrice and pleaded to them, explained my situation and how one of them had asked me to come to Hyderabad for the test. They either rudely disconnected my call or asked me to wait for a new test date from the international ETS guys. I got really frustrated and angry and finally, I snapped. I kept calling them one by one until I had spoken to everyone of their helpline team. I threatened that I will sue them for playing with my life and that I have recorded the conversation with their team member who asked me to come to Hyd. They asked me to send them the recorded audio file as they thought I was bluffing. I sent them all the details needed and also sent a copy to their lead. After a lot of heated calls, finally the lead called me and said she will take this on priority and do the best she can and asked me to stop calling as she needs some time to sort things out! I laughed, thanked her and said that's all I wanted to hear. Half hour later, she called me and told me that I can take the test on Jan 25 in Hyderabad itself. Bingo!
Jan 25 2013
After a lot of preparation, chocolates and Red bull, I gave myself "All the best" wishes and headed to the exam hall. Because of unprecedented traffic, I started losing hope that I would reach there in time. I begged the auto driver to go faster and offered him 50 bucks extra to drop me at the gate. I checked in exactly on time as if right on cue!
While taking the test, I felt that the test is too easy this time. Which could mean two things. Either I am doing extremely well or I sucked so bad that the exam is throwing easy questions at me (GRE is an adaptive test).
Four hours later, I come out with a huge smile on my face. V 158, Q 168 (which is equivalent to the 800 perfect score on old scale), A 4.
Apr 2013
Received admits from New York University, Ohio State University, Northeastern and Indiana University.
May 7 2013
Preparing financial documents. Considering to take a loan from Credila, HDFC.
Publishing this blog after such a long delay!
Edit:
Jun 2013
Admit from USC (University of Southern California). That's where I'm going. MS in Computer Science, Fall 2013 @ USC :)
Dec 2013
Completed this blog post while sitting in my room in downtown LA, California. What a year, this was! :)
