illusioned.org - hesam panahi

SXSW was, as expected, lots of fun. The panels were interesting and I’ll definitely be going again next year. The conference is held in Austin, which is only about 150 miles away. Also, it doesn’t cost much to attend if you don’t consider hotel costs. Even the hotel would be cheap if you don’t mind staying someplace far from the convention center, where the event is held. I was lazy and didn’t feel like having to find parking, so I stayed at the Hampton Inn. I must say the service was top-notch. High speed internet in the room, breakfast in the morning, and free HBO! I think the coolest thing was that they valet your car for you, which on a not-so-nice day is a definite plus.

You also can’t beat the number of Macs that were present at the conference. I had my first encounter with Rendezvous, Apple’s cool instant-network-creating system. You logon to the SXSW wireless network, and tons of people instantly appear on something similar to a buddy list. You can send people messages, exchange files, and do a variety of other things. I was very impressed by the way it all worked.

Much of my evenings during SXSW were spent studying for the GMAT, also known as the Graduate Management Admissions Test. For those that aren’t familiar with the purpose of the GMAT, it’s used for admission to graduate business schools. It’s kind of what the SAT is for undergraduate college.

I only had three weeks to study for the test, and had to take it this morning at 8am. Considering I’m not a morning person this required me to wake up extra early (~5:45) so I could really wake up prior to stepping into the test room.

What’s more is that the GMAT is adaptive. Meaning that if you get the first question right, the second question will be harder. If you get it wrong, the second question will be easier. This keeps on going until your pattern changes. For example, you may get the first six questions right, and then suddenly get one wrong. If that happens, you will get an easier question. If you get that right, the questions once again get harder. By the end of the section, the test has a general idea of where you stand. In theory, I guess.

Whatever the case, the whole adaptive thing was freaking me out. I have to get a very high score to even be considered for the program that I am applying for, so the pressure was on to perform well. Because the GMAT is a computer-based test, your results are given to you immediately after finishing the test. It’s very frustrating because as soon as you’re done, the computer asks you a bunch of background information (ethnicity, gender, etc.) that builds up the suspense even more. By the time you’re ready to see the score, you’re either going to be severely disappointed or very pleased.

All I can really say is that I’m glad it’s over. Now I have to focus on my current classes, and hope that my post-undergraduate plans work out.