I just finished posting our latest @ocd Inktober event post, finished some discord chores I needed to do today, some @ocdb curation, some @blocktrades curation, a bit of @ocdb downvoting and just like that, I spent 2-3 hours doing Steem stuff. Doing the same on my laptop back in my cow town would take around 4-5 hours, so this is actually a blessing, because now I have some time to post on Steem.
I know, I've been absent from in-chain activity, but that doesn't mean I've been away. I'm actually reading each and every one of you. I'm ghost-curating all day, sadly I'm downvoting quite a lot, and overall I like to think that I've been fairly active on discord.
You might be wondering why I've been absent (besides what I just mentioned above), or you probably didn't even notice that I hadn't posted in a while. Either way Imma tell you: I've been preparing to take the GMAT exam (Graduate Management Admission Test) and the IELTS (International English Language Testeing System). Both of this exams have an international acceptance to almost any University in the world, which is exactly the reason I'm taking them.
I'm looking to enrole in a Graduate programm in Europe, specifically a business management, finance or marketing Masters. I'm still deciding and assesing my options, either way I need a good score in both of these tests because it's pretty hard to get a spot on any of the good Business Schools in Europe, particularly Denmark, The Netherlands, Austria or Sweden, which is exactly where I'm looking to study for the next two years.
Apparently and from what I've read - I could be wrong though - anyone looking for a spot on the top Graduate Universities in Europe competes with the Top European talent and some genius level Indians, Chinese, Koreans and some other Asian geniuses. So I gotta be prepared to get the best scores I can for these tests, which represent a fair chunk of the decision making when deciding who gets to study in this Unis.
Since all the graduate courses I'm looking for are taught in english - obviously no spanish courses, what were you expecting? - any University asks any potential student to get a 6.5 score out of 9 on the IELTS, and to not score under 5.5 on any of the 4 sections of the test: Writing, Speaking, Listening and Reading.
It turns out I already took the IELTS, and I did pretty good, actually, more than pretty good, I'd say I had an outstanding score:
Pretty kickass if you ask me, unless there are a bunch of Asians and Europeans who have a perfect english that kicks the ass of my very good english. It's funny how I got the worse score on what I do the most here, writing. I guess I am too rambly and never go straight to the point, which is something that is frowned upon on formal or professional environments, but since it's something that freewriting and steem writing nurtures on my writing style, I can't help it. It doesn't matter. I was aiming for an 8.5 out of 9, I got an 8 which is still a great score, so I'm happy.
I took the IELTS a week ago and since then, I've been preparing to take the GMAT which is the hard one, where you have to prove your math, logic, reasoning and language skills on a high level. The issue with the GMAT is that there's not a desired grade or a specific score the Universities ask for on the requirements list, they just ask you to do it.
Depending on the grades of the other students, it is decided who gets to enrole and who doesn't, so it depends on who you are competing with and how lucky you get.
The highest score is 800. It's nearly impossible to get that one but if you manage to do it, you are pretty much set and have nothing to worry about. The scale is lower, for example: The best business school in Mexico asks for a score of at least 550 points; Harvard and Stanford ask for 730; Oxford and Cambridge for 685. Obviously I can't afford any of these even with a huge Scholarship, but I can strive for getting into a top University that is not an Ivy League kind of School such as the University of Amsterdam, the Copenhagen Business School or the Stockholm School of Business which do not have a minimum score restriction but, they will give the available places to the most fit candidates, including the GMAT score.
Which is why I'm aiming to get a 680 score on the GMAT. That is insane to be honest. I don't think I'll get it and my mexican friends who've taken it think I'm crazy and stupid. Some of them prepared for 6 months with a private tutor and managed to get between 560 and 600. But I'm smart as fuck, so who knows. I only began studying to this text 5 days ago so I'm probably overstretching and flexing the wrong way. We'll see.
The thing with the GMAT is that to actually get a score above 600 means that you had very few wrong answers. Once you answer a question correctly, the inteligent test gives you a harder answer, and if you get that one right, you will get an even harder one, and so on until you are faced with questions only a handful of people around the world can answer. Those are the questions I need to be ready for in less than 2 weeks.
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention it? I'm taking the test on the 31st. I know, reckless, but I only decided I want to study a masters in Europe a few days ago, enroled on the IELTS and GMAT - paid for them, around 500 USD for both :(, RIP my finances, send food pls. I played by ear the IELTS without getting ready and I'm hoping I'm ready for the GMAT.
But hey, the world belongs to those who risk everything on a hunch or a change of heart.
So here I am, on my alma mater's library, writing a post before getting to study again, after doing my Steem related chores and finally showing on-chain activity.