Feels Like Noon, But Isn't.

Guess that's what happens when you wake up at 2:30pm. I'm allowed though, after the 4am wakeup yesterday I ended up intelligently staying up until 2am, not quite making it to the full twenty four hour day. I had good reason though, so it's all good.

The test, ah the test. Imagine taking a full blown SAT for about two and a half hours, getting a ten minute break, and then proceeding to go through TEN more sections all more stressful than the previous, and eventually finishing the test five hours later than when you started. Definitely the longest test I've ever taken, and even though I love tests as opposed to homework and such, and used to take practice SATs for fun, this was not very fun.

Some of the later sections were VERY difficult, not because the questions were hard, but because the time limit was ridiculously short. One section had a table with forty numbered row and columns with random numbers in every slot, with the rows and columns numbered as if they were the X and Y values of a graph, from -20 to 20 on both axes. Without using a straight edge or marking on the sheet in any way, we had to take two numbers given in the problem and find the corresponding number on the sheet. It's an easy task, unless you're rushed. That and the fact that the test problems themselves were just in a list on the page in two columns next to the problem number so your thought process went like this:

"Okay I'm on #316, where is that on the page, okay here it is, numbers across from it are -16 and 18, okay look at the table, find -16 on the X horizontal, take my finger and slide it down carefully without screwing it up towards about where 18 should be, oh wait that's -18, slide it back up, okay there's 18, double check yes I'm in the right place, okay the number is 319, okay back to the test sheet, 319, 319, wait what number was I on, check answer sheet, okay it was 316, scroll over from #316, look at the choices, wait what did I say the answer was 316? No wait it was 319 okay that's choice D okay quick bubble bubble it in okay next problem #317."

If you read that and understood it all then maybe my brain isn't as confusing as I thought. Again, it doesn't look all that difficult, but when you put a 7 minute timelimit on 40 of those giving you about 10 seconds a question including bubbling, it can get tight. Thanks to being prepared and having taken a full on practice test before going, I knew how fast I had to work on each of the sections, and ended up doing them pretty efficiently. On more than one section I could tell I was the only one who finished, with the average person around me finishing about half. It was quite satisfying to be done when the proctor came back into the room and hearing nothing but mad random bubbling all around me. One guy said during the break he was using the "BABE" technique of randomness for the ones he didn't get to. I'd never heard of that before, go figure.

The test room itself was quite bizarre, at first we were all seated in this somewhat long room with desks and I was getting all set up assuming the test would be there, but then they opened this small door which led into this literally four feet by six feet room or so with ten desks crammed into every conceivable space. There were windows on all sides but they were somewhat soundproof, so other than the door it's just us in a claustrophobic's nightmare. Luckily that's not me.

The best part was when the proctor would leave the room at the beginning of one of the faster sections (some were as short as 3 minutes) and you could hear him say to the other people working in ajoining rooms (COME WATCH THIS ONE THERE'S NO WAY ANYONE WILL FINISH THEY'RE SCREWED) thinking the windows were soundproof. Nothing like having six guys line up against a window about six inches from your face looking over your shoulder as you take one of the more stressful tests of your life. Sheesh.

Ten days maximum is how long it's supposed to take to get the scores, they break it down into 5 subcategories by percentile, with 99 99 99 99 99 being the highest. The categories are three academic just based on the first six sections that are very SAT like, Verbal, Quantitative, and Academic Aptitude, which is just the first two scores combined. The last two categories are Pilot and Navigator, which are composites based on the test sections they feel will be most representative of what those jobs will require. I've been thinking quite positively, so I'm hoping for 90 Pilot, 90 Navigator, 90 Verbal, 95 Quantitative, and 90 Academic Aptitude. This is where my parents both go "RIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT." Basically if you think about it those scores just require beating 9 out of every 10 people who took the test, which is I'm guessing a no more than a couple thousand nationwide, maybe even as few as five hundred. Generally when I make predictions I end up overestimating, and I always hope that isn't the case the next time, but I like being optimistic. Of course, in order to be eligible you only have to get like 50 combined between all five scores, but I'm trying to counteract a lower than average GPA, so exceptional scores would be ideal.

La Cienaga was very kind going both directions, only took me a half hour or so, the 405 can be up to an hour during rush hour traversing the same distance.

More later, as the day was only half over by the time I got home.