Ze NMAT

When hope was still in perspective. See that big smile?

Never have four letters scared me as much as N, M, A and T.

To science majors, intarmed students or plain old smartypants, the NMAT might just be another 400-point exam. No big deal! But to me, it was everything! Well okay, not everything, but it was definitely something. I won't deny that I reviewed for it--spent hours practicing chemistry and physics problems, word problems, researched on bio concepts, even timed myself in preparation for Part 1 and killed myself with caffeine. Yes, I did put some effort into it. I didn't just get up one day and think, oh hey why don't I take the exam? I even tried to sleep early and avoid alcohol.

But unfortunately, I didn't get the coveted 90+ percentile. Did it break me? No. Did it disappoint? Well yes. Did I expect not to get within that percentile? Definitely. I knew I wasn't gonna get it but I did not expect such a low score. Don't get me wrong I did not "fail" the exam and I still got within the percentile needed for the med school I want but a little part of me trembled when I opened that pdf file.

I hear stories of people who were drunk the night before they took their exam and still got a 99 or those who started reviewing that same week and still got a pretty damn good score. Well I guess it sucks to be me? So I try to rationalize everything by saying that I'm a Behavioral Sciences major anyway and all my stock knowledge about biology, chemistry and physics have probably deteriorated over the past four years or that I ran out of time or that I was so tensed thus the "low" score.

But hey, all that doesn't matter right now. Thanks to friends who know exactly what to say (I love you all so much you have no idea) and who never made me feel like a disappointment, I'm all good. It was just a stupid test anyway and it's not like my whole life has been encapsulated by just two digits.

So I'm back in the game and I've never wanted this more than anything. I am really ready for you med school! ;-) And if there's one thing my NMAT result has made me realize, it's this: We don't always get what we want but somehow we still end up blessed with what we really need.