STRUGGLING FOR MY GRE SCORE
Yeah, I am also struggling for my Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) score, a prerequisite for Ph.D. Admissions in the U.S.A./Europe. My story hails from a small village named Sahora, which comes in the district called Hardoi of Uttar Pradesh, India. Yeah, there was a day when my family had no money to pay for my physics coaching classes of high school examinations. And then, I had decided not to go for coaching and study on my own. I was keen to learn and work on interesting things since my childhood. I have collected dry woods for my mom’s kitchen in my village. I had never purchased new copies, notebooks, and books for my studies. Instead, I have made good use of my book-craft learnings from my earlier classes and crafted notebooks from blank pages of the old notebooks left by my elder and younger siblings. I have searched for old books and repaired them for my studies.
My village was never known for any studious students. But, when my high school examinations were round the corner, two young chaps from my village went for government job preparations to Lucknow and Shahjahanpur, the nearby cities to my district Hardoi. As I was doing good in studies and wanted to prepare for the U.P.S.C. examination for I.A.S., a dream of every North-Indian studious student, I wanted some guidance in regards. Therefore I met one of those brothers in my village, who were preparing for government job exams. One of them has suggested that I should appear for the joint entrance exam for polytechnic diploma admissions. I have appeared for the diploma entrance examination based on his suggestions, and then that day also came when I have cleared the entrance exam. I have scored the highest marks in my school in the high school examination as well. Then I have moved to the Government Polytechnic, Jaunpur, to do my 3-years diploma in electronics engineering studies. I was a topper throughout three years there as well.
At the end of three years, came the season of the campus placements, and the placements were zero. But what our teachers there have suggested to us to mandatorily complete at least the engineering graduation degree before going for a job perusal. Since, I have directly done my diploma instead of intermediate, which means 11th and 12th standard, I felt that I should complete my Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) somehow. But, there came the question from where to do my graduation? The engineering degree is a very costly affair in India. However, there was a way I found for my engineering degree at a lower cost but harder than I.I.T.s to clear all the examinations. This was a government body called I.E.T.E. running the educational unit to teach the diploma graduates for bachelor’s and master’s degrees. I have enrolled for three years of B.Tech. degree program, and got a year’s exemption having the three years diploma in hand. Being a brilliant student, I have cleared all the subject and lab examinations only in two years scoring highest C.G.P.A. ever in the history of the institute.
Then I have prepared for the common entrance examination for M.B.A. programs by the Indian Institute of Management (I.I.M.). Some unfortunate incidents have hit me hard, and I have settled for an M.B.A. integrated Ph.D. program at I.I.I.T.-Allahabad. However, my unfortune has never left me alone. Given all my efforts being a topper in the M.B.A. program. I have been disqualified for an internal Ph.D. examination by the institution. But this time, this incident came as a great fortune to me. I have got selected for the teaching assistant (T.A.) role at India’s topmost management school: Indian School of Business (I.S.B.). This role comes with the implied aspirations to get the GMAT/GRE score and to go for U.S.A./ Europe Ph.D. programs.
However, again with my bad luck, I have got detected with heart disease. And, guess what came more painful than this was my girlfriend leaving me in this worse situation of my life. Somehow overcoming all this has taken three years for me working with I.S.B. Now I am working as a research associate (R.A.) at I.S.B., but the struggle for a good GRE score is still on to get Ph.D. admission. I am a throughout school/university topper, electronics engineer, and I.T. management researcher having 3+3+2 educational qualifications. I have appeared for the GMAT exam also but scored a bad 550.
Someone has suggested me to go for GRE instead. I have done a mock exam and scored 303 in that exam. However, I feel somewhere some kind of fear holding me back not to appear for mocks or the real GRE. How should I overcome this fear I don’t know. I do try to study, but then I love writing instead. I have heard that the top U.S.A. institutes have started accepting the students for their costly postgraduate programs without any score in this COVID-19 crisis. Are they taking Ph.D. admits as well without GRE/GMAT scores? What should I do for my dream? What should I do to overcome this fear of appearing for the GRE?
Please provide your valuable comments and suggestions in the comment box. If this article has reached you and you are the dean at a management school in the U.S.A., would you like to accept me for the Ph.D. in marketing or I.T. management? Please provide your valuable feedback and suggestions.
