The Evil GRE

I have twelve weeks until I take the GRE, on the spooky date of October 31st. I decided it might be helpful if I actually prepared (crazy thought, I know), so I headed to the library and checked out three books on preparing for the GRE.

I set up camp at a nearby Starbucks, and began the foray into test prep. I started with The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Acing the GRE. I have to admit, I’ve always been a fan of the Idiot books. They put everything into easy to understand terms, and that is so helpful when I’m already confused.

The guy who authored this particular guide has worked in standardized testing for years, and the book is actually quite funny as well as informative. He frequently refers to the “evil test” and the “dirty tricks” of the test-makers. He also makes the very valid point that the GRE tests you on how well you take the GRE more than your education. He also explains that no one really thinks your GRE score reflects on how smart you are, since different people test in different ways – it’s just a way for schools to have another survey of your abilities outside of your transcript, since many schools grade differently. Also, so many people apply to school that admissions people need all the help they can get to weed people out.

I think my biggest fear is I can be a bad test taker. It never matters how much I study or how well I know the material. I second guess myself and get flustered. Throw in it being a timed test, and you can forget about it. That isn’t to say I failed every test in school, because I didn’t, and I’m probably being too negative. But I just have a hard time with multiple choice. Some people think multiple choice is the greatest thing ever, but I have always preferred essay tests where I can explain myself and prove that I really know the material, rather than having a hard time reading into a finite question and answer.

So, according to my book, vocabulary is going to make or break it. I thought the math would do me in, but my book assures me, “You learned all of the GRE math by November of your sophomore year of high school” and even better, during the test they provide the necessary formulas. I will need to practice, but I can do arithmetic and algebra. Geometry has always been my weakness in math, but I think I’ll be ok.

The rest of the test is analogies (shoot me!), antonyms, sentence completion and critical reading. Oh, and two essay sections. The book includes the GRE vocabulary list, which is over 1,300 words! Of course, I’m familiar with many (I was an English major after all), but there are quite a few I’ve never heard of and so I’m trying my best to study them.

Please be praying for me these next twelve weeks as I prepare. I know after I take the test, and get into grad school, no one will ever care about my GRE score. And I actually am confident I will do well and get into grad school. I guess I just want to be calm going into the test, and to do as well as I know I can. It’s been a while since I’ve studied for anything, but it’s actually a good feeling to be moving forward with something and to be back in school mode.