The GRE

I took the GRE today. I got back from it less than two hours ago, so you know, it's all still fresh on my mind. It wasn't too bad. I knew that before going into the test though. The material I reviewed and the practice tests that I had taken were not too bad so I figured the actual test would not be all too bad either. I sat down and took the test straight through without any breaks. The whole thing from when I walked into the test room until I left took 4 hours. It really did not feel that long. Maybe it was because I did not feel as stressed about it or because I know that there would be plenty of other opportunities to take it before I would seriously consider going to grad school, but it sort of just breezed by. I only ran out of time on the first math section (which was all my fault pacing wise), but other than that I did not feel rushed. In fact, I had a lot of time left over on the last verbal and math sections. So, there was a good feeling all around while I was taking it.

One of the good things about the GRE is that immediately after you complete the test, you get a tentative score. It may not be the exact one that comes in two weeks, but I am sure that it is close, if not slightly lower than the actual score. It's nice to know a score right away, because then I don't have to sit and wonder what it might be. And even if I did have to wait, 10-15 days is not that long to wait. Most other standardized tests make you wait 4-6 weeks. The GRE just wins on all fronts. I don't know why i ever even bothered with the MCAT or considered the LSAT. GRE all the way.

Speaking of scores, I think I did alright. Most of the score comparison things online and stats from grad schools are based on the old GRE scoring, so I can't really compare anything. I didn't even really have a goal score in mind when I was taking the exam (which I think is probably another reason why I did not feel stressed about it). Funny story about how the scoring has changed...I didn't realize that the scoring had changed when I first started studying for the test. Before I really started doing any real studying, I took a free online practice exam offered by Princeton Review. It felt pretty easy as I was taking it and I felt like I was going to score a decent score. When it was over, it gave me the scores of 149 and 150. In my mind, I thought the scoring was still out of 800 and I thought that I must be a whole lot dumber than I could have imagined and that I would have to hard core study. Then, I saw that the scoring was different and it is out of 170 now. It turns out I was only a little dumb instead of really dumb, which is a nice feeling to have.

At the end of the test, you also get to send your score to four schools for free. I had not really put much thought into which schools to send it to right away, plus I have no idea if the score I just looked at was a good score or a bad one. I don't exactly want to send a low score to my top choice grad school (which honestly, I don't know what that is right now)and I don't want to send the same grad school 14 test results if I end up retaking the GRE. So, I went with the obvious of UTC because it's here in Chattanooga, Louisville because I know they have a bioethics program and it's a state school, Wake Forest because I was on the school's website last night, and NYU because why not? If any of those schools decide to send me some information by the mail or offer me money or something by receiving my GRE scores, I will take as a sign as to a) not worry about retaking the GRE and b) probably go to that school (especially if they are offering me money).

But, even with all this, my priority is still to find a job and one that I would potentially like. Maybe some places of employment will be impressed by my GRE scores?