GRE Test Blues

I really dislike standardized tests. There is something undeniably fell about them. Normally, I don’t prepare or strive very much at all for a standardized test. For the SAT and ACT I just went in without preparation. In my mind, I was able to palliate the tests, but still do well enough on them. When I was in high school, WASL was in its testing phase. But, now I must conquer this imbroglio called the GRE! Now I want to not only get into grad school, but get some money from the school I attend. So, I’m really struggling to get all my ducks in a row to be a competitive candidate. I cannot abjure the GRE and gainsay its necessity!

First of all, it’s different from other tests; it is on a computer, so there is no book for scribbles and reading. All the better to jejunely reject! Second, it’s an adaptive test, so if you get a question right, the next question is harder and worth more points. Conversely, getting a wrong answer gives you easier questions worth less points. One of my favorite strategies: skipping and backtracking is extirpated. Also, none of the questions in the quantitative or verbal sections is hard per say, they focus on pretty basic skills and knowledge levels. But, for this reason, they make the test difficult by making the questions confusing and the answers misleading. Consequently, I have been studying test taking strategies for the GRE for probably about a month, rather than excoriating the philosophy behind such a test. Now, I’ve moved on to taking practice CATs (Computer Adaptive Tests) online, and my score is in the gutter. I am feeling contumacious about this anathema!

If I sound bitter, it’s because I am. I have no idea why a graduate school would require this kind of test. I don’t really understand why a graduate school would require an applicant to take a lengthy, costly, computer based, and inconvenient aptitude test. Why?!?!?! Is it not enough that I am submitting a letter of intention, a 15-20 page paper, 3 recommendation letters, along with an academic history? If a school was evaluating my accomplishments, don’t they have enough resources? It seems like a poor score on a GRE would be a captious reason not to accept a candidate.

Even though I hate standardized tests, I can brook their use in a limited scope. They are fast, regulated and efficient. You can gain a lot of empirical data about where a student is in relationship to other students. Also, it can be especially useful when there isn’t a lot of preexisting academic history for a student.

This whole standardized testing business is just a racket. ETS may be a non-profit, but I don’t think I’d be the first person to express my skepticism about their practices and influences. They asseverate that they are non-profit, and for this reason they can avoid certain taxes and regulations. It’s vial that the academic world is held hostage by a group of standardized testing thugs.

Standardized tests put the wrong sort of emphasis on school and ineffectually build (or destroy) a student’s confidence. A standardized test reinforces that academic and intellectual accomplishment is mostly about the right answers. Sure, they throw in analytical essays now, to show creative thought, but mostly, it’s a right or a wrong thing. Furthermore, a student who can do well in a standardized testing environment may descry themselves as intelligent people. This may or may not be the case, but the test only evaluates one type of intelligence. Conversely, a student who struggles and fails may assume that they are bad at school and eventually they might just give up. The fact that I relish learning is no anodyne to this test taking process.

Obstreperous complaints aside, things aren’t so bad. Hopefully, I’ll be reporting next week about a solid score. Regardless, I still have domestic bliss to return to. I share cups of hot cider with my husband, play with the kittens, watch the rain, admire the fall leaves, and today I even saw a hummingbird at rest licking his “lips.” GRE-schmeaRE!




**Plus, I have had the opprotunity to learn cool words like imbroglio and bedizen!