GRE Scheduled

I've got a date for my Graduate Records Exam! May 9th at 8am Pacific whatever Time. I can never remember if we're saving daylight or in the standard version. Anyway. It's a 3.5 hour exam testing everything I've forgotten since elementary school, but I'm becoming well prepared.

The first thing I bought was the study guide to the GRE published by the company that makes the GRE, figuring that would be my best inside information. It came with details on the GRE, tips for studying, and in-depth help with each of the sections: Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning. There were practice questions and it comes with 4 practice exams: 2 in the book and two on the accompanying cd. After going through the whole book, I took the test on the cd because it is the most close to the actual exam. Boy was it a mess.

I feel I did fairly well on the analytical writing. Better on the second one than the first. But when I got to the verbal reasoning section, I was incredibly dismayed. Lugubrious. Abject. Those are a couple of my new words, because apparently I lack an sort of substantial vocabulary. I consider myself an eruidte young woman but the language used in the verbal reasoning section was abstruse at best. However, I have aplomb that my assiduousness will help in my endeavor to ameliorate my vocabulary.

Who talks like that, right? Large sections of this exam, that's who.

In the math sections (quantitative reasoning) I did pretty well. Better on the first section than the second. During the first section I ran out of time and had to throw out random guesses for the last three questions, so I went through the section quicker on the next round and didn't do so well. On top of reviewing the subject mater of the exam, I'm also learning test taking strategies.

I got a second review guide "GRE For Dummies", a vocab builder book that uses some words commonly found on the GRE and ties them in with funny mnemonics, a vocab flash card type game for my kindle, a book of practice questions for the math section and a book entitled "How To Get Into Grad School (Even if You're Broke, Dimwitted, or Spent Your Undergraduate Years so Smashed You Can't Even Spell GPA)". That last one's a good one. Cynical, but informative.

I've been spending what free time I have studying and stalking prospective professors who I can convince to vote for me when they review applications for grad students as well as one who might take me under their wing and mentor me through school, and sponsor me so my tuition can be paid or waived. I have some really great leads but my priorities are currently on doing well on the GRE, so most of that will have to wait another couple of weeks.

That's all for now!