I'm taking the GRE tomorrow. I find this somewhat vexing, as I already have a master's degree. Shouldn't the fact that I obtained an MS, with a GPA that hovers dangerously close to perfection account for the fact that I'm not a total dunce? (This, I believe, translates to: I am terrified that I'll do poorly, which will make any Ph.D. granting universities to which I send my application question my grades... rather than the other way around. Logical? Not really. But that's what standardized tests do to a person.)
Ironically, I am not very worried about the essays, at all. As long as I understand what they're asking, I feel confident in my ability to deliver a -somewhat- coherently written piece. Which is a lot more than I can say about my ability to effectively recall and execute the Pythagorean theorem, much less any other simple geometry. I wish I could have a phone-a-friend; I would call on my 13 year old cousin. She's taking 10th grade math (smarty pants!), and is most likely in far better practice than I. Unfortunately, I believe I will have had to correctly answer a number of "basic" math questions to get to any that I'd have the chance to actually answer and enjoy - those dealing with percentages, permutations, and the like.
The verbal section is daunting, as well. Thankfully, I seem to hover in mediocrity for this section on the practice tests. (My quantitative reasoning seems to fluctuate between mediocre and moronic.) I have to remind myself that I haven't been slaving away in GRE prep books... I've been enjoying life. I haven't been taking prep classes; I finished my school, and figured that was good enough - if I needed to pay someone else to get me ready for a Ph.D program, I wouldn't be considering one, in the first place. If life had gone according to plan, I wouldn't even have a master's at this point. A Ph.D would be a lofty dream for the future, not a hope for a soon-coming reality.
But, as the song that Pandora has chosen to play for me says... just breathe. I wouldn't take the test if I didn't think I could do okay on it (or some variation thereof). I wouldn't think about applying for a Ph.D if I didn't think I could get in... and I wouldn't put myself in the position for failure, if I didn't want success so badly.
I believe it was Eleanor Roosevelt who said that you need to do something that scares you, every day. According to her advice, I don't scare myself nearly often enough. I guess it's time to get on that... and, what better place to start than the GRE, eh?
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