The Test

So I figured that I should inform you, my readers (the few of you that I have... I think I can count on one hand how many there are), more about the test. Since I didn't know much about the test before I started this endeavor, grad school not the blog, I figured that you all might not know much yourselves... unless some of you out there are following in my footsteps and doing something very similar. Anywho... the test:

So I am going out on a limb here and assuming that most of you who read this have taken the SAT or at least know about it, and the GRE is similar. In fact, it is made by the same people who made the SAT that you take to get into college. Unlike the SAT though, the test is on the computer and not in a paper booklet. Everything is on a computer screen, the questions, the answers, the "answer sheet"... everything. You are allowed scratch paper to make notes on and do calculations on but other than that there is no tangible test.

The test is like the SAT in that there are three parts. There is the Verbal section which has vocabulary questions in the form analogies, antonyms, fill in the blanks, and reading comprehension questions. There is also a math section, which as mentioned before, the ETS prefers to call it the Quantitative Reasoning section. This section has two types of questions: calculation questions and "quantitative comparison" questions. The first type is a straight forward math question where you calculate and choose the right answer. The second type asks you to tell the test which column contains the bigger number. Oh yeah... no calculators either. The part that I have yet to mention is the Analytical Writing section in which you have 75 minutes to write two essays.

Since the test is on a computer, it starts calculating your score from the very beginning. Within the first ten questions in both sections the computer has already pretty much calculated your score. You get a question right you get "rewarded" with a harder question to see how hard a question you can handle and the harder the questions you can answer correctly the higher your score is. Therefore it is more important to do better in the beginning of the section than near the end.

That's the test in a nutshell. The testing center website said that I should set aside four hours for the test so it will take a while to do. It will be an intense day of testing.

Going strong since 1988
Kit

To Do List:

1. Schedule test date
2. Practice
3. Research schools
4. Write more blog posts

And now your Reward: