You'll need to bring photo ID and an appointment confirmation letter or e-mail. You don't get to take anything in with you. They provide you with noteboards.
And you'll be fine.
Posts: 1068 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Yeah, I totally bombed it. I mean, it's good enough to get me into the program, but if I just take that score, I'm going to have a chip on my shoulder about it forever.
So I'm going to retake it in 31 days, which is how long they make you wait. And I'm going to ask the school to give me an extension.
Gah, taking that test is FREAKY. They kept ELECTRONICALLY FINGERPRINTING ME. Like, seriously, I was fingerprinted twelve times while I was there. And they watch you on cameras. Ugh.
And apparently, I can't do math. What? I love math. I used to be a math team nerd in high school. GAHHHHH.
posted
Well, sheesh, what can you expect when people insist on wishing you good luck? Obviously it should have been 'break a pencil' or 'overheat a calculator'. What, doesn't anyone here have any knowledge of practical superstition?
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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If you mean that you know this score is sufficient for a program you are otherwise accepted to, then you shouldn't take the test again. Once you start the graduate program, your test scores cease to matter.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Dagonee: If you mean that you know this score is sufficient for a program you are otherwise accepted to, then you shouldn't take the test again. Once you start the graduate program, your test scores cease to matter.
I'd tend to agree with this. When I was in HS, I think I took the SAT 9 times. Our school was really crazy about having the "smart" kids take it a couple times a year to see if they improved. What a waste of time.
Your test, as far as I understand, is basically used as a cut off point to keep people out who aren't qualified. If you passed, you passed. Nobody goes back and retakes their driving test because they only got a 94 out of 100.
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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Retaking a test to (unnecessarily) improve a score does, however, serve as a nice perseverating nitus for us OCD-types. In my case, this generally works as fixating on the score as some sort of objective good in and of itself, rather than as a secondary tool to get where you want to go. I've finally figured out that -- for me -- fixating on the test is much less frightening than tackling the ambiguity and social pressures of moving into the next step (i.e., grad school, new job, whatever).
Because, you see, a test score is a number and numbers can be objectively improved. Unlike, say, being judged by other people over whom I have little to no control, and of whom I am therefore distrusting, suspicious, and resentful at some very deep level. But that's just my issue -- I don't know if it applies to others. My own dark, sordid, tainted facet now brought out into the light in all its grimy glory.
posted
Scholarship money is certainly a good thing as well. Have you applied for a funded assistantship position yet, just in case the scholarship doesn't pull through and/or is insufficient? Sometimes (often?) those come with a tuition waiver.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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I got a 680 my first try, and didn't retry. I mostly took it out of curiousity. Didn't go to grad school, either. . . I always kinda thought I'd apply before the score expired, but never did. Anyway, yeah, if you think you can raise the score enough for scholarship or TA money, go for it.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese: Scholarship money is certainly a good thing as well. Have you applied for a funded assistantship position yet, just in case the scholarship doesn't pull through and/or is insufficient? Sometimes (often?) those come with a tuition waiver.
They told me that I can have an assistantship doing consulting for small business. They don't waive tuition; instead they write you a check. But it's not THAT much money...$9.50 an hour, with a 300 hour limit.
If I could just relearn 9th grade math, I'd be fine for this test. I am GOOD at math.
I also need to take the GRE at some point...is that similar to the GMAT?
quote:But if I get over a 700, I get some of the oh-so-rare grad school scholarship money!
This is a very good reason to retake it. Just make sure you have some basis for thinking you will improve such as practice or an "aha!" moment 2/3 of the way through the first test.
quote:But that's just my issue -- I don't know if it applies to others. My own dark, sordid, tainted facet now brought out into the light in all its grimy glory.
This is my issue as well. I was hoping to help someone else from stepping onto that path. Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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You know, Pearce, I was a GRE instructor for two years. I'm sure we could arrange some private lessons.
Posts: 1068 | Registered: Aug 2000
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CT, even your dark, sordid, tainted facets sparkle, shedding beams of brillance all around you. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Oh, well if there's cash money involved, by all means, take it again. Free money is good money.
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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pH: If you have the funds, there is no harm in doing it again. Sounds like the testing environment was pretty stressful and now you know what to expect so hopefully you can relax more.
Does the GMAT even relate to business skills? I glanced through a prep book and it seemed a million light years away from the field I am interested in. I can do the basic quantitative skills, as most college students have to succeed at it at some level whether for SATs or GenEds (and I know that isn't hugely useful for business, anyway; my dad is in business and I don't think has solved an equation since college)--and the rest of the test is odd critical reading passages and I'm not sure what skills those parts are testing for.
It just seems like yet another screening method to make it easier for selective schools to cut applicants with minimal effort, but perhaps I am cynical.
Posts: 484 | Registered: Feb 2006
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I just started practicing, and I'm lost without my calculator. I need to get in the 95th percentile in math to get into the program I want, so I need to start practicing without a calculator if I won't have it on the test.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Nope. It's like the GMAT; you don't take anything in with you (aside from your own personal brilliance).
I was quite proud of my math scores. The first time I took the GRE (circa 1999), I was in the 64th percentile. The second time (2004) I was in the 54th (though as I recall, my scores were about the same). Not bad for a guy who's always hated math and hasn't had a math class since 1990.
Er, needless to say, I was not teaching the math section when I taught GRE Prep courses.
Posts: 1068 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Why not head over to the book store and buy yourself a test prep manual -- they've got tons of them. I'd never even think of sitting for an exam like that "blind", without knowing what kind of stuff would be on the exam. I bet the book would help you brush up on that 9th grade math thing, too.
You know, Pearce, I was a GRE instructor for two years. I'm sure we could arrange some private lessons.
Could we perhaps arrange for some alternative form of payment?
As for prep stuff: I have it. But it's completely different to take the computer test on my own computer at home than it is to go be fingerprinted and watched on cameras. I do think that it will be better now that I know what to expect, though. And I'll do more math prep, for sure.
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I'm scared to death of the GRE too, I have to take it next year.
I guess I should clarify - I'm perfectly comfortable with the verbal and essay section, but the math....it's the main reason I started trying to learn calculus from my husband - to prepare for the GRE. That, and I hated going through life feeling like a loser for not doing well in math.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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pH, sounds good. Call my secretary to set up an appointment. Really, though, if you have any questions, let me know. At the least, download the free practice tests from the GRE people and get used to the format. I suppose you can set up cameras in your apartment, too, and record yourself. If that helps.
Belle, I don't think there is any calculus in the GRE math section. At least, I don't remember any.
Of course, I've gone through life completely comfortable with not having done well in math. I regret some things in my life, and I certainly have had my share of feeling like a loser, but never for something like not knowing mathematics.
Posts: 1068 | Registered: Aug 2000
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So I talked to the MBA lady, and she said that all looks fine for my admission. I picked up a paper copy of the application because I've been doing an online one, and it makes me nervous. I want physical pieces of paper.
Here's the thing: I have an updated resume because I had to turn one in for my internship class from Spring I. But it's formatted more for, like, work sort of stuff. Relevent coursework, qualifications, that sort of thing.
How do I need to tweak it for the MBA program? Do I need to at all? I mean, I'm guessing "relevent coursework" is somewhat irrelevent (hah), since...my degree is from there, and...um....I'm a business undergrad, so...a lot of my courses are "relevent." What else could I put?
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