Mmmm… standardized tests
I realized that while I took the GRE last weekend, since I wasn’t posting at the time, none (well few) of you knew.
So, yeah, I took the GRE last Saturday. It was a very interesting experience. The computer-adaptive test thing was pretty positive overall. I think I like it more than static paper tests. At the end of the test I got a chance to participate in some unpaid testing for ETS and took a modified version of the verbal section of the exam. This was also pretty cool, especially since it indicated that they might be looking to take advantage of the new format.
As it stands, the adaptive test has question and answer combinations that are identical to the paper test. That is, it’s straight-up multiple choice, with four (sometimes five) choices per question. Which makes sense on paper, but computers are much more flexible and can instantly grade much more complex answer sets. Suddenly instead of having a single choice that fills in three blanks appropriately, you fill in all three blanks separately. This was very cool to me.
Anyway, onto the meat of all this. I got a tentative score back at the end, but with no promises that that will be my actual score. (690 verbal, 720 quantitative.) Which strikes me as pretty good. But therein lies my problem. I don’t know if it’s actually good. The schools I’m looking at are all highly competative, and I just don’t know if this is the sort of score that gets them to skip my application, or if it’s enough to get them to look at my application, or if it’s enough to get them to look closely at my application. I’m at a loss!
It also doesn’t help that I missed the last two question on the quantitative section due to time. Time that I lost when I spent five minutes early in the section trying to make two parallel lines intersect (yeah, I know). After those five minutes I realized I was looking at the wrong lines. That really should have occurred to me far earlier in the process. Anyway, within about a minute of running out of time, I solved both of the final questions. So I’ll be taking the thing one more time in November.
To the point: this is the part where I beg people who are or have done graduate stuff to tell me what they think. I’m not looking for a pat on the back, but I am looking for assurance. Can I get into somewhere like MIT or UC Berkeley with this? Are my chances of doing so actually good? Or you could just sit there and grin at the idea of me squirming, slightly anxious about it all, until April. I can imagine that appeals to some of you :).
Thomas
October 12th, 2006 at 06:31
From my experience, those are scores that won’t get you rejected, but that won’t particularly get you noticed either. It won’t hurt your chances of getting in, but you’ll be better off getting to know some professors in the departments you’d like and getting them to advocate for you than hoping your score will make you stand out.
Of course, you’ll be better off that way anyhow - grad school really works on a collaborate-with-professors basis, not a I-got-good-grades one.
What department might you apply to at MIT? I almost went there for grad school (but decided against) & my sister just graduated so I’d love to chew it over with you. Comparative Media? Media Lab?
Congratulations, by the way!!!
October 12th, 2006 at 06:41
I concur with Jess. You’re doing alright.
I had 730 and 720 in the quantitative and math sections, but scored a low 490 on the verbal part (being German and all, and taking it shortly after getting here). Time’s also what got me in those first scores.
October 13th, 2006 at 07:12
What she said, with the caveat that most of the departments I was applying to didn’t really care much about general GRE scores as long as they weren’t terrible. Humanities-type programs may weight them a little more.
Also, memorize what she said about getting to know professors. I know for a fact that I got into my program because a professor who needed advisees looked at my application and found a match. She called me up, we spent some time talking, and she pulled for me on the admissions committee. If there are people in the departments who do work that interest you, get in touch with them now and start talking about it. Otherwise, you go into the big pile that gets looked at only after everyone has fought for their pet students.
Anyway, I hope that doesn’t sound too cynical (but if you think grad school is a meritocracy, read Disciplined Minds). Congrats on having gotten through the GRE, and don’t let the rest of the process stress you out too much.
October 13th, 2006 at 07:38
Reassurance is good, thanks!
And, yeah, Comparative Media is what I’m looking at at MIT. Oh, that reminds me! I need to call you again and talk more grad school stuff. My ideas have solidified significantly since our conversation way back this summer. Maybe I’ll try you this weekend. We’ll see how my schedule (and yours) looks.
Thomas
October 13th, 2006 at 07:42
Thanks for the encouragement.
And cynical? Not at all! I mean, I definitely feel that grad school is a meritocracy, but the work isn’t in meriting admittance, but in figuring out how to prove that you do. And that’s all people and connections and relationships. So, yeah, I’m tossing emails around, though not nearly enough. I need to get back on top of that. (I had a flurry going on back in late July, but I didn’t really have a firm grasp on what I wanted to study then. Now I do.)
So, yeah, definitely taking that to heart, and as a kick in the butt. I need to get on top of that stuff :)
Thomas