I am scheduled to take the GRE tomorrow and I am scared stiff. Throughout my schooling I did great at every standardized test I ever took, and I never studied for them. It was one of the few things in life I considered myself good at. But it's been 15 years since I have been in school, and the last 10 years I have bought into the idea the world has sold me, which is that I really am stupid. The world has told me that the things I know aren't worth much, and that the things that are important are beyond me, and my capacity has shrunk to meet that definition. So I am currently terrified of taking that test, and I haven't been studying as much as I should.
Tell me, how do you get past the detractors? How do you fight the fear that threatens to bind you? Are you blissfully ignorant of it, or do you simply know it's false and fight it, or is it a constant, battle where you feel the little negative voices are right?
Well... they say if you're afraid of public speaking, you should picture the audience naked. Perhaps you should try that with all your fears. Just go around imagining everyone with their clothes off... er... no wait... I just realized how that could lead to some... ahem... unfortunate consequences...
Here's a thought... Why not study for the GRE?
I've done poorly on standardized tests pretty much my whole mortal existence. Even with studying, which I only did for one standardized test (the GRE) I barely did well enough to pass it. Ironically I do great in classes with homework and no time limits on the reading.
Anyhow... I do remember studying for the GRE did help me prepare for the types of quesitons that would be asked, and it was one of the most positive standardized test experiences I had.
As for fears in general, I've found that arguing with them logically, talking out the fear to its logical conclusion, and realizing that often even when the worst fears are verbalized, the consequences aren't really as bad--and are actually something I can live with...
So what if you fail this test, for example? It's not like you won't try to do well, and if you fail, you can always take it again. And you'll have the experience. it doesn't imply anything about you as a person to take the test, and plenty of people take tests many times. In fact it makes you human. The whole point of a test is to test you. :)
Things like that... You can do that with all sorts of fears.
Recently my company declared Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. In the last five years I've lived in this area it's been one series of lay-offs after another... and yet, somehow, things have worked out, I've got five kids, and I'm really worried about how to provide from them. Sometimes I let the stress get to me, but most of the time, I try to remember the small miracles, and take faith in the basics... like I pay my tithing, and I still have dreams and hopes, and I even have seen certain benefits to having a little time off work... should it come to that... I also depend a lot of the scriptures. There is a whole series of scriptures that exist solely for the purpose of dispelling fears and uplifting the soul. The very word "Gospel" means "good news"... So You go girl! You can do it!! And if you don't do as well as You'd like... you can try, try, again. :)
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
You've gotten some good advice- ie taking the Kaplan class, studying, getting a blessing.
Here are my three thoughts: ~ Remember the Little Engine that Could and tell yourself, "I think I can, I think I can."
~ Get a wonderful sleep tonight, so hopefully you aren't reading this. This is so embarassing to admit but the first time I took the GRE, I actually fell asleep for a brief time- may have been up to a couple minutes. I worked that AM from 5 or 6Am and worked part of the day, then I went and took the test. So I didn't do too great. Then I retook the test a few months later- that time I had sufficient rest. So even though I didn't study any more for the second test, my score went up by 200 points, just by getting good rest.
~ Make sure you dress in layers so you are comfortable no matter what the temp of the room.
For the verbal section, the best preparation is if you've read a lot the past few years. If you're used to academic reading and writing, and have read some in a wide variety of genres to pick up vocabulary, you'll do fine on the verbal.
For the quantitative, if you've had a math course recently you'll be fine. If not, do a quick review of basic formulas.
For the writing part, if you've had to do any persuasive or academic writing recently, or if you can remember the basic structure of an argument, you'll do fine.
The cool thing about it being on the computer is that it's adaptive: You'll get harder questions if you continue to answer correctly. If you miss a few hard ones in a row, it will scale back down.
A brief review of test-taking strategies will also help: Be careful about the little words like "not," eliminate the obviously wrong answers, skip a difficult question and come back later if something in a subsequent question triggers your memory, if it's a toss up between two good answers, go with your first hunch, etc.
I didn't study at all for the verbal or writing, and spent a few hours reviewing math formulas. I did surprisingly well, even though while I was taking the test I kept thinking I was really messing it up.
Here's a good predictor: If you "get" Ray at least half the time, you'll be fine
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The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. - Julie Beck
so this might be late, but my method of taking tests is to work on a problem until I'm sick of it or feel like I've spent a minute without progression. I do this at work too, and I find that I get a lot more done because I never let myself get bored or stuck until the end, when I really know how much time I have. Granted, it's been a long time since I had a multiple choice test. Thank goodness! I never was any good at those!
For the SAT and ACT I took a prep class that helped. The main thing was to realize that it was all stuff that I really knew, I just needed a refresher. I practically aced the math, and did much better on the English than I thought I would. I highly recommend prep classes because they just get you used to the test so you aren't as intimidated.
Also, I tend to think better if I have something else going on. In class I doodle or do the crossword and sudoku. At home, I like to have music on. It helps me to think better. So I made sure and had the radio on in my head during the tests because I know that helps me think. Chewing gum helps as well. Figure out what helps you think in general and make sure that the conditions that you can bring to the test are there, and it makes you more comfortable.
This is probably too late for you Dyany, but maybe someone else needs it.
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Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
— Oscar Wilde
Well, I got a 680 verbal and like a 360 computational (can you believe that 17 years ago I took calculus for an easy A???). There were 2 math sections, one counted and one didn't, but you couldn't tell which one was which. Apparently it took the one I stunk at. :b Luckily the graduate program I am applying to doesn't look at the math score. I won't know the results of the essay tests for a couple of weeks but I think I did ok.
All your words helped, I appreciate the encouragement. I did have a blessing a few days ago and I studied with the aid of the Kaplan book and CD, so I guess I took all your advice with my AMAZING POWERS OF PRECOGNITION.
And just so you know, since the test is adaptive, you can't go back to a question. You answer it right then or never. It's annoying that way.
OK, I looked up result percentiles. Apparently my verbal score puts me in the 96th percentile (yay!) and my computational score puts me in the 9th percentile (goes and crawls under a rock).
