The post that wasn't supposed to be about the GRE...

I'm going to veer off topic for a bit as it would truly be a shameful of me not to acknowledge all those who called, texted, or provided me with nourishment while I was studying for the GRE. For all those who called and texted in order to distract me from studying, those calls were generally welcome as well, though I did set my phone to auto-message during the days immediately preceding the test. Sorry if you received a snarky auto-message from me, I promise I'm a much nicer person post-GRE (though not that much nicer).

I discovered I don't mind writing essays on the computer for the GRE analytical writing portion. It feels like I'm authoring a blog post. Though I'm not one to enjoy writing by coercion, I became highly engrossed in the topics which were presented to me. I ended up with extra time at the end of the writing portion...time I dearly wish I could've tacked onto other sections of the test. Whatever happened to the concept of rollover minutes? ETS needs to get with the times.

I'm planning to take the test once more because the Asian in me won't quit. First question I posed to myself after the initial elation of seeing my scores went away, "Jessica, the score is good, but is it Asian good?" Gah, ethnic identity be damned! So, they're rolling out a new format of the test which no longer features antonyms or analogies. I wouldn't be surprised if they replaced them with something equally mind-boggling and vexing. Vocabulary is only to be used within context so supposedly with context clues you should be able to determine the meaning of all words. Math will undoubtedly become more difficult as the new test will feature an on-screen calculator. I would rather sacrifice the calculator in order to keep the math at the level that it is. Also, geometry problems are rather difficult to solve when they are presented to you on a computer screen. I'm quite accustomed to writing all over a geometry problem, and I find copying the problem from screen to scratch paper to be a time-waster. I already ordered my prep book for the new GRE format which really begs the question, "Am I studying to master the material, or am I studying to master the format?" Maybe a bit of both.

I decided to make this entry its own entry instead of transitioning to a completely unrelated topic. I do believe I've justified my ramblings concerning the GRE to be its own entry. Plus, it's not like I'm wasting paper or anything. Blogs are green...though I do keep a paper journal, so I guess they balance each other out.