Well, I took the GRE on Friday the 29th. To be quite honest, it didn't go as well as I had hoped. My verbal score went up from last year, but not by a huge amount, and my math score actually went down (which was quite disappointing). Since it's on the computer, it automatically gives you the raw score when you are finished with the math and verbal, but it takes 2-3 weeks for the writing sections to be scored. I felt like my essays were far better this year now that I have a better understanding of what they are looking for in these essays, so hopefully those scores went up. I'm also hoping that my percentile scores went up from last year.
I certainly felt more prepared than I did last year, but it was also more important to me this year. I don't know. Regardless, it's behind me and I really doubt it will be the make-it-or-break-it part of my application.
Today, I am spending some time with puppies on my lap, reading up on the professor I'm going to meet with tomorrow. I'll definitely post another update about that tomorrow night... maybe Tuesday night. Wish me luck!
31 October 2010
21 October 2010
GRE Merriment
This title is actually fairly sarcastic. "Merriment" does not classify my mood with the GRE right now. I've spent every night this week studying for the GRE, and I can't tell if I feel more prepared or less prepared. I'm definitely psyching myself out with the practice questions. I feel like there is so much I don't know, but in reality, I could be doing better than I think. It's something I was talking about in a staff meeting in regards to my students. Students have a fantastic way of psyching themselves out, thinking that nothing they do is good enough, which is why they start to fall behind. I think I'm eating my words right now. I'm not immune to this, as much as I would like to believe that I am!
However, I do find that I have weird little tricks to help me learn new vocab words. My current favorite is putting a "GRE Word of the Day" up on Facebook. Just by posting it and seeing it every time I open Facebook helps to reiterate the definition. Plus it's kind of fun, which always helps make things stick in my head.
I'm also using my timeless technique of flashcards. I'm such a fan of flashcards. I keep telling my students that it is one of the best ways to learn because you can take it everywhere!
Last night I worked on math. I like math. I enjoy algebra and geometry is kind of fun. But I hate fractions and decimals and patterns. I've never been good with these. I had a really terrible 4th grade teacher, so when it comes to certain fundamental skills, I have none. I don't know how to solve decimal problems to save my life. And I have the weirdest multiplication technique ever. Ask me sometime and I'll show you. Therefore learning these skills right now is killing me. Tonight I plan to spend a good 5 hours in the library, brushing up on my math. Woo-hoo.
However, I do find that I have weird little tricks to help me learn new vocab words. My current favorite is putting a "GRE Word of the Day" up on Facebook. Just by posting it and seeing it every time I open Facebook helps to reiterate the definition. Plus it's kind of fun, which always helps make things stick in my head.
I'm also using my timeless technique of flashcards. I'm such a fan of flashcards. I keep telling my students that it is one of the best ways to learn because you can take it everywhere!
Last night I worked on math. I like math. I enjoy algebra and geometry is kind of fun. But I hate fractions and decimals and patterns. I've never been good with these. I had a really terrible 4th grade teacher, so when it comes to certain fundamental skills, I have none. I don't know how to solve decimal problems to save my life. And I have the weirdest multiplication technique ever. Ask me sometime and I'll show you. Therefore learning these skills right now is killing me. Tonight I plan to spend a good 5 hours in the library, brushing up on my math. Woo-hoo.
18 October 2010
Good Stuff!
GRE Word of the Day:
erudite (adj)--having or showing great knowledge in learning
True story, I just picked that word out of a list from my study book, not knowing the definition. And I have to say, it is quite appropriate for studying!
Oh, there is lots of good stuff going on right now!
FIRST: I have a meeting with Dr. Alejandro Acevedo from Western Washington on November 1st! He received my information that I sent him last Friday, and he responded saying that my application is not as strong as others, but he liked my ideas for research projects! That's really exciting. So between now and then I will be reading some of his articles of recent research, and I will be spending time articulating what exactly I would like to research so that this meeting can go well. Yay for Bellingham!
SECOND: My Saturday night adventure at the Killer Whale Tales fundraiser was amazing. I got to meet the director, Jeff Hogan, who is just awesome. He is incredibly nice, remembered my name every time he saw me, and introduced me to two current graduate students at the University of Washington. Also, thanks to my amazing parents, I get to have a meeting with him. This fundraiser was an auction, so they bought me one of the items, which was to pick out one of Jeff's pictures for him to professionally print for me. He has a library of about 27,000 pictures! Plus, I get to pick his brain about how to get plugged into the killer whale world (for lack of a better term) and how to get into a career that I would actually want to do.
Ideally, my career path would lead me to an organization like Killer Whale Tales. I would love to work as a naturalist and educator, teaching people about whales, the Pacific Northwest ecology, and conservation. I think I like this idea best because I would still get to be a semi-student, keeping up with all of the latest research, but I also get to interact with people.
THIRD: I am now looking into the School of Marine Affairs at University of Washington. The two ladies I talked to at the KWT fundraiser were students through that program and both of them really like it, so I'm considering this as an option as well.
One of the most important things that I've learned, which was always lingering in the back of my mind, is that volunteer experience is probably going to be the deciding factor in getting into a program I want. This won't necessarily be because I need volunteer experience as a pre-requisite to admission, but because volunteering will establish the contacts and networking web that I need. This means that if I don't get into grad school this year, I will probably still quit Concordia and move up north to Seattle or Bellingham. I will probably end up working some place like Starbucks (ahem, Tara, that would be great!) where I could make enough money to pay rent, but focus a lot of my free time in volunteering.
Decisions to be made later! For now, back to studying GRE words.
erudite (adj)--having or showing great knowledge in learning
True story, I just picked that word out of a list from my study book, not knowing the definition. And I have to say, it is quite appropriate for studying!
Oh, there is lots of good stuff going on right now!
FIRST: I have a meeting with Dr. Alejandro Acevedo from Western Washington on November 1st! He received my information that I sent him last Friday, and he responded saying that my application is not as strong as others, but he liked my ideas for research projects! That's really exciting. So between now and then I will be reading some of his articles of recent research, and I will be spending time articulating what exactly I would like to research so that this meeting can go well. Yay for Bellingham!
SECOND: My Saturday night adventure at the Killer Whale Tales fundraiser was amazing. I got to meet the director, Jeff Hogan, who is just awesome. He is incredibly nice, remembered my name every time he saw me, and introduced me to two current graduate students at the University of Washington. Also, thanks to my amazing parents, I get to have a meeting with him. This fundraiser was an auction, so they bought me one of the items, which was to pick out one of Jeff's pictures for him to professionally print for me. He has a library of about 27,000 pictures! Plus, I get to pick his brain about how to get plugged into the killer whale world (for lack of a better term) and how to get into a career that I would actually want to do.
Ideally, my career path would lead me to an organization like Killer Whale Tales. I would love to work as a naturalist and educator, teaching people about whales, the Pacific Northwest ecology, and conservation. I think I like this idea best because I would still get to be a semi-student, keeping up with all of the latest research, but I also get to interact with people.
THIRD: I am now looking into the School of Marine Affairs at University of Washington. The two ladies I talked to at the KWT fundraiser were students through that program and both of them really like it, so I'm considering this as an option as well.
One of the most important things that I've learned, which was always lingering in the back of my mind, is that volunteer experience is probably going to be the deciding factor in getting into a program I want. This won't necessarily be because I need volunteer experience as a pre-requisite to admission, but because volunteering will establish the contacts and networking web that I need. This means that if I don't get into grad school this year, I will probably still quit Concordia and move up north to Seattle or Bellingham. I will probably end up working some place like Starbucks (ahem, Tara, that would be great!) where I could make enough money to pay rent, but focus a lot of my free time in volunteering.
Decisions to be made later! For now, back to studying GRE words.
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