The GRE!

Standardized tests are always fun, but I've never had one that told me so much about myself.

First I just want to announce that I finished the Physics GRE, and the General GRE, and Emily finished the PRAXIS. So, whether for good or for bad, we're done for good.

The general GRE was quite an informative test for me. It is the test required to get you accepted into graduate schools. Really it is just like the SAT. It has the same sections with the same types of questions. It doesn't even have questions harder than the SAT. That bothered me, "Do they think I haven't learned anything during the past 4 years and $16,000 of college?!?"

Well, it turns out I got EXACTLY the same score on this test that I got on the SAT, so I guess I didn't learn anything. I've had quite a few discussions about my failure as a college student (since I didn't learn anything), and I've decided that the GRE wasn't designed to test knowledge, but rather it tests your ability to think and reason.

So this test can't tell me what I've learned. I MAY have actually learned something during my years in college, but the test tells me one thing for sure....
I definitely didn't get any smarter while I was here.

Good news is my percentile ranking (percentage of people scoring lower than you did) stayed the same as well, so I haven't lost any ground compared to all of the other kids who also didn't get any smarter while in school.

Conclusion: I think some people get smarter while in college. They're the ones that graduate and get jobs. Those of us that didn't get any smarter are the ones who think it's a good idea to commit to another 6 years of school, working 80 hours and week, and getting paid nothing... hmmm.... That actually makes sense.