my life

I took the GRE-CAT.

That's Graduate Record Examination - Computer Administered Test, for those of you what don't know. I didn't. As a matter of fact, even after I knew, I had to look it up again several times because the expansion of the "GRE" part simply didn't make any sense to me. Still doesn't, for that matter.

This is Step 1 of my application for Academy sponsorship of an AFIT*-sponsored Master of Arts in History.

* Air Force Institute of Technology, which normally provides master and doctorate degree programs in technological fields only. Mine is a special case, which is why I have to get the dual sponsorship--so, it's doubly competitive.

The GRE-CAT (the general one, by the way; there are specific subject tests, as well) is a four-hour, four-part test. Already sounds like fun, doesn't it? I don't know what it is about the "four hour" time frame, but the nastiest tests I've taken in my life were roughly four hours in duration: the SAT, the AFOQT, and that wicked logistics test I had to take after the ASVAB to qualify for a job in computer programming. These are the sorts of tests that will leave you strung out on nerves for hours.

Just so y'all can suffer vicariously through me, I'll give you a rundown of this test. The tested sections are these: analytical writing, argument analysis, verbal and quantitative. First, you have the analytical writing bit, wherein you're presented with two topics randomly selected from this list and given 45 minutes to read them, select one, compose an essay (ETR*) and polish it as much as possible. And woe betide you if you cannot type.

* English Teacher's Revenge. I took this delightful label from Jon Franklin, a two-time PP-winner for journalism. This was his label for any essay written according to the academic format of (1) Introduction With Topic Sentence and Listed Arguments, (2) Three Paragraphs With Arguments and Supporting Details, and (3) Conclusion With Thesis Restated and Arguments Restated. This format creates an imminently readablea and coherent essay that's boring as dirt.

You'd think this would be a breeze for me. While I am often loquacious in print, this appears to be limited to times I feel like writing and get to select the topic. Also--even though I understand the purpose of the ETR-style essay--I hate them. I hate the fact that, in order to argue for or against any of those topics (go ahead, take a peek; that's why I gave you the link), I have to oversimplify the argument when in fact, these issues are loaded with complexity.

Next, there's the argument analysis section, wherein you are given one topic from this list (you don't get to choose this time). You get 30 minutes to (1) read it, (2) find the main idea and how that idea is supported by the idiot who wrote the argument*, then (3) write an essay--again, the ETR.

* I'm not stretching the truth on this. My GRE study guide called this section "Find the Flaw" because that's your goal. All of the arguments presented are very flawed. You just have to be critical enough to spot the flaws and explain in excruciating detail why they're flaws.

While I've had years of practice of reading things critically and dismantling them (some people collect stamps for fun; I dismantle arguments), this also was a sweatfest for me, as it had to be done in essay format on a subject I probably didn't care about under timed conditions.

Then there was the verbal section. Hooboy. There are four different types of question in this section: antonyms, analogies, reading comprehension, and fill-in-the-blank, randomly scattered throughout. Antonym questions* are possibly the most unforgiving, because there really aren't many clues available if you simply don't know the words being compared.

* Find the word most opposite in meaning. If you didn't know this without my explanation, though, I daresay you aren't quite ready for the GRE.

And antonym question looks like this (this is from a sample test on the 'net):

2. MULTIFARIOUS:
a. deprived of freedom
b. deprived of comfort
c. lacking space
d. lacking stability
e. lacking diversity

If you know what "multifarious" means off the top of your head, you've either studied really hard and have an amazing memory for 200 Words Learnt At The Last Possible Minute, or you're a bit of a freak. Or a bit of both, for that matter. This is not the sort of word that crops up in everyday conversation, and thus is perfect fodder for any test for higher education. Nope...if you're like me, you read that and said, "Multi-what?" However, I guessed the answer correctly.* Can you? :p

* I said there aren't many contextual clues, but there are some, nonetheless.

Then there are analogies. This was what the entire MAT consisted of, so I rather specialize in analogies, as compared to the other sections. Here's a fairly simple example, also from an online sample exam:

1. COLOR : SPECTRUM
a. tone : scale
b. sound : waves
c. verse : poem
d. dimension : space
e. cell : organism

There's a trick to these, too, as you might imagine. Lots of tricks. The good part of this one is that it's just a straight analogy without mixing in unfamiliar words. Here's a more common GRE one, though:

8. STYGIAN : DARK ::
a. abysmal : low
b. cogent : contentious
c. fortuitous : accidental
d. reckless : threatening
e. cataclysmic : doomed

If you're scratching your head and looking askance at the screen at this moment, welcome to my world. Point made. Moving along.

On to the reading comprehension bit. These are hell for me because I read sssss-l-o-w-l-y. (Alternately, I read at a normal speed but too often compare myself to speed demons.) Here's a sample passage with sample questions, if you're curious. Note that the entire verbal section is 30 questions long with 30 minutes to answer all questions. Reading comprehension questions really suck up the minutes. They can't give me few enough of these.

Then there's the sentence completion bit. These are dead easy, my good man. Even the study guides admit that these are so easy, you'll probably only see two or three in the entire lineup. The sentence provides the necessary clues to plug in a selection from the choices. I'll provide no sample, as this is pretty straightforward.

I'll pause here to point out a couple of things. For the degree program I'm going for, the writing sections and the verbal are of paramount importance (there isn't much math understanding required in a history program). But that's okay. These are my strengths. Or...well...I'll return to that in a minute.

The other thing is that the test is adaptive (maybe that's what the "A" is for in CAT...?). This means that if you get a moderately difficult problem right, you'll be given one that's more difficult. If you get the problem wrong, you'll be given one that's less difficult. Thus, the computer tries to home in on your skill level. I also understand that the first few questions of any section are weighted the highest, so you're wise to take your time and get them as "right" as you can, even if it means you have to speed-guess your way through the questions at the end of that section when you run out of time. Also...you can't skip over any question and return to it later. You have to answer each question in the order they are presented.

Now. My math background is somewhat relevant here. Generally speaking, I don't ever recall having problems with math or any math concept in school (we're talking back to grade school, here). I don't recall enjoying math, particularly, either. It was just something I had to do, so I did it. Through grade school and high school, I took only the math I was required to take, volunteering for nothing more. That was Algebra I and II and Geometry (in high school). I could have signed up for Trig, but who needs that? I wasn't going to college or anything, after all....

So when I went to college and was on the cusp of signing up for Calculus (because it was required, of course), my adviser thought to make sure I'd had Trig. Thank heavens. So I went through trig (made a B, I think), then took a semester of Calc. That's a bit of a stretch in itself, because I was young and volatile and lost interest in school halfway through the semester and simply quit going. I didn't bother to withdraw, either. I went back and took the final exam and came away with a B+ (there must have been one heck of a curve on that test, I'm thinking). That was in the spring of 1991.

I didn't encounter any of this math again until I studied for the AFOQT* in the summer of 2000. I encountered some probability stuff I had to teach myself, as well as algebraic calculations for "percentage of solution" word problems and such, which I'd also never seen. In addition to this, I spent about three weeks with an average of six hours a day (no kidding) studying, reviewing, and practicing for the math portion of the AFOQT. I had to relearn everything, master the shortcut knowledge (such as special triangles to spot in geometry questions and what we know about them without having to do the math, common square roots and quadratic equations...etc ad nauseum), and get fast enough at it to take a timed test. I was unemployed and every driven, so I not only had the time to study, but I used it wisely. I was determined to make the sort of score the OTS selection board would take one look at and drool uncontrollably. I apparently succeeded, too.

* Air Force Officer Qualification Test. I studied for it almost exclusively using an old SAT study guide, incidentally, as the AFOQT study guide available wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

Since then, I've had...let's see...absolutely no exposure to math concepts. This brings us to the present and the quantitative section of the GRE.

Oddly enough, I remember the questions on the AFOQT being far more difficult and diverse than the GRE math questions. However, I felt pretty clueless through this section of the GRE, because I hadn't had time to study properly.

OK...that isn't entirely true. I had study time, but I squandered it. When I didn't absolutely have to be reading something for a class or doing research, I'd slap a movie in and vegetate or blog or something. I put off studying for the GRE, even though I scheduled my test date for 18 March back in, oh, early February.

I started studying Sunday night. It wasn't enough time, but I'd already paid my $115 and there was no going back. I crammed in some math stuff, then spent three nights practicing the writing sections, then spent a night reviewing some verbal stuff then back to math and voila!--I tested the next morning.

I managed to get words on screen for the writing stuff, and they seemed somewhat coherent. That's all I know. (This is the part where you don't get your scores until a couple of weeks later, because professional graders have to read and evaluate them.) I'm fairly confident that I didn't completely flub them. In the verbal section, a full third of the 30 questions (or so it seemed) were sentence completion, which made me pretty sure I wasn't doing so well (remember that "adaptive" thing). In the quantitative section, I probably took the first ten minutes to answer the first five questions (such strangers numbers and I have become), and played beat-the-clock with last minute guesses at the end (I don't think I managed to finish, either). My scores were as follows (one of the perks of the CAT is that the non-writing scores are available immediately):

Verbal: 650
Quantitative: 700

First...what?! I made higher on math than verbal? Huh? Second, I didn't have a clue whether this was good or bad or how it measured up. I went to work from there and tried to look up GRE scores and what they mean on the 'net.

Very few colleges will even tell you what their GRE cutoff is, although five'll get you ten they all have a cutoff below which they'll consider you only if your father donates a medical center to the university. So I went downstairs to ask a friend who said he'd taken it years ago. At his desk, I was greeted by another friend who, coincidentally, was announcing that he'd just been accepted to AFIT (in a technical field). So I asked them both. Turns out, AFIT requires an overall 1100 on the GRE to consider you (500 verbal and 600 quant). I thought, wow...that doesn't sound very competitive at all.

Upon further investigation, I found that the average score sought by reputable colleges for a master's program is 1000 overall (450 verbal and 550 quant), and most want better than a 1250 for acceptance into a doctoral program.

Being translated, this means I done good. I know enough about GRE scores to not be ashamed to include mine in my package. Further, I won't have to retest later to raise my scores in order to be accepted into a doctoral program, either. The goal of these scores now is to make the academics in the history department at the Academy who make these determinations take one look at my GRE scores (as well as various other academic credentials) and wet themselves.

Now for the letters of recommendation, resume, etc. All mere formalities, these. Hoops through which I must jump. The hardest part is over (unless there's a step they're keeping from me, such as the interview part; I'll cross that bridge when and if I get to it, though).

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