If you want to go to graduate school, then it’s time to start thinking about the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). But before ruining weeks of your life studying and then wasting four hours of your life taking the test, make sure you even need to take it. Do your research! Some schools don’t require it, some care more about certain parts of your score, and some require extra sections. Whatever the case, just make sure you need to take it.

Great. Now let’s say you do need to take it. Unlike the ACT/SAT, which a lot of people didn’t bother studying for back in the day, the GRE tests you on what Educational Testing Services think graduate students should know before grad school. This means you will actually have to study. Remember probability, slope-intercept form, and all those equations from math you thought you were done with years ago? Remember analogies and memorizing flash cards and five paragraph essays? You better hope so, because the GRE brings it all back with a vengeance.

There’s four sections on this bad boy:

1. Verbal – Vocab. Lots and lots of vocab. Go buy some flash cards right now – they will be your best friends soon.
2. Quantitative – Not calculus, thank gosh. But they’re talking all the way back to math you learned in middle school. This includes arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and quantitative comparison.
3. Analytical Writing – Haven’t taken a writing class since freshman year? You may want to refresh your writing skills because you’ll have to write two essays in one sitting: one argumentative and one issue.
4. Experimental (maybe) – This experimental section might show up on your GRE exam, but it won’t count toward your score. ETS wants to do research on future questions on you, and they unfortunately do not let you know. So basically, you might end up taking two Verbal sections and not knowing which was the random experimental part that didn’t count. I was devastated to hear that I would be wasting my time in this manner, but there’s really nothing we can do about it.

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In my senior year I made a drastic decision, dropping out of my double major of Journalism and Writing Intensive English, quitting my job on the school newspaper, and deciding to not go to grad school the next fall. I needed something different. Something that made me excited, instead of making me dread the next step in my life.

My parents were less than thrilled with my decision. I had such a promising path! How could I just give up on everything I’ve worked for?! Like everyone else in my family, they didn’t understand why I started applying for Teach for America and researching programs for teaching English overseas.  They were constantly questioning me (“What are you going to do once you graduate?” and “What are you going to be when you grow up?”) but I honestly had no idea and I didn’t want to jump into a graduate program and spend all that time and money when I couldn’t answer those most basic questions.

So I researched. And researched some more. And along the way, I started reading blogs about volunteering after college and found myself intrigued. Volunteering was something I did infrequently in college and when I did, it was either for a class I was taking or part of my job. So I took the plunge and became an AmeriCorps*VISTA when I graduated in May.

I had a cousin who did AmeriCorps*VISTA several years ago and he suggested that I look into it.  When I started my research I felt a connection to what VISTA stands for: Volunteers In Service To America.  VISTAs are different from other volunteers because we work the administration side of different nonprofits or government agencies that fight against poverty. In return for our work, we do not receive an income but a living stipend (which ironically puts us on the same level of those we serve: poverty). Read More »

Some people train for marathons – spending every day building their endurance, improving their time, and practicing so they will be able to cross the finish line. I’ve been spending the last five months doing all of the above, but I’m definitely not running a marathon anytime soon. Instead, I’m taking the LSAT … this coming Saturday.

I never thought this day would come. I’ve spent countless hours taking prep classes, practice tests, doing timed sections, going over my mistakes, cranking out logic games, reasoning with myself over logical reasoning, and reading about some of the most obscene topics for the reading comprehension section, all in preparation for this day. A day I’m not sure I’m mentally prepared for; practice vs. the real deal … well, it seems so much different.

However, I have to say – I’m relieved it’s here. In fact, you could almost say that I’m pumped and ready to go. I’ve worked my ass off, and I’m ready to see the fruits of my post-grad labor. Over the last few months, there have been a million other things I rather do than answer assumption and inference questions, but I’ve sucked it up and knocked it out.

Although I’m one of those Nervous Nancy’s when it comes to test taking, I’m trying to not let my nerves get in the way of everything I’ve accomplished since July. When I first started studying for the LSAT, I never dreamed that I could do as well as I have been doing. In fact, I never anticipated that I would spend as much time as I have. But the process has been rewarding, and it’s made me want to go to law school even more. If anything, I feel like this process has taught me that I really can do anything I want, if I just dedicate the right amount of time and effort into it.

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Okay, so after weeks of whining about personal statement essays and GRE practice tests, I think it’s time to take a step back, and evaluate. The fall semester is almost over and I’m still standing.  And high moments and low moments aside, I think I’ve done a pretty good job of creating a balance between the fun and the functional.

With that in mind, I’m going to do something I’m completely unqualified to do. I’m going to offer you ladies some advice. Well, not so much advice as guidelines. Guide posts? Rules? Err…just keep this stuff in mind as you attempt to make it through your senior year.

Don’t be so focused on the future that you forget about the present.
During your senior year, it’s easy to get swept up in the idea of what comes next. Grad school applications and GREs. Internships and job interviews. Every time you turn around you’ll have to do something else to prepare for next year. And if that’s not stressful enough, everyone will be asking you about it every step of the way. What are your plans for next year? Will you be applying to grad school? Shouldn’t you have decided by now? Over and over again people will be bombarding you from every angle with questions about the future. But every once it a while you just need to remember to block them out and breathe. Sure it’s your last year of college, but you’re still in college. Don’t forget what that means. You’ll never be able to figure out exactly where you’ll be a year from now, so focus on the here and now instead.

Embrace the cliché college experience.
Go to every college hosted event you can, because it’s the last time you’ll ever be able to experience that event as a college student. I don’t have the numbers on this but I’m pretty sure that the current students tailgating in the parking lot during homecoming enjoyed the event a whole lot more than the alumni watching the game. The same goes for the pep rallies and the movie nights and everything else you stopped going to after sophomore year. Give it one more go. Think of it as a warm up for senior week. Read More »

Everyone has a story. And while my post-grad journey has so far revolved around moving to California, interning, working odd jobs here and there, and studying for the LSAT to attend law school next year, I know that my story isn’t a typical after-college route. In fact, I don’t think there is a typical after-college route, which is why life after college is so exciting and so scary. It varies from person to person and it’s difficult for every individual post-grad to gauge their success when there’s nothing to compare it to.

Sometimes I like to pretend that I’m living a different post-grad life than I am. I even sometimes think about marketing post-grad stories to Bravo or MTV because everyone I know seems to have their own story. Some lives are more stressful than others, and some are boring. Some people are still strictly obsessed with college and continue to spend the majority of their new existence going back. Some post-grads are completely different than a year ago.

But they are all interesting in their own right.

I know my personal experience, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking and wondering about other post-grad scenarios. For example: Read More »

AHHHHHHHH!

Hi everyone, my name is Jenn. And I’m a grad school application survivor.

The experience was traumatic and tortuous and for a while there I didn’t think I’d make it through.  But now that I’ve seen the other side I thought it was time I shared some of my lessons learned with you. (While editing out the banging my head against my desk, pulling my hair out, staring at a blank computer screen as I read the application essay over and over parts.)

This is not a full proof guide to getting into grad school. In fact, it’s not a guide to getting into grad school at all. (I may have finished the applications but I haven’t gotten into any of the programs yet…) These are just some tips, things I wish I knew before I started the application process. So I thought I’d pass on my infinite wisdom to our lovely readers…

1. Make friends with your professors. And no. I’m telling you to make him your beer bong partner. Or a friend with benefits. But make sure at least one or two of your professors know who you are. Start with your advisor. They’re supposed to have a vested interest in your academic career so sharing your goals and aspirations with them, and asking them for advice about graduate programs is a great way to start talking about the application process. Once you’re comfortable with them, then you could start fishing around for recommendation letters. Some professors might even offer. It’s much easier than awkward e-mails or a post-class request when they have no idea who you are. I promise.  

2. Take the GRE the summer before you senior year. Even if you don’t think you’ll be applying to graduate school, do it anyway. This was my original plan. And then I started to have doubts. Should I put myself through the tortuous process of studying and stressing when I wasn’t even sure I would be applying to graduate schools? I didn’t. But I should have. Because then I ended up prepping for the GRE in the midst of a million other things that needed to be done. Take the GRE. And take it early.   Read More »

I still haven’t written my personal statement yet.

You know, the one that more or less says “explain yourself in 700 words or less.” The one that asks you to take the last four yours of your life and make them fit in an essay. The one that asks you to be creative, and witty, and unique, while also demonstrating your intelligence and artfully adding in all of your accomplishments. The one required for college admissions, scholarships and awards, and, in my case, the one required for grad school applications.

Yep, that one.
I just can’t seem to write it.

The truth is, I’ve never been a big fan of personal statement essays, or as grad schools like to call them, statements of purpose. (Because changing the name will differentiate them from the nightmare that was applying to college.) They all sound exactly the same, and everyone says what they think the admissions board wants to hear, and everyone talks about family history or motivation or their many deep and meaningful reasons for pursuing the career path they’ve chosen. And basically, what it comes down to is one giant cliché. And I hate clichés. And so do the admissions boards, or at least, that’s what they claim. Read More »

Life lesson #43298: What you think you should do is sometimes completely different than what you want to do – If only I could jump back to last summer to tell myself!

For what seems like forever, I have told everyone from friends, random people at parties, teachers, and family members that upon graduating undergrad, I would head off to graduate school to a M.A. or Ph.D. program in English literature. In fact, during my first year of college while my classmates were mostly concerned with figuring out their major requirements, I obsessed over taking the right classes designed for graduate school track students, finding the right internships, and doing everything the right way towards getting to graduate school – ruling everything out that did not fit in the perfect English grad school box I put myself in.

As you can imagine, it’s a rather rude awakening when everything doesn’t fall into place like you planned for it to.  Looking back, the moment I realized that my plans were not something I really 100% wanted to do anymore was during a conference meeting with my thesis advisor. She asked me why I wanted to attend graduate school. I was silent. I had no answer. I sputtered off some generic – the “I’d like to advance my studies in literature” excuse. But it felt so fake, so fabricated, and hearing myself say it bothered me. I didn’t like the way it rolled off the tip of my tongue. I didn’t like the way it made me feel about where I wanted to go in my future.

There is a huge problem when you don’t really have an answer as to why you are doing something major like applying to graduate programs, and this started the downward spiral of my graduate school plans. Another red flag was my honors thesis project. Like many seniors, I was completing a sixty-page thesis project (I was working in the area of girls’ fiction in children’s literature). I picked the topic myself, but not even a month or two into the project, I hated it. I wanted nothing to do with what I was writing and saying and researching. There I was working on something very similar to what I would be doing in graduate school, completely unhappy. Not good, right? Read More »

Wait, they’re getting married!?

Do those Fit Flops really work?

Nike does rainboots. But did they do them right?

This is a little TMI, Snooks.

Is Kim Kardashian cougaring it up??

Is grad school worth the investment?

[We're following one post-grad as she grabs that diploma, packs up her college life and heads on out to the big, bad world. There's a lot of change comin' her way and one big challenge: The LSAT.]

So, it’s crunch time. From this point on until October 9^th, my life is really about one thing and one thing only – the LSAT. Of course, I will still have everyday life to live, but from this point on my post-grad life really is going to be dictated by what I am convinced to be as one of the most evil tests in all of existence.

And I’ll be the first to admit – I am terrified. I’m absolutely shaking in my Rainbow flip flops at the thought of one test having so much power over my life.

You gotta do what you gotta do though, right? And what I have to do is do well enough on the test in October, so I don’t have to take it again in December, and come out with a score that satisfies me enough to get into a good law school for Fall 2011 admissions.

A lot is riding upon this exam. If you aren’t familiar with the whole “getting into law school business of admissions,” the LSAT is the end-all-be-all factor in admissions. According to Top Law Schools.com, “Your undergraduate GPA and LSAT score are the two most significant factors that admissions committees look at. The fact that a four hour standardized test carries as much, if not more, weight than four years of classes should tell you how important the LSAT is.” Yikes! Read More »