Return of the hated acronym : GRE

A level of Dante's hell should be reserved for the GREs. And by that I mean for the nefarious, sadistic individual who had the brilliant idea of torturing poor stressed fourth-years with a slow and painful death by bombardment of multiple choice questions. Unless obviously one devises some plans of his own. There once was a time when this test could make or break the destiny of an MS aspirant. Now, thankfully, admission committees tend to use it as a qualifying criteria. Now there...not to get you laxed, scoring well on the GRE is still very important...it's like the first impression of yours...and if that ain't good...hmmm... This is the breakdown: There is a 45-minute math section, a 30-minute verbal section and two analytical essays. Oh, and they throw in an extra verbal or math section for research, but of course, unless you are psychic, you won't be able to tell which is real and which is fake (which is veracious and which is spurious, in simple GRE lingo) and therefore, which section counts and which doesn't. And by the way, this is all done on a computer, through a program called the CAT (Computer Adaptive Test) which basically determines if you are smart or dumb after the first few questions, and proceeds with the test accordingly. Now, I was one of the few people who decided to give his GRE early...infact way in July '04, considering I was applying for Fall '05. This is generally considered early, but in my view, it's best to give it early than say in October or November. God forbid, you are struck by lightening midway through your test or just for fun the people at your center are coughing like it was an epidemic....and you end up with a low score. Well, in such a case if you are an 1100 in July...much better than an 1100 in October (with no dates to reschedule and evil thoughts creeping into your head). But, all said and done, one should schedule a test if and only if you know you would be prepared in time. Luckily for me, I remembered a lot of the Baron's wordlist from way back when I gave the SAT. 'n once the wordlists are out of the way....atleast i had a big smirk on my face... So, this is like the first GRE tip...Play it early and play it safe. And if you are taking it like this time of the year...make sure you don't screw up. Because the compromises one might have to make due to a low GRE...just not worth it... FYI: The weather here through northeast and midwest is really starting to cool down. Evenings are at times so freakishly cold...i wonder what it's gonna be when ze winter sets in.... -Oz PS: Thanks to the Cavalier Daily