GRE

Well I’m sure my thousands and thousands of adoring fans are anxious waiting to hear how my day went, right?

Actually, overall, the experience was quite good. I’m still relatively sick, but the lady supervising the testing center was extremely amicable, pointing me to the center’s Kleenex that I was welcome to take in with me and even offered me a couple of cough drops from her own purse. Hard to complain about service like that!

The test was pretty much exactly what I expected, and I did about as well as I expected to do. I was done in a little under 2.5 hours, so don’t let the 4-hour full-length time scare you away; keep in mind I did the math portion in roughly 12 minutes (out of 40 I think).

One practice test I took that was adaptive and simulated the look and feel of the GRE scored me at both 620 and 600 the two times I took it (in regards the verbal section, AKA the only section that matters for me) and they were dead on, as I ended up with a verbal score of 610.  Not spectacular, but not too shabby either. It should keep my application from getting weeded out right out of the gate, even at Notre Dame.

My math score….well. Suffice it to say it confirms my belief that I probably ‘do math’ at about a 7th grade level, but was also quite high considering I answered (mostly) at random, and I’m not kidding.

I managed to get to bed at around 1am, which probably sounds late but is actually extremely early for me, and didn’t have much trouble getting up at 7am to get to the testing center by 9. I’m feeling mostly better physically.

So, there’s the update. I wish I could say the hardest part was over but I’m still facing the logistical nightmare of organizing all ‘the other stuff’ – letters of recommendation, statement of purpose letters, getting my writing sample edited with (hopefully) my best stuff, etc. The worst part honestly is getting all the money together to pay for everything. It’s going to be about $45 for 5 official transcripts from IUSB, and about $235 in application fees if I end-up applying to all four schools I’m aiming at, which are: Notre Dame, IU Bloomington, Purdue (who has an MFA program, who knew? It’s the 6th best funded in the country, too. WTF?) and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which is even more expensive than Notre Dame (thank God ND waives tuition for its MFA program!).

The SAIC is the most expensive in terms of application fees ($80, ouch!) so they may not make the cut, mostly because I’m not sure I have a considerable shot at it, and even if they accepted me I have no idea how I’d afford tuition, much less living in Chicago. They suckered me in with beautiful, high-quality mailed materials that are full of gorgeous artwork and very impressive writing from their graduate students. I can’t help but apply. Their propaganda has worked!

On Moments

I’m beginning to get over, I think, the nastiest head/throat bug I’ve ever had in my life. I very, very rarely get sick — this is the first time since I was still in middle school — so it’s been fun. I hate the odd flavor of lucidity that comes with illness. I hate the way I can’t sleep when sick, the way I sort of half sleep.

Anyway, I think it’s nearly past. I still feel pretty awful, but less so than I have over  the past couple of days.

More importantly, the day has finally arrived and I’m taking the GRE tomorrow morning at 9am. Between the lingering illness and the fact the test is starting two hours before I generally even wake up these days, it promises to be a pretty miserable time, but alas it must be done, the money is paid and time is short.

I’m actually quite excited about it. Anxious, nervous, intimidated as well, of course, but also very authentically excited to be doing it. I think this is because our lives are generally made of important, crucial moments we never saw coming, were never able to prepare for, and to me this kind of thing is an exception. This test could very easily be the deciding factor in whether or not I can go to graduate school, and past that, which graduate school.

I knew it was coming, and have spent approximately the last 40 days studying for it quite a lot, as well as reading general testing tips, taking simulated CAT GRE tests to see where I stand, and so on. I feel confident. I don’t think I’m going to land an 800, but I think I’ll do a good enough job that the score will keep open the doors to the schools I’m applying to.

I’m going to wear my #10 ND jersey tomorrow, for a little mental psych-up and a little Irish Luck, perhaps. It’s a bit dorky, but I’ll need all the luck I can get tomorrow, and it just makes it all a bit more fun to me. One of those moments where I feel like my future is in my hands (I always believe it is, but really embracing the idea is very hard a lot of time…easier to blame Fate or Ryan Luck) and I’m doing what I need to do to go where I want to go.

So, any luck or prayers (if that’s your bag) are welcome, if for nothing else than for my physical health. I am concerned my illness will still be strong enough to affect my concentration (as it has done horribly since it hit) and cause me not to perform well, but there’s simply nothing I can do about it except hope I wake up tomorrow feeling great (aside from the godforsaken hour of SEVEN AY EMM).

Wishing all of you the best.

RS

Doin’ The Damn Thing

Finally settled on the decision to get into graduate school or die trying.

My three biggest tasks are:

1) Completing this final semester with strong grades

2) Studying for the GRE

3) Editing / polishing my poetry portfolio sample

I’m also working on other odds and ends, such as requesting letters of recommendation, finalizing my list of schools, etc. So far I’m looking at:

Notre Dame

Ohio State University

Indiana University

Past that…I’m not sure. Iowa Writer’s Workshop? It’s the most prestigious program in the country, but if I did manage to get in…well, it’s Iowa. Enough said.

New York University? Some random low-residency program in Maine where I can enjoy a coastal landscape and cheap seafood? Who knows…suggestions welcome.

I’m also welcoming any advice / tips / encouragement from anyone who has taken the GRE. I’m just taking the general exam, by the way, as that’s all most programs seem to require. The fact that I’m going to pursue a Masters of Fine Arts (Poetry) means my math portion score doesn’t really matter so I’m not even really going to study for it, but am going to focus mainly on the Verbal portion, which is essentially vocabulary.

I already picked up Barron’s 800 Essential Words for the GRE and am several units in. Some words are easy / familiar and some are absolutely alien. Even if I never make it into grad. school I think this is a great thing to do and am enjoying it quite a bit.

Anyway. It’s Saturday, and we all know what that means.

GO IRISH!