Anyone taken the GRE test recently?

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

So I've made the decision to to back to school and further my education. I have a professor who is interested/wanting to work with me and at this point she basically said "let's keep chatting, but go get the minimum GRE score".

So, has anyone taken it recently? Have you taken it as a non-trad student? I'm 15 years out of college at this point and assumimg it'd be worth my time to take a GRE prep course, but am open to suggestions. Also, it seems there's lots of prep courses, so I'm curious what to take.

I have no clue what I'm stepping into here, so any info is better than non. I was always a blah standardized test taker.

 

[seedcorn]

GRE, since I have no idea what it even is, I am of no value for you..... ;-)

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

GRE, since I have no idea what it even is, I am of no value for you..... ;-)

It's like the SAT or ACT for college acceptance, but is meant for graduate level degrees (masters or PhD)

 

[seedcorn]

Back in dark ages didn’t have that. Got your BS, applied for acceptance into masters program. Either accepted or not. Usually IF you had the $$$$, come join us...l

 

[digitS']

You Should Have Someone to Talk to about the GRE!

I'll start off with that . I didn't take it and it certainly wouldn't have been recently if I would have. Sprig' , are you living near this school? I'd head in to Student Services and see what the counselors would have to say. Trying to make connections in the student union building with similar "nontraditional" students might really broaden your support.

Fifteen years? I thought that I was taking quite a big step returning to school after a 9 year hiatus. For me, it felt like a pleasant dream ...

There was an earlier experience of a 2 year break and, yet another, wow - what was that? 4 years before some additional classes, yet in the future. However, this was long ago.

The GRE wasn't required, perhaps because that return was to the same university where I had earned a bachelor's, those long 9 years before. It didn't quite seem that I was some alien, walking into those classrooms. For one thing, I found a number of nontraditionals in the graduate seminars.

You are very likely to find that you are a better student than you were previously. There will probably be a strong willingness to apply yourself and your time to what is required.

I'll finish with this, too :

You Should Have Someone to Talk to about the GRE!

Steve

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

Back in dark ages didn’t have that. Got your BS, applied for acceptance into masters program. Either accepted or not. Usually IF you had the $$$$, come join us...l

Well, I was worried about a lot of that, but apparently this professor is impressed enough with other folks raving about me that she's just saying "go take the test and do well enough to not fail", so I'm trying to figure out what I'm walking into here.

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

You Should Have Someone to Talk to about the GRE!

I'll start off with that . I didn't take it and it certainly wouldn't have been recently if I would have. Sprig' , are you living near this school? I'd head in to Student Services and see what the counselors would have to say. Trying to make connections in the student union building with similar "nontraditional" students might really broaden your support.

Fifteen years? I thought that I was taking quite a big step returning to school after a 9 year hiatus. For me, it felt like a pleasant dream ...

There was an earlier experience of a 2 year break and, yet another, wow - what was that? 4 years before some additional classes, yet in the future. However, this was long ago.

The GRE wasn't required, perhaps because that return was to the same university where I had earned a bachelor's, those long 9 years before. It didn't quite seem that I was some alien, walking into those classrooms. For one thing, I found a number of nontraditionals in the graduate seminars.

You are very likely to find that you are a better student than you were previously. There will probably be a strong willingness to apply yourself and your time to what is required.

I'll finish with this, too :

You Should Have Someone to Talk to about the GRE!

Steve

Thanks. My friend who got a PhD from the department I'm interested mentioned a different prof than the one I'm interested in that has a lot of experience with non-trads with full-time jobs. Maybe I'll reach out to see if they can give me a connection that I could ask some questions to.

I'd like to know if I should spend the time anf money on a GRE prep course or just walk in there with zero prep time

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have not taken the GRE. But to get my professional Engineer's license I had to pass a test after getting five years of actual experience. I found a refresher course, one night a week for ten weeks, to prepare for that. I found it more motivating to have a set class I had to go to rather than buy a book to review on my own. I'm sure these days they have online courses you can take.

I don't know what it costs to take the GRE or if it hurts to fail it once and then pass it later. Probably not. it will help your confidence and give you a better chance to pass if you do some kind of refresher. The stuff I needed to know came back pretty fast but it would have been rough walking into that test cold.

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

I have not taken the GRE. But to get my professional Engineer's license I had to pass a test after getting five years of actual experience. I found a refresher course, one night a week for ten weeks, to prepare for that. I found it more motivating to have a set class I had to go to rather than buy a book to review on my own. I'm sure these days they have online courses you can take.

I don't know what it costs to take the GRE or if it hurts to fail it once and then pass it later. Probably not. it will help your confidence and give you a better chance to pass if you do some kind of refresher. The stuff I needed to know came back pretty fast but it would have been rough walking into that test cold.

Thanks. I really hate online courses, but that's the world we're in now, so it might be what I have to adhere to

I like your point about things coming back quickly, but not immediately. That alone means it might be good to take that prep course. Money is certainly an ingredient in this, but so is time. With a wife, 5 kids, a full-time job a tree farm I'm trying to work on and general land upkeep time is a challenge, so if I wasn't needing to take a course that would be good.

 

[catjac1975]

So I've made the decision to to back to school and further my education. I have a professor who is interested/wanting to work with me and at this point she basically said "let's keep chatting, but go get the minimum GRE score".

So, has anyone taken it recently? Have you taken it as a non-trad student? I'm 15 years out of college at this point and assumimg it'd be worth my time to take a GRE prep course, but am open to suggestions. Also, it seems there's lots of prep courses, so I'm curious what to take.

I have no clue what I'm stepping into here, so any info is better than non. I was always a blah standardized test taker.

Cast aside you doubt and fear. There is likely some on-line practice tests for you to get familiar with. A lot of testing is just figuring what the heck they are looking for in an answer. When I was 20 years out of college, teaching that long, small kids at home, we were offer a free inservice college course at work. For a little bit of money we could get college credit. I did it along with most people I worked with.. I hadn't written a paper in 20 years and was terrified. After the fear subsided I did great as I had always done in school. At the time I had not needed a masters, but with it came a big pay increase and the town game us a stipend for a bit of the tuition. I looked ahead at the pay at the end and I started. 1day a week for a couple of years 12 months a year. My children learned they could do without me for a day, they learned they could eat their father's cooking, and eat night time course involved dinner and a glass of wine with friends that became lifetime friends. I had a night a week as an adult. I went on to get 2 masters, get a big raise, and found out I was usually the genius in the class. Getting over your fear is the biggest hurdle. And you have a monitor to boot. And you do not need to take the GRE for many schools. And you can take it over and over again. Most testing is just learning how to take the test.. Good luck.