Anyone taken the GRE?

She can either stay at home at the school she's at now and play another season of softball (dont worry..she's not the giant butch girl you're picturing) or move where i'm at and just get a job for the year before she reapplies since she can pretty much graduate with her bachelors whenever she feels like it. She's not giving up!

 

As she is taking the general test, (not subject like biochemistry etc.) she needs to polish up verbal and quantitative portions. Being that it is PT school, most science institutions look at these to assess the overall aptitude of the applicant (quant and verb). The analytical writing portion is pretty cake FWIW.

Take her out to dinner after the exam. She'll need it.

 

Sorry to hear that she didn't meet expectations.

There is always next year; get her a Kaplan study guide, she can browse through that at a leisurely pace and accumulate a greater foundation for the examination over the next year.

Also, now that she has a taste for it, the mystique of the examination and the process itself has been revealed and been demystified. -This is a huge plus.

 

I will look into that study guide. The "demystification" helped a lot for me when I had to take the ACT in high school. First time I bombed it..second time I did awesome. Hopefully the same will happen for her! She said that the writing portion was a joke..and the verbal was the one that she didn't pass. I guess the vocabulary/definitions was pretty intense. This was the text message I got after she took the test:

 

Yea, that is exactly what it is. You know, I could send you my guide for free if you wanna pay shipping. It's a few years old so the format is now different (electronic vs paper)...

 

Thanks! But she actually went and bought a big study guide yesterday..She should be fine with that. Hopefully it works!

 

So much of what others said here holds true for all these major "entrance, certification and licensing" type exams.

Often there is a hidden silver lining in not quite getting it the first time and that is the fact that like everyone here said, the mystery is out in the light now. She will now know what to target based on her experiences with the test. No more need for jitters.

Frankly, I know of numerous "licensed professionals" in my particular field who merely got lucky the first time through when they honestly were not truly ready for what comes with the licensed part. They then went on to be very much lacking regardless of what their certification claimed and having passed the exam - didnt seem to feel they needed any more learning experiences and/or improvement. I bet we all know people like that. That can be frustrating when you know how you worked so hard on preparations and studying.

The people I personally know who took several times in passing licensing exams etc actually made out a lot better in the end. It seemed that they retained more and were better able to apply it in the working world and they stated as much on numerous occasions.

You and your girlfriend deserve lots of kudos for having a backup plan in place. That is a realistic and honest approach to such an undertaking. In many ways it is the best of both worlds since it provides her with options!

Let her know that regardless of the outcome - the fact that she is not letting it wreck her plans and aspirations shows far more character than simply passing an exam.
We all know life comes with its ups and downs and one must be prepared for all of that. She will need so much more than paper smarts where she is heading - and it certainly seems like she has what it is going to take - including the bonus of having a supportive boyfriend.

Best to you both!

elizabeth

 

Thanks for all of that Elizabeth! I agree with what you said about getting lucky the first try. If tests are multiple choice...there is always a chance you just get lucky. I think she will be better off waiting another year. Does she? Heck no. But I'm sure she'll realize down the road that all of this was supposed to happen.