The GRE
I took the diagnostic test that accompanied my 2010 GRE study book by Kaplan and I failed miserably. I am glad that it was only a diagnostic quiz, because otherwise I would not have the smallest chance on the coldest day in hell to get into a graduate program.
The problem that I have with the GRE is that the questions are irrelevant. They do not measure how likely you are to perform well at graduate level study, instead they measure how many complicated and useless words you can learn in a given number of months, how many irrelevant passages you can read in 45 minutes, and how many unnecessarily complicated math problems you can do in an hour.
It is sad, that I find calculus relieving after taking the math portion of the GRE. It is not difficult per se, it is just worded in a strange way and forces you to think in terms of theoretical math. Not algebra, not trigonometry, not calculus, but some weird ass backwards math that does not remotely apply to the real world.
I don’t want to sound like I am complaining that the GRE is “too hard”. I will take it in January, and I will get a great score. I am just frustrated at the fact that everything I learned in college has not prepared me for this exam, and nothing that I learn in Graduate school will relate to it.
Thank you for reading! Share your thoughts with me on bluesky, mastodon, or via email.
Check out some more stuff to read down below.
Most popular posts this month
- SQLite DB Migrations with PRAGMA user_version
- Using cgit
- Lev Lazinskiy
- Convert Markdown to PDF in Sublime Text
- Making cgit Pretty
Recent Favorite Blog Posts
This is a collection of the last 8 posts that I bookmarked.
- AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making from Ludicity
- No-One Escapes the Permanent Underclass from Fernando Borretti
- Is it ethical to use AI? from charity.wtf
- The logical destination of LLMs from Andy Bell
- Revised rules of engineering leadership. from Irrational Exuberance
- The circus freaks of open source from Drew DeVault's blog
- Clanker: A Word For The Machine from Armin Ronacher's Thoughts and Writings
- I ran a half-marathon! from gluecko.se
Articles from blogs I follow around the net
Pluralistic: AI solipsists and AI cynics (24 Jul 2026)
Today's links AI solipsists and AI cynics: You don't have to believe that AI "works" to believe that it's a good investment. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Malware v stolen computer; Industrial material made from old coffee and...
via Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow July 24, 2026Safari and system design, pt. 2
Around the time I was writing about iPhone’s Safari breaking the expected “tap to jump to the top” gesture, a conversation on social media pointed to yet another thing that this tab control does strangely. A typical use of Safari means two groups of sites:...
via Unsung July 23, 2026Issue 107 – An unserious offer
The crypto industry has spent $200 million to get a bill too corrupt for Democrats to pass and a president too corrupt to sign anything that might meaningfully limit his grift.
via Citation Needed July 23, 2026Generated by openring