The GRE

| life | school |

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

Recent Favorite Blog Posts

This is a collection of the last 8 posts that I bookmarked.

Articles from blogs I follow around the net

Bandcamp is Taking Slop Head On with Unequivocal Ban, to the Cheers of Music Lovers Everywhere

’Tis But Some Quick News for January 16, 2026 Bandcamp read the room. It is the hero we need in our hour of darkness. Amidst an onslaught of horrendous AI-generated slop pretending to be music (Spotify is rife with this garbage, though they keep claiming …

via The Internet Review January 16, 2026

Pluralistic: Catch this! (16 Jan 2026)

Today's links Catch this! Email is good, actually. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: LDS excommunication; King Foundation v "I Have a Dream"; "Lat-stage capitalism" v "Christ, what an asshole"; Pelosi …

via Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow January 16, 2026

Liberating the ASUS CX1100CN Chromebook with OpenBSD

Liberating the ASUS CX1100CN Chromebook with OpenBSD 2026-01-16 I’ve always enjoyed the idea of having a portable, lightweight, 11 inch laptop for my personal use for around the house and small trips. A device that I wouldn’t have to be concerned about just…

via btxx.org RSS Feed January 16, 2026

Generated by openring