So I just signed up for the GRE...

[deevergote]

Graduate Record Examination. The test necessary to get into graduate school.

My mom and stepfather helped me out in buying my new laptop, and my stepfather gave me 4 brand new Dunlops for my GTP. Needless to say, my early Christmas presents from them were pretty significant!

I had no idea what to get them for Christmas, and my income compared to theirs is pretty meager... so I can't really buy them anything that they really WANT!

So, I signed up for the GREs. My stepfather sees my education as the first step towards my financial success, which he sees as security for my mother if he should ever be unable to provide for her. Also, as my stepfather, he cares about my own wellbeing, and wants me to succeed. So, I feel that to him this would be the best gift I could give... even if it IS something for myself! (He's getting a George Foreman grill and a book as well... )

My mom is of the same mindset. She just wants to see me succeed and be happy. She knows that what I'm doing now, while it's providing me with a comfortable life, is not a secure future.




So, GREs here I come! I signed up for the general exam first. Taking it on January 30th, 12:00pm. The appointment is 4 hours, though something tells me I'll be done faster than that. I test quite well. $140 for that one.

Then I have to take the subject test, which I'm not looking forward to. I slept through my psychology classes because they were insanely easy. However, none of the details have stuck! I need to brush up on my psych! I'll probably take that exam in the early spring, after I've read through a couple basic psychology books. I wish my friend Oleg didn't borrow, and then sell, my first intro to psych book!



So yeah, I feel like a big boy now. Has anyone on here taken the GRE already? I'd like any advice I can get!

[T3aM 83rD]

Whats your career options with a masters in psy?

[Ralphie]

My gf (heartbreaka72) Jenna took the GRE.

So did my brother.

IIRC, Jenna did pretty good except for math which she and I suck at.

Ill tell her to post in here and give some advice/tips.

I have never taken them nor the SATS but i wish i had.

Just too ya know?

[deevergote]

Whats your career options with a masters in psy?

With a Bachelors, you can basically work at a school for mentally handicapped kids... for well under $30,000 a year. NOT my ideal job, which is why I haven't gotten a job in my field! You can also be a research assistant... too dry for me! You can teach highschool and community college with the proper certifications.

With a Masters, you can be a counselor, which is my goal. I want to be a marriage counselor. Secondary options would be school psychologist or corporate counselor. Basically, you can do the stuff a psychiatrist would do without being able to prescribe meds... which I think the majority of meds prescribed are unnecessary anyway. You can also be a researcher, which is not quite as dry as being an assistant... but not great... and the income potential is limited, unless you find a REALLY good source of funding! You can teach highschool, community college, and low-level university courses with the proper certification.

With a Doctorate, you can become a psychiatrist (after some extensive post-doc training, and I believe some medical school). You can also teach high-level university courses (not sure if you need to be certified as a teacher, as you'd be considered a true master of the field at that level).




Strangely enough, some of the Masters-level jobs pay better than the Doctorate-level jobs... Psychiatrist excluded. By getting a Doctorate, you can actually over-qualify yourself and lose out on those jobs! For that reason, I'm going for the Masters first, even though I could conceivably go for the Doctorate immediately (University of Pennsylvania and Princeton both have direct Doctoral programs, where they'd just toss a Masters at you halfway through... )


As for schools, I'm looking at U-Penn, Princeton, Rutgers, and possibly Rowan if I'm lazy (no offense, Juan!)

[re0430]

As I'm sure you know, the GRE is broken into quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning, and analytical writing. The quantitative reasoning is rather easy, assuming you know basic mathematical functions. If my memory serves me correctly, there was nothing higher than some advanced algebra and trigonometry on the test. The verbal reasoning is the more challenging part. If you don't already have a large vocabulary, I'd suggest studying. There are commonly used words that appear on the GRE and you can find them online or in books. Just knowing the words is the biggest part. This will help you tremendously. The analytical writing part is not hard. You're given a prompt (in both sections - you chose) and have to write about it. As long as you think critically, you'll probably do pretty well.

Overall (from my experience), my biggest suggestion is to study vocabulary and take practice tests. It'll get you used to the timing aspect of the test and familiarize yourself with the format. Unless you're horrible at math, I'd focus mostly on the verbal reasoning aspect. Just brush up on basic mathematical concepts. Good luck on it. I'm sure you'll do pretty well.

[GHOST 2.2]

There should be a job for you that deals with people who are mentally stressed due to losing their homes and foreclosures so you can help them cope with it.

[Maple50175]

Awesome brotherman

[heartbreaka72]

i took the GRE as i am heading off to grad school this sept to be a school guidance counselor...

it was hard because i literally had a week to study because i scheduled it that way, which was my bad. its basically a harder version of the sat...i did really good on the writing and verbal, but the damn quantitative (math) part i did just ok on, coulda done a lot better...but in general i suck at math so i never expect to do great on anything math, i can do great at english or verbal stuff all day long.

with more time to study n prepare i woulda done excellent..

as long as you give yourself time to study and really study, you should be fine...you can get study guides or cds, and even stuff online to study...im at ralphies house in FL so i cant send you my bookmarked study guides i have on my computer, but there are 100s of them...

good luck with the GRE and future career plans

[owequitit]

Congrats. I am starting grad school in a few weeks. No need for the GRE on my end though!

I will eventually have to take the MBAT for my MBA though. For now, the masters I have chosen didn't require a specialized test.

Just get the study guide and study away, and you should be golden.

[jspech22acclude]

i took the general gre to get into vet school it wasnt that bad but man bone up on the analogies(sp?) and vocab words thats the hardest part and its alot of them, they sell vocab study books and study books and cds that over all of the things on the test helped me out alot.i hated it cause it was all on the computer and staring at a computer screen for three to four hours sucked. but good luck on the test man and school!!

[deevergote]

Thanks guys! (and girl )

As I'm sure you know, the GRE is broken into quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning, and analytical writing. The quantitative reasoning is rather easy, assuming you know basic mathematical functions. If my memory serves me correctly, there was nothing higher than some advanced algebra and trigonometry on the test. The verbal reasoning is the more challenging part. If you don't already have a large vocabulary, I'd suggest studying. There are commonly used words that appear on the GRE and you can find them online or in books. Just knowing the words is the biggest part. This will help you tremendously. The analytical writing part is not hard. You're given a prompt (in both sections - you chose) and have to write about it. As long as you think critically, you'll probably do pretty well.

Overall (from my experience), my biggest suggestion is to study vocabulary and take practice tests. It'll get you used to the timing aspect of the test and familiarize yourself with the format. Unless you're horrible at math, I'd focus mostly on the verbal reasoning aspect. Just brush up on basic mathematical concepts. Good luck on it. I'm sure you'll do pretty well.

Yeah, I have a pretty good vocabulary, and my verbal skills are fairly advanced. My math skills are lacking, as every school I ever went to was HORRIBLE with math, and I always took the easy courses in college... I've gotten through trig in high school, and calc in college, but they weren't high points for me... C in trig, B in calc (but that was with a curved 40! )
Writing, I should do fine. I HATE writing, but as you can tell by my extensive posts on here, I usually have a lot to say, and can get my point across in a fairly organized manner. I always did well in my writing classes.

I downloaded a Kaplan prep course, so I'll run through that and see if it helps. I got a 1310 on my SATs on the first try (no studying, no prep, no breakfast, 4 hours of sleep... lol) so I generally do well on standardized tests.
I suppose it's the psychologist in me. I don't care about the subject matter... I figure out the TEST. The questions don't matter... the test structure itself tells me the answers! (learned that in Latin class... I sucked at the language, but I figured out the tests... passed without knowing anything more than the conjugation of the verb "to be" )

[heartbreaka72]

Thanks guys! (and girl )




Yeah, I have a pretty good vocabulary, and my verbal skills are fairly advanced. My math skills are lacking, as every school I ever went to was HORRIBLE with math, and I always took the easy courses in college... I've gotten through trig in high school, and calc in college, but they weren't high points for me... C in trig, B in calc (but that was with a curved 40! )
Writing, I should do fine. I HATE writing, but as you can tell by my extensive posts on here, I usually have a lot to say, and can get my point across in a fairly organized manner. I always did well in my writing classes.

I downloaded a Kaplan prep course, so I'll run through that and see if it helps. I got a 1310 on my SATs on the first try (no studying, no prep, no breakfast, 4 hours of sleep... lol) so I generally do well on standardized tests.
I suppose it's the psychologist in me. I don't care about the subject matter... I figure out the TEST. The questions don't matter... the test structure itself tells me the answers! (learned that in Latin class... I sucked at the language, but I figured out the tests... passed without knowing anything more than the conjugation of the verb "to be" )

your welcome, i think according to what you wrote, you will do fine...lucky for me, just one school i applied to needed the scores, all my applications were just sent out, ill be starting somewhere in september lol, im already accepted into liu brooklyn campus but im waiting on cunys (to anyone in nyc area who knows what that means lol) bc they are a helluvalot cheaper...so by 2010 ill have my MSed in Counseling...

good luck, im sure you will do great!! and your looking at good schools too so im sure you will be fine.

[deevergote]

It'll likely be Rutgers or Rowan that I end up going to... but Penn and Princeton would be nice I'd have to get a job at either one, and apply for scholarships... because there's no way I could afford even a loan to go to those!

Rutgers is most likely. That's where my BA is from, and although it's considered a crappy school here in NJ, it's considered on-par with the ivy league schools as I go further away... not that I EVER plan on leaving NJ. This state is in my blood!

[heartbreaka72]

It'll likely be Rutgers or Rowan that I end up going to... but Penn and Princeton would be nice I'd have to get a job at either one, and apply for scholarships... because there's no way I could afford even a loan to go to those!

Rutgers is most likely. That's where my BA is from, and although it's considered a crappy school here in NJ, it's considered on-par with the ivy league schools as I go further away... not that I EVER plan on leaving NJ. This state is in my blood!

lol rutgers is a good school, from what i know there are 3 campuses, and maybe 1 is no good but the other 2 are?? you would know better then me lol..yeah if i go to a private school i need an assistantship, scholarships etc, fasfa said no money for free for grad school just loans which sucks.

[deevergote]

They're all good... I actually went to the one that's underappreciated, but the best of the 3... the Camden campus. The older campuses in the northern parts of the state are the ones that everyone thinks of. Camden is a lousy city, and the campus is newer. However, the northern campuses are more focused on research, while the Camden campus is focused largely on teaching. The professors that teach there WANT to teach, rather than have it be something they have to do to be allowed to continue with their research!