Graduate Record Examinations

The Graduate Record Examination, or GRE, is to graduate school what the SAT is to undergraduate admissions—it is a standardized test used as part of the application process. The video clip above perfectly captures how much I disliked studying for and taking this exam. In keeping with my extreme disdain for standardized tests, it is only fair that my worst assessment was a standardized exam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETDHptCqRgQ

'She's the Worst' video clip from the television show Park & Recreation. (J C, 2020)

3 Reasons why the GRE was the Worst Most Important Assessment of my Life:

It's a standardized exam.

The SAT was created in... an effort to measure what we're capable of -- to predict what we can do, what we might do. What we've forgotten is that often that can't be untangled from where we've been, what we've been through and what we've been given (Vox, 2019, 8:15).

I have never been a fan of standardized tests for several reasons, one of which is that the test design itself is inherently problematic. I understand the need to develop a standard way to determine, in large quantities, the abilities of students, but this is such an outdated way of doing things—particularly the financial aspect that comes with standardized testing. As much as I wanted to do well on the exam, the ability to afford test preparation and pay for the exam was difficult, which put me at a disadvantage. Eventually, I was able to purchase one of the lower-cost options, Magoosh. However, the stress had already been created. This was my worst assessment because there was immense pressure to do well, heightened by the fact that I paid for both the exam and the test preparation. Additionally, it was an electronic assessment, which I tend not to perform well on, and it included timed sessions. I felt as though I was not being tested on the content, but rather on my ability to perform within the constraints of the designed system. Thus bringing me to my next reason as to why this was the worst assessment I had.

The test captured topics I did not need to know nor did I care about.

Free GRE Practice Questions, 2020

The exam tests your abilities in verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing. While these skills are important, they are also extremely vague. I took the exam almost 3 year after graduating college. I needed to spend months studying, trying to learn as many words as I could, but it still was not enough. I needed to relearn topics taught in high school—material I had not seen in at least five years. The exam not only failed to allow me to demonstrate the knowledge I gained in college, but it also did not serve as a precursor to the knowledge I hoped to gain in graduate school. The GRE was the worst exam I took—not simply because I took it six years too late (I should have taken it right after high school)—but mainly because I could not understand how random vocabulary and high school–level math would benefit my career. My capacity for rote memorization of words is unfortunately low, but that does not mean I am not capable. And that brings me to the final reason this exam was my worst assessment.

It made me feel inadequate.

The couple of years after college, when I was still deciding what I wanted to do in terms of next steps, were hard. I knew that my undergraduate degree was not going to be enough if I decided to stay in the realm of psychology. Therefore, my only two options were to continue applying for any and every job or go back to school. However, at that time, going back to school meant I needed to take the GRE (it had not been made optional everywhere just yet). There were plenty of programs that I found that piqued my interest, but the barrier of the test was ever-present. Standardization in education, as discussed by Schneider and Hunt (2013), was actively harming genuine learning. It undermined students' natural curiosity and love of learning. I felt that wholeheartedly. The GRE was the worst assessment I took because I knew before even taking the exam that I was not going to do as well as I wanted to, and therefore I felt it was just going to be used as a reason for schools to deny me.

The one size fits all assessment while important to help move students through the system overlooks the diverse population of students and can potentially disadvantage them (Montenegro & Jankowski, 2017).

I am grateful now that students are given more of a choice when it comes to taken the GRE and using it as a part of their application. More university are making the standardized assessments optional which is a step in the right direction.

"When physical therapy schools require the GRE" video clip. (Ngugi, 2022)

References:

Kaplan Test Prep (2020). Free GRE Practice Questions. https://www.kaptest.com/gre/free/gre-20-minute-workoutsrsltid=AfmBOopvKswREQ8g5iPilXBCKV9loH-UA5aSX5yrapOo68-3XxtdETef

Montenegro, E., & Jankowski, N. A. (2017). Equity and assessment: Moving towards culturally responsive assessment. (Occasional Paper No. 29). University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).

Schneider, J. and Hutt, E. (2013). Making the grade: a history of the A–F marking scheme. Journal of Curriculum Studies.

Vox. (2019, July 12). The problem with America's college entrance exam [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjVVwMGJ9S8&t=77s.

‌