So I seem to have come down with a bad case of senioritis, even though I am just a junior. I have a test tomorrow morning in neurobiology, an online quiz due tonight for neuropsychology, a presentation due Wednesday for my history class, and two overdue assignments for cell biology... but instead of doing ANY of those I spent the day studying for the GREs.
In case you aren't up on your graduate school requirements, the GRE is the entrance exam for graduate school. Med schools require the MCAT, law schools want LSAT scores, and business schools insist you take the GMAT - but if you want a masters (in something other than business) or a PhD in anything you are looking at the GRE. And since I want a PhD in either neuroscience or molecular biology I am looking at the GRE.
The GRE is basically a SAT for college students - in fact it is published by the same company that puts out the SAT. It has a verbal section, a math section, and an analytical writing section each of which is worth 800 points. And, of course, there are subject tests (I'll be taking one in biology).
Anyway, the GRE math section is supposedly easy but the verbal section is notoriously brutal. At first I thought, "Whatever, how hard can it be?" Well I took a diagnostic test today and let me tell you, its hard.
Here is an example of the words I didn’t know before today:
phlegmatic- calm, sluggish, unemotional, stoic
quaff- to drink deeply
quotidian- occurring or recurring daily, commonplace
loquacious- extremely talkative
prolix- long-winded, verbose
inimical- damaging, harmful, injurious, hostile, unfriendly
inimitable- one of a kind, peerless
filigree- an ornamental work, especially of delicate lacelike patterns, resembling such a pattern
denigrate- blacken, belittle, sully, defame, disparage
pillory- to punish, hold up to public scorn
chary- wary, cautious, sparing
puerile- childish, immature
inchoate- in an initial stage, not fully formed
peripatetic- itinerant, traveling, nomadic
itinerant- to travel from place to place
tyro- a novice, beginner in learning
nascent- coming into being; in early development stages
bucolic- rustic and pastoral, characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
cadge- to sponge, beg, or mooch
And in case that wasn't bad enough, there are many secondary definitions of everyday words that make the test even more confusing. For example:
brook- to tolerate, endure, countenance
nice- exacting, extremely or even excessively precise; done with delicacy or skill
list- to tilt or lean to one side
quail- to shrink back in fear, lose courage
prize- to pry, to press or force with a lever
flag- to sag or droop, to become spiritless; to decline
flip- sarcastic, impertinent
die- a tool used for shaping
mince- pronounce or speak affectedly or too carefully, euphemize, take tiny steps, tiptoe
So are you ready to take the test? I know I'm not. There are hundreds, maybe even over 1000 more words that I don't know that could show up on the test. I have plenty more GRE studying to do... but I guess I should do my more immediate work first. Neurobiology here I come!
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1 comments:
To prepare for your test... you should write your next post using a min of 50 of those new words... :-)
The "official" teacher contacted Mrs. Pile... and she sent over the list she used for our year... I do suppose I should talk with her myself though... lol.
You would love this class. We have about 7 books that we are looking at... using journals to log thoughts, and class conversation to discuss contrasting themes. Plus, and this is the cool part, we have a pseudo movie club where, a few nights a week, we are watching Dystopia and Utopian films... we have already finished Avalon, Equilibrium, V for Vendetta, and Banlieue 13... it has been pretty cool.
The utopias and dystopias are giving us a lot of material and starting points for various conversations about life, government, religion, sexuality, privacy, etc.... I think there just might be hope for these kids to be intelligent and cultured conversationalists.... :-)
How goes the running? Where are you going to be this summer?... Oh, and you need to post more often... ;-)
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