GRE Subject Test: Psychology... Scores!

Hey, guys! I haven't done an update in a while, so I thought that now would be a good time, especially considering that I have recently found out my Psychology Subject Test GRE scores!

Here they are:

Total Score: 740, 90th percentile
Experimental Psychology: 073, 87th percentile
Social Psychology: 074, 92nd percentile
Total # Correct: 159
Total # Incorrect: 042
Total # Omits: 0
Formula Score: 149

GRE Tutoring's Over

I said goodbye to my first GRE tutoree (?) this past weekend. The reasons for that is 1.) our schedules don't mesh anymore, 2.) I can't meet everyday during the week, and 3.) she gave up and is going to take a different standardized test instead (this is probably the biggest reason). I'm still waiting to get back my Barron's prep book practice test CD, which I lent to her. I'm supposed to get it in the mail.

Last week I was totally sick, probably because of all of the stress leading up to the Psychology GRE Subject Test on Saturday. Actually, as soon as I was finished with it I felt amazing. Even though I'm still coughing, I've definitely learned the hard way that stress really does exacerbate things.

Finishing that test has also given me a lot more time to just relax, catch up on homework, and pay my bills. Yup... I've got three envelopes right next to me that have payments within them. I just didn't have the mind to pay attention to those kinds of important things while I was studying. That's probably a bad thing. I'm wondering how much I need to reconsider my priorities. Good thing that I didn't miss any deadlines!

Speaking of deadlines, now comes the rest of the application process. Let me just say that I have an Excel sheet that has essentially taken over my life. I am obsessed with this Excel sheet. I put it all together so that I could keep my applications in order. I might talk about how I did it in a future post because it's very detailed. Too detailed.

Alrighty! Time to go read! (Ah... leisure...)

My Bad

Heyyyyy... so I took the Psychology GRE yesterday LOL... Sorry. I know that I didn't really blog about it on here so much. That's probably a good thing (even though I feel a little bad about it - opportunity to document the adventure sort of lost) because I had to get away from this here laptop. Oh, internet, how you consume my time with such vigor!

I studied my little butt off this past two weeks, so much so that I am pretty sure that I can attribute my cold to the stress I was experiencing. I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't cram. I crammed things into me like Augustus Gloop in that fabulous chocolate factory. Speaking of chocolate, it pretty much carried me through this process. Thanks, God! (As I reach for another piece... literally.)

Going into the test I was nervous. It probably didn't help that finding the right building on NYU's confusing campus took me a while. Coming out the exam, though, I felt awesome. Sure, there were questions that I felt uneasy about or knew that I didn't really know too well, but I'm okay with that.

I find out my scores around November 8. EEEEP! (Consumes more chocolate.)

It's at this point that I should go catch up on the homework that I've been putting off for weeks so that I could study... but I'm enjoying my little weekend. It also doesn't help that there is work being done on my building and someone has been pounding around on the roof/sides of the building all the live-long day.

One last thing before I go: I bought "SparkNotes' 101 Psychology: A Complete Course in a Book" go to with my studying for the Psych GRE and it was fantastic. I recommend it because it covers lots of things, but clearly and consisely. There isn't so much noise that I find in textbooks (although textbooks are awesome, sometimes it's just way too much information than I need).

Happy Christopher Columbus Day Weekend!

First Day of Experiment: Fail

I'm sitting in my university's psychology lab right now and feeling like a total *FAIL* because the computer/experimental equipment wasn't properly working for me. I figured out how to fix the problem after the participant (the one who actually came in... yay! The very first scheduled person didn't even bother... BOO) left. Don't worry... I have the participant credit for even coming in, which is the ethical thing to do.

Anywho, to fix the problem I need to reboot the data collection computer. Sounds easy, and technically it is. It's just sooo annoying setting the program up again because I have to choose all the settings so that the experiment runs the way that it is suppossed to.

I still don't know what the culprit is exactly, only that restarting the computer will ultimately end up with me being able to complete all of the trials.

Rawr.

I know what you are thinking now if you are really dedicated to this blog... "Katrina. You aren't talking about the GRE. This belongs in another blog." That is a very valid thought. However, all of this has to do somehow with the GRE for several reasons. Additionally: I can write about what I want, dude! It's okay. I still love you.

Here are the reasons:

1. I am not about to let my frustration over a loss of two participants ruin my excitement over eventually completing this experiment nor my excitement about studying for the GRE. (Woo!)
2. Now that I'm all set up and know the problems I can go back and study for like... 6 hours straight. (Woo! Wait... Hmm...)
3. This is forcing me to think of solutions outside of the box, which is necessary for all things regarding life. That include the GRE!

See?! Everything is connected in the circle of life... ;)

Disregard What I Said About the Barron's Psychology Prep Book...

So I finally caved and bought a Psychology GRE prep book… and if you read the title of this post, then you would have figured out already which book I got. Yup: Barron's. Woo!

I know I wrote a scathing review of it earlier during the summer... but I think what I was most miffed about was the fact that I couldn't write in the book. It just set the tone for the rest of that first Barron's Psychology Prep Book experience, which ended up being a bad one. Now that I have my own that I can write in and mess up as much as I'd like and not have to worry about returning it to the library in time or else I get a ridonkulous fee... well, I'm as happy as a clam.

You are probably shaking your head at me, but that's okay. I am shaking my head at myself.

This is the 6th edition of the tome. It includes "5 full-length model tests" which include "2 diagnostics and 3 tests that reflect the most recent actual GRE Psychology tests." Apparently "all test questions are answered and explained," which is fabulous (and necessary), as well as "a brush-up subject review and scoring grids" which are supposed to help me "gauge [my] strengths and weaknesses in all subject areas."

I'm excited for this book. And this also probably means that I am going to update this blog more often because now I have something to talk about in regards to preparation… better late than never, right? By the way, I think that this book look gorgeous.

Hmm… I'm taking the test on October 9. That gives me *finger counting here* 17 days. Two weeks and three days. Haaawhoops!

It's okay, though. I know that I can succeed. I am going to really lay down my own law and bunker down. I'm finally feeling motivated and excited about this whole application process, including taking the GRE. I know, I know… I'm weird. I'm just a nerd, really.

I think that I can attribute my motivation to the fact that my Master's thesis experiment is *finally* up and running… I start running subjects tomorrow! Eee! (Hmm, lots of interesting sounds in this blog post apparently… I hope that you are enjoying them.) Before when I was working on the proposal paper for it I just feel so tired of it. Perhaps it was the fact that I worked on it over the summer and had encountered so many obstacles with it that I was feeling down. But no more of that!

IT'S GAME TIME. I'm going to hit them all out of the park.

This morning I starting asking people about recommendation letters. BAM.

I bought a Psychology GRE book. BAM.

My Master's thesis experiment is finally going somewhere. BAM.

Bring it, application process!

Whoops and Eep...

So in a few minutes will mark just about a month before I have to take the Psychology GRE. And you know what? I'm starting to worry a little bit, but not enough to freak me out yet. I still haven't bought my own prep book for it, already returned the library book, and haven't really thought about it too much.

I know that I need to start hunkering down for it, but I have no motivation for it right now. Plus, it's very possible that I will have to change the date of it in the first place. I might as well do it right now before I find out for sure - part of my job is to bring a bunch of students involved with Habitat For Humanity to their service sites on various Saturdays during this fall.

My problem is that I currently don't know when exactly those dates are, but I have already scheduled my Psychology GRE for a Saturday. Who am I kidding... I'm going to end up changing it. I'll probably even end up changing it tomorrow after I find out for sure (watch, it's going to happen now. I know it...) that I will need to go do service for 8 hours on a Saturday, the very Saturday that I was planning to take a major standardized test.

Now, don't get me wrong: I love doing community service and am excited to be doing lots of it this year... but I also have other important things, too! Ahh, priorities... they are quickly getting all a-tangled up.

School has started. That means: full-time graduate assistant stuff (class, homework, reading, studying, tests), my Master's thesis, work, and trying to balance the rest of my life with it. Tomorrow I just have work, so that gives me a good amount of time to figure out other stuff during the day.

In other news, my YouTube video log is going great and I'm still having a blast with it! Also, it's kind of nice seeing a bit of a turnover from ads. Just saying... I never would have thought that would have ever have been possible before. I'm not a partner yet, though... if I ever did become one, I would want to start a fund to help needy schools around the world. I guess that I will cross that bridge if and when it ever comes.

I hope that you all out there enjoyed this summer. It amazes me that it's already gone!

ETS Practice Books = Breath of Fresh Air

When you sign up to take a GRE, ETS will mail you a Practice Book for the test that you signed up for. For example, when I signed up for the General GRE, I received a General GRE Practice test. Because I recently signed up to take the Psychology GRE, they sent me a Psychology Test Practice Book.

This 60-page or so practice test has made me love ETS a little bit more than I previously did. And that's not really based off the score that I ended up taking. It's the fact that it was a real GRE, one that they have retired but still contains the same type of questions. It has begun to get me interested in studying more thoroughly for the Psychology GRE already, which is a nice change from that Barron's test I took and blogged about in a previous post.

If I haven't mentioned this before, I'll mention it now: ETS has sole publishing rights to GREs and GRE questions, so other test preparation companies such as Barron's, Kaplan, and Princeton Review can only make up their own questions that are similar to ETS questions. So, I encourage people to buy the ETS materials to begin their preparation so that they can really see what a GRE is like.

One downside to taking a paper practice test is that it isn't what I'm going to be taking. In other words, I'm going to be taking a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT), which is different enough to matter.

What I liked about the practice test is that it told me what I would have gotten on it had it actually have counted in real life, something which the Barron's test didn't offer.

On the test, Form GR0781, which had copyright for 2007 and 2003 and 205 multiple-choice questions, I received these scores:
Total Score: 115
Scaled Score: 610
Subscores: 1.) 59 and 2.) 61

This is the note that I wrote right after I finished the test so that I wouldn't forget how the practice test went: "It took me 2 hours, including a phone interruption, hunger, not being fully awake, and eating breakfast. Took the test on the floor."

I was allotted 170 minutes to take it, which is 2 hours and 50 minutes. I finished with plenty of time. If I slowed down a little bit I might have done a little better, but I felt as though I was working at a comfortable pace. Another thing was that I started it right when I woke up, and let me tell you: I am not a morning person. Don't worry - I signed up to take the test in the afternoon!

So I'm starting off with a 610. I'd say that's a pretty solid number to start off. It's an average score. People actually get into doctoral programs with that score. In consideration that there were a lot of things on the test that I recognized but I just couldn't completely recall it then, I think with a little more time, studying, and practice I will be just fine. I'm aiming for a 720.

I can do this.