Now What?

I realize I've been neglecting my blog for some time now, and according to my Google Analytics account, people have actually been consistently stopping by (I know, weird right?) so I thought I might indulge the few readers I've got (hi mom!) and give an update:

I graduated from college about a month and a half ago. It feels really strange to say I've graduated, let alone over six weeks ago. Honestly, besides not attending classes everyday or studying for tests, it doesn't feel much different - I feel like I'm on an extended vacation in which I work everyday (not too sure what kind of vacations I've been on).

In the last couple of months, I've come realize that not everything I plan for is going to happen. Since I can remember, my future plans have always followed a natural progression - elementary school, middle school, high school, college; I've always known my next step. For the first time in my life, I can't tell you where I'll be in a year. Or half a year. Or even in a few months. I'm playing the waiting game.

And to be honest, it's a little scary.

And to be even more honest, it's a little exhilarating.

Yes, my future is up in the air right now, and waiting for a decision on my grad school admissions appeal is daunting, but at this moment, there's nothing I can do to expedite the process. Maybe I'll find out today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe a week or month from now (but hopefully not that long).

Maybe I'll go to grad school in the fall. Maybe I'll have to reapply next year. No matter what the decision is, I have a really good feeling that everything's going to work itself out. Why worry about something you ultimately have little control over? I've decided to live in the now. And the now is pretty damn good.

Thoughts After the New GRE

After 4 full weeks of intensive studying, I took the revised GRE yesterday. The 4 hours went by quickly, and by the end I was thankful that I was done.

You are usually given your raw Verbal and Quantitative scores at the end of the test, but since I took the revised GRE on the first day of its distribution, I was only given a range of my scores on the old scoring scale. However, I was pleased to find out that I scored in the 700-800 range in the Quant section! Yay! Again, this will be translated to the new scoring scale, but I will not find out my final scores until early November. Ugh.

I am just relieved that I will not have to be retaking the GRE and have checked off that important part of my graduate school application. :)

Grad School and the New GRE

I can't help thinking that before I know it, the summer is going to be over and the time for taking the GRE and sending out graduate school applications will be upon me. As those of you who are taking the GRE this summer know (or should know), the format of the test will be changing beginning August 1st. Turns out, I scheduled myself on the first, so I will be one of many who will be taking the GRE in its new format. Woo! So the big question is - what are the differences between the new and old versions? Well, thanks to an article from redbus2us.com, I've got the answer:

GRE Verbal Section Old vs New Pattern
	New GRE Pattern 2011	Current/Old GRE Pattern
Scores Range	130  —170	200  — 800
Types of Questions	Text completion Questions Sentence Equivalence Questions Reading Comprehension Questions. NO Antonyms NO Analogies	Analogies Antonyms Sentence Completions Reading Comprehension
Sample questions	GRE Verbal New Pattern 2011	GRE Verbal Old/Current Pattern
Score Increments	1 Point increments	10 point increments
Sections	2 Sections	1 section
Question per section	Approximately 20	Exactly 30
Time Allocated	30 Minute Per section, total will be 60 Minutes	30 Minutes
GRE Quantitative Reasoning Section Old vs New Pattern
	New GRE Pattern 2011	Current/Old GRE Pattern
Scores Range	130  —170	200  — 800
Types of Questions	Multiple Choice questions - Select One answer Choice -Select One or more answer choices Numeric Entry questions Quantitative comparison Questions	Quantitative Comparison Problem Solving Data Interpretation
Sample questions	GRE Quant Reasoning 2011	GRE Quant Old/Current Pattern
Score Increments	1 Point increments	10 point increments
Sections	2 Sections	1 section
Question per section	Approximately 20	Exactly 28
Time Allocated	35 Minute Per section, total will be 70  Minutes	45 Minutes
GRE Analytical Writing Section Old vs New Pattern
	New GRE Pattern 2011	Current/Old GRE Pattern
Scores Range	0—6	0—6
Types of Questions	2 Questions	2 Questions
Score Increments	0.5	0.5
Sections	One Section	No Section Concept
Question	2 Questions or Tasks - One Analyze and issue task -One Analyze an Argument Task	2 Questions or Tasks -One Issue task – Choose from two -1 Argument task- No choice.
Sample Questions	Analytical Writing GRE 2011	Analytical Writing GRE Old/Current
Time Allocated	30 Minutes per task Total 60 minutes for two tasks or questions	45 minutes for Issue task 30 minutes for Argument task
An unidentified Unscored section is same in both old or current and the new GRE pattern. This section may be included or may not be, it depends…if included, it will not counted towards part of your score An identified Research section is also the same case, it will be at the end of the test in both new and old/current GRE.

Hope this helps for those of you studying!