Whoring Myself Out For As Little As $115
You know how some things in life, horrible things, only have to be done once? And you know how good it feels to go through some horrible thing and think, “I’ll never have to do that again!”
Yeah, that’s the way I felt too after taking the GRE. The test is taken on a computer, and from the moment you’re done, it gives you your score. Mine was good enough, and taking it again would really serve no purpose.
Unless of course someone offered me $115 dollars to take it again…
The GRE is completely changing its format. The actual format of the test is different (no analogies, lots of reading — no multiple choice math, use a calculator and type in the correct answer), and the numeric scoring of the test is changing too.
Thus, last week, the dean of graduate office came into a grad class and offered everyone $115 to take the test. They need something to compare the new test against. Comparing their graduate students past GRE scores to the new test should do nicely.
So, this Saturday from 8:30 to 1:30, I’ll be selling my body (or at least mind) for the low price of $25 an hour. It really does feel like intellectual prostitution. Not that I don’t appreciate the money. But I told myself I’d never have to take the GRE again, and I had been blissfully living under the joy of this illusion for some time now.
Shattered dreams are always painful.
If taking the GRE again is as painful as you say, seems like you could have just said “no, thank you.”
You wouldn’t have had a sister if I had wanted to avoid pain in the future. And what about the person who knows he/she will have to have multiple painful reconstructive surgeries to get better. Or the cancer patient who endures numerous chemotherapy treatments. All these events are deliberate decisions to cause bodily harm. How do people find the courage to put themselves through the same horrible events they thought were a “one-time” thing?
So enjoy that $115. Even though you think you won’t learn something by taking it again, I’ve found that I learn something from the experience.
Hey, I’d gladly take it again for $115.
Console yourself with the thought that the score won’t matter, so the pressure’s off.
Just to make sure it’s clear, my whole tone, acting like I was being so egregiously wronged, was satirical.
Yes, I could have turned down the offer.
No, I wanted the money.
But if the opportunity wasn’t there, I’d be just as happy not taking the GRE again.
So they’re changing the format *again*? Geez, when I took it “way back” in 2002 it had just undergone a format change. Some of my classmates took the GRE one week before I did and theirs was a remarkably different exam than mine…
Having said that, the general GRE (verbal, math) wasn’t really all that bad, but it was still torture (especially the verbal — English is my second language, btw). My English is much better now after three years in the States, so maybe my score would be better… The thing I would NOT take again, regardless of the amount of money offered, would be the subject GRE in Physics. That thing was horrendous, and I took it twice to increase my score.
Yes Emily, taking a subject GRE twice does sound aweful!
The thing that makes the GRE so unlikeable for me is the sheer amount of time it takes. I just get so worn down and so frustrated being shown words in the English language that might as well be in another language!
One thing you couldn’t pay me money to take again is organic chemistry. It darkens men’s souls.