Okay y'all, for this blog post I'm going to switch gears a bit and just vent a little bit of my emotions and thoughts about standardized exams. I recently took the GRE's yesterday, which stands for the Graduate Record Examination used for graduate school admissions, similar to what the SAT's are for undergraduate admissions. Prepping for the exam was probably the most strenuous part of the exam because I basically had to re-learn concepts that I was taught in high school and in 8th grade, on top of learning new, more complex vocabulary. I do understand the purpose of standardized testing, but I believe people have different forms of learning and processing information - some people aren't test takers. There should be others forms of assessing someone's level of comprehension and understanding than just multiple choice or word problems. Perhaps having students complete projects similar to what a senior thesis is, or prepare a presentation to demonstrate those abilities.
If you are preparing for an exam whether it be Praxis, GRE's, SAT's, or any other acronym, here are a few tips that helped me out tremendously:
- Prep courses are your friend- reach out to your guidance counselor or adviser about your options to enroll in online or in-person courses. I was enrolled in an online course and had about 3-4 workbooks on the sections included in the exam
- Practice exams, look up free practice tests online so you can get an idea of what the format of the test will be or what type of questions will be asked.
- Give yourself ample time to prepare, for GRE's you should spend at least three months preparing and studying just because of the material and depth
- KEEP CALM- most exams are used to assess where you are academically, but it does not define who you are.
Good luck on all school and life related things and know that you are a rock star!
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