In summary; It’s ConfusingETS, that mahvellous company that created The Test We Love To Hate, has released oodles of stats on how people around the world perform (or don’t) on the GRE. They break down performance by country, gender, age, intended graduate major, number of tattoos, and number of missing teeth. I made up the last two, but sehrusly, they break it DOWN. Wanna’ see the average verbal score for Continue reading
No, the site is … ummm … not really designed for aesthetes. But, hey, free is free. Thanks WTAMU! While the practice is good, it’s based on the old version of the GRE Quantitative (GRE Math), not the revised GRE quantitative. Your best bet for practice on the GRE math as it looks on the new revised GRE exam can be found at the GRE website. You can download and practice taking a revised GRE exam, which includes GRE math problems.
FYI, be very careful about using third-party resources, such as Kaplan or Princeton Review’s books for their GRE Quantitative problems. They are fine for practice, but be aware Continue reading
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Now Report Only the GRE Scores You ChooseStarting in July 2012, ETS will allow you to choose which GRE scores you report to schools rather than just reporting every GRE score for the last five years as they had been doing. ETS, the maker of the GRE, is NOT your friend, so why the sudden burst of magnanimity? I think I’ve figured it out.
Let’s say, you pay your $160 and go take your GRE. At the end of the exam, but BEFORE you actually know how you scored, ETS gives you the option of either reporting all your GRE scores from every GRE you’ve taken for the last five years, OR you can just report the GRE score you got on the test you just completed. That isn’t so helpful, since you really don’t know how you’ve done on today’s GRE yet. (I can’t tell from their online blurb if you have the option of accepting your GRE score–but NOT actually sending it to any of your four colleges included in your $160 test fee.)
On the other hand, if you want to take a look at all your GRE scores and then pick and choose which one(s) to send to different grad schools, you’ll have to wait until you’ve left the testing center. Then they will charge you extra cold-hard cash for the privilege. Sounds like a money-making deal for ETS!
Regardless, it’s probably going to be worth it to pay for the privilege of only reporting your best GRE scores. Unfortunately, you can’t report just the verbal GRE score from one administration and just the math from another time you took the test. You have to report the complete GRE score for any given date you took the test.
See all the details from ETS here.
© Cody Blair, All Rights Reserved.“For more than a decade, neuroscientists and physiologists have been gathering evidence of the beneficial relationship between exercise and brainpower. But the newest findings make it clear that this isn’t just a relationship; it is the relationship. Using sophisticated technologies to examine the workings of individual neurons — and the makeup of brain matter itself — scientists in just the past few months have discovered that exercise appears to build a brain that resists physical shrinkage and enhance cognitive flexibility. Exercise, the latest neuroscience suggests, does more to bolster thinking than thinking does.”
(Italics are mine – StudyProf)
| — | How Exercise Could Lead to a Better Brain – NYTimes.com (viajonathanmarcus) |
Recently, a student asked me for my hot list of academic life-changers; key study skills you can use to dominate your grades. Here goes…
1) Get help. It’s the 21st Century, fellow netizens! Flying cars, robotic house maids, and personal jet packs are now commonplace… okay, well, maybe not. But it’s still the 21st Century!, which means you don’t have to rely on your brilliant professor’s rapid-fire mumble-lectures and micro-type PowerPoints. Use the interwebs and Continue reading
© Cody Blair, All Rights Reserved.
Need a step-by-step formula for puttin’ the hurt on your current course load? Want to muscle through those killer classes and become a legend of learning? Here’s an idiot-proof way to step-up your academic game in three simple steps. Caution: This works best for non-skill-based classes such as, history, political science, sociology, biology, etc. rather than topics like physics, cage-fighting, foreign languages, and math.
First: Make sure you take thorough notes. You can’t master the material if you don’t remember what it was. For a more in-depth how-to on taking noteworthy notes–notes that will cause your professor to weep uncontrollably and set up a shrine to you in the staff lounge–look here. As you’re capturing those notes, be sure to get down the high-payoff items, and I mean payoff in terms of exam grades. You want only to study the info that will actually boost your GPA. Not sure if an item is going to be on the test? Continue reading
© Cody Blair, All Rights Reserved.~~The “100 Words (or Less)” series gives you a super-short summary of what you need to know about the subject at hand and does it in 100 words or less. Check the link at the bottom for more detailed info about the topic.~~
Eliminate Distractions. Hide yourself away from friends and fun. This includes non-essential electronics.
Be Strategic. Identify the high payoff items in what you’re doing. Do them first.
Take Breaks. Set a timer and work in 30 to 45 minute bursts with short breaks in between to recharge your brain. Don’t like breaks? Take them anyway. They help! (Caveat: NOT for people with ADHD.)
Ask questions. Ask yourself tough, open-ended questions about what you are learning. Answer the questions.
Talk to yourself. Sitting in silence is a recipe for daydreaming. Talk to yourself as you think. Keeps your brain train on the tracks.
Take a more in-depth look at how to maintain focus…
© Cody Blair, All Rights Reserved.
Take a look at Unforgettable, a short pdf ebook on memorizing vocabulary easily and effectively. A quick read will give you the inside scoop on…
A few short excerpts …
Does rote memorization work? Yes … eventually, but compared to the other type of learning we’ve been talking about—“car wreck memory” we might call it—it’s like cooking steak with a candle. Let’s learn how to turn on the gas.
We’ll look at four different keys to making the most of your memory…. If you apply these four keys, you will be a memory master … a black belt in brain fu … a wizard of wiles … a (fill in your own cheesy alliteration here). Let’s get to it.
___________
We know that “car wreck” memory occurs when something is emotional and unusual. We also know that it’s multi-sensory. So how do we take something, like the definition of the word “turbid,” and make it multi-sensory, unusual, and emotional?
You aren’t going to believe me when I tell you. It’s actually very easy, and it doesn’t seem real, but it absolutely works! Here it is in a nutshell. Ready? …
The short ebook will set you back $2.00 US. You can take that two bucks and buy a sugary drink and a bag o’ Funyuns and what do you get? Temporary taste bud titillation and diabetes.
OR you can take the same two bucks and purchase this handy quick guide to maximizing your memory, and make studying easier for the rest of your life! Oye! Such a deal! Click the link below, pay via Paypal, and you’re off to the races…
© Cody Blair, All Rights Reserved.
