My preparation for the GRE began during the sultry months of summer. In hindsight, I should have begun months earlier. In this one way the GRE differs from the SAT. Most students may not have to worry about scheduling and preparing for the general records examination because the standard procedure is streamlined for the masses. Had I only known the norm especially does not apply to students like me when it comes to the Educational Testing Service (ETS) policies for the GRE. While one can always squeak bye cramming for a test, you can not even hope to take the GRE without jumping through the hoops of scheduling a test date. So the challenge with the GRE is more one of navigating the bureaucracy and bending to the strict format of test taking rather than insuring complete competency of all subject matter.
With the beginning of the school year just weeks away, after returning home from a wonderful summer vacation, I began my GRE saga on the ETS website, while September baked the Earth outside my window. Who can think of deadlines and policies during a tropical heat wave? I sure enough can't. So I didn't take very seriously the stern ETS messages I read in the files I saved from their site onto my PC. OK, sure, any testing accommodations need to be requested officially with proper documentation of eligibility. I'll ask DSP once I get back to school. If letters of request and certification of disability are needed from Diane or Dr. Dobbs, it's easier to request them in when I am there in person. The main point I figured was:
"Your completed registration, payment, Applicant's Request for
Nonstandard Testing Accommodations form, and/or appropriate
documentation must be sent together in one envelope to:
Educational Testing Service
GRE Program
Disability Services
PO Box 6054
Princeton, NJ 08541-6054
So, instead of jumping on the accommodation request, the necessary prerequisite for scheduling the test date, I turned my attention towards the question of GRE study materials. What were the best study guides and where could I get them? My recollection of the SAT reminded me of the outstanding Princeton Review study guide for the SAT. I knew I needed one like it for the GRE. I also hoped that there would be more accessible materials available now that more books were starting to be made available in a digital form. The first part was covered thanks to Joe, who handed down his study guide to me from the year before. The accessible materials were trickier to acquire. I first found that Recording for the Blind had one set of study questions on a floppy disk that could be special ordered. I thought, fantastic, this should be exactly what I need. So I satisfied myself with the hope that Joe's book and the disk from RFB&D would be sufficient. There was nothing else back then besides the expensive preparation courses (which I already had ruled out of the question). Years later, a plethora of resources would emerge on the World Wide Web with interactive questions like those found in the GRE itself. But time was not on my side back then. I knew I better start studying while waiting for my disk from Recording for the Blind, despite the lure of summer leisure. So before returning South, I practiced the test exercises and read through the tips and strategies with my folks.
