Grad school mayhem

It's gotten to the very scary point in my life where people are asking me "So what are you looking at for after college?" Since this question makes me want to shit my pants in terror, I've decided to go to graduate school and get a masters before casting myself on the mercy of the real world. I guess that's not the only reason, but it's a good chunk of it. Be it known, that for those of you with whom I haven't talked lately, that I will more than likely be spending another two years in school.

If anyone cares, the schools I'm looking at are Stanford, GW, Michigan, Kansas, Indiana, and Texas, in that order. It is not a coincidence that all of those schools have good ultimate teams. And yes, there is a strong possibility that I will still be at GW next year. Hey, in Colonial Section terms, that would make me the new Bulb, right? Hm.

One of the first steps to this whole process is the Graduate Record Examinations. Essentially, they're just like the SATs, except the verbal is significantly more difficult. It also contains a writing element, which for old guys like me, was not part of the SAT. They're scored exactly like the SATs, too, except you get your scores right then and there, after finishing the exam.

Anyways, I had originally intended on cancelling the scores. After taking the test, if you think your brain just had diarrhea all over the computer screen (they're a computerized test), you can say "F that," and act like the whole thing never happened. This does not, however, allow you to see your scores at all. I had fully intended on taking this option, because I had done essentially no studying. Most of the weekend had been devoted to Gigabyte and Graham's birthday, and the aftermath thereof (something I do not regret in the least). I also had an essay due on Wednesday, so I was unable to give my full attention to studying for the test on Tuesday. But, as I found out, most schools don't average the scores, so even if I bombed them, it wouldn't really hurt me so long as I took them again and did reasonably well. So I signed up for another test in December, after classes are over with, and assumed that I would just take the test now as a practice and cancel the scores.

Well, with a flare for the dramatic, I made a game-time decision to just say "Aw, the hell with it," and get the scores. Turns out, I got a 600 on verbal. I wasn't overly pleased with this, as I generally consider my vocabulary and reading ability to be above average. This is something on which I can improve, so my goal is to raise that score significantly in December.

But what REALLY surprised me was that I got a 730 in math. This is something I probably cannot replicate in December. I was completely floored by this score. For one, I only got a 700 on the SATs in math. And that was when I was actually taking math classes. I haven't taken a class even remotely math-related since high school. And somehow, on a test that is ostensibly harder, I got a better score than I did when I was taking AP Calculus. Put that in your fife and smoke it.

The best part was the analytical essays. I used some trademark House-isms in writing these two essays. Of course, I worked in the phrase "highly dubious" a couple of times, but more importantly, I used trans fats as support to one of my arguments. For those of you who don't know, I, like Gigabyte, am committed to a trans fat free existence. Food companies slip those little fuckers in the least expected places, and later in life I don't want doctors to have to scrape Crisco out of my aorta. Either way, that said, one of the topics was analyzing the argument that "Well, this survey says 80% of people want to eat healthier. Thus, since company X makes products heavy in fat/cholesterol, you should sell their stock and not invest in them." In refuting this fallacious logic, I mentioned trans fats, since once the government mandated that they be declared on nutritional labels, most companies wised up and changed their ingredients. Anyways, it was just funny that I worked something I talk about so often into my GRE essays.

In the end, though, this is probably a great success. GW, as it turns out, takes the highest score on each section. So if my scores completely flip-flop on the next GRE, I'll have a 1460, which is pretty damn good. Other schools don't do this, they look at things "holistically" (hippies...), but aside from Stanford, I'm not really interested in other schools beyond having them as a backup.

There's a very good chance I'll be at GW again. If I get into Stanford and GW both, I will be faced with the hardest decision of my life. Stanford is a fantastic program in a brand-new place, and with a great ultimate team. But I'm not even close to guaranteed a spot in their program (which, incidentally, accepts 8 people). GW isn't that great of a program, but I want to stay because of the people I know. Plus, I'm pretty sure I can get in with good GRE scores and one of my recommendations coming from one of the undergrad Deans. As annoying as a lot of GW is, all of my friends kept me from transferring my sophomore year, and the friends I have now might even keep me here a couple more years. I'm not going to say I'm not "going to grad school for ultimate." Partially, it's absolutely true. I have a fifth year of eligibility. I've invested myself pretty heavily in the past two classes, trying to make them better and trying to build up our program after suffering a couple of years of ignominy (not suffering through them, mind you...). I want to see the people on whom I've focused my efforts become superior players. And I like our team. We're a lot of fun people, and as likely as I am to find similar people wherever I go, it's comforting to be able to spend another year with the people with whom I've already formed a good relationship.