Ah, the GRE!

Well, kiddies, it's that time of year again. Now that the seniors have walked off our intrepid campus and into the sunset, the juniors begin to plan their (hopefully) final year at school. Whether you are finishing up four years of high school or 7 years of graduate school, if you want to go on for an even higher degree then you have the unsurpassed pleasure of sitting for a variety of standardized tests. Lucky you! The problem is this: many great schools use your GRE scores as a way to weed out the slackers from the future Einsteins (well, Einstein was really bad at standardized tests--so maybe not future Einsteins...maybe Bill Gates? Nope, bad at tests, too...Ok, future moderate-highly paid managers of large already established businesses). There is a plethora of study classes out there--well, a plethora if you have nearly a thousand dollars just lying around doing nothing. Huh? Do ya? Yep. Me neither. Does it seem fair to you that you are expected to sit for a test for which a good portion of the other test takers had professional help in preparation? I certainly don't.

Let me introduce myself. I'm a lecturer in biology at San Jose State University. I've been teaching general biology, human biology, anatomy, physiology, cell biology, botany, zoology entomology, microbiology, and bacteriology for the better part of a decade. As I teach these classes and watch my students graduate and go on for advanced degrees, I have fielded many questions about how to study for the GRE subject tests, what subjects are covered, and how to best prepare if money is an issue. I began organizing GRE study sessions several years ago, and have drawn upon my research and experience to help out students facing the mountain of study needed to get ready for this subject test. So far, so good!

So what am I doing now? I thought that since there was so much interest in my on-campus groups that I'd start a blog where I'd post my lectures each day in an effort to archive and share them with a larger audience. I have so far focused only on the biology subject test, but I am thinking of expanding this to other subject areas and the general test as well. I'll let you know! Until that time, I will be posting new lectures on various biological subjects found on the GRE, along with study tips, anecdotes, and success stories as they come to me. I do hope this helps. If you have any questions, just ask and I'll do my best to answer as soon as possible!

Adrienne