Combating the Loneliness of GRE Preparation

Remember high school when you were preparing for the SAT and/or the ACT? Almost everyone you knew was getting ready for a standardized admissions test—and when you took it, it was on a specific date when hundreds of thousands of other people your age all over the country were taking exactly the same test.  It may have been agonizing or annoying, but at least it was shared agony and annoyance. Everyone who knew you was supportive of your endeavors; no one questioned why you’d want to go to college.

But now you are getting ready to take the GRE. You may not know anyone else who is preparing for this test right now.  Even people who took this test before you probably took a much different test. Instead of having a shared test day, the responsibility for choosing a Test Date is entirely your responsibility. At the test center, you will be only one of a few people—or perhaps the only person—taking the GRE at that time, and with the huge pool of potential GRE questions, your actual test will be tailored to your performance. Your GRE experience is uniquely your own.

To keep you from procrastinating and feeling isolated and lonely, develop a GRE support system.   Identify friends and colleagues who are supportive of your efforts and are willing to help you stick with your goals. Perhaps you can find someone who is working toward another goal (Losing weight? Preparing for a different test? Finishing a knitting project? Landing a job?) and provide mutual support. If there’s someone in your life who wants to be helpful to you but instead seems to be unintentionally slowing you down, give that person something specific and affirmative to do to help you with your GRE: making you a meal on a specific day each week, going through essay assignments with you, quizzing you on vocabulary, or even just periodically reminding you that your graduate school goals are good ones.

Find virtual support communities and check into them regularly. The KaplanGradPrep Facebook page is a great place to check in, ask questions, answer daily challenges, and generally know you aren’t alone in your endeavors.  Follow @KaplanGradPrep on Twitter for tips and links. Write to us on Facebook and Twitter to help you keep going—we love sending encouragement.