Do this many people really have test anxiety or are they psyching themselves out?

[Loric]

Yes, test anxiety is a legit thing.

 

On the other hand.. you're applying to grad school. You have gotten through high school which is wrought with standardized tests by getting good enough grades and scores (on standardized tests, no less) in order to get into college.

 

Then in college you almost certainly, at the bare minimum, faced some standardized tests at the midpoint and end of every semester for 4 years.

 

That's a lot of tests. You'd think there'd be some coping skills developed by now. You had to have done halfway decent on these tests to be realistically considering graduate school.

 

So what's going on with this forum and the apparent mass freakout of "omg! test anxiety!!!!!!" self fullfilling prophecy?

 

I have this feeling that if there was less emphasis on people's test anxiety as an excuse for a poor score, there'd be more focus on getting better at taking the test... so you don't have to take it for a 27th time.

[semicolon2013]

I, for one, really do get bad test anxiety in timed situations, especially with certain material that I know I'm not good at, such as math.  I do not use it as an excuse for bad scores, but it is true that it works against me, and I could study much less if it weren't for the anxiety.  In high school, I took a lot of standardized tests, and I did learn to cope with it, although I did this mostly by over-studying.  In college, though, I had NO standardized tests until the GRE.  I also had very few exams in general.  I was an English major at a SLAC and out final assessments were almost always papers or oral exams.  I was terrified when I took the GRE because I was so out of practice with multiple choice test taking.    So no, not everyone in college "at the bare minimum, faced some standardized tests at the midpoint and end of every semester for 4 years."  I took a math class, a science class, and a psych class--and those were the only 3 classes I ever had regular exams in.

[makingmoves]

Loric,

 

Obviously people considering grad school have had to take a series of standardized tests... 

 

None of those tests, however, really make or break an application. You fail a midterm, you can talk over options with the professor, or do better on the final... or ace a project... Not saying failing the GRE really makes or breaks an application, since most adcoms consider all aspects... but you have to admit there is a lot more riding on this test... it's an entrance exam. 

 

Moreover, you're saying we should focus on developing the skills instead of freaking out... but like I posted before, in my case, and many others, my average practice test scores (8 practice tests) under timed conditions were much higher than my actual GRE (went from 158V, 157Q to 157V, 146Q)... so that, coupled with the fact that I actually felt more nervous on test day... led me to believe that test anxiety is a real thing.

Edited November 21, 2013 by DTurcotte2013

[Loric]

A) It's not an entrance exam. Many schools and programs don't even ask for or require a GRE score. It is not a requirement for graduate study.

 

What college/university didn't have multiple choice scantron tests for most midterms and finals? What was it, free response interpretive dance? Did you have to tell them what you "felt" the answer was while sitting in a purity circle? Hippies.

 

C) A drop in score that is signifigant between the practice and real test just means the practice system you were using was inadequate, not that the real GRE got harder, more difficult, or changed in any way.

 

D) It doesn't make/break an application at any school that looks at your record wholistically. There are cutoffs at many schools, that's true, but even what most people are ranting is a "poor" score on here is above that cutoff.

 

Some people wont get into a graduate program for reasons entirely unrelated to the GRE, GPA, letters of rec, etc.. but you can be sure that's the first place they'll place the blame. If you can't handle a basic test without a complete freakout how do you expect to handle the stress of a graduate program?

 

I was in graduate school previously.

 

I had a day where I didn't sleep in a few days, hadn't eaten, hadn't showered, and had a cluster headache (google it, it hurts). I went to my professor who was 20+ minutes late for class - she was in her office just chatting with another student - and told her I was going home, it was a "work" day and I'd make up my work on the project well before the deadline. She agreed, but the next day she said in an advising meeting that I had "ambushed" her and I wasn't being a good student by asking to miss a class and then going home. That I wasn't taking my responsibilities seriously. She threatened to pull my funding for my next few projects because she said I was being so irresponsible.

 

That's the sort of real nonsense stress you'll have to deal with. This test is nothing.

[semicolon2013]

I assume you're trolling, Loric, so I won't spend too long on a response, but I advise you not to belittle other people's experiences just because they do not match your own.  If you feel you've been through worse than standardized tests, good for you.  But other people find the idea of standardized testing uniquely stressful, more so than even than being sick, have dozens of pages to write in a single night, and dealing with nasty advisers.  

 

As for what kind of college didn't have multiple choice scantron tests--that's easy.  A good one that doesn't waste time on bullshit like that.  I wrote several article length research papers every semester and when I did have tests they were in depth oral exams or occasionally essay tests.  You know, the stuff that helped me build the skills academics actually use, rather than perfecting my ability to bubble in scantrons .

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

A) It's not an entrance exam. Many schools and programs don't even ask for or require a GRE score. It is not a requirement for graduate study.

 

 

What college/university didn't have multiple choice scantron tests for most midterms and finals? What was it, free response interpretive dance? Did you have to tell them what you "felt" the answer was while sitting in a purity circle? Hippies.

 

C) A drop in score that is signifigant between the practice and real test just means the practice system you were using was inadequate, not that the real GRE got harder, more difficult, or changed in any way.

 

D) It doesn't make/break an application at any school that looks at your record wholistically. There are cutoffs at many schools, that's true, but even what most people are ranting is a "poor" score on here is above that cutoff.

 

Some people wont get into a graduate program for reasons entirely unrelated to the GRE, GPA, letters of rec, etc.. but you can be sure that's the first place they'll place the blame. If you can't handle a basic test without a complete freakout how do you expect to handle the stress of a graduate program?

 

I was in graduate school previously.

 

I had a day where I didn't sleep in a few days, hadn't eaten, hadn't showered, and had a cluster headache (google it, it hurts). I went to my professor who was 20+ minutes late for class - she was in her office just chatting with another student - and told her I was going home, it was a "work" day and I'd make up my work on the project well before the deadline. She agreed, but the next day she said in an advising meeting that I had "ambushed" her and I wasn't being a good student by asking to miss a class and then going home. That I wasn't taking my responsibilities seriously. She threatened to pull my funding for my next few projects because she said I was being so irresponsible.

 

That's the sort of real nonsense stress you'll have to deal with. This test is nothing.

 

Loric, 

 

You stated above that some schools don't even require the GRE or don't have a minimum score--what places are you applying to? Clearly we are all applying to different types of programs and schools, but all of the quality schools that I've seen require the GRE and typically have minimum scores listed (and they're pretty high scores to reach). Someone else on grad cafe asked if they should apply to schools that don't require the GRE and they were told that those schools probably aren't good schools to attend in the first place. So, in my perspective, they can make or break your application--many of the department websites will even say "you have to have ___ scores to get in." Sure, there's always wiggle room if other parts of your application are strong, but the GRE scores should be strong too at most good schools. 

 

Also, yes, some schools don't have as many tests as others--though, I would clarify that it depends on the department, not the school. The humanities typically don't have as many tests as other departments. And, as someone else stated, when they do have tests they're usually essay based, not scantron. 

 

Also, the stress that you mentioned in graduate school--I, too, experienced a similar situation when I was stressed out with my thesis and had to skip a class to work on it. That was very stressful. But, that's stress, not nerves. My nerves still got the better of me on the GRE because I felt like I was taking a test that determined my future. I bombed the test because of this. Afterwards I decided that I was going to take the test one more time and not let it bother me. I focused on not being nervous. I didn't study or prepare any more for it between the two tests. I did significantly better when I was't nervous--just like I did on the practice tests. 

 

So, yes, test anxiety is a real thing. I don't think we're talking about it in the same terms though---I think that maybe you're imagining that this is something that should be diagnosed and there's no way that soooo many people should be diagnosed with a test-taking issue. But, I don't think it needs to be that extreme (if that's even what you're implying). I just think that a lot of people know how much this test matters and they freak out. It's that simple and that common. I don't see why that's not understandable. Either way, just as semicolon said, I don't see why you have to belittle someone else's experiences just because you didn't have them. 

[Loric]

Because I think way too many people here are placing the blame on something other than themselves for their performance. "It couldn't be helped!"

 

You just proved that it could. You got over it, they need to get over it too.

 

All the hand wringing and pacing in the world isn't going to dig you out of a rut, it's taking the steps to move forward that will. Placing the blame on anyone other than yourself falls distinctly in the hand wringing and pacing category.

 

Accept that you need to do something, that it CAN be helped, and that it is up to you to do something about it and you'll get a better score.

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

I guess the issue with this thread lies in the question then--what is the difference between test anxiety and "psyching yourself out" ? I see them as pretty similar...

 

And, just because people claim that they have test anxiety, doesn't mean that they can't overcome it. As you said, I'm proof of that.  Many people don't think that they can overcome it and maybe they should work harder to see if it is possible, and maybe some people just can't. Until they overcome the anxiety, it is certainly likely that it affects their scores...

[Loric]

I guess the issue with this thread lies in the question then--what is the difference between test anxiety and "psyching yourself out" ? I see them as pretty similar...

 

And, just because people claim that they have test anxiety, doesn't mean that they can't overcome it. As you said, I'm proof of that.  Many people don't think that they can overcome it and maybe they should work harder to see if it is possible, and maybe some people just can't. Until they overcome the anxiety, it is certainly likely that it affects their scores...

 

And no one is doing them any favors by setting a precedent that it is acceptable to blame your failure on "test anxiety" as if it was some uncontrollable variable that hit people out of the blue like a whammy and from which there is no recovery.

 

Allowing people to wallow,  or further making it seem acceptable, is typically the worst thing one can do for them.

Edited November 23, 2013 by Loric

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

I think I'm just agreeing that it is a real thing and does affect the taking of the test. For some people who can't overcome this, they have every right to be upset with their scores and to be upset that graduate schools even use standardized tests as a form of evaluation (after all, if our schools prepared us so well, don't our grades and accomplishments demonstrate that?). I don't think people should just "give up" and not take the test again because of their anxiety--I've actually encouraged other users on here to try again and to try not to be anxious. So, I think I've been pretty encouraging in this regard. It seems like people would benefit from others explaining how they got over their nerves, instead of people saying that the nerves aren't or shouldn't be a factor. 

 

For some people it is something they can overcome, for others they can't just simply "get over" their test anxiety as I was able to. All experiences are not the same. 

[clandry]

I once heard a prof say this: if you can't perform under pressure on a test, then I have no confidence in you in performing better on far more important things.

Another prof told me he throws away all applications where the applicant makes excuses about their test scores. I would not blame it on nerves or pressure getting to you. That's a real negative to advoms if you think about it. Would you want someone who chokes under pressure. Making these excuses does to look well to adcoms.

Edited November 24, 2013 by Blue4123