So I took the test yesterday. It went pretty well.

I took a diagnostic before I started studying, and got 650 on verbal and 510 on quantitative. My low math score was influenced by fact that I didn’t have scratch paper handy. Yesterday, I got 710 on verbal and 800 on quantitative. The analytical writing portion is what worried me most about the test, though. I’ve never been a very good writer, especially when it’s for some arbitrary prompt. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the GREs, the writing portion has two essays. First, you get to choose one of two topic statements and have forty-five minutes to either defend, rebut, or qualify it. Then, you are given a paragraph of an argument and have thirty minutes to analyze it for flaws without expressing your own views on the topic.

For the first essay, my essay options were, “A good politician should always tell the truth,” or “Social norms and ethics are not merely influenced, but determined, by technological progress.” I chose the first and argued against it, saying that although honesty is good, complete honesty in our leaders may be harmful. It wasn’t very well fleshed out, and my introduction and conclusion were weak.

For the second essay, though, the prompt was a fictional op-ed piece about how sugar cane farmers should convert to peanuts, and I picked the claims apart pretty well. Again, my introduction and conclusion were weak, though.

I get my scores back for the essay portion in about three weeks. Until then, I’m crossing my fingers, but breathing a little easier. I get a nice little break before putting nose back to the grindstone for LSAT prep. Yay!