Tom Sawyer - 1, GRE - 0

Thanks to all those who sent me good vibes yesterday. Because of computer scoring, I received my scores 20 seconds after I finished the test, and they were not disappointing. If you count as a win every time a standardized test predicts greater success for me than the rest of my record, my lifetime score is: Tom – 3, Standardized Tests – 0, with 1 tie (the GRE, the LSAT, and the SSAT were wins, the SAT was a tie). Sort of makes one doubt the efficacy of those tests. If any one of them were accurate, then my performance following the test should have risen to the level of the test, and the next test would be a tie – it would predict the same amount of success as my record. Of course, there may be reasons for the 3-0-1 results beyond the test, like, for one, I’m just lazy once I get admitted. For obvious reasons, I prefer to blame the test.

As an aside, instant scoring is a superb system. I remember weeks of nervous twitching as I waited for my LSAT to come in. Now, that’s gone. As an additional bonus, you learn your score while your mind remains in the test-induced uber-focused fog, protecting you from panic much like shock protects accident victims from the full impact of their injuries. There’s no moment of panic when you see the envelope in the mail. Instead, it’s just click, click, click, score, move on with your life.

- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 10:21 AM