Sometimes life is cruel.
I took the GRE subject test Literature in English four weeks and 2 days ago. The test results were scheduled to arrive 4-6 weeks after the test date. So…as of this past Saturday, my eyes are glued to the mailbox.
Today, an envelope arrives, addressed to me and bearing the return address of the ETS.
Heart-rate rises.
Stomach begins to roil.
Palms begin to sweat.
Fingers begin to tremble.
After a stern, “Just get it over with,” I open the envelope. To stall, I read the cover letter explaining how to interpret your scores, noting that subject test scores are on a scale from 200-990, unlike the general test.
Finally lift the flap of the slightly thicker, green-tinted score report. Trepidation and fluttering feelings escalate as eyes slide down the lines of typewriter text to find a blank box underneath the heading “Subject Test Scores.”
URRRGH.
A last-minute decision to apply to Mary Baldwin College’s Masters of Letters in Shakespeare required me to request another online score report request, separate from the other 7 I had requested last month.
Each time you request scores from the ETS, they send you a copy to confirm. Talk about cruel.
In my opinion, they should be required to include a notice on the OUTSIDE of the envelope informing you what it contains. Some modicum of mental preparation would then be possible, and Drop Zone emotional trips like mine could be avoided.
All I have to say is, there had better not be any more envelopes from the ETS until the actual scores arrive. I don’t think I could take another one.
Snark on the Side 