I had to sell 1000 stickers to fund the GREs — and it took me 2 years

As the pandemic unfolds, many academic programs are thinking of dropping the Graduate Record Examinations (GREs) as a requirement for graduate school applications. Some are considering dropping the GREs indefinitely as it rather correlates with socioeconomic status, race and gender than it does to graduate academic success.

My story is just one of many stories of how the GREs are a financial strain that quite honestly was almost the final straw barring me from applying to graduate school.

I made it only because of some moist stickers.

Three (maybe only two) easy steps to taking the GREs

Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash

1. Enroll in study courses (~$1000 CAD/course) or purchase study books (~$30 CAD) for practice
2. Take the GRE course (at the time, it was $150 USD/course; which is equivalent to about $204 CAD in the current currency conversion)
3. (Opt.) If GRE scores weren’t good, retake until happy ($150 USD x number of retakes)

My GRE ride: seatbelts on, we’re in for turbulence