What's your IQ?

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So I have some ridiculously good news. I got an email today from NYU Steinhardt. I got in. Whoo! My dream school in my dream city. Sigh. This makes me very very happy. Let's hope things will work out. Whoo! That about sums that up. Whoo! I am so articulate.
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On to the real post now: You've got to take this Japanese IQ Test: Everybody has to cross the river. Make sure you read the directions first. It is funny, fun, and challenging. I'm not going to lie, it took me several tries. I wonder how I'd fare in the Japanese job market? Is it time that matters? Or is it actually solving the puzzle that does? Hmmmmmm.

GRE update

Here's the outcome of my GRE.

Snow-yes. Ridiculously slow driving on 81 both ways. Limited visibility and numerous rubber necking slow downs.

The good news: I improved 60 points on the verbal section, exactly my goal.

The bad news: I dropped 60 points on the quantitative section. Not so much my goal.

I ended up getting the same freaking score, only reversed. I know exactly why too. They made me take the math section twice, one is for their 'improvement of the test for future test takers', and one you actually get a score for. The first one I took my time and probably did awesome. On the second one, my brain was fried. I lacked the motivation and mental clarity to answer how many sides that triangle had. ha. I'm 100% sure they took my score from the second one. Darn it.

GRE

Ok, so GRE go #2.

I'm freaking out.
I want to improve my score by about 60 points in each area.
Yes. In my little Utopian happy world. That will be the outcome.

I had wanted to take the test 2 weeks ago so they'd be in by deadlines for my grad school applications, but all of the seats in all of Pennsylvania and Maryland were filled. Hence, I shall take them tomorrow. Or really it's today at this point of my writing this.

Goodness, what if my score goes down?

Then, that'd be another $140 down the drain. And no grad school would want me at all then. I would assume students who get more stupider is generally frowned upon.

*Nervous Anxiety* And I hope it doesn't snow too much. I'd like to make it to Harrisburg and back again alive.

Take that, Brainiac

This is a test. Look at the image and determine which way the dancer is rotating. Which direction is she turning? Counter-clockwise or clockwise?


Which way did you see her spining?

If you saw her rotating clockwise you are right brained.
If you saw her rotating counter-clockwise you are left brained.

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

When I looked at her first, I saw her twirling to the right or rather clockwise. That means I'm right brained. I'd agree with that. I'm generally more creative than concrete, more philosophical, and a present and future kind of gal. But more emotional? Nah, they got that wrong. If anything I'm more "logical," "practical" and "reality based." When I examined her shadow, all of the sudden, I saw her spinning the other way (even before I read the significance of determining direction). Does that mean I'm abnormally balanced between the left and right brain?

I've always felt that tests like these suggest too much conformity and black or white categorization of self that is limiting and dangerously destructive. When sciencey people shun the arts and artsy people shun the sciences we only further create a divide that doesn't belong there. Advanced physics is more abstract. Good art makes mathematical sense. All fields converge into one larger base of knowledge that interconnects all parts. I guess my question is how singularly left or right brained can a person be? Most of us have the whole freakin' brain there, why must one half if be dominant all the time? Give your other side of the brain a cup of tea. Take it out to dinner every once in a while. Be a well-balanced individual.

Brain functions list and image from Perth Now, part of Austrailia's news.com

GRE woes

Ha. So I have to take the GRE tomorrow. Stupid me, I didn't realize how busy this past semester was going to be when I registered to take perhaps one of the most important tests of my life. Smart Jenn, smart.

The first line in my practice book that I just cracked open on Friday: Prepare 4 months to study for the GRE. Ummm, well, how about 4 days?

Do you realize my entire life could be based on how I do on this exam? If I mess up I can flush a good grad school down the toilet.

I am having math and vocab nightmares; big words and forgotten algebra are chasing me down dark corridors wielding axes.