I'm applying to get a Master's in Fine Arts this fall.
For stupid, bureaucratic reasons, I have to have GRE scores for about half the programs I'm applying to. I have to take a math test for the first time in 6 years on things I haven't seen, considered, or applied, in as many as 10 years. There aren't things that are necessarily beyond me; for instance, you could say "formula of a line" to me and I'd draw a blank. However as soon as I reviewed that section of the math study guide and saw "y=mx+b," I was completely at home.
Much of the math I am able to piece together with review but I'm at a disadvantage compared to those who have done it in the past 2-4 years.
Math has nothing to do with what I'll pursue my master's in.
I'm studying because I want to blow my application out of the water in every way I can; I want the best I can on paper for every element because if I don't get funding, I won't be able to get this degree that I dearly want. I know that the GRE score is just a way for an application committee to cross me off a list without feeling bad about it when they need to narrow down their candidates. That's all it is. It has nothing to do with my ability, value, how I'll do in the program, or really anything at all.
My friend who got her MFA told me she guessed her way thru the math portion and probably got, "like, a 300." She told me not to worry. That I should do the same. She did it, and she got funding, I really shouldn't worry so much.
But the thing is?
I can't not.
That's the problem with stupid admissions shit like this.