15 Reaction Memes That Describe Anyone Studying For The GRE

Studying for the GRE is an experience that can be filled with a ton of different emotions. We've picked out some memes that describe them.

Ahhh studying for the GRE… graduate record examinations… the bane of any wannabe grad student’s existence! This exam is a must for many graduate school applications and induce severe high school SAT and ACT flashbacks. Like both of the latter, the higher scores, the better the likelihood of potentially getting into your dream GRE program. Sigh. The GRE is strange, stressful and complicated to study for especially if you have been removed from some time from the standardized testing scene. Here are 15 reaction memes anybody who is studying for the GRE can relate too!

1. Deciding Enough is Enough and Signing Up For A Test Date

Can you afford grad school? Not Really. Can you pay back the loans and interest? Unlikely. Are you still gonna apply and see what happens? Totally. You are tired of your current situation and want to make a change (plus you secretly miss school!) So you take the plunge. GRE scores are valid for two years anyways, if you decide not to apply after all!

2. Buying Expensive Study Materials

Higher education is no joke. There’s a reason why it skews older and whiter! Choosing and buying study materials will hurt your wallet, but it feels almost essential to do. The free stuff out on the internet is good for an exercise, but you need something more comprehensive. You are doing this on your own after all! Hopefully your bank account will forgive and forget this later when you are a tenured university prof because of studying for the GRE!

3. Not Actually Studying When You Are Supposed To

Ok look. It’s hard to keep track of when you are supposed to study and when you are not, especially when you don’t have a structured consistent school day. Life, work, and general laziness gets in the way and before you know it, it’s only a couple of days before exam day. Fuck. Maybe it’s time to start studying for the GRE.

4. Studying and Attempting to Study

Hahahah. It really has been a while hasn’t it? If you are not a STEM major and have not used math in years or since high school, then you’ll probably feel confused and a little disillusioned. Why is a math test required with a English or liberal arts grad program, you ask? The world may never know. Getting back into the groove of studying for the GRE is a little harder than you thought, but you’ll get it eventually.

5. Actually Understanding A Study Topic

Eureka! You finally got it! Understanding a difficult topic is honestly a freeing experience. Anxiety levels normalize, you feel like you can breathe again , your face is clear, your crops are watered, everything is right with the universe! Maybe you can pass this GRE thing after all! Sure, the next question might bring you right back down to Earth, but for a second, everything is infinite.

6. Looking at the Average GRE Score at Your Preferred Program

If you are lucky and a smart cookie, then looking at the average GRE score at your preferred program is a piece of cake! You got this one basically in the bag! For the rest of us…..yikes. Some serious crunch time is going to have to put into studying to get anywhere near those scores. This is where the frustration kicks back in. You start to calculate and research the lowest possible score you can get in order to have a fighting shot. Ce’st la vie.

7. Days Away From Test Date

This is when the all nighters start to kick in. Studying feels like failure. The questions feel dumb. Grad school seems like a bad idea. The world feels like its crumbling. It’s okay. Just remember to breathe and step back for a little bit. Then get back to studying as if your life depended on it. Yeah, life will suck for a bit, but it’ll be better soon!

8. Seeing GRE Questions Everywhere You GO

Those apples on the counter. Math Question. Your friend telling a super long story. Comprehension question. Your mother trying to type a word on her iPhone. Vocab question. It’s wasy to start seeing your problems into real life once you really start to get dedicated to studying. It’s like you never stop. The problems just come out of everywhere!

9. Actually Taking the Test

No Comment.

10. Taking the Test 2.0

Okay jk. If you felt good about it you are probably feeling something a little more like this:

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11. Ok One More Test One

Because at one point or another during the test you’ll probably start to question your existence.

12. After the Test

Tears of sadness or tears of joy? That’s up to you to decide!

13. Waiting for the Results

Please we just wanna know.

14. Seeing the Results

Good or bad, it’ll be fine!

15. Doing the Process All Over Again to See If You Can Get Better Scores

You really couldn’t help yourself huh. Can’t blame ya!