So I just got out of the prometric facility, pretty disappointed… I’m still proud of my score, but just feel like I could have done a lot better with more luck. Too many people get perfect scores in math! Thanks to this, a 750 sounds good but isn’t really that great. On the other hand, my verbal score was dismally low but might actually be a decent percentile since the verbal test is so much harder. I guess I got what I deserved for not practicing enough – those analogy questions are pretty tough, and some of the reading comprehension really made me feel a time crunch. Even so, I filled out all the answers, so I’ve got no excuses for getting so many wrong. Depending on my writing score I might have to take the GRE again… geez, prometric is getting a lot of business from me lately.

I’m having to deal with Prometric for testing a lot lately. I have to say that I like computer based tests a lot – they’re so much more comfortable than filling out scantrons. I used to always forget to bring a number 2 pencil to tests, now I don’t have to worry about anything, just show up. And all the instructions are on the computer so there’s no waiting for proctors to read out loud to everyone, that’s a big plus for me too.

I’m currently signed up for:
GRE ~ 2 days from now
MCTS 70-642 – Server 2008 Networking Configuration ~ in 1 week

Recently completed:
MCTS 93-640 – Server 2008 Active Directory Configuration ~ 2 weeks ago

The GRE was kind of a surprise, I wasn’t really planning to go to grad school until a couple weeks ago after talking to my Lab Manager and Primary Investigator about career options. They told me that our lab was applying for a big grant, to be finalized in 2012, that could possibly allow us to expand from the DNA sequencing lab we are now into a Bioinformatics Core for the entire UCSD Cancer Center. So they encouraged me to learn more about bioinformatics and come back to join them when the lab is expanded.

My dad was visiting last week and after some convincing I got him to sign me up for a GRE testing date. I was aiming for something in late April, but he said something about plugging my birthday into biorhythm website and finding that my intellectual component was good right now and I should take it right away… I don’t know if I believe in that kind of thing since it seems pretty much like fortune telling to me, but I’m happy to just get it out of the way. I’m not too worried about preparing anyways, since I’ve already been doing a lot of writing over the past few months, and I think my math is good enough that I can just do some quick prep book reading to get familiar with the question format and be pretty much ready to go.

For the Microsoft Tests, I’m still on the fence as to whether I should go for MCITP Server Administrator or MCITP Enterprise Administrator. For Server Administrator I would need to take only one more test vs two for Enterprise Administrator, but I like the material better for Enterprise and the job description sounds a lot better. Also if I don’t find a full Enterprise Administrator position, one of the two tests is for Windows 7 desktop configuration, which will let me work at a help desk or support job while getting ready for grad school.

Luckily the testing cost isn’t too much of an issue – after a bit of searching I found the Microsoft Student Voucher issuance webpage, where I can get vouchers that drop the price from $150 to just $60. All I have to do is enter my name and email, then bring my UCSD Student ID to the testing center. Super easy!

I also found out that the governator of California just started giving out free Microsoft Testing vouchers as part of the Elevate America program, which would save me an additional $60 ($150 for non students) by giving me a free Microsoft Certification test. Unfortunately, the voucher is only good for Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007, kind of lame since that is kind of a standard skill that I don’t think will help me too much as far as making me a more attractive job candidate goes.