I have finally decided to apply to grad school, but there is that matter of that pesky GRE that is required.
I have always had this irrational fear [what fears aren’t irrational] of “standardized” exams and this one that is the apparent end all, be all of grad school admission has to possibly be the most ridiculous ever created. The scoring system is very bizarre. Why cant it just be set, like the SATs?
For fall admission at UNLV, the application deadline is February 1st. So that means I have to get moving on the GRE.
My problem. I really have no idea what to expect. Mr Geek took the GRE, but he was getting over the flu at the time and doesn’t remember much about the test at all, but then again it was 7 years ago. So officially he is no help to me.
I have been to the GRE website already, but I want to know from people who have taken the exam not just what the test makers say about their test.
What is the current exam like?
Is there a writing section on computer tests?
How much time is allowed for the exam?
Are there any breaks allowed?
What is the best way to study/prepare without spending an assload of money?
How can I not panic at the idea of taking this test?
Anything else I should know?
The logic section (which may have changed in the 10 years since I took it) is a time-waster. I’m typically good at such things but I got so into the problems that I didn’t finish the section. You’ll need practice, that’s all I can say.
As for best way to study, I personally recommend just buying practice books and working thru them. You can go on Amazon and look for ones that get good ratings – I was looking thru these yesterday for a woman who asked me about tutoring, I remember that Barrons and Kaplan’s books were popular. When you take practice tests, treat it like a real test – time yourself, don’t peak at answers, etc. Use the CDs that are included, since this is a closer simulation of the actual test. Seriously, just go on Amazon today and have two or three shipped out to you, its a fraction of what you’ll spend applying to grad school. And then set a schedule stick to it, don’t rush thru the books at the last minute like I did.
ETS is the worst company ever. They screw up constantly when shipping out your scores. Double and triple check your school and departmental codes. Keep your personal copy handy, in case the official copy gets “lost,” and you need to scramble at the last minute to get a copy to your university.
Oh, and never EVER believe the time line they give you for when your scores will be sent out and received by the university.
How do they get away with this crap? Only game in town.
Take your test now, as they fill up as deadlines approach.
TheMerchandise Application season is upon us, help me god.
I took the GREs in about, ummm <counts on fingers>, 1998 or so? The format appears to be the same now: there’s two different tests, the “general”, which is pretty much the SATs plus a goofy “logic” section (which may or may not still be part of the test; don’t see any mention of it in the current description), and the “subject tests” which are specific to your proposed field of study (there’s a bunch of different ones but people typically take only one or two).
If you survived the SATs you don’t have to worry about the general test. If you paid attention in class you don’t have to worry much about the subject test either (or at least not the Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology one).
I took the general on a computer at a testing center and had no problems except for a) getting to the testing center (in the most obscure part of Boston with no access by public transportation) and b) running out of time on the logic section (because I tried to actually solve the problems, which was unnecessary and wasted time - although tanking on the logic section did not in fact prevent me from getting into a good graduate school). There is a writing section on the test, although I can no longer remember the format. I would recommend making reservations well ahead of time to get the session you want.
I took the subject test on paper at my school as part of the regularly scheduled GRE offerings. You can get “GRE <relevant subject> test” prep books through your library, they’re not so thick you couldn’t get through a lot before you have to return them
I took the general GRE test around this time last year and it wasn’t so bad. A lot like the SATs, the level of math is the same, but the questions are worded so that they seem more difficult. The analytical writing section isn’t bad-- you either argue for or against whatever the statement/paragraph is, and use examples as you go along. If you’ve done well on written papers in undergrad, you shouldn’t have any problems with this. I found that it’s a lot easier to take these exams on the computer than my paper format SATs were.
I’m not sure about the subject tests, but they vary from discipline to discipline. I have heard, however, that the English literature test is much like being anally raped with a cactus covered in tobasco sauce; it’s such a wide subject that it’s difficult to know a large portion of what they might test you on. Biology/Geology/other hard sciences shouldn’t be as bad, as they’ve got more concrete boundaries.
Look at the study books that they’ve got for the GRE, and either check one out of the library or buy the best rated one at B&N or Amazon; it’ll help you mentally prepare for the test format.
There’s no logic part of the exam anymore. It was replaced by a writing test, so just make sure you argue your point clearly. I also read that length correlates into a higher score on that part of the test.
The GRE is a computerized test and how you do on earlier questions affects the questions you get later. You want to do well on the early questions since those count more. The math is pretty easy, easier than the SAT, but it may have been a while since you took math so go over it anyway (unless you were a math major or something, then it should be no problem). I wouldn’t know how to study for the verbal. It relies a lot on vocabulary which you can’t really build up in a few weeks but you can try memorizing word lists. I would just get a practice book and take many practice tests. I recommend Barron’s, I thought the math on the Princeton Review was too easy and they didn’t give enough examples. You can also download practice materials from the GRE website. This is the same as they send on CD but that might not arrive until after you take your test!
I second the suggestion to make sure ETS sends out your scores on time.
Since I took my GRE’s many years ago I can’t help you with the physical and logistical aspects of the test, but I CAN pass on something that worked for me. Take as many practice tests as you can and do them as realistically as possible (i.e., just like the real test environment). Keep track of all of your scores so you can see the improvement.
I probably took between 10 and 15 practice tests and the difference between my scores on my first and last practice test was a couple hundred points. Even though they (used to, at least) say that practicing won’t help, THEY LIE.
Other advice that I urge you to take to heart:
Go to bed EARLY the night before the test.
No alcohol or drugs the night before the test.
Get up early the day of. Go for a 10 - 30 minute walk before you leave home to take the test.
I found the math review online at the ETS GRE site to be extremely helpful. It raised my math score a couple hundred points to a very respectable level. Work all the problems in that little booklet.
Also, if you are applying for a program where your quantitative score matters, try very hard not to miss any of the first 5 math questions. If you don’t get them right, you won’t get hard enough questions for the rest of the test to bring your score back up. This may also apply to the verbal section, I was just much more focused on strategy for the quant. part.
They’ve redone the analytical writing part since I took it. I did poorly on it, probably the worst I’ve ever done on any standardized test by a long shot. That doesn’t make any sense based on my verbal score and education and experience in writing. That’s not to say I might not have just had a bad day, or been completely drained by the other sections and lost focus on that part. But I know my program did not hold that score against me at all. Perhaps in redesigning the section they’ve improved its validity.
I second pretty much what everybody’s said so far. I felt the math was very basic, just some algebra and basic trig, nothing too fancy. The hardest part for me was the vocab, where they had questions like:
Hat is to head as glove is to:
a)onomotopia
b)travesty
c)your mom
d)elephant
Well, not really, but I would say I’d be lucky to know what -one- of the words out of the seven given was, much less all of them!
I know I don’t have to take a subject based section as they dropped the geology one ages ago, either that or UNLV doesn’t require that part of the test.
As far as applying to grad school, I got my undergrad degree from the same department I will be applying to and the professor I want to work under is also the department chair, so at least I have that going for me. I did already talk to her about being one of her students [for Structural Geology] and she is cool with it. The faculty in the department knows me and what I am capable of, so even if my score is a little low I should [probably] be okay and the department seems to be the ones who have the final say. The UNLV grad school info page only says “an acceptable score on the GRE is required”. Could they be any more vague.
I guess I should also look for a open test slot in the next few months and get registered for it. Work is going to be crazy hectic through the end of November, so I will have to take it in December.
I would get one of the study guides, if for anything else, to brush up on your math (unless you’re a math person). The most frustrating part was trying to remember formulas that I hadn’t seen since Algebra II in tenth grade popping up eight years later.
I have a question for people who have taken it recently in the computerized format. Can you skip around the test, going back and forth among questions? A friend took it and I thought she said you had to answer and then move on. I also thought the compulsory computer format penalizes slow typers.
Do they have practice CDs or something now, because out of a book one can’t simulate what the test would really be like.
Heh. I am usually a good girl who goes to bed early before tests, but in 1988 it was my birthday the day before test day. I didn’t drink, but I got two hours’ sleep only. Somehow I still got 720/800/800 Of course I came back after the test to find out one of our friends was killed the previous evening…very surreal day all around.
You have to answer to move on. The computer format works on a sort of sliding scale; if you get an answer wrong, you get an easier question (and your score goes down), if it’s right, you get a harder one (and your score goes up). Skipping questions would screw up the format. I have no idea how the new writing section works; I took it when they still had the analytical (which I aced, but so did most of my friends; I think they dropped it because people thought it was either stupid or too easy).
I believe my study guide came with practice tests on CD.
I took the general test last year. The logic part is no longer included. However, they’ve already changed it again, so my information is out of date. I thought it was quite easy - it’s high school level math and college level vocabulary. And then the writing, of course.
Like everyone else, my only advice is practice practice practice. I think when you register you get access to a few practice tests. Beyond that I’d grab a couple of those GRE practice books that are in every bookstore and just take practice tests. That’s what I did, and I got a perfect score on the math, and in the 99th percentile on the English.
If you already have senior faculty saying they’re interested in working with you, well, you can’t be in a much better spot than than. It sounds like the GRE will be just a formality for you – my sense is that the GRE if often required across the board but actually only come into play when the department isn’t familiar with your undergrad school or your letter-writers (not the case for you). So I don’t think you have to be ask hasty as my earlier post implied. Or better said, if you only have limited time to spend on your application, I’d put the personal statement first, GRE second.
If you’re not studying math, science, or engineering, in which case the math will be a snap, get yourself an algebra book and practice some word problems. Also practice systems of simultaneous equations; I think you only will have to deal with two simultaneous equations in two variables, but I can’t remember for sure. I think when I took it the test last there was one system of three equations in three variables which we didn’t have to completely solve, but just get far enough to reach the desired answer.
The math section skews easier than the verbal as might be expected; in other words, a given math score puts you at a lower percentile than the same score would in the verbal section. This makes sense, since the verbal section does deal with college level reading and vocabulary, while the math tends to be fairly basic.
Says you. Maybe if you just finished school. Tell that to someone like me, preparing to take it after almost 6 years out of school. I’m having to cram all that college back in my head. It SUCKS.
Anyone want to talk about sea urchin fertilization on the molecular level for me? The Wikipedia page bites.
I have taken the GRE twice. Once was the first time I went to graduate school straight out of undergraduate and the second was a few years ago when I thought about going back to do something else. I like the new computer based test better than the old written one. You probably just make an appointment with a testing center at your convenience with only a few other people around and they are probably taking another type of test so you don’t have to worry about what the people around you are doing with their tests.
You need to familiarize yourself with the verbal test format but don’t go overboard training for it. It is testing a lifetime of learning and skills and memorizing word lists will likely do close to zero if not zero because it doesn’t work that way.
Conversely, you need to actually study a little for the math at least for formulas you studied long ago and basic concepts. It should only take a few practice tests and I just bought all of the books at Barnes and Noble with study guides did their practice tests.
For the writing part, write in a very conventional style. It isn’t English professors that are grading them, it is usually graduate students looking for spare change and they grade them assembly line style spending as little time on each one as possible.
As noted, the verbal portion is extremely difficult to get a top score on in terms of raw points. A 700 would be close to a 99th percentile score with 100 points left over. OTOH, a scary number of people max out on the math portion because the GRE is also used for admission to math based graduate school. The math score distribution is bi-modal where you see the engineers and math geeks acing it and then another hump for the English and psychology majors further down. Just do the best you can. Non-math intensive programs usually just want to see some competent skills in that area but not a top score.
(or at least not the Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology one).
Of course I came back after the test to find out one of our friends was killed the previous evening…very surreal day all around.