I concur. Math represents one of mankind’s most notable (and fertile) intellectual achievements. Saying you should “do” without understanding is like saying that you should contemplate the Mona Lisa as a series of pixels, and not as a connected whole.
I thought humanities programs don’t care about your math GRE while science programs don’t care about your verbal GRE. I don’t think a person reviewing applications for a Sociology graduate programs is going to do anything other than see a really bad math score and say “wow, this person really sucks at math”. Whether you get in or not should be based on your abilities to study the subject you are going to study.
sven, I was in the same boat when I took the GREs. I was nearly vomiting in terror as I walked to the testing center. Seriously, I remember wandering around Sofia, mentally composing a letter to the grad schools I was planning on applying to, explaining that I’m really not an idiot, I just…suck at math? I had been studying and studying and studying the math and I did uniformly terrible. I was on track to get about a 450, as far as I could tell from my practice testing. What the practice tests, however, don’t take into account, is that the actual computerized test adjusts itself to your level, and I ended up scoring much higher - a 600. Trust me, I was WAY more excited about that than the 720 I got on the verbal section. I ended up getting into all of the grad programs I applied to. The point is: I wouldn’t necessarily take the practice tests results you’re getting all that seriously.
If you do end up doing poorly and decide to retake the exam, I recommend getting this book. I bought it on Amazon and had it shipped to me in Bulgaria and it was totally worth it. I won’t tell you that math is actually easy and you just need the right attitude or some shit. I am TERRIBLE at math, and I hadn’t taken it in years and years when I took the GRE. This book seriously helped me immensely - it starts from basic, grade school math, which I totally needed, and goes from there.
What the hell, computerized math tests? I can’t even figure out how that’s supposed to work, let alone why it would be a good idea.
It’s nothing new. I tested out of high school algebra on a computer back in 1997.
Remember, the GRE is a multiple choice test–whether computer based or paper based.
In the computer based format, you answer the first question, and if you get it wrong, the computer gives you an easier question. If you get it wrong, it gives you an even easier question. After several wrong answers in a row, it becomes impossible to get a good score.
If you get the first question right, you get harder material, and if you get the first several right, then no matter how many of the later questions you get wrong, you’ll still get a decent score.
(Or so I understand).
But it isn’t really a computerized math test, just a standard, standardized test offered via computer.
Ok I don’t mean to hijack the thread, but I’m really curious about this; If it’s multiple choice and they only care about the answer, what’s stopping you from just testing the possible solutions with direct insertion and bypass 90% of the actual math?
I feel your pain. I had to study for the math portion of the GMAT from April to August (from 5-10, I literally have not had a life since April) before I brought my skill level up to speed to take it. I hadn’t taken math for 13 years :dubious: My father actually temporarily relocated to California to tutour me because I was THAT out of practice. I have to give him credit-he was very, very patient with me.
Basically I sat down and memorised a sh*tload of stupid theorems for the comparison questions that I noticed repeating across various published gmats. Not just formulae-but different mathematical statements that repeated across the tests. On the testy thing I signed away my life on not telling so I can’t provide the actual example-but several of the patterns I noticed on the data sufficiency in relation to comparitive statements exhibited on the day of the test and I just had answers memorised from note cards I’d written out every time I came across a statement. Even if I couldn’t answer the whole question, I had one of the statements covered through rote memorisation. I also drilled drilled drilled myself on every conceivable way to structure rate/percent/work problems and only practiced on hard ones. Geometry I’m more naturally gifted at so I just spent my time memorizing obscure formulae.
Anyway, now I’m signed up for a Calculus class because it’s a pre-req for most of the schools I’m applying to.
I managed to get a 700+ score even though on the day of the test I was convinced I was getting everything wrong. The hardest part was getting used to the computer adaptive thing-I had never encountered that style of test before and I think that if I hadn’t been so nervous the day of the test and worried about whether the noises the computer was making meant I’d screwed up or gotten it right, I would have scored even higher. If I don’t get in this year, I’ll probably retake the test next year.
International development sounds like an interdisciplinary program where you study different subjects like economics, political science, anthropology etc. You definitely need math in some of those. And I would say maths is pretty fundamental in learning how to interpret any kind of statistical data of which there is a lot in development studies. One of the most interesting trends in development economics is the use of [randomized trials](http://www.povertyactionlab.org/research/rand.php) to evaluate policy initiatives.
As for the OP, I never had a problem at GRE level math but I have struggled sometimes in college courses so I can identify a little with math frustration. I think the key is to try different approaches and figure out what works for you. For instance if you are strong at visualization creating a mental map of the problem might help you.
Coping with stress is half the battle. Try to figure out a routine which keeps you relaxed when you solve a math problem. Perhaps it's re-reading the problem a couple of times. Or a particular way of writing it down.You could, but you only have so much time. Yes, if you could rule out two or three and try the remaining three or two, but that takes time.
Is it true you can’t skip a question and come back to it? That would be the crappy part for me with a computerized test. And the idea that it adjusts itself–how is that objective?
You can not skip a question and come back to it.
Absolutely nothing. That’s how I got into college.
The questions aren’t necessarily of the form, “Solve for x in this equation”. Typically they’re more cleverly constructed than that because it’s multiple choice.
For example, one question might ask, “What’s the area of an equilateral triangle with each side measuring 3 inches?” and then give four choices. There’s no equation given with which you could test the choices.
You can’t come back. What do you mean by objective?
One of the memes that’s repeated about CAT is that you HAVE to get the first X right or you will fail the test and have to earn your keep as a Dickensian street urchin, scrounging for ha’pences and annas in the lower sewers of Baghdad. Ultimately this results in people obsessing over the first 10 questions then realising there are still 27 left. My father was merciless about standing over my shoulder as I took practice tests and screeching “proceed!” once my allocated 1:45 were over for each problem. It’s only as a result of this that I managed to finish. On test day I lagged somewhat and managed to finish with only a minute left on maths-but I mostly stuck to his schedule. So not only was neuroticising about the noises the computer was making, I also had an old Indian man screeching “Proceed!” in my head for the entire quantitative section.
Ooch, a time limit would make testing each answer much harder; none of my exams were timed. How does the proctoring for the GRE work? I wonder if they look for this, or if they even have anyone observing the testing.
The old, paper version of the GRE was proctored. Now, you just show up for an appointment and do the best you can with a computer in some type of testing center. The one I went to just had rooms with a few computers but people were being tested for all kinds of tests. People were starting and finishing tests the whole time. I can’t say it is impossible to cheat but I can’t think of a good way that anyone could do it. The software is pretty elaborate and proctors you as an individual. You even get the choice to see your scores right away at the end or to cancel them, never see them, and have them invalidated for use.
This is pretty accurate. I’m working on my masters in public policy, which is a degree that leads to a lot of different careers, but international development is one of them (and it’s my career goal, too). International development is not a “humanities degree”. My MPP requires courses in calculus, statistics, and two microeconomics courses. Lots of other mathy courses are optional: macroeconomics, econometrics, program evaluation, etc.
Others have already commented on this, but I just couldn’t let this pass.
I’ve always been good at math. One of the keys to being good at math was that you have to understand it. One of my early teachers said that most people learn “monkey math”, which is just monkey see, monkey do. If you learn monkey math, you’ll never do well, because you don’t understand the “why” behind it. The best you can do is hope that you see something in the same form that you learned it, so you can just copy what you did before. That ends up with a lot of memorization, which most people can’t handle, and therefore you just never do well.
It also makes it more difficult to learn math, because most things build on the concepts of the things that come before it. If you don’t learn the “why” of the basic concepts, you don’t have a prayer of learning the “why” of more difficult things.
When I learned math, I always worked at it until I knew the “why” of what I was doing. If you know the “why” you can usually figure out the “what”. More understanding leads to a lot less memorization.
You can usually tell if you understand the “why” when you are faced with word problems. People who do monkey math can’t handle word problems, because they are words. You can only do monkey see monkey do if you see it in the same form you learned it.
Is there still time to get a professional evaluation, and request accomodations if appropriate?
http://www.dyscalculia.org/symptoms.html
BTW, dyscalculia occurs across the entire range of IQ, just like dyslexia. It does NOT mean you are stupid!!! Dyscalculia manifesting as problems with arithmetic does not necessarily indicate a problem with math concepts or logic.
Ironically, I went to a special High School for Math & Science. I remember taking a class in Analog electronics in high school, and taking a test, I finished early and handed it in - my teacher glanced at it and handed it back with the comment “check your math.” The concepts & applications were all correct but I had multiplied 7 x 2 and gotten 16. Really. I was 17 AND taking Calculus, which was the first and only math class I ever did well at and enjoyed.
It’s what’s known as a computerized adaptive test, and there’s a significant body of work justifying the comparison of scores from such a test.