OT: GRE

[esplanade91]

Signed up for the GRE tonight (nope, I still haven't found a job). Any pointers? Hard? Easy? Not so bad?

Director I talked to at State downplayed the importance of having a high score and said that my transcripts/recs are just as if not more important. Admittedly my transcript isn't the greatest, but my last 3 semesters were nearly flawless. I think that should look pretty good in front of a board of people who determine who gets in.

 

[57stratdawg]

I passed the GMAT.**

My experience was most schools scored in some way: (GPA * 300) + (GRE/2) = acceptance grade. Ask the director if there is something similar for the program you're looking in to. That should clear up exactly how important it is or isn't.

 

[esplanade91]

I asked him specifics and he said there were none. I even asked for any important dates (i.e. what's the final date to apply for August '14) and he said there were none. Just for me to apply ASAP.

Blew my mind.

The person at Ole Miss just didn't email back all together, so I'll take the vagueness I guess.

 

[AFDawg]

What are you applying for? That will make a big difference as to how important it is.

I took it last year. I had no trouble with the verbal and did no prep for it. But that's my strong suit. For the quantitative I studied through the review on the GRE website. I haven't taken a math class in 14 years, but I did respectably overall and more than enough for my humanities program.

The toughest is the writing section. I pretty much write for a living, and I thought I could get by without preparing. That was a mistake. I drew a blank that day and struggled to complete the section. I wound up taking the test a second time and did well then. They seem to be particular about what they're looking for in terms of format. Take the practice tests online several times before you go.

 

[GratefulDawg.sixpack]

I've taken it twice (back when it was on paper and then on computer). Definitely get one of the prep books and give yourself a couple months to prep. If you don't use big words like most New Yorkers do (wink), definitely prep for the verbal.

The writing part was the most difficult for me. Thankfully, even though I bombed it, I got into the program I wanted.

 

[uptowndawg]

I took it a few years ago, when it first became a computer test. The school I applied for had a minimum score and they could care less how much above that score you were. I actually studied pretty hard since I decided to see how high I could score since I was paying money to take it. Probably about the most useful study tool was the GRE vocab iphone apps - basically like flash cards for your phone. If you're like me and know your prime numbers but don't know what the word 'gambol' means then you should probably spend most of your time on vocabulary. There's a few GRE vocab pocket books that are useful to. Also get some type of study material (book or online) that explains and has examples of the question format. I remember there being some off the wall fill in the blanks where there's 3 blanks and you get a word bank to choose blanks a, b, and c from; all 3 have to be right to get credit. So going through a few examples first will help you with those odd questions.

 

[bsquared24]

been about 6 years since I took it the one and only time and what I remember is being very glad I got a prep book and practiced it for about a month. Vocab is what it is but I needed a refresher on the math "ideas" that I literally had not seen since HS took College Algebra and something else minimal at State so hadn't seen geometery and such in a LONG time.

Also don't freak out when taking the test if it seems really hard. My understanding is that once you get questions right the begin to make the following questions harder and harder and harder. I got on a roll with math and they were doing some tough stuff (for me) I thought, oh crap, but when my score came out I did extremely well on the math portion.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

I'm actually kind of wondering about the GRE as well since I've signed up to take graduate courses for the first time since Shmuley's voice broke. (No, it's not been that long but it's been over 20 years since I took the exam.)

 

[columbiadawg2]

I took it twice about 5 years ago and it wasn't bad. I made the mistake of not studying at all the first time around and struggled with the math having not taken a math class in almost 4 years. After that, I used the online prep stuff and scored much higher as the math all came back to me. My only advice would be to study beforehand just to refresh yourself on the math and to get used to the type of verbal questions.

 

[RocketDawg]

When I took it in the early 70s, there was a General part and a Specific Major part (in my case, engineering ... but all engineers took the same test ... wasn't broken down to discipline).

I left after the engineering part and was literally physically ill ... didn't think I had gotten anything right. Turns out I did fine. And aced the General portion.

I think now it's more like the SAT, is it not? That's more like the General part was back then. Not sure if they still have the specific disciplines or not.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

When I took it 20-odd years ago, there were verbal, quantitative, and analytical sections in a general test as well as subject tests.

I've taken most of a practice test online and it's apparently just a general test with the analytical portion being altered to analytical writing.

 

[esplanade91]

I'm going to semi-study for it (but really, I'm not going to study for it much) and see how I do. At this point I'm not 110% serious about going to grad school. I'd much rather just get a job. If I do great and get in, I'll probably go. At this point I think I've been out of state JUST long enough not to qualify for in-state tuition, and out-of-state tuition is 10000000000x more than in-state. In-state tuition for MSU grad school is extremely cheap, out-of-state MSU tuition is among the most expensive I've seen in my early research.

I talked to a couple buds victory lapping in Starkville and I've decided to drive down and live on their couches to see if I can't find a job in Birmingham or somewhere near. Worst case I might be your bartender next time you're in town.

Who knows. Maybe I could become the new Gerald.

 

[Crazy Cotton]

wow, your director was uninformed, or you aren't applying to a science

GRE is the gatekeeper for most science related fields, and the more applications, the more it is going to count. My department won't even look at applications with scores below a certain threshold. The problem with GPA is that it isn't much of a scale to start with, and grade inflation has eaten away what little discriminitory power it used to have, not to mention the reliability issues of comparing GPA's across many different schools. Everybody has a GPA of 3.5+ that applies to grad school, so it is pretty useless for selecting students. GRE is seen as an equalizer here. You really, really need to prep for it, particularly the quantitative. It's basically high school math that you haven't seen in 4 years. You're score will be compared against people who are doing the prep courses.

I expect to see it taken twice by applicants. It is the MOST important part of a grad application in my view, as a high score will nullify a bad GPA, but good GPA won't help if your GRE is in the toilet. Once the GRE threshold is met, I go with letters of rec, mostly to look for a pattern across them, particulalry for veiled warnings of assholery or instability. Then I look at course selection - were they a GPA "padder" by avoiding the lab courses, etc. or did the person challenge themselves. If I still have 3 or 4 people standing after that run through, then I start looking at GPA more closely, but even then it is looking at grades for individual, relevant courses, e.g. organic chemistry, etc.

 

[esplanade91]

Yeah, it's not a science. It is, but it isn't. It's still in the business college.

And let me back up... he didn't say the score didn't matter. I asked specifics on entry #'s and he said there weren't any and that it's a case-by-case type of thing. He went from there to telling me how a low GRE could still get you in but you would have to have credentials in other areas. I don't think I'd get in with a low score, but I understood where he was coming from downplaying the GRE.

Honestly it's not a degree I could see a ton of people signing up for every year. I doubt it's as competitive as anything in the bio/chem/engineering departments.

 

[KurtRambis4]

The problem

I have with relying on standardized testing is that some people just don't do well on them. If someone relies to heavily on this, they can eliminate a few people that are more than capable of handling (and excelling) the coursework. I've known more than a few poeple that were burned by State because of this, and they were offered by schools with superior academic standings in the world (how in the world this happened, I have no idea). They were quite successful at these institutions, too.