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BS: Who's taken the GRE lately?
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BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? |
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Subject: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Kim C Date: 26 Jan 04 - 12:06 PM I have mentioned in the past that I am toying with the idea of going to graduate school. I understand the GRE is all computerized now. I haven't taken a test like that in 20 years and it's freaking me out. I don't remember any math! Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone has taken it recently and could offer any tips. Thanks! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 26 Jan 04 - 12:22 PM It is actually much easier on the computer. I've taken it both ways. The paper version requires different strategies (what questions to answer first because you get more answers faster, what to go back to, etc.). The computer registers how you're doing as you go along. If you get answers right, it gives you a little harder questions, and if you get those right, it goes that way but you get more points for your answers. If you get some wrong, it defaults to easier questions so you can get more right but not get quite as much wieght for each answer. I scored higher by about 100 points on the computer test. You can also get through it a lot faster than the paper test. Sylvan offers it here in Texas, and last time I checked it was offered during the last two weeks of each month. Much more reasonable that waiting for the few times the university offered it. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Kim C Date: 26 Jan 04 - 12:31 PM Stilly, did you use a prep book, or anything like that? I know there are several on the market, and some now have CD-ROMs with them so you can see what the actual test format looks like. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Dani Date: 26 Jan 04 - 01:42 PM I taught for (Sylvan's Biggest Competitor) for years and years, SAT and GRE, and would be happy to help you the best I can if you PM me. I would actually recommend the course, though it's VERY expensive. Especially if you've been out of school for awhile, the strategies they teach and the structured practice are very helpful if you are like me and don't have a lot of discipline. PM if you want the "reader's digest" version ; ) Dani |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 26 Jan 04 - 03:46 PM I didn't take a class at all. I did check a couple of books out of the library to go over the type of questions on the print test and made sure I knew how each section worked. I even found one of those sample questions in the actual test. This had to do with the paper test. Personally I wouldn't bother to pay to take a class just to take the test. The first time I took it I came in well enough to get into my program so it wasn't necessary to do more. The second time I took it, in order to freshen the score and hopefully raise it because I was looking at applying to new schools for Ph.D work, I didn't study anything. I'd just finished a master's degree and I figured that was enough study for anyone! Statistically there isn't a lot of proof that those study guides and classes do much for your score. I've read articles about this, may have heard something on NPR. That's not to say there aren't a lot of them out there, cashing in on people's fear of taking tests. The GRE questions are general, you don't need to go take science and algebra and all of that either. Understand basic math and simple algebra. Vocabulary is a big part of it, but with 1,000,000+ words in the English language, which ones are you going to choose to review? Probably your best review is going over the sample tests because they contain the same kinds of questions (some still in use) you will encounter. http://gradschool.about.com/cs/aboutthegre/a/gre.htm has some discussion, but all of the links from there are sponsored, my search didn't get past all of the ads to find those who are critical of the test, but there are plenty of people who object to the test and the expensive strategies promoted. I am one of them. The About.com site reminds you that you should take it well in advance of applying, and that you shouldn't take it as a "practice" test because all of your scores are reported to the school when you apply. HOWEVER, if you do want to take it as a practice test, then take it and tell them to send it to some other school than you want to attend. That school will stick the results in a file waiting for the rest of your paperwork, and if it doesn't turn up, they shred it after a while. After completing the test, the last step is to choose to keep the results (and you don't know what they are yet) or to dump them (and no one learns how well you did, not even you--this is the part I find so dishonest about the test you just paid to take!) Rather than say "dump it," you can say "yes, grade my test and send the score to X university." I would suggest you take the test, send it to someplace you won't apply to, look at your score on screen or when it comes in the mail, and decide if you like it. IF you do, you can later have your score sent to additonal schools. It may cost you $10 for the extra report, and do it within a certain amount of time. It has been a while since I took it, and that policy may have changed. There will be discussion of this in the free materials the Educational Testing Service (who write the GRE) folks provide. This isn't dishonest, it's just trying to make this test and it's purveyors give you some useful feedback (I waited years before going to grad school because I hated the idea being dyslexic and taking that SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: artbrooks Date: 26 Jan 04 - 04:01 PM When I last took it, 2 1/2 years ago, the GRE people made practice (scored) tests available on line and sent you a CD-ROM with more practice tests. This is after you pay them an arm and both legs, of course. I found the practice tests to be very valuable, especially since they seem to have reinvented math since I last took a math class...in 1965! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 26 Jan 04 - 04:01 PM Kim, I currently tutor ACT preparation. (The ACT is similar to the SAT.) It's very difficult to raise your score......BUT.......if there is a reason you did poorly on a first attempt, such as poor time management, a gap in content (such as don't understand slopes in math), or perhaps you "freeze" on exams, then preparation helps. One young man I tutored last fall raised his score two points (which is significant). I expect him to raise it more this spring. The strategy that helped most for him was to take lots of timed practice tests. For instance, the math portion is to be worked at a rate of one problem per minute, 60 questions in 60 minutes. We would take several 10-question, 10-minute tests, then go over the ones that were missed. Also, he had lots of gaps in his English punctuation content which was easy to remedy. There's not much you can do to improve reading comprehension. Both of my sons got scholarships by studying for the ACT test. One even scored *extremely* high on the pharmacy entrance test, and he attibuted it to studying and reviewing for it. As best I remember, the GRE is heavy on content, so it would be wise IMO to get a study guide and do some reviewing. PM me if you want some of the ACT preparation materials. The practice books are free, and there is an online version (but it's a bit tedious to print out.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Dani Date: 26 Jan 04 - 04:02 PM As far as practicing, there are still books of "Real GRE's" (put out by College Board) out there, and they are invaluable for experience with real questions, and the levels of math and verbal skills you'll need to dredge up. Find 'em, and I'll tell you the best way to use them. BTW, for most grad students, the verbal sections are considerably easier than they were when you took the SAT's, because you've presumably been using the language, and the math is considerably harder if you haven't used it. I have to put my $.02 about test prep, since I have no interest in the field whatsoever, but plenty of experience: - it IS a gigantic racket, even more so for SAT than for GRE and other grad exams, and it is hard to tell fact from fiction. - many people would do just fine without it - many people do MUCH better with it, having worked with someone who is familiar with every in and out of the test to focus their preparation, and hone the skills they might be rusty on. I've found that for high school students, that is in verbal prep and vocabulary skills; in grad students, it is in refreshing math skills. The value of professional test prep varies depending on what kind of a student and test-taker you are/were. Dani |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 26 Jan 04 - 04:12 PM That sounds like a good deal if they let you take a scored practice test, but if you think about it, that means they still get your money twice. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to not only pass the test, but to try to get through it unfleeced! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 26 Jan 04 - 04:16 PM hmmmmmmm...you're in Nyashvull, right? I can tutor math, and I work for food! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Sam L Date: 26 Jan 04 - 05:16 PM Is 1986 recent? I didn't look into it at all, no prep--I was an art major working on my show. I don't remember any math at all, and I'm so poor at math I couldn't understand my scores until I got a fellowship based on them, which I took to be a good thing. There were lots of symbolic logic problems in story form. If three knights are travelling and knight A will not ride with knight C, etc. I remember some texts that lead one into symbolic logic by way of verbal logic--I think that might really help. I took logic because I was allowed to substitute it for math, at U. of Kentucky. Good luck, don't be nervous. I always do better by taking a casual attitude. fred |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: artbrooks Date: 26 Jan 04 - 06:39 PM I may have been unclear. Access to the scored practice tests and a copy of the CD-ROM were part of the package I got when I signed up for (and paid for) the actual test. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: SINSULL Date: 26 Jan 04 - 07:06 PM Do they still have a section of practice (for them) questions which have no bearing on your score? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Sam L Date: 27 Jan 04 - 12:20 AM I wanted to add, also, that nobody needs to take the gre very seriously. It's just a business, very much like an education-standards McDonalds. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: artbrooks Date: 27 Jan 04 - 09:03 AM Fred, you can't get into graduate school without an appropriate Big Mac. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Sam L Date: 27 Jan 04 - 09:53 AM True, or I think usually true. But it's probably less stressful and easier if you can take it with a grain of salt. Less stressful and also philosophically true, in an important way. My kids don't seem to mind, but I have a hard time getting over the wrong questions and answers in their homework. Plants do not per se reproduce by "grafting," "cruel" was not the best word to describe the trickster in the African folktale, and Picasso's work is not divided by any sensible scholar into the three periods "blue, pink (red)" (they mean the rose period I guess)and "negro." Aiig! Thanks for listening! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Kim C Date: 27 Jan 04 - 09:53 AM Fred, the school I want to go to requires that Big Mac. I'm not concerned about the language parts. It's the math parts! I have only had to use a geometric equation ONCE in my entire adult life. I don't remember anything about what sort of triangle is which or how to find the area of a triangle. And I always sucked at word problems. Since I'd be going for a Masters in English, though, they may not worry too much about my math score... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Janie Date: 27 Jan 04 - 10:58 AM Kim, I haven't taken it lately, but when I did I had been out of school for 12 years. I used Baron's study guide for the GRE, and pretty much aced it. I did not take a a prep class or workshop--but did follow the Baron's guide exactly. I should say that I am one of those lucky people who experience very little test anxiety when it comes to standardized tests. If you typically experience undo anxiety about tests, do any and all preparation that will help decrease the fear. Most bright people who test poorly, do so because of their anxiety. Good luck. Janie |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 27 Jan 04 - 11:09 AM They still included a set of questions that don't bear on the score when I took it (but they didn't say which it is). They used this to test out new questions. Not all institutions require these tests any more. I think the State of California a few years ago threw some or all of them out. Maybe it was UCLA. I just checked out UC Davis and found the following information. It looks likes some departments still use it:
UC Gateways has made free Graduate Record Examination Preparation Tests available online. Visit their website for further information at http://www.ucgateways.org/gre/. This information comes from the ETS site: Since October 1, 2002, the General Test has been composed of verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing sections. The verbal and quantitative sections have not changed. The analytical writing section is identical to the stand-alone Writing Assessment that was introduced in October 1999. The analytical section is no longer a part of the General Test. These changes to the General Test were made in order to (1) help admissions committees assess higher level critical thinking and analytical writing skills of applicants, and (2) provide a performance assessment that measures a test taker's ability to make and critique arguments, which is central to the work done by graduate students in most fields. Here's a bit more. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Who's taken the GRE lately? From: Sam L Date: 27 Jan 04 - 09:02 PM Kim C, I assure you you can't be worse at math than I am. I'm a high school dropout, 16th birthday, in fact. Prior to that I was too stoned to reckon figures. Took no math in college, either. I know the tests change, but I don't remember any math on it at all, I got into grad school with a ride and fellowship. Relax a little, and ignore whatever else I was going on about. I don't know what it was, myself. Just don't, as a friend of mine did, decide that knight A and knight C will have to work out their issues. Keep 'em separated. |
