<p>So I'm an incoming freshman, who is going to a state university in the fall. Should I study for the GRE at this time? The reason is that I have always been weak on the English sections of any standardized exam (SAT, AP, etc.), but exceedingly strong on the Mathematical sections. Is the difficulty of the GRE comparable to the SAT or is it more difficult?</p>
<p>Also, what are the average GRE scores for various colleges? I can't seem to find GRE scores for many colleges.</p>
<p>A) No, you should NOT worry about the GRE at ALL until the summer between your sophomore and junior years AT THE EARLIEST.</p>
<p>B) The verbal is considerably more difficult than the SAT; the math is roughly the same.</p>
<p>C) Unless you’re doing humanities, the verbal score isn’t that important. It’s really nothing to worry about now – wait two years, then worry about it.</p>
<p>
Average GRE scores don’t mean much, especially if they are averaged over all departments of a university.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Many graduate programs have a high percentage of foreign students, sometimes > 50%. A high proportion of foreign students usually means lower average verbal and writing scores, but that doesn’t mean that native speakers can bomb the test without repercussions.</p></li>
<li><p>It is typical for a university to have very selective programs in some fields and rather weak programs in others. Graduate admissions is not like undergraduate admissions, where a college is roughly equally selective across all majors.</p></li>
<li><p>Few programs care about GRE scores at all, unless your scores are so low that they set off a red flag. Graduate admission decisions are primarily based on letters of recommendations, not test scores.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In short: GRE =/= SAT.</p>
<p>It’s nice that the GRE is not measured similarly like the SAT. I’m still a little skeptical as to whether the GRE is more important in top schools like Ivy Leagues, MIT, and other top schools, even though selectivity depends on the major and the program that the college offers.</p>
<p>What about GRE Subject Tests? Do they play an important role in graduate admissions similarly to the SAT IIs in undergraduate admissions?</p>
<p>As far as I understand it, the GRE subject tests are used to show that, despite whatever undergraduate work you did, you have a comparable grasp of the subject matter. So if you went to undergraduate somewhere not widely recognized for Biology, for example, you would want to do well on the GRE Biology to prove you learned the subject well. Conversely, if you go to a strong school in Biology and take lots of coursework and do well, you might not need it (for schools that “recommend” it).</p>
<p>The importance of the subject test depends on the field. For example, the subject test in computer science is said to be rather insignificant and many applicants don’t even bother to take it. On the other hand, the math subject test is said to be quite important for math graduate school. Most of the better programs require it, some programs pre-sort applicants by their subject GRE score and a few programs even have minimum requirements for admission.</p>
<p>
It’s more the other way round. Less selective programs are more likely to admit you based on your grades and test scores. The top programs care most about your letters of recommendation and other measurable accomplishments in your field. They couldn’t care less about your performance on a vocab test (= the verbal section of the GRE), and getting a perfect score on the math section of the general GRE is so easy that it’s of no use for MIT.</p>
<p>Here’s a passage from A Mathematician’s Survival Guide that is relevant to the current discussion:</p>
<p>
No mention of GRE scores.</p>
<p>DONT waste your time! The GRE is being completely restructured next summer so you won’t be preparing for what you will be taking. Besides the GRE isn’t that important, but I heard it gets more weight when you come from a weak or little-known undergraduate school and the weight each section gets depends on where you apply and to what program. Many of the people before me made very valid points.</p>