What Does She Need to Know About the GRE

Parents Forum
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<p>I took the GRE in the fall of 2012, and I generally recommend studying with prep books. Test prep courses were never worth the cost to me, but it depends on what type of student she is. If she needs the motivation that comes from being in a classroom setting or if she works better with a tutor or something similar, then a prep course could be well worth the money. If she can self-study well or if she just needs a review of the material, then getting a good prep book should be sufficient. She should definitely get the most recent prep books because the GRE got a complete overhaul in the fall of 2011 and the most recent books will probably have the best tips and practice problems.</p>

<p>I do recommend she familiarize herself with the format of the test because the computerized set up is different than she might be familiar with. As others have said, the math level is similar to the SAT, and if she’s taken high level math courses, a review will likely be sufficient. I’m coming from a science background and I haven’t taken a writing course in years, but I found the verbal and writing sections very do-able. I know people who drill vocabulary words, but that’s never been very helpful for me. I did a handful of practice tests and questions before the exam and would look up words as I needed them, which was more than sufficient for the actual exam.</p>

<p>For what it’s worth, for my preparation, I got a the ETS official guide (which I don’t recommend because most of which can be found free online, including the two practice tests) and the Kaplan guide (I got the verbal guide as well because I was more concerned about the verbal section, but I only got through a couple sections before taking the exam). I mainly wanted something with a lot of practice tests, which Kaplan has, and I recommend taking the practice tests on the computer so that you can be familiar with the format and staring a screen for a couple of hours. I found the ETS practice tests were very, very similar to what the actual test was like, so if nothing else, I recommend doing those.</p>

<p>I would also like to suggest that she look at schools she might be interested in attending. It sounds like she hasn’t decided on a particular field or program yet, and it would be worthwhile to see what some of the requirements are. Not all schools require the GRE, and some require the general test and recommend or require a subject test.</p>

<p>I wish her the best of luck! As someone else mentioned, the GRE is often just a cutoff mark that she needs to pass over. Depending on the field, one part of the test might be weighed more heavily than another part of the test. A good GRE score can help, but a bad one won’t keep her out as long as it is over whatever arbitrary cutoff the school may have.</p>

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<p>Thank you. Yes, she is stronger in math than in ELA and is applying to STEM grad programs so her strengths should work for her.</p>

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<p>A couple of things that it is useful to know:</p>

<p>The GRE math section is now scored from 130-170. The version before 2011 went up to 800, like the SAT, and roughly the top 6% of students (maybe more) scored 800. With the new version, there is more differentiation near the top of the math portion. A score of 170 is 99th %ile, and 169 is 98th %ile.</p>

<p>In some STEM fields, your daughter may be competing with foreign grad students who have already completed a master’s degree and study for the GRE like there is no tomorrow.</p>

<p>In physics, chemistry, and math, in particular, the GRE subject test is required by some of the top programs, in addition to the general test. Also, I believe that the subject test may still be used in selecting National Science Foundation pre-doctoral fellows.</p>

<p>I would strongly recommend that your daughter apply for an NSF pre-doctoral fellowship. In the past, applicants all received a ticket to take the subject test on the same day (usually sometime in the fall of the senior year). I think the subject test might be free for NSF applicants–I am pretty sure that it used to be. </p>

<p>It is definitely better not to take the general test and the subject test on the same day, even if one is a strong test-taker.</p>

<p>Preparation for the subject tests is advisable, since different topics tend to be covered in different years of the undergraduate program and the GRE is comprehensive. Your daughter will probably be surprised at how quickly old subjects come back to her, if she allows some time for review. The summer is a really good time to begin that.</p>

<p>One of my friends remarked that the GRE contained “all the tricky questions” from each subject. This is not exactly true, but the GRE subject tests are much less of a cake-walk than the SAT IIs. Preparation and knowing what kinds of details they are testing for can be extremely helpful.</p>

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<p>I had never done any kind of prep work for a standardized test before, but given how expensive the GRE is, I decided it should happen. </p>

<p>I got the Barrons GRE prepbook and used it just to understand the format for the test. It was really helpful to understand what would happen because it’s fairly different from other standardized tests we have taken (ie you can move along at your own pace… as long as you don’t go over the time limit). I found it useless for the subjects. Besides brushing up on basic math, I think it’s a you-know-it-or-you-don’t thing. OTOH, it’s really helpful for the writing section. They basically tell you exactly what the graders are looking for.</p>

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<p>My D studied for and took the GRE last summer. She took an online test prep course (offered by Kaplan, I think, and found it helpful) and studied reasonably hard for the test. She graduated a couple of years ago and thus wanted a more intensive study experience. She did well on both big sections but was disappointed with her writing score - given that she’d been employed as a technical writing coach as an undergrad. In the fall she took the subject test since several of the grad schools she was interested in required it. She was a bit disappointed in her score (tho’ it was above 700). From her experience and from everything I’ve read it seems you just have to have a “good enough” score - as long as it’s above some minimum it doesn’t play a huge role in grad school admissions. Also, I believe score choice is now available so if a student takes the test more than once they can choose which set of scores is sent to a grad school program.</p>

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<p>How did she do on the SAT?</p>

<p>The SAT is a good predictor of performance on the GRE without further prep. If D got a 1200+ M + CR on the GRE, I would say that neither extensive prep nor a prep class are necessary. She can purchase a prep book and prep for 1-2 months and do well enough to get into wherever she wants. If D scored lower than, I would say, 1050ish CR + M on the SAT, a prep class or more extensive prep may be necessary. If she’s extremely self-motivated a book plus a couple of months (3-6) may be sufficient; if she likes more guidance, then a prep class may be better for her.</p>

<p>In that no-man’s land between 1050 and 1200, I think it really depends on her goals, her self-motivation, and her improvement in college. If she’s a strong, self-motivated student with a solid 1100 and wants to do, let’s say, an MPA (where the GRE score is not as important) - self-study with 2-3 prep books for 2-3 months. If she got a 1050, does better in classes than on her own, and she wants to attend a top 20 PhD program in…any field…prep class time.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t recommend taking it more than once if you can avoid it. Number one, that sucker is expensive ($160). Secondly, in grad school they don’t always take your highest scores. Sometimes, they average two sittings.</p>

<p>Personally, I scored over 1400 on the SAT M+CR and so I didn’t bother with the class. I bought two GRE prep books, sat down for a few hours a week for a month and a half before the GRE and promised myself I would only take it once. I scored a 1530 on the pre-2008 GRE, so I would say it worked.</p>

<p>Another good diagnostic tool is the PowerPREP program, which is available for free on the GRE website. You can download it and there are 2 full-length tests on it that are excellent indicators of how you might do on the GRE. I used the first one as a diagnostic tool - it showed me where I was, score-wise, on GRE prep and what areas I needed to work on. You can then decide whether you want to take a prep class or just buy a book and teach yourself. You also may consider splitting the difference and finding a graduate student who did well on one or both of the sections you need work on, and negotiating a price with them for some hours of GRE prep. Although I don’t currently tutor for money anymore, I used to and I still do occasionally when asked (and I used to tutor for Kaplan). I know plenty of PhD students who’d work with an undergrad for 2-4 hours a week for extra money. We’re cheaper than a Kaplan course, lol. Having tutored for Kaplan before, though, all they will teach you is test-prep strategies. They are the SAME strategies you learned to take the SAT, and they are also printed in their $30 prep book. The same strategies you get in that $30 book are the ones that they will teach you in their $1,000 class; you’re just paying to hear someone say it to you and whip you into shape.</p>

<p>She does not need a subject test for any of the fields she is considering. Typically subject tests are only for academic programs, and generally PhD programs or research-oriented MS programs in the sciences.</p>

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<p>Definitely EPTR’s daughter should not take a subject test instead of the general test. For PA school or an advanced degree in nursing, she probably does not need a subject test, so I agree with the most recent poster about that.</p>

<p>Has she considered a Ph.D. in Epidemiology? Depending on the program, taking a subject GRE in addition to the general test (not as a replacement for it) might be useful in that case. Even when the subject GRE is not required, having it can sometimes open opportunities for better graduate fellowships, from the university as well as from national programs.</p>