quentinterintino

Senior member
Jul 14, 2002
375
0
0
I'm going to start studying for the GRE's - can anyone recommend a good study guide?

Also, if you're from Texas, or a state that has similar PE requirements, how hard is the FE exam?

I'm studying nuclear engineering.


Thanks
 

quentinterintino

Senior member
Jul 14, 2002
375
0
0
Yeah, it seems like a beefed up version of the SAT. I'm not at all worried about the math, it's the verbal that's causing concern.
 

z0mb13

Lifer
May 19, 2002
18,106
1
76
oh and another thing

you should really practice the full test over and over again..

the problem with the actual test is not that its VERY hard, but simply because of the time limitation
 

nitsuj3580

Platinum Member
Jun 13, 2001
2,668
14
81
I didn't really study for the GRE's. Math was just like the SAT as was verbal pretty much. the Logic problems really slowed me down though. I took way too much time trying to draw tables to figure out if you have 8 people, 3 places, one guy can't go here, another can't go there, etc and had to rush through the last couple.

The FE exam was a joke at least for me since I am Computer Engineering. The test is heavily favored towards Mechanical and Civil Engineers. Us CoE/EE only have one little section and math. The test is like 8 hours and I did it in half the time and managed a passing score barely. I probably guessed on half the questions or just used the big reference book you get with the test.
 

quentinterintino

Senior member
Jul 14, 2002
375
0
0
Cool thanks for the advice... I've heard more or less the same things that you guys have said in regards to the difficulty.
 

Dedpuhl

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
10,370
0
76
Originally posted by: quentinterintino
Yeah, it seems like a beefed up version of the SAT. I'm not at all worried about the math, it's the verbal that's causing concern.

I don't think there is any good way to study for this test. I took all 3 tests on the provided CD, and my scores ranged from 900-1335. The math was always consistent (700+), but my verbal scored varied drastically. I bought this thick book to look over and didn't feel it helped one bit when I was taking the real exam.

The verbal killed my score. I scored high enough, however, to get into the engineering grad school at LSU (they require >1100 combined). I guess that's all that matters.
 

HamSupLo

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2001
4,021
0
0
I'm doing practice tests for the GRE and it's my math that is killing me. In 30 minutes, I can only finish 26/30 questions in 30 minutes.
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
The verbal is a bitch. There are always words that you have never used, and will never use. Math is much like teh SAT. If you know basic algebra and maybe some fundie calculus, you are fine.
 

quentinterintino

Senior member
Jul 14, 2002
375
0
0
Originally posted by: Tiamat
The verbal is a bitch. There are always words that you have never used, and will never use. Math is much like teh SAT. If you know basic algebra and maybe some fundie calculus, you are fine.

Yeah, exacty. My vocab is ... lacking, to say the least.
 

Special K

Diamond Member
Jun 18, 2000
7,098
0
76
I have been studying for it this summer using the Kaplan book and CD. I pretty much agree with what others have said. The verbal is a real PITA because no matter how many words you know (I memorized all the "top GRE words" listed in the Kaplan book, in addition to every word I saw on the practice tests that I didn't know) they're always going to have words on there you have never seen before. It's really hard to get an antonym question correct when you have no idea what the word means. I also agree that the reason the math is hard is because of the time restrictions. On most of the practice tests I took, would miss anywhere from 2-6 math questions, and they would always be at the end because I would run out of time and have to guess on them. The concepts they test are easy, the problem is they will have dumb quantative comparisons in there like this:

67^76 76^67

Where you have to figure out how to manipulate the numbers to get them in easily comparable forms. I just made that example up, but you get the idea. Most of the hard questions have an easy, obvious way to solve them, but it will be quite time consuming, and a shorter way that requires more thinking to discover. I usually end up taking the long, easy way which wastes time.

I am applying for grad school in EE this fall and have heard that the importance of the GRE can vary greatly from school to school. I have even heard that some engineering programs disregard the verbal scores, so maybe it won't be so bad.
 

TuxDave

Lifer
Oct 8, 2002
10,571
3
71
Originally posted by: SpecialK
...

I am applying for grad school in EE this fall and have heard that the importance of the GRE can vary greatly from school to school. I have even heard that some engineering programs disregard the verbal scores, so maybe it won't be so bad.

Back in 2002:
800 Math
800 Quantitative
510 Verbal

w00t!!!
 

welst10

Platinum Member
Mar 2, 2004
2,562
1
0
Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
Originally posted by: welst10
I got full score on math in 1996 and 560 out of 800 on verbal. verbal is hard.

verbal = vocabulary

Not totally. You have to have great grammar and fast reading speed too as the sentences are super long.
 

TuxDave

Lifer
Oct 8, 2002
10,571
3
71
Originally posted by: welst10
Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
Originally posted by: welst10
I got full score on math in 1996 and 560 out of 800 on verbal. verbal is hard.

verbal = vocabulary

Not totally. You have to have great grammar and fast reading speed too as the sentences are super long.

Good vocabulary is necessary to get past those freakin' analogies. Reading comprehension is a little tougher since they're asking you to 'analyze' the prose instead of asking 'what happened'. I'm pretty sure I suffered on the analogies.
 

quentinterintino

Senior member
Jul 14, 2002
375
0
0
Originally posted by: TuxDave
Originally posted by: welst10
Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
Originally posted by: welst10
I got full score on math in 1996 and 560 out of 800 on verbal. verbal is hard.

verbal = vocabulary

Not totally. You have to have great grammar and fast reading speed too as the sentences are super long.

Good vocabulary is necessary to get past those freakin' analogies. Reading comprehension is a little tougher since they're asking you to 'analyze' the prose instead of asking 'what happened'. I'm pretty sure I suffered on the analogies.


Yeah, hopefully they'll only be concerned w/ the math section...
 

TuxDave

Lifer
Oct 8, 2002
10,571
3
71
So what's the problem with the math section so far. Taking too much time double checking? Can't figure out what to do for a bit? Or just very slow in working out the problems.
 

quentinterintino

Senior member
Jul 14, 2002
375
0
0
I don't think i'll have a problem on the math... maybe the time contraints will be an issue but if i can still use my 89 (and i think i can), it shouldn't be that bad.
 

HamSupLo

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2001
4,021
0
0
Originally posted by: quentinterintino
I don't think i'll have a problem on the math... maybe the time contraints will be an issue but if i can still use my 89 (and i think i can), it shouldn't be that bad.

No calcs allowed, just scratch paper.
 

puffff

Platinum Member
Jun 25, 2004
2,374
0
0
took it a year ago, 800 math, 660 verbal. i think if i took it again and actually studied/crammed for it this time, i could get 700 verbal.