Has anyone taken the GRE general test?

[Spoooon]

How was it? From the description and what I've heard, it's not very hard. How was it in comparison to the SAT or ACT? I'm planning on just taking it to see how I do.

 

[Arschloch]

I found the GRE to be more difficult than the SAT/ACT. Difficult as in, if I took both tests as an 11th grader, I'd score better on the SAT/ACT. That said, the GRE wasn't very difficult. You've also picked up 3-4 years of knowledge since taking the SAT/ACT, so scoring better on the GRE is pretty common, I'd imagine.

 

[Spoooon]

Did you take the computerized one? From the website, it sounds like that's the only way it was offered. Sounds good so far though.

 

[SpecialEd]

from my experience, the word in the verbal section are alot more difficult than the SAT. However the Quantative section hasn't gotten any harder at all. The Analytical section (personal favorite) is not that bad. However people traditionally do the worst in this section. But if your brain works analytically, you won't have much trouble at all.

Alot of it depends on what your studying in College. I was a math major, so all my quantative and analytical skills were up to par. however my roommate hadn't taken a math course since High School, so he definitely struggled with those sections.

 

[Spoooon]

Well, I'm a psyc major, but I've taken 30-40 hours of calculus, physics, and chemistry for engineers, so I'm not afraid.

 

[dullard]

The GRE was a piece of cake for the most part. However it will be changing within a year I think.

The current test has a math section that is at about the 8th grade level. If you can do pre-algebra, you can ace the math section.

The current test has a logic section that looks like this:
Suzy sits directly right of Leo. Bob sits across from Suzy. Who sits directly left of Suzy?
The answer is easy (Leo).
It does take a little practice though, otherwise the problems may take you off guard. However with about 3 practice tests, I don't know anyone (including myself) who hasn't scored a perfect 800 on the logic section. It is the people who don't practice the logic section who perform miserably.

The word section is more tricky - you need to memorize unusual words to ace it. However it doesn't test any skill or anything like that. You just need to know things like the definition of Zyzzyva (Spelling corrected). By the way the answer is a weevil (a type of beetle). If you know very little vocabulary, you will score just below average.

So it is relatively easy to get 2000 total (400+800+800) on the GRE. Many graduate colleges require a minimum of about 1400 combined on the GRE to get in - but exclusive schools require more even up to 2000. Note: just having the minimum doesn't mean you qualify for the school. Edit for a science field, most universities don't even look at the verbal section and desire a 1100-1200 total from math and logic. With a physics background that should be an easy hurdle. For a psychology field, the verbal score may be more important, but I don't know what is usually required.

 

[Jfur]

<< Many graduate colleges require about 1400 on the GRE to get in. Edit for a science field, most universities don't even look at the verbal section and desire a 1100-1200 total from math and logic. >>



Is that for real? :Q

 

[dullard]

<< Is that for real? :Q >>



The GRE is just one small part of the whole application. Thus they don't put the GRE scores too high to prevent students from coming. Here is data from the some highly "respected" science and engineering universities (MIT, Stanford, Cal Berkley, etc):
Average logic GRE score: about 715 out of 800
Average math GRE score: about 765 out of 800
Average verbal GRE score: not even kept track of.

So to get into a "respected" school, you should be looking at 1400 total of math and logic. However most schools aren't that exclusive, making a 1200 math and logic total quite acceptable. Since they don't even keep track of an average verbal score, you can see that they don't place much emphasis on it. I guess if you fail the verbal part miserably, that will be a strike against you, but even if you are close to average a good math and logic total will easily carry you through.

As you can see in the Science and Engineering field, the average students at many universities got nearly perfect math and logic. Thus the math and logic are just far too easy...

I put "respected" in quotes since a reputation has nothing to do with the amount of learning you will aquire in a university.

 

[Jfur]

<<

<< Is that for real? :Q >>



The GRE is just one small part of the whole application. Thus they don't put the GRE scores too high to prevent students from coming. Here is data from the some highly "respected" science and engineering universities (MIT, Stanford, Cal Berkley, etc):
Average logic GRE score: about 715 out of 800
Average math GRE score: about 765 out of 800
Average verbal GRE score: not even kept track of.

So to get into a "respected" school, you should be looking at 1400 total of math and logic. However most schools aren't that exclusive, making a 1200 math and logic total quite acceptable. Since they don't even keep track of an average verbal score, you can see that they don't place much emphasis on it. I guess if you fail the verbal part miserably, that will be a strike against you, but even if you are close to average a good math and logic total will easily carry you through.

As you can see in the Science and Engineering field, the average students at many universities got nearly perfect math and logic. Thus the math and logic are just far too easy...

I put "respected" in quotes since a reputation has nothing to do with the amount of learning you will aquire in a university. >>



I thought you meant 1400 combined (all three) -- that would be below average, so it shocked me. 700+ in several areas makes a lot more sense. Some programs do require a combine score (e.g. 2000+) while I have seen some that count only one of the areas.

 

[dullard]

<< I thought you meant 1400 combined (all three) -- that would be below average, so it shocked me. 700+ in several areas makes a lot more sense. Some programs do require a combine score (e.g. 2000+) while I have seen some that count only one of the areas. >>



I did mean 1400 combined. But that was a bare minimum from many universities. Having the bare minimum doesn't mean you will get in. But few schools actually look at just the combined total. Thus I showed a science/engineering type score that is more typical for admission.

The most "repected" schools require far above the 1400 combined minimum, but I've seen quite a few lesser known schools that would be happy to accept someone with a 1400 combined. However I cannot see anyone who put 1 weeks of work into preparing getting much less than 1600.

Edit: to back it up, I just did a quick search for "minimum GRE". I looked at the first few sites and saw minimum combined GREs of: 1200, 1400, 1400, 1400, 1600, 1800, 1400, 1500, 1500.