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GRE
Sept 25, 2009 14:17:25 GMT -5
Post by BearClause on Sept 25, 2009 14:17:25 GMT -5
OK - the strange details of these standardized tests are coming back to me.
I took it way back when the GRE was taken with a booklet and a scan sheet. I actually took it twice. The first time it was a special summer session at the (former) ETS West Coast headquarters in Emeryville. I didn't do so well, but that was a nice little warmup that prepared me for the second round. The second time I took it, the only available place on the date was at San Jose State. I'd actually never been to the campus before I went there for the test.
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GRE
Sept 25, 2009 14:46:58 GMT -5
Post by Wolfgang on Sept 25, 2009 14:46:58 GMT -5
You know, looking back on those years of paper booklets and computer scan sheets, I can't help but liken them to computer punch cards. People had to actually create those punch cards, submit them to some clerk at a desk for compiling, and then several hours later, get the printout of the results. If you made one tiny mistake (e.g., a period or colon or even a misspelling of a word in a line of code), you had to go through this entire process. Very frustrating and time-consuming. How did people get anything done in the "Good Old Days?"
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GRE
Sept 25, 2009 15:35:20 GMT -5
Post by BearClause on Sept 25, 2009 15:35:20 GMT -5
You know, looking back on those years of paper booklets and computer scan sheets, I can't help but liken them to computer punch cards. People had to actually create those punch cards, submit them to some clerk at a desk for compiling, and then several hours later, get the printout of the results. If you made one tiny mistake (e.g., a period or colon or even a misspelling of a word in a line of code), you had to go through this entire process. Very frustrating and time-consuming. How did people get anything done in the "Good Old Days?" As a kid I remember filling out scan sheets. The teachers warned us that we had to fill them in properly, warning of dire consequences if we didn't completely erase an unintended mark. I remember one teacher who claimed that if we made a mistake it could cause a scan reader to blow up. She must have thought we were that gullible. As for the scan machines - have seen real ones (think lotto machines) I know they're generally quite reliable and won't blow up because of a stray mark, although it helps to make clean marks.
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GRE
Sept 25, 2009 18:47:57 GMT -5
Post by TheSantaBarbarian on Sept 25, 2009 18:47:57 GMT -5
When I did them, it was verbal, math, and logical. Also, the important thing wasn't your score, but your percentile rank.
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GRE
Sept 27, 2009 18:39:09 GMT -5
Post by st15 on Sept 27, 2009 18:39:09 GMT -5
Has anyone here taken the GMAT recently? I didn't take it for my masters program, but I have to take it for my phd program.
Any tips?? I am pretty nervous about it. I test very well but not having a calculator makes me nervous.
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GRE
Sept 27, 2009 18:40:01 GMT -5
Post by st15 on Sept 27, 2009 18:40:01 GMT -5
And congratulations, Wolfgang!
I have a feeling I'm going to walk away from the GMAT with either a 780 or a 210.
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GRE
Sept 28, 2009 8:18:12 GMT -5
Post by TheSantaBarbarian on Sept 28, 2009 8:18:12 GMT -5
Assuming the GMAT is multiple gress with no penalty for incorrect answers). Decide on an nswer, say "B" (B worked well for me.) Save 5 minutes at the end of each section and NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE WORKING ON, anser all the still blank questions with answer B. Oh, one other thing. If it is being given early ibn the morning and you may have to wait outside in the cold before being let in, under no condition should you drink a bunch of caffine that morning. My eyes started turning yellow in the middle of the logical portion of the test and I actually had to stop and hand my test to the proctor and run to the little boy's room.
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GRE
Sept 30, 2009 17:16:25 GMT -5
Post by noah121 on Sept 30, 2009 17:16:25 GMT -5
Last year, I took the GRE, both the general and the math subject. I blew the subject one sky-high (got a 540-ish, which was in the lower 1/3 of all scores), but got 540, 800, and 5.5 on the verbal, math, and writing, respectively.
I may be wrong about this, but I think that the letters of recommendation are much stronger things in your application than the GRE scores are. There are lucky guessers that will do well on the exam but not on other things, and there are people who take standardized tests poorly.
Or in my case, the subject GRE was a poor predictor for my grad school admissions since the departments I applied to were applied-applied math departments, and the Math Subject GRE definitely seemed geared more toward the people in pure math.
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GRE
Sept 30, 2009 19:41:18 GMT -5
Post by BearClause on Sept 30, 2009 19:41:18 GMT -5
Or in my case, the subject GRE was a poor predictor for my grad school admissions since the departments I applied to were applied-applied math departments, and the Math Subject GRE definitely seemed geared more toward the people in pure math. I never understood some of the GRE subject tests, which I didn't take way back when. Very few grad schools in my field required it. I do remember seeing some sample questions in the GRE engineering test and was left with an impression that ETS had no idea what people actually do in engineering programs. Basically it was some generic test across several engineering disciplines. The breadth of the test didn't seem to account for the fact that people generally specialized. A mechanical engineering major didn't necessarily have a strong grasp of electrical engineering principles or vice versa. It almost felt like they thought the title "engineer" was generic and engineers were almost Jack of All Trades like Scotty in Star Trek. Apparently ETS discontinued the GRE engineering test in 2001. www.physicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1077
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