Physics GRE

[Fernanda]

Has anyone here taken the Physics GRE? Please share your story with us. Tell us what you feel helped, and what didn\'t. Feel free to add any sources you may have used that did/did not help you.

[Fernanda]

Has anyone here taken the Physics GRE? Please share your story with us. Tell us what you feel helped, and what didn\'t. Feel free to add any sources you may have used that did/did not help you.

[chroot]

I\'ll let you know in November.... :no:

- Warren

[chroot]

I\'ll let you know in November.... :no:

- Warren

[lethe]

physics GRE. i took that. my advice? don t worry about it. i think you do better on tests if you just relax and don t worry about them so much.

perhaps smoke a bowl.

[lethe]

physics GRE. i took that. my advice? don t worry about it. i think you do better on tests if you just relax and don t worry about them so much.

perhaps smoke a bowl.

[Fernanda]

Some universities downplay it...saying that it measures how fast you can think, and not a good measure of graduate school performance.

I\'m wondering now if it\'s even worth it for those universities that don\'t care for it...I\'ll have an MS by the time I apply.

[Fernanda]

Some universities downplay it...saying that it measures how fast you can think, and not a good measure of graduate school performance.

I\'m wondering now if it\'s even worth it for those universities that don\'t care for it...I\'ll have an MS by the time I apply.

[lethe]

Originally posted by Fernanda
I\'m wondering now if it\'s even worth it for those universities that don\'t care for it...I\'ll have an MS by the time I apply.

hmm.... i was under the impression that it is required at most US schools, even if they don t stress it very heavily. is this not the case?

anyway, what i have been told is that physics departments don t care a fig for the general GRE, but a lot of them do care about the physics subject test. what did you hear about it?

i did stellar on the physics GRE, and i think that is the main reason i got in where i did, since i didn t do much physics as an undergrad.

[lethe]

Originally posted by Fernanda
I\'m wondering now if it\'s even worth it for those universities that don\'t care for it...I\'ll have an MS by the time I apply.

hmm.... i was under the impression that it is required at most US schools, even if they don t stress it very heavily. is this not the case?

anyway, what i have been told is that physics departments don t care a fig for the general GRE, but a lot of them do care about the physics subject test. what did you hear about it?

i did stellar on the physics GRE, and i think that is the main reason i got in where i did, since i didn t do much physics as an undergrad.

[Fernanda]

Some Ivy league schools have said that the Physics GRE isn\'t as important to them as say, the undergraduate GPA. Some schools don\'t require them at all. Others it\'s very important...

[Fernanda]

Some Ivy league schools have said that the Physics GRE isn\'t as important to them as say, the undergraduate GPA. Some schools don\'t require them at all. Others it\'s very important...

[apirkle]

I took the Physics GRE in November 2003. The style of questions was more or less what I expected based on the few practice tests that I was able to find (photocopies that I found in the UT SPS lounge).

I didn\'t study very much, and I found myself doing especially bad on the questions about geometric optics and special relativity - reasonably easy topics that I could have refreshed myself on in no more than a few hours, I think.

One interesting thing that I noticed was that I had read several chapters from the Feynman Lectures (the 3 volume set) the night before the test, and doing so actually helped me to answer several questions (maybe as many as 5 or 6) correctly. I really like those books; they have a lot of interesting insights and lucid descriptions, and at times are even be exciting to read.

In the end, my score wasn\'t terribly good and I\'m wishing that I had worked out a lot more problems while studying (and I didn\'t study very much). I\'m thinking about retaking it in April, so does anyone have suggestions on how to study?

I\'m thinking that I\'ll just start going through my mechanics, e&m, and quantum textbooks and doing some problems from each chapter. I\'ll also try to make time to read through the Feynman lectures, and try to work through some problems that are alluded to in the text (there are no \"official\" problems in those books).

[Fernanda]

yeah...we still like you no matter what...

I\'m sure departments look for a variety of issue, and for grad schools they want someone that can show evidence that they can do research, not necessarely test well.

[spdf13]

Uugghh! What a nightmare. I am the worst at standardized testing, and completley stunk it up at the phyx gre\'s. I did so badly, that I decided to expose myself to the horror a second time. I did much better the second time around, knowing what to expect, and eventually got accepted to the schools I wanted to. I\'ve noticed that less and less schools are interested in the phyx gre\'s in the last few years.

While were on the subject, here\'s another beef I got. On the general gre\'s why is there no calculus or more advanced math. You need a fricken Ph.D. in the english language to pass the verbal section of the test, however all you need is a basic highschool level of mathematics to do fine on the math part. Oh well, I\'m just glad I\'m done with standardized testing for the rest of my life!

[arjun_narayanan]

Hi I accidentally deleted my original post making fernanda\'s post seem out of the blue.

just to put that post in context.
I had originally posted , lamenting my horrendous scores.

Does anyone know of people who have got into good grad schools with a 660
Perhaps I will \'expose myself to the horror of a second subject test\' myself
thanks

[Edited on 1-28-2004 by arjun_narayanan]

[Fernanda]

I thought so...I wasn\'t sure if it was deleted...lol

[errandir]

Originally posted by spdf13
You need a fricken Ph.D. in the english language to pass the verbal section of the test, however all you need is a basic highschool level of mathematics to do fine on the math part.I never gave it much thought until now, but you make a great point. I\'m assuming that you\'re talking about the ridiculously obscure vocabulary that you\'ve never heard before even after getting a B.S./B.A. in college. That is a strange disproportionality.

[hhegab]

Hi,
Well, I am planning to take the GRE Physics next November so I need to know which books do I need to read from. I have;
1-Serway\'s book- I am here all by myself, I do a self-study.
2-Halliday\'s book with no manual.
3-books for QM, ClassM, NuclearPh.
4-The purple book.
5-The ETS book and the booklet.
I would love to do the reading and solving with someone intending to take the test.
Any ideas are all welcomed.

HH

[Edited on 29-1-2004 by hhegab]

[Edited on 29-1-2004 by hhegab]

[Fernanda]

Many universities offer GRE prep courses, so if anyone out there has a link, or even a prof willing to make up a GRE help page, I\'ll host it for them. But is has to help us too, not just their students.

[hhegab]

I could find Serway\'s manual and I have ALL the solutions now for this course 4th edition.
I think I will stick to serway.

HH
PS.
As I am here all bymyself, I think I found a treasure :D

[errandir]

Originally posted by hhegab
I could find Serway\'s manual and I have ALL the solutions now for this course 4th edition.
I think I will stick to serway.I used Serway when I took physics (not as a Phys major though). I have since had the \"priveledge\" of trying to tutor out of Halliday and Resnick. I must say that I much prefer Serway. I kept the book, and I refer to it often.

[jpsi]

I am sorry to bother topic, and forum which is not actually connected with information that I am looking for, but I have a little problem...

I am highschool Junior, who would like to attend MIT [Bio, Phys].

I have some achievements, quite good scores and grades, some research, but very simple [not because the lack of ideas, actually.].

But I do not know, what I compare with students from US, and collegeconfidential site, or others are not significant, since we haven\'t [in Poland] as many programs for teenagers as in US or Western Europe.

I am thinking of passing GRE Biochemistry, Genetics and Mol. Bio. and maybe Physics to rasie my chances of getting in MIT. It is easier to me, since I like to learn sophisticate things rather that easy ones...

I ended also exercises in genetics on university, several years ago, so and at first glance I suspect above 600 from GRE biochem... about 100/180. Might be more, because I am planning to take a research on magnetosomes during this holidays, so I will be trained [and also learn from books]. So it can be [?] 120-130.

What Do You think about it? How would You see such a case?

It is really crucial. Spendings on science has fallen in recent years for 33%! From 0,9 % to 0,6 % [:mad:Yes, I know...]. It is harder and harder to obtain place to make a doctoral thesis, so talented people are learning in schools, people are becaming frustrated and starting careers in economy, or in informatics.

I have loads of ideas, and do not want to get frustrated, and revolt from experimewntal science to bioinformatician, or physico-informatian :(.

Please help.

[jpsi]

What does abbreviation [?] MS mean?

[Fernanda]

are you refering to GRE or SAT\'s? I really don\'t doubt that you could be a genius, but to think that you can take GRE exams and be able to compete as a high school student to students that have a bachelors or maybe even a masters in these subject seems naiive to me.

please clarify, cause I think either you are mistaken about the names, or mistaken about the level or knowledge required for an exam in biochem or genetics...

you must mean the SAT\'s...

[jpsi]

I am a bit confused now.

I took the test which is on the website [literally: took] and looked at several questions, i knew the answer for 4/5, but the fifth that was bad had percentile of 8%.

I do not know, how it is with the level.
I simply looked at several questions [like 45,th 86th... not the first ones] differed in percentile of correct answers.

I do not have a time by now, but I will take this test from gre.org website and tell how much I got. Because this was not appropriate statistics [only several repeats ;)][I have only one test, and I would like to make a quick one-weekend review before].
I will send exact value, ok?

I do not know, but maybe genetics and biochem are easier than physics?

The questions are like those taken directly from \"Genomes\" , or \"Instant notes in Genetics\" , and more American: \"Genes\" by Lewin :) But actually, honestly, I don\'t like this book, maybe that is due to edition [5th] which is biggest, and too direct as for me [I like condensed information].
Sometimes knowledge from nature, or bioessays is useful. But actually, 2nd level, some times 3rd.

But I do not know. I thought that this test is not that hard. confused :(

[Edited on 4-15-2004 by jpsi]

[jpsi]

I am talking only about one GRE subject test. Not about passing GRE [Verbal, Maths...] at all.


But from the other hand, I can write it worse than graduates, but mauybe still good, as for junior.

[Edited on 4-15-2004 by jpsi]

[jpsi]

I agree, that I only glanced at physics test. I do not know actually the ken needed. So let\'s talk about biology rather...

[spirit_wasa]

Call me stupid but im australian and can someone tell me what on earth the GRE is?

[Fernanda]

Graduate Record Exam...it\'s got one that is a general Math/Verbal/Analytical Parts to it...and some schools require a subject test.

It\'s to get in to graduate schools here in America. :D

[Larne]

Check out http://www.physicsgre.com/ , there\'s lots of good info there. There have also been a few relevant discussions on sci.physics.research, check google.

I took the test last November, and for what it\'s worth my preparation consisted of Fishbane for a standard presentation, various books in the \"Schaum\'s Outlines\" series for additional practice problems, and the Feynman lectures for insight. Rounding this out was \"the purple book\" and the three practice tests from ETS which I was lucky enough to find on half.com.

In the end I didn\'t do as well as I would have liked; the massive head cold I had at the time certainly didn\'t help. But I also think I should have studied some slightly more advanced material.

It\'s hard to say how much the score really meant, since my situation is unusual in a number of ways.