[evnvnv]

Who is in graduate school? Who is applying to graduate school this year?

I just took a practice GRE test and my performance was...poor. Everyone says the math is so easy that even people that don't know math will do better on that than on the words part, but I did (marginally) better on the words part. I've heard these practice tests are always way easier than the real thing, too. I've been out of real school for a long time, and away from math even longer. I am hoping if i buy one of those prep books and be diligent about it I will improve, but I don't really know HOW much I need to improve...

anyone been through this stuff before? Am I right in assuming beyond a certain point the GRE is just a formality? Also you can gloat about your super high score in this thread too... most people on this board seem like the type who would be able to well on this kind of thing.

also, if anyone is in graduate school right now, tell me a story. esp. if you are in the humanities.

i am applying to the east asian languages and cultures department at the university of southern california, and eventually a similar program at the chinese university of hong kong. i don't really expect to be admitted to either, but wishful thinking and blind ambition never killed anyone (ha, ha, ha).

[Isfet]

well, the GRE will sort of help or detract depending on how competitive the program you're applying to is. for a friend of mine who does Judaic studies and applied to schools that only accepted maybe three to five applicants into the program, the GRE score would be of some benefit.

i've heard, too, that they "don't really look" at the test score too much, or especially at the section that isn't related to what you'd be studying. i don't know how much that's true, so i wouldn't advise blowing the test off, necessarily.


you could also look into schools that don't require a GRE at all, but i guess it depends on what you're doing or planning.

[GalaxyHead]

I believe it depends on the section you're applying for. For journalism school I need a 29 on the GRE or higher to be accepted as a grad, but I have no idea what the scale is.

[boojiboy7]

Yeah, check with the schools you want to go to. A surprising amount of them really don't give a fuck about the GRE.

I am a terrible person to ask about getting better at it, as I barely paid an attention to it and did pretty decent on it.

[username]

My school just wanted you to do better than a certain arbitrary somewhat low score and that would be fine enough.

I think it was a bit different when I took it (it was three computer parts with no essay portion), and without studying I pretty much aced it, but I always did good on standardized tests. I think my low score was 650 on verbal.
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[cowboykim]

Personally, I have never taken the GRE, but when my wife was applying to graduate school, she had to take it. She is pretty damn smart, but math isnt her strong suit, and on the practice tests, she did similarly bad. What she did was actually get a study guide thing with a randomly generated GRE practice test program on it, so she could take a different GRE every time and really get some practice in. She said it really helped.

With that being said, she went to graduate school for marriage and family therapy, so math wasnt really a factor as much. She aced the verbal portion, and I guess that was what they were concerned about.

[Adilegian]

I recommend two things for taking the GRE:

(1) Focus upon the portion that your chosen discipline will care about more. I got into a high-quality Creative Writing English MA program, and my math score was terrible. When I studied, though, I'd focused mainly on the argumentative composition part and the verbal part, because that's where the school was looking for strength.

(2) Taking the GRE is often less about your knowledge of the contents, and it's more often about how well you can take the GRE.

Think of it like a videogame. Videogames reward you on how well you know and manipulate their rules rather than how well you know the materials they represent, right? (You won't play RE4 any better even if you know how to disassemble a handgun in pitch dark.) The GRE, in my experience, works the same way. Practice tests give you a better feel for how to manipulate the rules of the GRE test in your favor.

[evnvnv]

[Adilegian]

[Talbain]

yeah, the GRE has always been of questionable value, at least as much as the SAT or any other LAWLURNAWTSMRT test. I personally think the tests are just put in place to assure as few people as possible actually attempt to move up the bureaucracy... as it gets worse as you move up the ranks.

Onto the important stuff though: if you're good at what you do, or what you're studying, then it doesn't really matter what you get on the GRE (try to keep it respectable though). This does assume that you can write them a thesis they like and are interested in, and like your personality (yeah, it sucks to be anti-social in this day and age).
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[Laurel Soup]

I dropped out of grad school, so take all this with a grain of salt:

Definitely dig through their department's website to figure out who you're advisor is most likely to be. Then send them a short introductory e-mail. When you make the admittance semi-finals, and say--the board doesn't think you have enough Latin--your advisor to be might just e-mail you to tell you that, and you can tell him how you just finished up a summer course.

Also do not believe the department websites. They don't get updated that often, and the 20 professors dealing with your specialty might in reality be three.

The GRE didn't appear to be a big deal. My grades and sample work seemed to carry more weight. That probably varies school to school, but I'd wager most academic types aren't too keen on standardized testing.
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