These are my GRE scores. Tell me what you think.

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Orwell
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07 Aug 2011, 12:44 am

CaptainTrips222 wrote:
Yeah... I guess it depends on how well everyone else did, but even that depends on where they're pulling the scores from.

Right, but they should re-scale the numerical scores listed to more or less reflect percentile ranks. If that results in them having to curve it too much, a re-write of the test is necessary- the verbal section is much, much harder than the math portion. A fairly large number of test-takers are able to pull a perfect 800 in math, but few people are even able to get to 700 verbal.

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The information you have to study for is extremely varied and random.

There's not too much information to know. Basic trig and other simple high-school math is all you need for the quantitative section. To get a decent verbal score you need only a good command of the English language, but you'll struggle to get a high score unless you have a freakishly extensive vocabulary. Heck, when I took an IQ test I hit the "ceiling" on the verbal component- meaning my verbal intelligence was too high to be measured by the test. I still found the verbal GRE difficult and only got a 730. The math portion on the other hand was too easy- mostly stuff I hadn't thought about in years and still only one question that I missed toward the end (and that only because I was low on time and chose to guess rather than work it out). It's a very unbalanced test. You can tell it's aimed mostly at liberal arts and humanities students, but then you have engineering and science students taking it.

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I talked to so many people that think the GRE just sucks. And it probably sucks even worse now that it changed in August.

It's terrible even compared to other standardized tests. I specifically took the GRE right before they changed the format- there was enough information about the old test that I could figure out how to game it, and I didn't want to be part of the experimental first year of new GRE.


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Artros
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07 Aug 2011, 2:02 am

Orwell wrote:
Right, but they should re-scale the numerical scores listed to more or less reflect percentile ranks. If that results in them having to curve it too much, a re-write of the test is necessary- the verbal section is much, much harder than the math portion. A fairly large number of test-takers are able to pull a perfect 800 in math, but few people are even able to get to 700 verbal.


The main problem is that they give you leeway on the quantitative part: you can make errors and still get the perfect score (which I found to be frustrating). If they change that, it would be a bit nicer and it would also make more sense for engineers and the like.

Quote:
There's not too much information to know. Basic trig and other simple high-school math is all you need for the quantitative section. To get a decent verbal score you need only a good command of the English language, but you'll struggle to get a high score unless you have a freakishly extensive vocabulary. Heck, when I took an IQ test I hit the "ceiling" on the verbal component- meaning my verbal intelligence was too high to be measured by the test. I still found the verbal GRE difficult and only got a 730. The math portion on the other hand was too easy- mostly stuff I hadn't thought about in years and still only one question that I missed toward the end (and that only because I was low on time and chose to guess rather than work it out). It's a very unbalanced test. You can tell it's aimed mostly at liberal arts and humanities students, but then you have engineering and science students taking it.


I totally agree. The verbal section is ridiculous. I personally especially found the text questions to be insane. I've never been good at that type of question, but I had so many problems with the GRE texts. The antonyms and analogs were also very difficult. I pride myself on my knowledge of the English language, but there were a number of words in there that I had never read before (and I know that a few questions I only got because of my knowledge of Greek and Latin). On the other hand, the fill-in questions were really easy.


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CaptainTrips222
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07 Aug 2011, 8:04 am

Artros wrote:
Orwell wrote:
Right, but they should re-scale the numerical scores listed to more or less reflect percentile ranks. If that results in them having to curve it too much, a re-write of the test is necessary- the verbal section is much, much harder than the math portion. A fairly large number of test-takers are able to pull a perfect 800 in math, but few people are even able to get to 700 verbal.


The main problem is that they give you leeway on the quantitative part: you can make errors and still get the perfect score (which I found to be frustrating). If they change that, it would be a bit nicer and it would also make more sense for engineers and the like.

Quote:
There's not too much information to know. Basic trig and other simple high-school math is all you need for the quantitative section. To get a decent verbal score you need only a good command of the English language, but you'll struggle to get a high score unless you have a freakishly extensive vocabulary. Heck, when I took an IQ test I hit the "ceiling" on the verbal component- meaning my verbal intelligence was too high to be measured by the test. I still found the verbal GRE difficult and only got a 730. The math portion on the other hand was too easy- mostly stuff I hadn't thought about in years and still only one question that I missed toward the end (and that only because I was low on time and chose to guess rather than work it out). It's a very unbalanced test. You can tell it's aimed mostly at liberal arts and humanities students, but then you have engineering and science students taking it.


I totally agree. The verbal section is ridiculous. I personally especially found the text questions to be insane. I've never been good at that type of question, but I had so many problems with the GRE texts. The antonyms and analogs were also very difficult. I pride myself on my knowledge of the English language, but there were a number of words in there that I had never read before (and I know that a few questions I only got because of my knowledge of Greek and Latin). On the other hand, the fill-in questions were really easy.


Well, you guys must be much more skilled at math than I am. I admit, most people say the math portion is easy and the verbal part is more difficult, but for me it was the other way around. Because of depression and personal problems, I hadn't seriously applied myself to a math course since I was 16. The classes I took in college, I coasted by, and didn't retain anything. Had I known then what I know now emotionally, and had a handle on my impairments, it would be a whole different story. When I started studying in advance for the GRE I was picking up where I left off at sophomore year in high school, in a sense. So... I was kind of fighting math atrophy. I studied both the Kaplan course online, and got a Barron's GRE book. I found a lot of the information in both to be extremely varied. They explained how the problems were done, but it seemed every problems had a unique approach. It was just all very overwhelming for me. 8O



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07 Aug 2011, 10:56 am

I have a very mathematical mind. It just comes easily to me. So you probably should not take my complaining very seriously.


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Orwell
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07 Aug 2011, 7:57 pm

Artros wrote:
The main problem is that they give you leeway on the quantitative part: you can make errors and still get the perfect score (which I found to be frustrating).

I only missed one math question, and did not get a perfect score. From what I understand, more leeway is given for missing verbal questions, but not enough to offset the huge difference in difficulty.

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I totally agree. The verbal section is ridiculous. I personally especially found the text questions to be insane. I've never been good at that type of question, but I had so many problems with the GRE texts. The antonyms and analogs were also very difficult. I pride myself on my knowledge of the English language, but there were a number of words in there that I had never read before (and I know that a few questions I only got because of my knowledge of Greek and Latin). On the other hand, the fill-in questions were really easy.

I agree entirely. I even got to see the "reasoning" behind some of their answers with the prep program published by ETS. Some of the antonyms/synonyms and analogs were really stretching the definitions of words, or using obscure alternate meanings. I also pride myself on my English- I would even correct my English teacher's grammar- but virtually no one has that kind of vocabulary.


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08 Aug 2011, 1:17 am

Orwell wrote:
Artros wrote:
The main problem is that they give you leeway on the quantitative part: you can make errors and still get the perfect score (which I found to be frustrating).

I only missed one math question, and did not get a perfect score. From what I understand, more leeway is given for missing verbal questions, but not enough to offset the huge difference in difficulty.


Hmm, that makes me feel better about my quantitative score. ^_^

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I totally agree. The verbal section is ridiculous. I personally especially found the text questions to be insane. I've never been good at that type of question, but I had so many problems with the GRE texts. The antonyms and analogs were also very difficult. I pride myself on my knowledge of the English language, but there were a number of words in there that I had never read before (and I know that a few questions I only got because of my knowledge of Greek and Latin). On the other hand, the fill-in questions were really easy.

I agree entirely. I even got to see the "reasoning" behind some of their answers with the prep program published by ETS. Some of the antonyms/synonyms and analogs were really stretching the definitions of words, or using obscure alternate meanings. I also pride myself on my English- I would even correct my English teacher's grammar- but virtually no one has that kind of vocabulary.


I agree. I remember being really miffed at one of the practice tests because I actually felt the answer they gave was wrong. It is sometimes so obscure.

How did you do on the texts, though? I hated those.


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Orwell
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08 Aug 2011, 3:17 pm

Artros wrote:
How did you do on the texts, though? I hated those.

Were those the questions about the short writing passages? I didn't have trouble with that part; it seemed like a simple check of reading comprehension.


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08 Aug 2011, 4:21 pm

Orwell wrote:
Artros wrote:
How did you do on the texts, though? I hated those.

Were those the questions about the short writing passages? I didn't have trouble with that part; it seemed like a simple check of reading comprehension.


Yes, those. I found them to be extremely vague now and then. Then again, reading comprehension never was my strongest suite. It was always my vocabulary (some people in elementary school called me a walking dictionary. I always took that as a compliment, though I'm not so sure of that anymore).


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13 Aug 2011, 8:11 am

Your scores seem quite reasonable to me. That said, I exist within the Aussie system so my affinity with GRE is a bit less than most.

All I can recommend is padding out your application with as much extra-curricular stuff as you can and good luck.


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13 Aug 2011, 10:19 am

I think the only thing that makes the verbal difficult is that there are so many obscure words. If you make some flash cards and study them, you'll do well.

The math was difficult for me because I only took ONE math course in college. It wasn't fresh in my mind. If I had taken the GRE math course at the end of high school, I probably would've done a lot better.



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10 Sep 2012, 10:41 am

I'm not trying to be evasive by not giving the actual numbers but I simply don't have the exact figures anymore (tried to get a copy from ETS quite recently because I was interested in reviewing this info for a particular purpose, but they don't have this on file anymore)... And unfortunately, I don't have the trait some people with AS seem to have about remembering numbers.

At any rate however, I recall my verbal score was fantastic, one of the other portions was remarkably average, and the third was somewhere in between. I remember at the time being horrified by the disparity. I took these at a time way before I was diagnosed with AS, so I was kind of in denial at that time that there might be anything "going on" with me like this. (Diagnosed in adulthood).

Fairly recently had an IQ test however (WASI) Verbal: T=70 / 130 / 98%; Nonverbal: T=66 / 124 / 95% The verbal looks consistent with where I generally recollect I was on the GRE. Again however there was a considerable disparity between verbal and the lowest thing.

Any other people notice this kind of disparity in their numbers on stuff like this? GRE, or other standardized tests, IQ scores, etc? I'd be interested in hearing from other Aspies (etc) about their experience with regard to this. I gather this is not uncommon for people on the spectrum, but I've only heard that anecdotally, so more information on this would be great. Thanks!



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10 Sep 2012, 6:25 pm

I think the GRE is, largely, a huge waste of time. I think that SUBJECT-specific GREs are fine. And I think that the analytical writing section of the standard GRE is good, because, no matter what graduate-level subject you want to study, you need to be able to logically analyze arguments and evidence. However, the standard verbal and math GRE is stupid, if you ask me. First of all, it's essentially the next generation of the SAT. Study upon study has shown that your scores on the SAT tend not to vary much. After all, if the scores weren't relatively consistent, there would be no test-retest validity. So, if you were accepted to college based on a certain SAT score, aren't you pretty much going to score around the same on the GRE? And even if you throw that argument aside, clearly, if you've done well in college, you have mastered the skills necessary for academia. I'm all for testing you on the specific subject you want to get a graduate degree in, but basic verbal and math is downright pointless if you ask me.

Also, I think the test being on the computer is very poor for people such as myself who have a learning disability. I was allowed extended time on my GRE, which is why I was able to get a 600 on the math (a miracle for me), but I think I got a 590 on the verbal. So laughable considering I have NVLD and verbal abilities have always been my strength. But I had great difficulty taking the verbal portion of the GRE, because everything you read was on the computer screen. I am a very slow reader to begin with, and I am doubly slow when I have to keep scrolling down on the computer and readjusting my eyes.

I'm not in grad school yet (obviously, I'm going to retake the GREs before I reapply, whenever that may be, but sadly there is no neuroscience GRE), but I hope the format is better by the time I re-take it. As I mentioned earlier, the only score/test I found to be worthwhile was the analytical writing section, which I did score well on. (I think I got a "5"?) I see no value in a test of general knowledge that you have to "study" for. What's the point in studying the obscure vocabulary just to get a good score, if you don't remember it after the test? That's not natural knowledge. The GRE is just another example of how higher education is becoming more and more about scores and grades rather than an individual's passion for learning and innate inquiry.


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12 Sep 2012, 4:37 pm

CaptainTrips222 wrote:
580 Verbal
550 Quantitative
4 Analytical writing

As you can see, I didn't post this to brag. I am proud of myself for making the effort, because I did work hard at it. I spent three months studying daily. I really, really tried hard. But I don't know if it was all worth it. I may have just gotten lucky on the quantitative, because I guessed on some of the data interpretation.

So, hit me with your judgements. HOLD NOTHING BACK! I need the truth. Is this a poor score? The school I'm applying to starts at 500 in each category, but most people do better than this.

If you took the GRE, how did you do? Do you think I'll get into grad school?


If you are applying to a graduate department that isn't in the top 20, along with good GPA/letters of rec/resume, then your GRE score will not hold you back.

That being said, I think you should study more and retake it. Why? A lot of grant money and financial aid for graduate students is tied in with their GRE score. Having a higher GRE score just makes you stand out more and more likely to receive admission and extra help.

Orwell wrote:
Now, this is what bugs me about the GRE. The numerical scores the OP listed were similar, but such a huge gap in percentile ranks? When I took the GRE recently, I actually got a higher percentile rank on the verbal despite having a "lower" score in that section. ETS seriously needs to re-scale these tests, or change the fact that there is such a damn big difficulty gap between the two sections. The same score should mean roughly the same percentile rank on the math and verbal sections.


For the new GRE, the difficulty between the two is less. However, the verbal section is still blatantly harder.

Also, instead of a maximum score of 800 points for each section, now it is out of 170 points. So it is a one point increment instead of 10 points. This makes it easier to compare two candidate's GRE scores.

I have been studying for the new GRE, and I actually like the new GRE better than the old one. There are no analogies, you write your essays using a word processor (hello, 21st century!!), an arithmetic calculator is provided, and I feel the test format is far more clear. The new GRE is a slightly closer to testing what you would really do in graduate school.

Unfortunately, there are problems that still remain. Standardized tests are a scam, and I'd be the first one to tell you this even if I got a perfect score.

For example, you could have a very expansive vocabulary and ,on that particular testing day, the GRE tests just the few words that you know. Does this mean you have a sucky vocab? No. Thus, it doesn't accurately predict your vocab level. I find the Vocab section is more of a memorization/vocabulary test than a "reasoning test".

I contacted the GRE and I asked them which dictionary they use to define their vocabulary words. I got an ambiguous "any dictionary you use in college" will do. So I know they are probably being really sloppy and defining their words using different dictionaries. That's a big no-no, because dictionaries have slightly different meanings associated with them.