I am in terrible trouble! (GRE math)

I have been reviewing basic math for the last month or two to refresh my GRE scores. Five years ago, I did relatively well. I'm now testing as much as 300 or so points lower than before!

I am in trouble. I am continuing to review, but other than the obvious procedure (focus on the areas where I'm weakest, etc.) I just don't know where I'm going to be in two weeks.

Any suggestions?

ACK!

~Writer~

I'm failing Calculus...:cry:

this is high school algebra and geometry. :(

I can do algebra...geometry not so much. :)

so tests like these don't impede one's ability to, say, get into doctoral programs. :)

I don't. So all I can offer is moral support. :hug:

on edit: the gre isnt testing for actual math ability. i got a 750 in gre math by following the pr instructions

is Princeton better?

to solve GRE Math.

which is not regular math.

:hi:

Was this a Princton math review, or a whole GRE review?

though they have excellent test taking techniques

In fact, it's what made me drop out of school and get my GED.

judging from your handle. I tested top 3% verbal, had perfect analytical writing score, and then bombed the math with bottom 27%. I still got into a PhD program with a distinguished doctoral fellowship. In fact, many social sciences departments abhor standardized testing and are willing to forgive a weak math score since it has little to no bearing on your performance as a writer or analyst of SS/Hum theory. There are some exceptions of course, but this is coming straight from the mouths of many profs I have known. They care much more about your recs (VERY important), statement of purpose (ALSO VERY IMPORTANT-keep it defined to a specific area you can justify as worthy of a dissertation; justify why THIS program is most suited to that area of interest and name specific professors) your previous undergrad record (most especially in relevant subjects), awards/recognition you might have garnered, and perhaps whether or not you know someone within the department who can "vouch" for you. I suggest communicating with the departments early on, know the professors' specialties and areas of interest, etc. If you get turned down, don't lose heart. Departments are overwhelmed with many worthy and qualified applications and funding is being slashed across the board for Hum/SS.

Most of all, because there is a certain degree of chance something you say might catch the fancy of a reviewer, Good Luck!

ON EDIT: IIRC, your 2 or 3 most current GRE scores are reported to the schools; they are not averaged they are just reported unless they are more than 10 years old. Please correct if wrong.

I am applying (reapplying) to a PhD program at the same school where I earned my Master's degree. I was waitlisted last year (they place only 5 funded candidates a year), and I am applying again. I do know the faculty and left the school with a good reputation in the department, especially with my former thesis adviser.

My PhD would be in media and cultural studies, so yes, my math scores are less relevant; HOWEVER, they do look for a minimum overall score. My most recent scores (five years old and about to expire) were at the minimum, and it would be terrible if I were to retake the GRE and score lower.

(Note: I graduated with Honors as an undergraduate from the Univ. of Texas... and I barely broke 1000 on my SAT's. These tests are not my specialty. Other than the writing portion, they do not test for critical reasoning.)

it's not a good sign if you're applying to a school for PhD where you got your MA. I was strictly told to "spread my wings" and apply elsewhere even though I had excellent grades and record at that school. You really have to have strong support in the program or else they will strongly tend to admit "new blood" and even more strongly tend to give outside people funding. I think the best thing you can do is put some mild pressure on your contacts there; get an idea of whether or not you've got a shot at funding. They may not say "YOU" do/don't, but a sympathetic ear will put it in safe hypotheticals: "a candidate with X situation (eerily similar to yours) would be considered Y by the committee".

As for the GRE situation- my situation was that they made me retake them to meet the min. req. for the fellowship; interestingly I improved my verbal over 200 points since I originally took them and only did a bit worse in math. So my thinking is that even if you took them cold, as I did, you would improve the verbal just by the merit that you have been in grad school absorbing new vocab and learning enough critical theory to really do strongly in the verbal. Fuck the math, you can't study a bunch of "tricks" quickly; that only works for people who have a foundational knowledge of the shit in the first place. Trust me I know from experience and from using those books. What I found I couldn't remember from HS math was all that postulate and theorem BS you really just need to memorize; some of it you could think through without it but it just ended up wasting time. I cold guessed a LOT of the math; that's better than not finishing it. So unless you have several weeks or more to hire a math tutor, cramming isn't going to help. Looking over strats for the sections you CAN ace is a better use of your time to bring up your mean score IMHO.

But honestly. FUCK GRAD SCHOOL UNLESS YOU'RE TOTALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT YOUR SUBJECT AREA. it's a cruel cold job market out there; those old tenured leather patch on the tweed corduroy jacket profs aren't dying fast enough to make room for us all.

Good luck and let me know how it turns out.

I only had two or three days to practice, and spent the entire time reviewing geometry (what grade WAS that, anyway????) You know, just memorizing the formulae for radius and circumference, etc. Plus I ended up testing higher in real life than on the practice tests.

It's a wonderful site I discovered while in precalc and used it all the way through calc III. The site is written for secondary-school students, but it's so brilliantly done I used it anyway. She writes single-topic handouts for math from 7th grade through advanced algebra and some trig. I bet I hit the site 25 times a day during some lessons. See the "Lessons Index."

http://www.purplemath.com/

If the school doesn't have one you can use, advertise or somehow find yourself one. Good luck

Buy the Princeton review. It teaches you how to take the test, rather than the subject matter. I suggest this for the entire GRE, not just the math. I am terrible with standardized tests and this review helped me get into a good grad school program.

Math is the most logical thing there is. Follow the rules, get the right answer. Every time.

Bake