Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Which Schools Require the GRE Mathematics Subject Test
The top ten U.S. Graduate Mathematics Programs according to U.S. News Rankings and whether or not they require the GRE Mathematics Subject Test:
The top ten U.S. Graduate Statistics Programs according to U.S. News Rankings and whether or not they require the GRE Mathematics Subject Test:
- MIT - Required
- Harvard - Required
- Princeton - Required
- Stanford - Required
- UC Berkeley - Required
- U Chicago - Required
- Cal Tech - Required
- UCLA - Required
- Michigan Ann Arbor - Required
- Columbia - Required
The top ten U.S. Graduate Statistics Programs according to U.S. News Rankings and whether or not they require the GRE Mathematics Subject Test:
- Stanford - Required
- UC Berkeley - Optional
- Harvard - Optional
- Washington - Strongly Recommended
- Johns Hopkins - Required
- U Chicago - Strongly Recommended
- Carnegie Mellon - Not Requested
- Duke - Not Requested
- UNC Chapel Hill - Not Requested
- NC State - Not Requested
Stanford and Harvard Average GMAT Scores
Stanford Average GMAT score: 720
Harvard Average GMAT score: 711
Harvard Average GMAT score: 711
Friday, September 10, 2010
Optimized GRE Vocab Practice Game Application
Last summer, I made a GRE vocab practice game that adapts to each user's performance. The app quizzes you over vocabulary questions, and the user checks off any word that he already knows. Then, the user will not see that word any more, so he can focus on the words that he still needs to learn.
Recently, I've had some ideas on how to further optimize this app. I'll give more details in a later post.
In the meantime, try the GRE vocab practice game by TyrannosaurusPrep.
Recently, I've had some ideas on how to further optimize this app. I'll give more details in a later post.
In the meantime, try the GRE vocab practice game by TyrannosaurusPrep.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
"Kaplan GRE Exam Advanced Math" is Horrible
I have two complaints about this product. First, on the cover it claims to be "your only guide an 800," but it's not. Secondly, and much more importantly, it is horrible. To be specific, it is full of mistakes, especially in the answer keys. There's nothing more frustrating than spending all day trying to find out why an answer is wrong when it is in fact right. This book is a horribly low-quality product, and Kaplan should be ashamed to have its name on it. If a single Kaplan employee had attempted to go through the book before publication and try to work all the problems, they would have clearly seen how riddled with errors it was. But apparently nobody checked.
So if you have not bought this book, don't ever buy it. And if you have bought the book, I may be able to help you. I circled some of the erroneous problems in my book, so here is a list of problems to skip, although it may not be exhaustive.
Chapter 1: Arithmetic
Problems 9, 21, 22, 27
Chapter 2: Algebra
Problems 2, 15, 23
Chapter 5: Word Problems
Problems 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23
Those are all the problems that I have circled, but there may be more that have errors.
The Kaplan GRE Exam Advanced Verbal, on the other hand, is a fine book. It has a nice list of advanced-level words, and they are organized in multiple ways: by meaning, by word roots, by likelihood of being on the test, and so on. The same words get repeated over and over, but that's a useful way of learning vocabulary. If you're looking for a good advanced verbal book, consider this one. And consider complementing it with some more creative ways to learn vocab, such as podcasts.
Both of these books claim to be "your only guide to an 800," but they aren't. Check out my guide.
So if you have not bought this book, don't ever buy it. And if you have bought the book, I may be able to help you. I circled some of the erroneous problems in my book, so here is a list of problems to skip, although it may not be exhaustive.
Chapter 1: Arithmetic
Problems 9, 21, 22, 27
Chapter 2: Algebra
Problems 2, 15, 23
Chapter 5: Word Problems
Problems 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23
Those are all the problems that I have circled, but there may be more that have errors.
The Kaplan GRE Exam Advanced Verbal, on the other hand, is a fine book. It has a nice list of advanced-level words, and they are organized in multiple ways: by meaning, by word roots, by likelihood of being on the test, and so on. The same words get repeated over and over, but that's a useful way of learning vocabulary. If you're looking for a good advanced verbal book, consider this one. And consider complementing it with some more creative ways to learn vocab, such as podcasts.
Both of these books claim to be "your only guide to an 800," but they aren't. Check out my guide.
GRE Vocabulary Podcasts
In the summer before I took the GRE, I came up with the idea of downloading GRE vocabulary podcasts and listening to them while I worked out, rode the bus, etc. So I searched iTunes, and I found a few to try out. I subscribed and was quickly disappointed by their quality. Some had words that were way too easy, some had an automated computer voice reading the words and definitions, some had pronunciation what was difficult to understand, some had way too much chatter and not enough vocabulary, and so on. Based on the iTunes reviews, I guess some people like those shows, but they weren't very helpful for me.
So I decided to make my own show that has only advanced-level GRE words. Check out my vocabulary podcast, by clicking the link or by searching the iTunes Store for "Advanced GRE & SAT Vocabulary". It is free to download and subscribe, and it can help you ace the GRE. I hope you enjoy the show.
 |
| GRE Vocabulary Audio Podcast |
So I decided to make my own show that has only advanced-level GRE words. Check out my vocabulary podcast, by clicking the link or by searching the iTunes Store for "Advanced GRE & SAT Vocabulary". It is free to download and subscribe, and it can help you ace the GRE. I hope you enjoy the show.
Friday, August 20, 2010
How to get a perfect GRE score 1600
If you're smart, you'll do pretty well on the GRE with only a little preparation. But if you want the prestige of a perfect score, you can achieve it by starting early and working hard. In this article, I will tell you exactly what I did in college, in the weeks leading up to the test, and during the test that gave me a score of 1600 on my first try.
This guide assumes that you have a year or more before you're planning to take the test. If your GRE is scheduled for next month, then a lot of what I say here will not be possible for you. Still, this guide will help you boost your scores, so take a look anyway.
Good luck!
Quantitative
Your college experience should include a decent amount of quantitative coursework. Take at least a few math courses and preferably also some science or economics courses. You need to practice your quantitative thinking throughout your time in college.
More importantly, work as a math tutor! College math tutors generally spend most of their time helping students with low-level courses such as finite math. These courses have exactly the kinds of math problems that you will need to be fluent with. I worked about 10 hours a week as a college math tutor for 5 years before taking the test. I got so used to working quickly on low-level math problems that the GRE quantitative was just like another day at work. Your college probably has a tutoring center of some sort. Get yourself hired there as a math tutor ASAP. Try to tutor your college's finite or discrete math courses as much as possible, because those will have problems most similar to the ones on the GRE. You should tutor a variety of math classes, though; it will all help. As an added bonus, you'll be getting paid for all this GRE studying!
Finally, when testing time rolls around, you'll be very well prepared but maybe not quite prepared enough to get a perfect score. The writers of the math questions will try to trick you, and to be safe you should know ahead of time what tricks you might fall for. About two weeks before your test is scheduled, purchase a couple GRE quantitative review books and only work the advanced-level questions. You will probably make a few mistakes and miss a few questions. (Be careful, though, because some of these books are very low-quality and have a lot of wrong answers themselves - check amazon reviews before making any purchases!) Circle the questions that you miss and rework them a few times the day before the test.
Note that you can miss quantitative questions and still get an 800. This is important to remember when taking the test. You will need to work quickly to finish all the problems; I finished with only a few seconds left. If you come to a question that really stumps you, don't waste a bunch of time on it. Just answer with your best guess and keep moving. You can still get an 800 if you're wrong about that one.
Verbal
If you're a native English speaker and you're at a stage in life where you're about to take the GRE, then you've probably developed a pretty solid vocabulary by now. That's good. But it's not nearly good enough to get an 800. Hopefully you studied vocabulary words for the SAT, because that will help provide a good word base for you.
About three months before the test, you need to begin the process of learning thousands of vocabulary words. Purchase one or more comprehensive GRE vocabulary word books. The first thing you should do is remove all the words that you already know. Go through each book word by word. Cover up the definition and see if you can define the word. If you can define it at this point, then you will probably be able to define it on the GRE in three months. You don't need to study it; it is only cluttering your prep material. Mark it out with a black marker. After you have done this with all your word lists, you should be left with a ton of unmarked words that you need to learn before the test. Break these up into groups of about a hundred words. Learn one group at a time. For me, the best way to learn is to be quizzed. I made my girlfriend quiz me once a day. (If you don't have anyone who will quiz you, you can quiz yourself.) On the first day of quizzing, if I could easily define a word that she asked me, she would leave it unmarked. Otherwise, she would highlight it in yellow. The next day, she would only ask me the yellow words. If I knew a word, she would leave it yellow. Otherwise she would highlight it in orange. The next day, she only asked the orange words. And so on. Once that process ended, she would go over all of the words in the group to make sure I could still remember them all. Then we would move on to the next group.
Really, you should immerse yourself in vocabulary practice and try all sorts of ways of learning words over this three-month period. Get some funny or interesting vocabulary books to read. Get some vocabulary workbooks to work through. Just make sure the materials are advanced enough for you. Listen to vocabulary podcasts when you're in transit or working out. Check out other interactive web resources such as my GRE vocab practice game for learning vocabulary, too. (I made the podcast and the web app linked above, so you know they're good.)
Finally, during the two weeks preceding your test date, do a lot of vocabulary practice GRE questions from a prep book. Just knowing the words isn't quite enough. You've got to be able to identify analogies and antonyms, so you'll need some practice.
Unfortunately, not all of the verbal questions are vocabulary-based. You will see a good number of reading comprehension questions as well. These are not easy to prepare for. You should go through lots of practice reading comprehension sections from test prep books in the two weeks leading up to the test so that you can get an idea of the types of questions that will be asked. Your main strategy for this section is to take your time. You will be so good with vocabulary that you will answer all of those questions in no time. That should leave you plenty of time to read and think carefully on these reading comprehension problems; I finished the verbal section with over 10 minutes left.
Writing
Oh yeah, there's a third section. I don't have much to say about this one. If you're a good writer you'll do well, and if you aren't then you won't. I guess you should try to take a few writing courses to keep yourself in practice. Check out a GRE review book, and look at example questions and responses to see what is going to be expected of you. Note the different expectations of the two different essay sections. Also, note the tips listed in the review books, such as writing as much as possible. Just do your best on this section; it's not easy to prepare for.
Technically this guide is about getting a 1600, which has nothing to do with your writing score. I only got a 5.5 out of 6 on this section, but I still get to brag that I "scored a 1600."
RECAP
Quantitative
Verbal
Writing
Conclusion
Take the GRE at the very end of the last summer before your graduate school applications are due. Spend the entire summer gradually learning tons of GRE words and the last couple weeks doing practice problems.
Following this guide cannot, of course, guarantee that you will score a 1600, but it will give you a very good chance. And even if you don't get the perfect score, I bet you will get pretty close.
This guide assumes that you have a year or more before you're planning to take the test. If your GRE is scheduled for next month, then a lot of what I say here will not be possible for you. Still, this guide will help you boost your scores, so take a look anyway.
Good luck!
Quantitative
Your college experience should include a decent amount of quantitative coursework. Take at least a few math courses and preferably also some science or economics courses. You need to practice your quantitative thinking throughout your time in college.
More importantly, work as a math tutor! College math tutors generally spend most of their time helping students with low-level courses such as finite math. These courses have exactly the kinds of math problems that you will need to be fluent with. I worked about 10 hours a week as a college math tutor for 5 years before taking the test. I got so used to working quickly on low-level math problems that the GRE quantitative was just like another day at work. Your college probably has a tutoring center of some sort. Get yourself hired there as a math tutor ASAP. Try to tutor your college's finite or discrete math courses as much as possible, because those will have problems most similar to the ones on the GRE. You should tutor a variety of math classes, though; it will all help. As an added bonus, you'll be getting paid for all this GRE studying!
Finally, when testing time rolls around, you'll be very well prepared but maybe not quite prepared enough to get a perfect score. The writers of the math questions will try to trick you, and to be safe you should know ahead of time what tricks you might fall for. About two weeks before your test is scheduled, purchase a couple GRE quantitative review books and only work the advanced-level questions. You will probably make a few mistakes and miss a few questions. (Be careful, though, because some of these books are very low-quality and have a lot of wrong answers themselves - check amazon reviews before making any purchases!) Circle the questions that you miss and rework them a few times the day before the test.
Note that you can miss quantitative questions and still get an 800. This is important to remember when taking the test. You will need to work quickly to finish all the problems; I finished with only a few seconds left. If you come to a question that really stumps you, don't waste a bunch of time on it. Just answer with your best guess and keep moving. You can still get an 800 if you're wrong about that one.
Verbal
If you're a native English speaker and you're at a stage in life where you're about to take the GRE, then you've probably developed a pretty solid vocabulary by now. That's good. But it's not nearly good enough to get an 800. Hopefully you studied vocabulary words for the SAT, because that will help provide a good word base for you.
About three months before the test, you need to begin the process of learning thousands of vocabulary words. Purchase one or more comprehensive GRE vocabulary word books. The first thing you should do is remove all the words that you already know. Go through each book word by word. Cover up the definition and see if you can define the word. If you can define it at this point, then you will probably be able to define it on the GRE in three months. You don't need to study it; it is only cluttering your prep material. Mark it out with a black marker. After you have done this with all your word lists, you should be left with a ton of unmarked words that you need to learn before the test. Break these up into groups of about a hundred words. Learn one group at a time. For me, the best way to learn is to be quizzed. I made my girlfriend quiz me once a day. (If you don't have anyone who will quiz you, you can quiz yourself.) On the first day of quizzing, if I could easily define a word that she asked me, she would leave it unmarked. Otherwise, she would highlight it in yellow. The next day, she would only ask me the yellow words. If I knew a word, she would leave it yellow. Otherwise she would highlight it in orange. The next day, she only asked the orange words. And so on. Once that process ended, she would go over all of the words in the group to make sure I could still remember them all. Then we would move on to the next group.
Really, you should immerse yourself in vocabulary practice and try all sorts of ways of learning words over this three-month period. Get some funny or interesting vocabulary books to read. Get some vocabulary workbooks to work through. Just make sure the materials are advanced enough for you. Listen to vocabulary podcasts when you're in transit or working out. Check out other interactive web resources such as my GRE vocab practice game for learning vocabulary, too. (I made the podcast and the web app linked above, so you know they're good.)
Finally, during the two weeks preceding your test date, do a lot of vocabulary practice GRE questions from a prep book. Just knowing the words isn't quite enough. You've got to be able to identify analogies and antonyms, so you'll need some practice.
Unfortunately, not all of the verbal questions are vocabulary-based. You will see a good number of reading comprehension questions as well. These are not easy to prepare for. You should go through lots of practice reading comprehension sections from test prep books in the two weeks leading up to the test so that you can get an idea of the types of questions that will be asked. Your main strategy for this section is to take your time. You will be so good with vocabulary that you will answer all of those questions in no time. That should leave you plenty of time to read and think carefully on these reading comprehension problems; I finished the verbal section with over 10 minutes left.
Writing
Oh yeah, there's a third section. I don't have much to say about this one. If you're a good writer you'll do well, and if you aren't then you won't. I guess you should try to take a few writing courses to keep yourself in practice. Check out a GRE review book, and look at example questions and responses to see what is going to be expected of you. Note the different expectations of the two different essay sections. Also, note the tips listed in the review books, such as writing as much as possible. Just do your best on this section; it's not easy to prepare for.
Technically this guide is about getting a 1600, which has nothing to do with your writing score. I only got a 5.5 out of 6 on this section, but I still get to brag that I "scored a 1600."
RECAP
Quantitative
- take a good number of quantitative courses
- work as a math tutor for as long as possible
- go through advanced-level practice problems and circle your mistakes
- on the test, work quickly and guess when necessary
Verbal
- spend three months learning as many vocabulary words as possible (thousands)
- work through practice sections in the two weeks before the test
- on the test, take your time on the reading comprehension sections
Writing
- take a few courses that require writing
- read tips and examples in a GRE prep book
Conclusion
Take the GRE at the very end of the last summer before your graduate school applications are due. Spend the entire summer gradually learning tons of GRE words and the last couple weeks doing practice problems.
Following this guide cannot, of course, guarantee that you will score a 1600, but it will give you a very good chance. And even if you don't get the perfect score, I bet you will get pretty close.
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