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Preparing for mGRE

Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 8:41 pm
by nibbler
planning to take the math subject GRE in the fall, i have not taken ODE nor prob and stats yet, nor any geometry. I have a lot of free time this summer so i plan on spending my time filling in the gaps before the exam, any recommendations for textbooks? maybe Dover?

Re: Preparing for mGRE

Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 8:57 pm
by p-adic
All of the probability and ODEs you need for the test are in the Princeton Review book. Up to you if you want to study those subjects for other reasons. Not sure what you mean by geometry. What you need for one or two questions is basic high school stuff -- you don't need to know differential, arithmetic, or algebraic geometry for the test.

Re: Preparing for mGRE

Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 1:28 am
by MathCat
Don't worry about geometry. I agree with p-adic that Princeton Review book is sufficient for probability and stats and ODEs - these are not a significant portion of the exam. I would suggest prioritizing calculus (especially single variable), linear algebra, abstract algebra, and real analysis (some complex will pop up as well), in more-or-less that order. (Note: by analysis, I really mean learn the theorems of calculus, not just the computational aspects. You won't be asked measure theory or anything like that.) It also depends what you have seen - I don't think it's worth spreading yourself really thin trying to learn topics completely new to you at the expense of the ones you could grasp better. You have to be able to answer the problem very fast, so a superficial understanding isn't sufficient. It's probably better to learn a few topics well, if it comes to that.

Re: Preparing for mGRE

Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 8:26 pm
by arctanX
I would say just start doing MGRE problems and see what topics you need to learn/review. There are 4 past exam you can google in order to find, Princeton review has one, and you can look further on Amazon. I would not recommend the REA book. REA's practice tests are irrelevant for the exam.

Re: Preparing for mGRE

Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 3:20 pm
by kevingee22
arctanX, did you pay for the practice tests / lectures or is some of it available for free online? They are not free on the website besides a couple sample questions, and I could not find a PDF of the practice test; $30 for a practice test is quite steep IMO.

Re: Preparing for mGRE

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 11:38 am
by arctanX
Yes, it is not free. However it's high quality and developed especially for the mGRE.
Personally, I hated the thought of not getting to the school I wanted just because of $30 here and $40 there. Also, there is not much else out there. So in my opinion - worth it.