Saturday October 29, 2016

[BCLC]

So how did your GRE go? I think mine wasn't as hard as 1268, but I don't think I did so well anyway.

Edit: It's the same exam everywhere? I thought the tests varied slightly or something.

[fierydemon]

What're you talking about?! It was the toughest GRE I've seen. And this was the third (and last) time I was taking it. Because I was much better prepared, I attempted 61/66 questions with no guesses. But oh my god was it brutal! There was no respite

[Pentaki]

Harder than the September 17 exam for me, even though there were several very similar questions (maybe exactly the same). I answered more questions. I was happy with my previous score, so I took more risks hoping they will pay off.

[fierydemon]

Harder than the September 17 exam for me, even though there were several very similar questions (maybe exactly the same). I answered more questions. I was happy with my previous score, so I took more risks hoping they will pay off.

How many did you attempt?

[Pentaki]

How many did you attempt?

Honestly, I forget already. It believe it was 61, but I guessed on several of those.

[spablo]

I feel that I did better this time (I took it 4/16 and 9/16), but I was only able to answer 47/66 with minimal guessing. A few problems really bothered me because I either did the computations wrong (and figured out my issue right after the test), or they were a repeat that i solved last time but couldn't solve this time! Oh well, as long as my score increased . But the last quarter of the test did had some really tough questions!

[ghjk]

It's ridiculously annoying to do those [deleted]) Like the one with [deleted]. Anyway, I could only do 56/66 with no guessing (except the one with [deleted], which I think I made a dumb mistake, but it's too annoying to answer the question with [deleted] even when it's easy to see [deleted]. I guess from 57-63 (lol, not even enough time to fill out randomly from 64-66), because i figured out that the risk-reward is quite good to take (only need to guess 2 right answers to make up for all the remaining guesses). So anyone remembers if they have a lot of Bs or Ds in their answers from 57-63s?

PS: From someone who only studied for 3 hours last night....and felt tired (sleep-deprived) in the middle of the test. So the test might be easy for many people, I guess.

[spablo]

The [deleted] can be very annoying. I set up the [deleted] problem correctly, but i couldnt get the right answer because I kept forgetting to [deleted] before I evaluated it. (I tried too often to skip steps and do the integrals in my head in order save time, but then consequently wasted time by making mistakes )

[ghjk]

The [deleted] can be very annoying. I set up the [deleted] before I evaluated it. (I tried too often to skip steps and do the integrals in my head in order save time, but then consequently wasted time by making mistakes )

Wait, you meant the problem of [deleted]?? I thought that one was [deleted], as there was a similar problem on the sample test. Could you recall from 56-63 if you chose a lot of Bs or Ds? And would the test score be converted exactly the same way as shown on the GR1268?

[spablo]

Yes. You probably could set it up as a [deleted] which was one of the answer choices... I kept getting [deleted] so I left that problem blank.

I honestly don't remember a lot of my choices for later problems. Some of those I definitely skipped... There was a significant amount of problems which [deleted], one of which looked very difficult at first glance. So many of the ones i couldn't *finish* solving, I've figured out now. Kind of beating myself up over it since it was my last opportunity to take it before I apply to PhD programs.

[user8745]

Does anyone have a feel for where the curve for this exam will be? Does it seem harder than previous exams?

[ghjk]

Yes. You probably could set it up as a [deleted] which was one of the answer choices... I kept getting [deleted] so I left that problem blank.

I honestly don't remember a lot of my choices for later problems. Some of those I definitely skipped... There was a significant amount of problems which [deleted], one of which looked very difficult at first glance. So many of the ones i couldn't *finish* solving, I've figured out now. Kind of beating myself up over it since it was my last opportunity to take it before I apply to PhD programs.

I got [deleted] as well. No worries man...your eventual career is not affected that much by this "memorization" test, regardless of where you ended up....Look at Yitang Zhang, and at the very least, you can't be worst than him at the beginning of your career right??!!

[omhk]

I took it today and found it to be very hard. Granted, I did computational math in undergrad, and went in knowing I wasn't going to do well, since there was a lot of material I hadn't encountered. But on the official practice tests (the 05 and 12 ones), I scored in the 60-70th percentiles.

I think I answered about half the questions...I'd be lucky to get anywhere near the 50th percentile at this point. Every school I'm applying to just says "subject test optional but recommended," but well...

[spablo]

I took it today and found it to be very hard. Granted, I did computational math in undergrad, and went in knowing I wasn't going to do well, since there was a lot of material I hadn't encountered. But on the official practice tests (the 05 and 12 ones), I scored in the 60-70th percentiles.

I think I answered about half the questions...I'd be lucky to get anywhere near the 50th percentile at this point. Every school I'm applying to just says "subject test optional but recommended," but well...

Yeah, I'll be honest, I feel that half of the reason I did so well this time is because I've had a year of honors undergrad Algebra plus half a semester of graduate level Algebra, and I have had half a semester of honors Advanced Calculus (Analysis) with a professor who heavily focuses on Topology. IMO, there were a lot of Abstract Algebra questions that I probably wouldn't have gotten without my experience, and I am finally starting to understand Analysis which has helped so much. In fact, one of the Algebra questions I got wrong today because I wasn't careful (think [deleted]), but that question was way to wordy at first by the time I got to it! I talked to colleagues who have only had half a semester of algebra so many of the [deleted] were tough for them: for example, there were multiple questions regarding [deleted], and you would not have been able to solve them unless you had a good understanding of what an [deleted] is. If you are gonna take it again, I suggest looking for the solution guides for all the old public tests. They are very easy to find and can certainly help you learn how to solve many of those types of problems that you haven't seen before.

[BCLC]

What're you talking about?! It was the toughest GRE I've seen. And this was the third (and last) time I was taking it. Because I was much better prepared, I attempted 61/66 questions with no guesses. But oh my god was it brutal! There was no respite

It's the same exam everywhere? I thought the tests varied slightly?

[ghjk]

What're you talking about?! It was the toughest GRE I've seen. And this was the third (and last) time I was taking it. Because I was much better prepared, I attempted 61/66 questions with no guesses. But oh my god was it brutal! There was no respite

It's the same exam everywhere? I thought the tests varied slightly?

I just realized that not everyone has the same test(?!)...Anyway, what version did you have, and how many probs did you attempt?

[fierydemon]

What're you talking about?! It was the toughest GRE I've seen. And this was the third (and last) time I was taking it. Because I was much better prepared, I attempted 61/66 questions with no guesses. But oh my god was it brutal! There was no respite

It's the same exam everywhere? I thought the tests varied slightly?

I just realized that not everyone has the same test(?!)...Anyway, what version did you have, and how many probs did you attempt?

I got the version in which the first question was about determining the slope of the graph whose tangent was given. I hope I'm not disclosing any illegal details about the test.
I attempted 61/66

[ghjk]

I got the version in which the first question was about determining the slope of the graph whose tangent was given. I hope I'm not disclosing any illegal details about the test.
I attempted 61/66

That is the same as mine. Hmm..But I did have the 1st question on the test (maybe the 2nd too, but I did not have time to read up to that problem)...No guessing? Good job man. You did quite well then:)

[LaTex]

This was my third attempt. Last October I could only answer ~40 (with plenty of guesses, not prepared at all). I took it last month and I could do ~50 with some guesses.

This test was so much harder than both of those. I was much better prepared and had at least 10 repeats from the September exam and it was still brutal. I think I answered ~43 this time (0 guesses). It was so rough that I feel like the entire third attempt was just a waste of time and money. I'm just going to pick schools based on my September score and if I get a few extra points this time it'll just be icing on top.

[user8745]

This was my third attempt. Last October I could only answer ~40 (with plenty of guesses, not prepared at all). I took it last month and I could do ~50 with some guesses.

This test was so much harder than both of those. I was much better prepared and had at least 10 repeats from the September exam and it was still brutal. I think I answered ~43 this time (0 guesses). It was so rough that I feel like the entire third attempt was just a waste of time and money. I'm just going to pick schools based on my September score and if I get a few extra points this time it'll just be icing on top.

If you don't mind me asking, what percentile did 50 with few guesses give you?

[LaTex]

This was my third attempt. Last October I could only answer ~40 (with plenty of guesses, not prepared at all). I took it last month and I could do ~50 with some guesses.

This test was so much harder than both of those. I was much better prepared and had at least 10 repeats from the September exam and it was still brutal. I think I answered ~43 this time (0 guesses). It was so rough that I feel like the entire third attempt was just a waste of time and money. I'm just going to pick schools based on my September score and if I get a few extra points this time it'll just be icing on top.

If you don't mind me asking, what percentile did 50 with few guesses give you?

I estimated that I probably got around 40-43 (never know what you accidentally screw up) correct and ended with a 67%ile.

[ghjk]

I estimated that I probably got around 40-43 (never know what you accidentally screw up) correct and ended with a 67%ile.

May you share what was the scaled score corresponding to that 67%?

[LaTex]

I estimated that I probably got around 40-43 (never know what you accidentally screw up) correct and ended with a 67%ile.

May you share what was the scaled score corresponding to that 67%?

730/67%