Just took the GRE Today

[lp]

Was it just me, or was it considerably trickier than even the latest practice test they released? I had time/skills to answer 45 fairly confidently although I'm sure I missed a few of those. I still can't fathom how anyone could actually do every question in the time allowed. But, I suppose that's not really the point of the GRE; it's made to crush all but the best test takers into humbleness. It's days like this I question if I'm cut out to go for a Phd in math, but there's plenty of research that shows not to base your likelihood of success on the GRE alone. Keeping my fingers crossed for a 700 at least. Thanks to everyone on the forum who's helped all of us GRE'ers along the way!

[d0rk]

Took it today too. Also took it in April. Today's was much harder. I'll be retaking it next month.

[Dinstruction]

Does anyone happen to know if the raw scores on this exam correspond to the percentiles of the most recent practice exam? For instance, one needs to get a raw score of 37 on the 2015 practice exam to get a 700 and somewhere in the 65th percentile. Will you necessarily need to answer around 37 questions to get into this percentile band, or is there significant variance?

[mmo5130]

I thought the exam was a bit easier than the practice exam. I was able to answer 56 questions (of which 50 I'm fairly confident in). But, this is also my first crack at the test, and I can't say I studied months for it. I may be suffering from a false sense of security.

[pat2211]

I took the test on Saturday too, the questions were tricky and you need lots of tricks and tools to solve them quickly. I also realized that Group theory in Princeton review is NOT enough for the subject test.

[lp]

@ Dinstruction: Regarding percentiles: I don't see any listed for the 2015 practice exam in the booklet; only for the 2005. It all depends on the scaling they use for your particular version of the test. The 2005 booklet shows that the same raw score could end up something like 50 scaled points higher if the test version is much harder. I felt like I got a tougher version (perhaps they're all that hard now), so I'm hoping for a boost from the scale factor. Also, mine was dated 2011, and it was definitely harder than the one they just released from 2012, so should be some upscale. The percentiles are based on some "recent" time period and of course depend on how everyone else does, so yes, I would assume there's some variance for sure, but perhaps more so when looking at scores from say over 10 years ago.

I'm banking on admission committees nowadays knowing that the test is way harder than it's ever been, especially compared to when most of the people deciding on our applications were going to school! So a 700 today is like a 900 years ago, right? But, how quickly those facts are forgotten.

BTW, what do you all consider a decent scaled score? Not for a top school or anything, just where you're not kicking yourself and embarrassed to send it in. I was thinking nothing lower than around 700. Maybe 650 although I know this would still look pretty crummy to the top schools. The Princeton Review book says 44+ raw score or above an 800 is considered a "very good score."

[p-adic]

I don't think 700 today is like 900 years ago, unless "years" actually means "decades."

[lp]

@p-adic. Yes, I do mean decades, but I was hoping for something more constructive than that in response to my post.

[p-adic]

What do you want to hear? You think these guys are going to care about the difference between a 750 from a few years ago and maybe a 730 now? The test may be getting harder, but the students are getting better. It doesn't matter if a 700 now is like a 900 from the 90s. You're competing with new grads, not guys who went to school 20 years ago.

If you do reasonably well, the GRE won't get you in anywhere, but it won't keep you out either. You need solid LORs and research experience (or to have valuable minority status, or to know someone).

All the information you need is available around here, or thegradcafe, or various department websites. 850+ gets you a good shot anywhere, 800+ gets you a decent shot anywhere, 750+ good enough for top 20, 700+ good enough for top 30, 600+ good enough for schools that require the test, etc., etc.

[d0rk]

[BreakingBad]

I took the test on Saturday too, the questions were tricky and you need lots of tricks and tools to solve them quickly.....

You should delete this post. You are not allowed to post content from a GRE exam.

[DMAshura]

What BreakingBad said. Can an admin edit that post please?

[pat2211]

Sorry, I edited my post. Can anyone give me some advice on solving probabbility and statistics questions ?