Advice for taking the GRE

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RDZCRanch

RDZCRanch

RavenousDeadlyZombieChins
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
2,884
Location
California
I have to take the GRE tomorrow in order to get into grad school. I have a professor that has agreed to sponsor me in his lab which is the biggest hurdle to getting accepted. He recommended that I do as well as possible on the GRE because my GPA is barely above the recommended GPA.

I have been studying for the past week, but I had to register for the exam at the last minute, so I haven't had as much time as I'd like to prepare. I thought I'd post here to see if anyone has taken the GRE and has tips for doing well or studying. I've found several websites and resources and the math goes back to such basic math that I have to try to remember all the principles and rules and tricks I learned back when I was 11.

I will be getting my Master's in biological sciences with an emphasis in zoology. I'm going to be working in a lab that uses morphology and genetics to create phylogenies for marine sea slugs.
 
How long do you have to prepare? I used the princeton review GRE prep book, read straight through it and took only a couple of practice tests. It taught you HOW to take the test, how to approach the questions, etc. As well as a review of math concepts.
I did pretty well, but I've also never had a problem with standardized tests.
 
I am taking it tomorrow at 5pm. I'll have help tonight for the quantitative reasoning portion, but I'll be on my own when I have a huge chunk of time tomorrow from 10:30am until test time.

The cost of the test and all of my applications has made it so that I don't really have any money to go buy any of the guides out there.
 
Oh wow. Quite the timeline!

I'd second the Princeton Review book (wouldn't spend any money on the courses) if you had more time. So I'd just look up some of the old formulas... like knowing F.O.I.L., a^2 + b^2 = c^2, and SOH CAH TOA /some old hippie caught another hippie tripping on acid, and then running through a few practice problems on like to work the kinks out.

Other than that, have a good dinner tonight, get some rest, and have a good breakfast & lunch tomorrow.

Best of luck!!!!!!!!!
 
Wow Tab, I didn't know you were into marine science....I teach a few of those courses at ky HS! I want to hear all about this nudibranch work someday. Good luck with the exam....get good sleep!
 
Ryan, I wasn't! I'm more interested in vertebrates, but this particular professor is beyond awesome. He works very hard with and for his students and the students in his lab are always happy. Once I actually start the work, I am sure you will hear plenty about it! It should be very interesting and if we can get some grants going for us, I will be working on the genetic phylogenies of the sea slugs he's working with.

I have six free hours to study tomorrow, but I also have a midterm tomorrow morning for one of my courses. I think my best approach is to not freak out and make good use of those 6 hours to get comfortable with what will be on the test.
 
I just wanna say good luck! I am sure you will do just fine! :D

smhufflepuff- love your hippie mnemonic device! lol!
 
Lynn & The Chins said:
I'm such a math idiot that I don't even know to what mnemonic is referring!!! AND I'm an old hippie!!!
GOOD LUCK!!!
Click to expand...

It's how to calculate the sine, cosine, and tangent of an angle:
Some Old Hippie --> Sine = Opposite/Hypotenuse
Caught Another Hippie --> Cosine = Adjacent/Hypotenuse
Tripping On Acid --> Tangent = Opposite/Adjacent

There's also "some old horse caught another horse taking oats away."
One should always be wary of horses... some of them are oat-takers!!!



I hope it's going/went well!!!!
 
Lynn- Mnemonic device is a way of remembering something. You just make something up. A famous one is for remembering the Great Lakes: (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario) Super Man Helps Every One.

I couldn't remember what it was called when you do this, so I had to look it up on Google myself.. LMAO
 
I got above average, not ridiculously high like the 90th percentile, but I did well enough I think. I have to talk to my sponsor and see if the scores will be good enough. I had about a week to study and also took a midterm earlier yesterday, so I feel like I did pretty well.
 
;)Pika, I know what a mnemonic is...I meant the words in the formula -- sine, hypotenuse, you know all that math mumbo jumbo!!! LOL!!!

Congratulations, Tabitha, on doing so well!!!
 
My sponsor said there was no minimum score for the GRE so my scores should be just fine. I also managed to get straight A's this quarter despite taking the GRE in the middle of my quarter so my GPA is sufficient for grad school. I'm going to finish applying and hopefully by the end of next quarter I will know if I am in or not. :D

Also, my advisor for grad school helped me select a project. I would be working with him and a professor in Russia to sequence nudibranchs and opisthobranchs in the North Pacific to see how they are all related to each other. I am sure it will get more specific as we go along, but it means I will be making quite a few trips to Alaska and Washington to collect specimens.
 
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