I have been studying for the GRE Biology exam for about three months now. I am scoring consistently (practice tests) with a raw score of 125-135, which lands me around the 90 percentile mark. I am scheduled to take the test next week. I am just curious if any one else has taken this test, and how there practice scores matched up to their real scores.
Wow - a tough test - I wish you the best next week. Let us know how you do on the test. Why are you taking the GRE?
The actual past ETS practice tests (which, from what I understand, are the actual past GRE tests) and Kaplan (which, IMHO, are much more difficult than the practice tests from ETS).
A couple of the Universities I am looking at doing graduate work at, want me to have an array of liberal arts credits. ALL of my credits thus far are in Theology, Bible Studies, etc. So rather than spending a year and a half accumulating Math, Sceince, and Humanities credits, I am GRE/CLEP/DSST' ing my way to at least an Associates degree in liberal arts (possibly a BA, depending on my performance on the GRE).
With the GRE and the other exams you might be able to obtain a second BS from one of the big three schools.
Yes, that's true. Try this thread: http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-thomas-edison-charter-oak-specific/6113-gre-subject-tests.html
I can't speak for the GRE Biology, per se, but I took the GRE Literature last fall. My scores on the practice tests were substantially lower than my final score on the real exam. For the practice GRE, I took the ETS version one week before the test date and scored around the 45th percentile. I took the Princeton Review practice test the day after that and scored just under the 60th percentile. When I took the real test, my score fell slightly over the 80th percentile. On the other hand, the practice tests are supposedly actual former tests from ETS, so the scores should theoretically be comparable. But then, theory doesn't always apply to standardized tests, does it? It would be reasonable to expect to score at least as well on the actual test as you do on the practice test. Best of luck with the test.
I'm going to second what Amanda said about GRE practice test scores. I can't speak for Biology, but the difference between my raw scores and my real score was more than 25 points on the GRE Psychology. The REA exams are particularly harsh, while the Princeton Review and former ETS exam scores are more encouraging (and realistic). If you are passing practice exams, most especially out of the tough REA book, you can expect to do reasonably well on the real exam. Good luck!
I took the GRE subject test without any prep at all. Thus I cannot say how your pre-test scores will reflect your actual performance. However, I would focus on the sub areas of biology. I did a lot better in the ecology/evolution section and organismal section than I did on the cell and molecular section. My advisor told me that he wasn't too worried about the cell/molecular scores as I was applying for the conservation biology program. The point I am trying to make is that the program you are applying to will look at the distribution of the sub scores as well. What program(s) are you thinking of applying to?
Well, I took the test. I must confess it was stressful (I got a headache halfway through), but I think I did as good or better on it, as I did the practice tests. I have realized that my brain seems to "focus" better, under pressure. I was zipping through questions I had to read three times, on the practice tests. Guess we will see in 4 to 6 weeks. (I think that is an unbelievably long time for these test scores to take! C'mon, 6 weeks?)
I agree. I sat the GRE Literature in English today and I am already impatient for the results. How can it take six weeks to grade scantron sheets? Anyway, when I took the GRE Psych last year, my results were available by phone exactly one month after I took the test, although you must pay an additional twelve bucks for scores by phone. I think the number is 1-888-GRE-SCORE, but you can look it up on their website to be sure. I will probably be calling them every day in May. My paper results were in the mail two weeks after I got my scores by phone. Good luck! I hope we both did well!
