GRE - Here we come

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by seekinghelp, Apr 3, 2004.

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  1. seekinghelp

    seekinghelp New Member

    This is D-day for those of us taking the subject GRE exams.

    I've studied until I can study no more. I've given up on the idea of scoring over the 80th percentile, I'll take the 40th and run.

    Wish us all luck. I went to bed last night at 10 and slept well, I've restricted myself to two cups of coffee and had a good breakfast, the dogs are fed, the dishes cleaned up and I've put it off about as long as I can. Won't know until May 10th how I did. Hate the long wait. I hope 2 hours and 50 minutes is long enough to get through all the questions. Well, here we go.........

    Please say a little prayer for us. Thanks for all the help and encouragement you've given here every day. If I'm not a puddle of tears this afternoon I'll post my impressions. Thanks guys.
     
  2. Good luck!
     
  3. June

    June New Member

    seekinghelp, is it the psych test you're taking? Best of luck to you--let us know how it goes!
     
  4. GUNSMOKE

    GUNSMOKE New Member

    YOU GO GET 'EM!!!!!

    Best of luck and all of God's blessings on you!

    I can tell by your posts how serious you are about getting your degree. You've got the desire you got the will, YOU'RE ON FIRE!!!!

    I KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO DO GREAT!


    Let us know how the test was!




    (CLEP in natural science in three weeks then LSAT is next for me, then the Psych GRE):cool:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 3, 2004
  5. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Good luck!
     
  6. skidadl

    skidadl Member

    we prayed for you this morning! i'm sure all will go well. let us know how it goes. you have been by far the most encouraging, helpful person here. you never know when it will be that your kind words will give someone that lift that they need at the perfect time. may God bless you for that.
     
  7. seekinghelp

    seekinghelp New Member

    Well, I'm back and I haven't a clue as to how I did. My impressions:

    The test is very long and although 2 hours and 50 minutes seems like a good amount of time to take the test, it is not. I did read all 215 questions but I left 50 questions blank, I could not even rule out one of the answers as I have never seen the topics the questions were over, even after studying over 2 months using various books (study guides and text books).

    There were 3 very very long scenarios regarding how a research study was set up and then there were 3 questions related to each lengthy scenario. It takes way too much time to read those and then answer the long long questions about them. Left them blank and went on to make more hay with shorter questions due to time constraints.

    I used the Princeton's Cracking the Psych GRE book as the basis for my studying. The best I can say about it is that it's okay for a basic book but WILL NOT give you the majority of what you will need. This book is long on saying "so and so did research on this topic" but gives little background as to what the research really is. You MUST supplement each research topic with real reading about it because you must apply the theory to very lengthy questions. To make it worse, several researchers were known for several different research areas so it got confusing trying to keep them straight. Don't know what to tell you about that, I could never come up with a way to keep them straight in no uncertain terms. I'd guess that knowing the specific researchers and what they did is about 20% of the test + - .

    I also bought and used the Kaplan Preparing for the Psych GRE book. I found it useful for filling in the information about the specifics that the Princeton book left out. It is actually pretty decent reading if you have interest in the topic. It also gives some ways to remember things.

    Several questions on the functions of the brain and eye, know them. Classical conditioning was good for about 6-8 questions, know it. So was operant conditioning, about 4 questions. Not much on Freud and I studied him because Princeton said there would be several questions on the test about him. Know Freud's defense mechanisms but I didn't have anything else concerning his convoluted theories. Also said there would be lots of Piaget, but there was only one question (#215) I remember on him. None on Erikson or Kohlberg. I studied very hard over personality and different kinds of analysis. Wasted time. Princeton says that the test leans heavily on two areas. It didn't feel that way. There were many many questions over how experiments and research and statistics are done. Don't know what to tell you to study on it. None of the books I had gave me enough indepth background on setting up experiments to help me answer the questions the way they were posed on the test.
    There were several questions on neurotransmitters, reuptake inhibitors, amphetamines and schizophrenia and depression.
    About half of the questions were lenghty enough and wordy enough that you had to read them at least twice to even understand what they were asking. This makes the time constraints difficult. The other half of the questions were pretty direct.

    All I can say is that I did the best I could. I have many many hours in the reading and studying and memorizing. The subject is very very broad and the test is broad too but the questions are precise. Having a general knowledge will help some but not much. It may help you eliminate some answers so you can guess more efficiently.

    I know there are some on this board that hit over the 80th percentile. My hat is off to you. I consider myself quite intelligent. This test is simply not intuitive. It's very difficult to pick the answers and to even narrow down some of the material much. Several times I simply picked the answer that didn't look like the others.

    I really wish I could be more help. If I were given the chance to retake the test in two weeks, I still don't know how I would study for it, it's just that broad.

    I have finally met the match for nursing exams. That's saying something.

    Well, onward and upward. I either now have 5 more tests to take or 10 more tests to take if I go with COSC. I know I didn't score above the 80th percentile so Excelsior is an unknown at this time and I've just given up on them anyway.

    I hope anyone else who took the test today did well. I know we all took different tests. I was the only one out of 26 students in the room I was in to take the Psych GRE. There was one girl taking the Literautre GRE and one guy taking the Biology GRE. All the rest were there for the Physics test.

    Just glad it's over. Thanks for your kind wishes and prayers. I'll let you know on May 10 what happened.:D
     
  8. bo79

    bo79 New Member

    Good Luck
     
  9. GUNSMOKE

    GUNSMOKE New Member

    I'm sure you did better than you think you did!

    I have an acquaintence who is wworking on her Phd in clinical psych, in a very conventional program at a B&M.

    She warned me about the Psch GRE. She took it 1999 after 4 yrs undergrad with a 3.8 GPA. She said it was the toughest test she ever took because of the breadth AND she had one other recollection that sounded the same as yours on the Princeton book :

    She distinctly remembers this from her 1999 test that there was alot of who did what research but it was confusing to her because so many of the significant scholars in this field have done such diverse research. She credits this specific topic as what she beleives to be the reason she didn't do better.

    She tells me she came out of the test positive that she'd done terribly never would get into graduate school and had ruined her life

    She hit the 80th percentile.

    She got her MSc two years ago with a 4.0.

    I think this must be one really tough test! I guess that explains why so much credit is given for it!

    Best of luck to you and let us know how you did!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 3, 2004
  10. Randy_Excelsior

    Randy_Excelsior New Member

    I wrestled with the Psych GRE today as well. I have absolutely no idea how well I did...sometimes I felt completely lossed and other times I was flying through the questions...after 215, you start to lose the feel for how well you're doing. I would say Seekinghelp's description of the test and the 'Cracking GRE' book are pretty accurate. I read through the book three times, and there were a handful of questions (maybe even two handfulls) where I was completely unfamiliar with the concepts. I think the biggest help was the practice test that came with the GRE registration material. Anywhere from 10-20 of the same practice questions came up on the exam.

    Just for reference for anyone not familiar with the GRE scoring: A 60% should put you over the 40th percentile and a 75% should get you around the 80th percentile (this is assuming you gave an answer to every question).
     

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