Are the CTPG practice exams harder?

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Player1
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:40 pm

Are the CTPG practice exams harder?

Post by Player1 » Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:46 pm

Hey everyone. New to the forum. I have been studying* since June of this year for the upcoming September GREs and I have just recently started taking practice exams. However, taking the exams has my moral low. :( I started last week with sample exam 1 in CPTG and scored a 700, which I was OK with seeing as it was my first exam and I was still getting the timing down. But then this week I took sample exam 2 and scored a 660! Even lower than last week! I have been grading them according to the old system (# correct - 0.25 #incorrect) and using the 2008 exam scale. Has all my studying been in vain or are the CTPG sample exams much harder than the real thing? Any input would help give me an idea of where I am at. Maybe I am a bad standardized test taker? Thanks. :)

*My study plan included working through the CTPG book while doing the end of section problems. Any topics that were completely foreign to me I reviewed in the appropriate textbook. I have memorized approximately 200 pertinent formulae using index cards. I did this for about an hour and a half every day since June 1.
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faradaysrage
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 4:48 pm

Re: Are the CTPG practice exams harder?

Post by faradaysrage » Sun Aug 19, 2018 4:54 pm

The practice exams out of Conquering the Physics GRE are closer in difficulty to the older PGREs than the current ones. Try taking one of the recently released practice tests to get a better idea of how well you would do.
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Player1
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:40 pm

Re: Are the CTPG practice exams harder?

Post by Player1 » Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:15 pm

faradaysrage wrote:The practice exams out of Conquering the Physics GRE are closer in difficulty to the older PGREs than the current ones. Try taking one of the recently released practice tests to get a better idea of how well you would do.
Really? I was planning on taking the 2001 exam next Saturday (enough of these sample tests lol) after reviewing my wrong answers this week. Most of the errors were small things (traps), so I realize I CAN do it. I just need to be more careful. Thanks for your input.

P.S. I will let you guys know how I do this Saturday! :D
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Player1
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:40 pm

Re: Are the CTPG practice exams harder?

Post by Player1 » Sat Aug 25, 2018 1:21 pm

Scored a 670 on the 2001 practice exam (using the 2007 scale). Left a lot blank and had time issues... Maybe I'm not cut out for graduate school? :cry:

I'll try to work on my time.
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