April 4th weeeeeeee

Engage · Post by **Engage** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:40 pm

Mataka wrote:As far as I am concerned this is a too small sample to conclude anything. (third column is actually a kind of mix from column 2 and 1 so not very signnificant). Not to mention it's not clear whether or not what they call form A,B and C is the same as what we call A,B and C ; by this I mean can they rename the form in difficulty order afterward ?

In addition, can anyone tell me what would be the motivation in doing test C intentionnally harder ?

Yeah it is way too small of a sample, I just put them up so that people could see what info was being discussed above. Yeah its possible that they re-name the forms after the have scored everyones tests. I dont know what would make them want to make one harder than the others, it doesn't really make any sense. It could be that that is not what happens at all, and it just so happens that the three scales that they have released have this trend. But who knows, the ETS does what it wants haha. we will have to wait until may and see what happens

Mataka · Post by **Mataka** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:59 pm

and even then, when we get the result I don't think we know the scales, they just tell us our result... we'll have to compare !

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:44 am

Is it May 6 yet?

Mataka · Post by **Mataka** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:30 am

Not quite, but getting closer !

Engage · Post by **Engage** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:39 pm

i already forgot about the test haha... i called them today just to check if the scores were in early, somehow... but they aren't, not surprisingly.

tensorwhat · Post by **tensorwhat** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:37 pm

i am totally NOT calling to get my scores, what a *** waste of money - those cunts have enough of mine already

zaijings2008 · Post by **zaijings2008** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:33 pm

tensorwhat wrote:i am totally NOT calling to get my scores, what a *** waste of money - those cunts have enough of mine already

Agree. ETS made fortune from us: most of us are poor students. It is funny they call themselves a "non-profit" organization.

uranium · Post by **uranium** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:54 am

are we notified by email, or snailmail on may 6th?

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:14 am

Neither. That's the day you can call and pay the 12 bucks. I'm an impatient bastard so I know that's what I'll do.

hailangldw · Post by **hailangldw** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:29 am

You Americans can take the test twice in one year? In my country(China), we only have one shot, around Nov 8. So it's our last option.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:12 am

hailangldw wrote:You Americans can take the test twice in one year? In my country(China), we only have one shot, around Nov 8. So it's our last option.

It's offered three times a year in the US

zaijings2008 · Post by **zaijings2008** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:03 pm

That is unfair to Chinese students.

I read some of the previous threads in this forum. People said Chinese students got high score because of cheating. This is unfair. I know if you spent some money you could get some very old materials (in 80s) in China. But, they did not help too much. Basically, the Chinese students are working on the 4 sample tests also, especially on 9677.

I think Chinese students prepared well. They have only one chance. This chance costs them a lot given by the level of Chinese salary. And, basically, the Chinese students who take the sub are elites. They deserved a high score. Given by the huge population of China, if we assume all Chinese students take the physics sub, the percentage of high score should not have too much difference with that of Americans.

In addition, I pretty surprised the level of mathematics of Americans. The GRE level of math is very low. A middle school student in China can get 800 if he or she understands English. For Chinese students, it is a shame that his or her gre math is below 800.

Another thing, I found lots of students in US regard the book series "Major American Universities Ph.D. Qualifying Questions and Solutions" as a bible for qualify. Remember, the solutions were finished by Chinese senior undergraduates of USTC. Their instructor collected their answers and published as a book. So, if the senior undergraduates could work on American phd qualify problems, it is no wonder that they got a high score in Physics GRE.

excel · Post by **excel** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:21 pm

zaijings2008 wrote:That is unfair to Chinese students.

How is holding the PGRE only once a year in China unfair to Chinese students? How many times a year are entrance-level exams to Chinese universities held in the U.S.?

agony · Post by **agony** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 1:08 am

sheeez....here we go again!

Mataka · Post by **Mataka** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:14 am

is it april 6 yet ?

No seriously, about april 6, does anybody know if we can get our scores on april 5 at midnight

? How does that work ?

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:57 am

zaijings2008 wrote:...

I think your points are valid and I agree with you for the most part. With a population over 4 times larger than that of the US and high school and undergrad educations that focus much more on advanced physics and math, combined with a bit of desperation since there is one shot a year to get out of China, well... I can see it.

Few people here are really in the position to claim that a larger percentage of Chinese cheat on the PGRE than Americans (although the same percentage corresponds to over four times as many cheaters in China), but there seems to be a bit more evidence for Chinese applicants memorizing all of the GRE words and getting excellent scores on the very difficult verbal section when they barely speak English. But oh well.

About the once a year thing. It's unfair, but that's the way it is. You'll also be judged with higher standards than American students.

uranium · Post by **uranium** » Fri May 01, 2009 9:20 am

To pay or not to pay come May 6th?

Mataka · Post by **Mataka** » Fri May 01, 2009 11:46 am

pay ... if they would ask 70 $ I would still pay, I'm just way too impatient and I'm hoping that once I will know my score I will be able to forget about it, and move on with my life, they sky will be blue again and so on !

zaijings2008 · Post by **zaijings2008** » Fri May 01, 2009 11:26 pm

Mataka wrote:pay ... if they would ask 70 $ I would still pay, I'm just way too impatient and I'm hoping that once I will know my score I will be able to forget about it, and move on with my life, they sky will be blue again and so on !

Not pay. That is what I will do. We will apply for the coming year. There is no rush to know the result. When I get the final score, I will make a trip to the Yellow Stone national park. If the score is bad, let me enjoy the beauty of the nature and forget it; if the score is good, the trip will be my reward.

uranium · Post by **uranium** » Sat May 02, 2009 8:40 am

See if we're already this impatient now, we would definitely be impatient during graduate admissions season. I think refraining from paying and waiting for the scores in the mail acts as a good exercise for next year.

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:00 am

uranium wrote:See if we're already this impatient now, we would definitely be impatient during graduate admissions season. I think refraining from paying and waiting for the scores in the mail acts as a good exercise for next year.

Haha good thinking.

Yea everyone would rather know sooner than later (unless we're afraid of the results lol), but whether it's worth $12 or $70 or whatever varies by person. Though it's definitely worth paying for those who take it in the fall like I did, since it really helps to know the score when doing applications. But those extra 2 weeks won't make a difference for you guys who took it in April.

Mataka · Post by **Mataka** » Sat May 02, 2009 11:33 am

The scores are out !!!

I got a 940 (92%), and was aiming at 950 and above, which puts me in an awkward position I guess. I always told myself I would do it again if I got anything below 950, but 940 is damn close to 950 I guess, and at this point it might be risky to do it again and get a lower score. Any opinion/suggestion ? (I should mention I'm aiming at top schools, in theory)

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Sat May 02, 2009 1:01 pm

I wouldn't make a decision like that, retake vs. not retake over 10 points. There's plenty of room for improvement for someone who gets a 700, but it's not worth having to study all over again in the fall and deal with the stress of the exam again for just a chance of getting at most 50 more points (and a chance of doing worse). If there was a topic or two on the test that killed you many times, for ex you didn't have much quantum background, or you missed a lot of relativity questions, then if you reviewed those topics again perhaps you could get upto 990. But otherwise it's just a crap shoot determined by the particular questions you get, how you're doing that day and how they scale the scores.

Engage · Post by **Engage** » Sat May 02, 2009 1:19 pm

OMFG 990

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Sat May 02, 2009 6:06 pm

890 - 86 percentile. Damn 10 more points would feel soo much better.

Mataka · Post by **Mataka** » Sat May 02, 2009 6:57 pm

quizivex wrote:I wouldn't make a decision like that, retake vs. not retake over 10 points. There's plenty of room for improvement for someone who gets a 700, but it's not worth having to study all over again in the fall and deal with the stress of the exam again for just a chance of getting at most 50 more points (and a chance of doing worse). If there was a topic or two on the test that killed you many times, for ex you didn't have much quantum background, or you missed a lot of relativity questions, then if you reviewed those topics again perhaps you could get upto 990. But otherwise it's just a crap shoot determined by the particular questions you get, how you're doing that day and how they scale the scores.

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I don't think I will do it again, it seems a bit too painful and perhaps not that worth it... But still, two question :
1-Does anyone know how this is viewed ? I mean how do the selection committee see someone who repeat the PGRE with a starting 940, does they think he is wasting his time, or do they think he is perfectionist ?
2-Do selection committees really think that there is a significant difference between say a 990 and a 950 ?

stardust · Post by **stardust** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:05 pm

You could do what lots of people do, take the Nov. test AFTER mailing out the
original set of scores. If you do better you can send out the second set to a few select places although it wouldn't be practical to spend all that money. If you do worse,
then don't send. If you were going to spend the time studying physics, there's plenty
to study and learn that has nothing to do with this test, like read journal or works in
your probable research area if you were going to spend the time. Or just start working
on qualifiers. If you were using it as a way to measure your personal best, its understandable wanting to do that just for yourself, but its questionable that the test means anything in the first place.

tensorwhat · Post by **tensorwhat** » Sun May 03, 2009 11:34 am

Mataka wrote:2-Do selection committees really think that there is a significant difference between say a 990 and a 950 ?

no

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Sun May 03, 2009 11:44 am

Mataka wrote:Yeah, the more I think about it the more I don't think I will do it again, it seems a bit too painful and perhaps not that worth it... But still, two question :
1-Does anyone know how this is viewed ? I mean how do the selection committee see someone who repeat the PGRE with a starting 940, does they think he is wasting his time, or do they think he is perfectionist ?
2-Do selection committees really think that there is a significant difference between say a 990 and a 950 ?

Well, just from what I've read here from ppl like admissionprof and from what I've heard from my professors and the DGS at Cornell, I don't think a 940 would be viewed as significantly different from a 990. It is believed that the correlation between physics GRE score and physics ability is not that tight, and that 100's of points definitely means something but 10's of point often does not.

My opinion is that you would be wasting your time and money to retake it, and that you might come off like the kid who spends a paragraph in their SOP explaining their one A minus. However the suggestion of sending in your scores before you retake the test in November seems like a good idea, then you could go for the top score without the admissions panels necessarily seeing it.

tensorwhat · Post by **tensorwhat** » Sun May 03, 2009 12:00 pm

...

grae313 wrote:and that you might come off like the kid who spends a paragraph in their SOP explaining their one A minus.

...

who are the people that do *** like that? come on......seriously?

notnaps · Post by **notnaps** » Mon May 04, 2009 4:17 pm

siiiigggh.... I got a 760..

I got an 860 on my last practice exam, I don't know what happened.

I'm not really upset, just slightly disappointed.

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:06 pm

I was the other way around, the highest I scored on the practice exams was an 800 but I got a 890 on the real thing.

Jai_Guru · Post by **Jai_Guru** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:08 pm

what were your percentiles?

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:41 pm

If I recall correctly, I was getting in the low 70's on the practice ones and I got an 86 on the real one. I also felt much better on the real one so I wasn't all that surprised that I did much better.

aovgun · Post by **aovgun** » Tue May 05, 2009 2:37 pm

hey, have the gre scores announced by phone?

isnt it announced at 6 MAy???

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Wed May 06, 2009 1:54 pm

Is it May 6 yet?

aovgun · Post by **aovgun** » Wed May 06, 2009 3:47 pm

but you said your score at 2 may , it is before the 6 may.

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Wed May 06, 2009 3:50 pm

Yes, the scores were available on May 2 for some reason. I saw that someone said in a post above that it was available and so I called and got mine too.

aovgun · Post by **aovgun** » Wed May 06, 2009 3:57 pm

oKEY. im calling....

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Wed May 06, 2009 4:15 pm

they are almost always out a few days early.

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Wed May 06, 2009 4:39 pm

Yup, ETS always strives to go above and beyond the expectations. They are a true class act.