Preparation for PGRE

[arvind]

Hi, I am a M.Sc. Physics student (Medical Physics Based) (actually awaiting 2nd year result) . I will have a GPA>= 3.0. I am appearing on General gre on september 1st week so will have around 1.5 months to prepare for 19th october PGRE. I am studying for PGRE everyday but for 2 hours only as my focus is now General gre. I have access to
1 .Halliday, Resnick, Walker - Fundamentals of Physics - 10th edition
2. Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics (9th Ed)
3. Young & Freedman University Physics 13th
4. All 4 previous questions and answers + New practice book i.e. 08 exam
5. IE irodov + shaums problems etc..........
I have a good grasp of undergraduate physics. I am aiming for (900 + ). I want to get into Ph.d. program in Medical physics.Please suggest me a study plan or technique and even materials. Med physics demands a very high gre and pgre score so plz help.

Also I am lost when it comes to choosing Universities. All the accredited colleges seem great. I know DUKE, UPEN, columbia, UCLA are among the best but don't have clue about the rankings of others.... Any kind of help will be highly appreciated.

[bosemicrowave]

Hi, I am a M.Sc. Physics student (Medical Physics Based) (actually awaiting 2nd year result) . I will have a GPA>= 3.0. I am appearing on General gre on september 1st week so will have around 1.5 months to prepare for 19th october PGRE. I am studying for PGRE everyday but for 2 hours only as my focus is now General gre. I have access to
1 .Halliday, Resnick, Walker - Fundamentals of Physics - 10th edition
2. Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics (9th Ed)
3. Young & Freedman University Physics 13th
4. All 4 previous questions and answers + New practice book i.e. 08 exam
5. IE irodov + shaums problems etc..........
I have a good grasp of undergraduate physics. I am aiming for (900 + ). I want to get into Ph.d. program in Medical physics.Please suggest me a study plan or technique and even materials. Med physics demands a very high gre and pgre score so plz help.

Also I am lost when it comes to choosing Universities. All the accredited colleges seem great. I know DUKE, UPEN, columbia, UCLA are among the best but don't have clue about the rankings of others.... Any kind of help will be highly appreciated.

High Arvind I'm also in your position but I've completed General GRE in July 2012(V:45%,Q:98%,AWA:58%) but I've not taken IBT yet.

Actually I'm also facing lots of problem because my under graduate was in Computer Enginering,so it's bit difficult for me to cover new topics(such as Theory of relativity,quantum mech,statistical physics,particle physics,Aer topicsstro,experimental physics or modern part).

Are you preparing with self study or following any group?Specially what to do in short span of time to cover relatively tougher topics such as Griffith's Quantum..or special topics!What are the books you are following for experimental physics,particle physics or Astrophysics...these 30% area of PGRE are toughest in my opinion considering the fact we have less access to these topics.

[arvind]

To Bosemicrowave,
Mate,though i wrote my major was Medical physics but I had to study Quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics .............. and others during my M.Sc. using books such as Cohen Tannoudji (Quantum), Huang (statistical), goldstien (classical). But these books have much more content that required for PGRE so other graduates have suggested books for these subjects on other posts.
As i have already pointed out i have a very little time so i will be focusing on simpler undergraduate topics first and then will got through these special topics superficially noticing the question types and focus.
I am not planning to answer every question on PGRE but will answer all the general topics plus some special ones. I am aiming for a (900+) so i think a raw score of 80 will do it and if i answer around 85-90 questions with very little mistakes i think i will be able to do it.
My suggestion to you is to first master the simple topics and if you have ample time dive into the special ones.
And finally " study hard but study smart "too.

[bosemicrowave]

To Bosemicrowave,
Mate,though i wrote my major was Medical physics but I had to study Quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics .............. and others during my M.Sc. using books such as Cohen Tannoudji (Quantum), Huang (statistical), goldstien (classical). But these books have much more content that required for PGRE so other graduates have suggested books for these subjects on other posts.
As i have already pointed out i have a very little time so i will be focusing on simpler undergraduate topics first and then will got through these special topics superficially noticing the question types and focus.
I am not planning to answer every question on PGRE but will answer all the general topics plus some special ones. I am aiming for a (900+) so i think a raw score of 80 will do it and if i answer around 85-90 questions with very little mistakes i think i will be able to do it.
My suggestion to you is to first master the simple topics and if you have ample time dive into the special ones.
And finally " study hard but study smart "too.

Thanks.I've also got Goldstein but I would definitely buy the book of Huang for statistical part.Regarding QM I think Griffiths,Dirac or Resnick or Arthur Beiser is quite good.But what about Astro,particle physics or 6% question based on laboratory method.Can you recommend any book for these parts(specially the laboratory method).

The scaled score for 900 will be 71-72 but it might go up to 75-76.To get 990 you will have to score 85-88 as statistics provided by last couple of year students.