Scheduling time for each area

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sravanskarri
Posts: 58
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:19 pm

Scheduling time for each area

Post by sravanskarri » Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:57 pm

Hi:
I am not an undergraduate in Physics looking to give a PGRE in November.I need some advice on how much time to allocate for each area as I can keep on reading and postponing rest of the stuff. I believe I can do well on Electro magnetics ( being a graduate in EE) but might require some reading in Wave Propgation. Had some exposure to Classical Mech, optics, modern physics. Here is a tentative plan that I wish to execute.

I mean R&Q = reading with some ideas and understading on how to solve problems: no pen and paper involved

Classical Mech: R&Q (started: 15 days from now)
Electromagnetics: R&Q ( 15 days)
Optics: R&Q ( 7 days )
Modern Physics R&Q (7 days )
Quantum Mechanics R&Q ( 30 days)
Special relativity and other topics: R&Q ( 15-30 days )

Can anyone let me know If I am spending too mcuh time on some topics ? I am working from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM or so.

After that I want to work on problems and improving speed.

When I tried to do a practice test, I found myself spending more time on certain problems. I know we can skip some for later but exactly at what point do you decide that in a test scnario. I end up skipping too many or getting stuck at some problems.
Any help and suggestions are highly appreciated and Thanks Grae_13 and Kaiser_sos for valuable suggestions on other posts.

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quizivex
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Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 6:13 am

Re: Scheduling time for each area

Post by quizivex » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:27 pm

sravanskarri wrote:I am not an undergraduate in Physics looking to give a PGRE in November.I need some advice on how much time to allocate for each area as I can keep on reading and postponing rest of the stuff.
You don't need to study any of those topics.

sravanskarri
Posts: 58
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:19 pm

Re: Scheduling time for each area

Post by sravanskarri » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:58 pm

Are you kidding me ?, that wasn't a typo. I am a graduate in EE looking to take PGRE as I indicated later on.

nathan12343
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Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:34 am

Re: Scheduling time for each area

Post by nathan12343 » Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:00 pm

You're spending way too much time on Quantum mechanics. There will only be 5-6 questions max at the level of Grifftihs. Stick to a good modern physics book. The level of quantum mechanics covered in, say, Taylor and Zafiratos or something at an equivalent level will probably be good. There are a lot of questions about seminal experiments, e.g. Stern-Gerlach, Photoelectric Effect, Michelson-Morley, so reviewing the chapters on these topics might be useful.

E&M and Classical mechanics are even more important. Are you sure that you have these sections mastered? There are many trick questions in the Mechanics and E&M sections.

What sorts of problems are you skipping over?

As for when to decide to skip over a problem, that's a tough choice, which probably depends more on your circumstances than anything. How much time are you spending taking the official practice tests? Most of your studying should be spent working actual PGRE problems.

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quizivex
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Re: Scheduling time for each area

Post by quizivex » Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:10 am

Haha sorry, it just sounded funny. The first time I saw it, I read:
(I am not) (an undergraduate in Physics looking to give a PGRE in November).
instead of
(I am not an undergraduate in Physics) (looking to give a PGRE in November).

I agree about the proportion of time devoted to quantum. Most of the quantum on the GRE is the descriptive kind learned in general and modern physics courses which you probably already had. Only a few questions will be about more advanced formalism and theory, which should all be from the first few chapters of the Griffiths text.

Since it's only July 2, you have plenty of time to do an extensive review of all the subjects. But I suggest you start with the subjects that you struggled the most with in your practice test. Perhaps you knew nearly all of the classical and E&M problems but nearly none of the optics so you could start reviewing there. Otherwise, my best piece of advice is to keep a notebook where you write down everything you don't already know, so that you'll never lose anything you learned while studying. Also, browse this forum, which has countless discussions and advice about the PGRE.

P.S. Wouldn't it be really awesome if garden suddenly came back?

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twistor
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Re: Scheduling time for each area

Post by twistor » Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:52 am

No one knows when the second coming of garden will be.

Perhaps someone should search his words for prophecy of his return.

sravanskarri
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Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:19 pm

Re: Scheduling time for each area

Post by sravanskarri » Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:24 pm

thanks guys for all the suggestions.

Nathan:I took a practice test from ETS 8677 in 3hrs my score was 640. I was able to get most questions in Class Mech and Emag right, of course always require some fine tuning to get everything right.I wanted to emphaisize more on Qmech and Modern Phy more as my failure rate was high there and tey cover a significant part in the test. Thanks for the suggestions on references for experments etc

Quizvex:
I am not so good in wiritng things up (:( . I will move to Qmech & MP after Class Mech.

nathan12343
Posts: 249
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:34 am

Re: Scheduling time for each area

Post by nathan12343 » Thu Jul 02, 2009 4:53 pm

You should be aware that the 8677 test is from 1986 and doesn't really reflect how the test feels today. There are significantly more calculation and estimation questions and fewer as well as easier qualitative questions on the current test.

I'd suggest taking the 0177 test and then basing your self-study on that.



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