September 17th 2016 gre physics test

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mhrazeghi58
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:28 pm

September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by mhrazeghi58 » Sat Sep 17, 2016 12:54 pm

I just came back from the exam. What did you do? I did around 80!

tyler94
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Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2016 12:59 pm

Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by tyler94 » Sat Sep 17, 2016 1:00 pm

Just took it. I answered ~95 questions. Does anybody know what the cutoffs for 990 are in recent tests?

mhrazeghi58
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:28 pm

Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by mhrazeghi58 » Sat Sep 17, 2016 1:04 pm

It was easy test! I guess the cut of would be around 87-88! Do you agree?

opelton
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by opelton » Sat Sep 17, 2016 3:59 pm

Just took it also! People online said Sept. 2015 was an easy test also (my guess is that the difficulty is similar to this one). I found a reddit thread for a guy who answered 94 questions (he said he may have made some mistakes)... and he got a 990. So my guess is a raw score of 88-92 gives you a 990?

I answered 94 and I know I answered 2 wrong :( Def. might have made some little mistakes in there also.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/PhysicsGRE/com ... ysics_gre/ (user: throwaway2627)


EDIT:

Found this also, from someone who received their Sept. 2015 score of 990:

"Congratulations to all who took the test and good luck to those taking it this weekend! I received a 990, which was the 94%-tile. I answered 94 questions. I can think of one which I certainly got wrong and 2-5 more which I am uncertain about, so I guess that would put my raw score around a 90."

stronglycoupled
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by stronglycoupled » Sat Sep 17, 2016 4:43 pm

There are two questions I'm skeptical about: For the 100th question I think the answer should be (1/12) ml^2. Does that sound about right? As for the reactions driving the sun, which answer do you guys choose? I chose p + p --> ^{2}He, I think. I think I got the nuclear one wrong. In addition, I left at most 10 questions unanswered, so I probably won't be able to get 990, but I think I'd be happy with anything above 950. If I don't do as well as I'd like, I still have the October one, so it's not the end of the world.

Best of luck to everybody

Yiiiiii
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by Yiiiiii » Sat Sep 17, 2016 5:36 pm

stronglycoupled wrote:There are two questions I'm skeptical about: For the 100th question I think the answer should be (1/12) ml^2. Does that sound about right? As for the reactions driving the sun, which answer do you guys choose? I chose p + p --> ^{2}He, I think. I think I got the nuclear one wrong. In addition, I left at most 10 questions unanswered, so I probably won't be able to get 990, but I think I'd be happy with anything above 950. If I don't do as well as I'd like, I still have the October one, so it's not the end of the world.

Best of luck to everybody
I'm new to pGRE so it might be a silly question:
Does everyone around the world get the same exam booklet?

I took the test this morning in Canada but I didn't see the two questions that you mentioned.

milkywayguy
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by milkywayguy » Sat Sep 17, 2016 6:54 pm

Yiiiiii wrote: I'm new to pGRE so it might be a silly question:
Does everyone around the world get the same exam booklet?

I took the test this morning in Canada but I didn't see the two questions that you mentioned.
I am pretty sure that they change the exam booklets depending on when/where you take the exam (i.e depends on country/timezone)

I took the PGRE today in California and I definitely saw the questions these guys were talking about :)

HenryB
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by HenryB » Sat Sep 17, 2016 8:20 pm

I only answered ~85 questions today. SInce the 990 cut off would be 87-90 this time, not lying, I don't feel good about my score at all :(

I don't mind taking the exam, but I reeeeeally hope ETS could release the grades sooner and have more transparency on the scoring.
Since our grades won't be released until Oct 17, 2016, we will have less than 2 weeks to catch up for the next one on Oct 29th. In addition, we can't see our raw scores so we don't actually know how we did on the exam. I guess the only thing I could do next few weeks is to recall some of the problems, then find out what i did wrong or/and how to do it faster. :roll:

stronglycoupled
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by stronglycoupled » Sat Sep 17, 2016 8:48 pm

HenryB wrote:I only answered ~85 questions today. SInce the 990 cut off would be 87-90 this time, not lying, I don't feel good about my score at all :(

I don't mind taking the exam, but I reeeeeally hope ETS could release the grades sooner and have more transparency on the scoring.
Since our grades won't be released until Oct 17, 2016, we will have less than 2 weeks to catch up for the next one on Oct 29th. In addition, we can't see our raw scores so we don't actually know how we did on the exam. I guess the only thing I could do next few weeks is to recall some of the problems, then find out what i did wrong or/and how to do it faster. :roll:
Fudge! I was basing my expectations on the 2008 test, for which the 990 cutoff was 82. If the cutoff is as high as you claim, then I should definitely register for the October one.

tooterfish
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by tooterfish » Sun Sep 18, 2016 3:38 am

I answered 97 questions. I had maybe 10 min left after completing the final question - not enough time for error checking. It felt similar in difficulty to the April test, and easier than the released practice exams. I hope only a few of my "educated guesses" were errors or trap answers. We'll see!

illbeback
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by illbeback » Sun Sep 18, 2016 5:06 am

tooterfish wrote:I answered 97 questions. I had maybe 10 min left after completing the final question - not enough time for error checking. It felt similar in difficulty to the April test, and easier than the released practice exams. I hope only a few of my "educated guesses" were errors or trap answers. We'll see!
Hey tooterfish! Seems like you did a pretty good job. I also answered 90+ questions and had an impression that the test was easier than the 2008 test. Or maybe, that is because I reviewed the 2008 test solutions.

You mentioned that the September test was around the same difficulty as the April test. Based on your experience, do you have a rough estimate for the 990 cutoff?
Last edited by illbeback on Sun Oct 09, 2016 10:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

tooterfish
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by tooterfish » Sun Sep 18, 2016 11:48 am

Hey illbeback. Well, in April I took the test cold, never having looked at a PGRE nor having studied. It was actually a nice experience. I felt almost no pressure, giving that I put in no effort (P = F/A ?). I scored a 790 (69th percentile), which I'm not particularly proud of. This time, I studied my butt off, but I'm sure there are mistakes. I'm guessing my new score is around 900. I would be surprised if I scored above 950. But, y'know, go big or go home.

illbeback
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by illbeback » Sun Sep 18, 2016 1:01 pm

tooterfish wrote:Hey illbeback. Well, in April I took the test cold, never having looked at a PGRE nor having studied. It was actually a nice experience. I felt almost no pressure, giving that I put in no effort (P = F/A ?). I scored a 790 (69th percentile), which I'm not particularly proud of. This time, I studied my butt off, but I'm sure there are mistakes. I'm guessing my new score is around 900. I would be surprised if I scored above 950. But, y'know, go big or go home.
Let's just hope that the cutoff is not too high. I have read some posts about September tests, and the consensus is that those are easier compared to other dates.
Last edited by illbeback on Sun Oct 09, 2016 10:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Qwaps
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by Qwaps » Sun Sep 18, 2016 3:43 pm

I also felt that the April test was easy, compared to the other practice tests (although I never did the 2008 one...). However, I personally get much more concentrated when taking an actual exam than a practice one, so that might be an important factor! Unluckily, I have no idea what a 990 would be for the April 2016 test because I really really suck at remembering the questions I had doubts on, and such.

HenryB
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by HenryB » Sun Sep 18, 2016 3:59 pm

tooterfish wrote:Hey illbeback. Well, in April I took the test cold, never having looked at a PGRE nor having studied. It was actually a nice experience. I felt almost no pressure, giving that I put in no effort (P = F/A ?). I scored a 790 (69th percentile), which I'm not particularly proud of. This time, I studied my butt off, but I'm sure there are mistakes. I'm guessing my new score is around 900. I would be surprised if I scored above 950. But, y'know, go big or go home.
If you didn't study and still got 790 last time, i think you will be fine this time.

mhrazeghi58
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:28 pm

Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by mhrazeghi58 » Sun Sep 18, 2016 4:31 pm

So, this means for +800 there is no chance for 75+ answers! Very sad ☹️☹️

danielfaraday
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by danielfaraday » Mon Sep 19, 2016 6:35 am

Let's all keep in mind that the people on this forum are the ones who end up getting the scores on the higher end of the spectrum. I only answered 78 and probably got a few wrong. While that's low compared to the ones who replied to this thread so far, across the world, I'm sure it's respectable. Good job everyone! Remember that your score isn't everything!

opelton
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by opelton » Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:39 pm

anyone know what date we should expect our scores on?

Qwaps
Posts: 36
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by Qwaps » Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:55 pm

opelton wrote:anyone know what date we should expect our scores on?
October 17

magdalenasophie
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by magdalenasophie » Fri Oct 14, 2016 5:27 am

Results are out! How did you do? I got an 810 score, 72 percentile. Do you think it's okay or should I totally retake it? I've signed up for the test in 2 weeks but i simply won't have time to study for it. Publishing a paper and writing my Master's thesis, while also planning my wedding...

aewais13
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by aewais13 » Fri Oct 14, 2016 6:29 am

Scores are out! , I scored 880 ( 83 percentile ) and I don't know whether it is a good score or not ?

I am an international student with no research experience. Do you think I should retake the exam ?

stronglycoupled
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by stronglycoupled » Fri Oct 14, 2016 8:18 am

900... 85th percentile. Definitely retaking in two weeks! Will probably start revising this weekend.

phyz
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by phyz » Fri Oct 14, 2016 9:33 am

Sorry, noob question here but what's the correspondence between the raw and the scaled score? Is 990 just arbitrarily set at some raw score?

aewais13
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by aewais13 » Fri Oct 14, 2016 9:36 am

stronglycoupled wrote:900... 85th percentile. Definitely retaking in two weeks! Will probably start revising this weekend.
I am interested if you could tell me why you are considering retaking the exam ?

stronglycoupled
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by stronglycoupled » Fri Oct 14, 2016 10:57 am

aewais13 wrote:
stronglycoupled wrote:900... 85th percentile. Definitely retaking in two weeks! Will probably start revising this weekend.
I am interested if you could tell me why you are considering retaking the exam ?
To be completely honest, I have what I consider to be a fairly respectable profile otherwise, i.e. decent research experience in my fields of interest, 4.0 GPA in physics and maths, quite a few advanced (grad-level) classes, well-connected recommenders in pheno and high-energy. I think I have a non-zero chance of getting into a top-ten school, but my profile could be severely marred by a 900 PGRE. Definitely. Based on what I've seen in previous years, a relatively poor PGRE can be a deal-breaker for even very very strong students, and I'm not a very very strong student. So yeah, if you can afford it, definitely retake it, especially as an international. I myself am an international. Don't let the stupid PGRE stop you from getting into your dream school.

TakeruK
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by TakeruK » Fri Oct 14, 2016 11:34 am

phyz wrote:Sorry, noob question here but what's the correspondence between the raw and the scaled score? Is 990 just arbitrarily set at some raw score?
There are raw scores, scaled scores, and percentile ranks. Here's how I understand the difference:

Raw score: This score is not published by ETS anymore. But this is your absolute score on the specific test you took, without knowledge or comparison to any other person or any other test. Since it's no longer published, we don't really know how their system stores the information internally. But back in 2009, it was published, and it was a score out of 100*: 1 point for each correct answer, minus 1/4 points for each wrong answer.

[*Note 1: Not always 100 because if a question was determined unfair and not counted, then this would be less]

Scaled score: This is the score that is out of 990. ETS takes your raw score and adjusts it to account for variations in the test. Since not every test will be exactly the same in difficulty level, ETS wants to account for that. You can think of it as curving on a larger scale. The point is that during the 5 year validity period of your score, everyone with the same scaled score should have equal performance. That is, if you took the September 2013 test and got 700, it means that if you did the same performance in October 2014, you should also get 700**, even if the new test was easier/harder. So, think of this score as be affected by test difficulty, but not by the other test takers (at least not directly---I am guessing they use aggregated statistics to determine test difficulty)

[**Note 2: There is a very large "errorbar" on your scaled score. It's something like 70 points (you can check it in the ETS reports). So, in this example, I really should have said your second test score, assuming the same performance would be a score between 630 and 770. Another way to think about it is that any score that is within 70 points of each other is basically the same. This is why ETS argues against using their scores for cutoff values, unless you set them really low. But, most Physics depts don't listen.]

Percentile score: In order to compute your percentile score, each July, ETS takes all the scaled scores of all test takers in the last 5 years (i.e. on July 1, 2016, all test scores from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2016, inclusive) are sorted into a giant list. This list is then used to determine which scaled scores correspond to which percentile.

NOTE: The percentile scores are updated every July. So, if you took the exam in, say, October 2014, your percentile score in the first score report would be based on people who took the test from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2014. If you apply to grad school again the following year, and send new score reports in 2015, your percentile score would be based on people who took the test from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2015. With a 5 year window, percentile scores are unlikely to change much from year to year, but keep in mind that these scores change over time.

Yiiiiii
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by Yiiiiii » Fri Oct 14, 2016 6:40 pm

930 and 89%.......Not too bad, but I really want to go to Princeton though...sad

theladybug
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by theladybug » Fri Oct 14, 2016 7:57 pm

Yiiiiii wrote:930 and 89%.......Not too bad, but I really want to go to Princeton though...sad
I mean, are you an international student? I'm not sure about internationals, but a score of 930 isn't going to keep a domestic applicant out of Princeton.

milkywayguy
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by milkywayguy » Fri Oct 14, 2016 10:01 pm

970 and 93%..... Quite surprised and delighted at my performance in this exam! :D

Yiiiiii
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by Yiiiiii » Fri Oct 14, 2016 10:05 pm

theladybug wrote:
Yiiiiii wrote:930 and 89%.......Not too bad, but I really want to go to Princeton though...sad
I mean, are you an international student? I'm not sure about internationals, but a score of 930 isn't going to keep a domestic applicant out of Princeton.
True, I am international. Gonna finish my undergraduate study at a Canadian university soon, but I am not a citizen or PR of neither US nor Canada..
My lovely younger cousin is at Princeton. I am jealous of her :( :( :oops: :oops:

stokebroke1222
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by stokebroke1222 » Fri Oct 14, 2016 10:15 pm

How many questions do people think they got right and what score did you get? I'm trying to get a sense of the curve this time around. I answered 91 and felt pretty confident about the ones I answered, but must have made a bunch of dumb mistakes to get an 850.

opelton
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by opelton » Fri Oct 14, 2016 10:35 pm

stokebroke1222 wrote:How many questions do people think they got right and what score did you get? I'm trying to get a sense of the curve this time around. I answered 91 and felt pretty confident about the ones I answered, but must have made a bunch of dumb mistakes to get an 850.
Yeah same here. I answered 94, felt pretty good, and got an 820 :( Going to keep fighting and try one more time! haha

HenryB
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by HenryB » Sun Oct 16, 2016 1:04 am

opelton wrote:
stokebroke1222 wrote:How many questions do people think they got right and what score did you get? I'm trying to get a sense of the curve this time around. I answered 91 and felt pretty confident about the ones I answered, but must have made a bunch of dumb mistakes to get an 850.
Yeah same here. I answered 94, felt pretty good, and got an 820 :( Going to keep fighting and try one more time! haha
Similar situation. No raw scores so it is difficult to evaluate how well we did. I guess the only option is to work as hard as we could in the next two weeks :shock:

mhrazeghi58
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Re: September 17th 2016 gre physics test

Post by mhrazeghi58 » Thu Oct 20, 2016 12:53 pm

I answered 83 questions and was sure about 75, but I got 700. It is very disappointing. Just 9 days to the next exam. :( :(



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