asymptoticallyAbnormal

The secretary of my department has lived outside Purdue a long time and told me she would be willing to give me a thumbs up or thumbs down to any apartment I found on the internet. Maybe your secretary can do the same, or point you to a willing professor/student. She also said every city has its bad part. For West Lafayette, that's downtown, by second street. Purdue has a large foreign population, and I'm sure it has a vast network of people going through your situation. I'm American but live half way across the country, so for all intents and purposes I'm in the same boat.

Culture shock? Hello, I have been admittted with funding to study at Purdue beginning in Fall 2014. Now, I've spent my whole life in the Northeast of the United States and almost everyone I talk to cringes a bit when I say I may go Midwest for my Ph.D; there are some pretty significant lifestyle differences. Not to mention cities in the Northeast probably have better employment prospects. Are there current Purdue students originally from the Northeast (or places like San Francisco / Silicon Valley) who can speak to this? I'm a little apprehensive about whether I want to spend 5 years there. Thank you very much for your thoughts. --asymptoticallyAbnormal

Hello, I am the same way. I got a math major, with a high GPA, and my quant score on my first one (okay, two) practice tests were much lower than they should have been given my background. I have realized a few things: (1) This is a test of your ability to take the test. Not entirely your knowledge of maths or ability to write. (2) It is a test of ENDURANCE. Seldom in college do you have to sit still for 4 hours on end, not allowed to drink water, crack your back, etc, save for a 10 minute break. This was huge for me. (3) It is a test of STRATEGY. Advice. (0) Prioritize which sections are most important. Unfortunately I could see how for psychology they are all relatively equal, though maybe they care less about vocab? (1) Start by practicing (take a diagnostic test). Buying a Kaplan book unlocks 6 realistic online tests and 2 in-book tests. As you take the first test, write down your weaknesses both conceptually and strategically. After, read over what you got wrong and write down more conceptual and strategic weaknesses. (2) Shore up your weaknesses. (3) Repeat. I studied for about 10 weeks. I would go to the library 2 or 3 times a week, alternating study and practice tests. The other thing I have to emphasize is that PRACTICE will help you get over the ENDURANCE part of the test. Practice in realistic situations. For me, I drink like a liter of water every hour. Without going into detail, I had strategies for overcoming this. As far as resources, I mentioned Kaplan. I'm sure the other ones are good too. Just make sure they offer ONLINE SIMULATIONS. Lastly, I'm not 100% sure studying in groups will be that beneficial. But that might just be my own study habits. --asymptoticallyAbnormal

Hello, This posting is about the Math Subject GRE, not the Quantitative section of the regular GRE. WHY I WANT TO TAKE IT: I applied to grad schools this season (for fall 2014 enroll) but am worried I will not get in since I didn't have a subject GRE. I want to prep for the subject GRE now so if I do not get in anywhere I can be prepared to take the subject before re-applying. PROGRAMS OF INTEREST: Without going into too much detail, I want to study machine learning (ML). Since my background is in math and statistical programming, I am applying to applied math programs that have a strong ML focus (or ML labs nearby) rather than Computer Science departments with ML. One example is Johns Hopkins dept of Applied Math and Statistics. WHERE I NEED HELP: I have a BA in Math and Econ (2012). I thought I wanted a Ph.D. in econ, so when I was in undergrad, I took math courses that would be most useful for an Econ program. As a consequence, I didn't take a lot of the material that is covered on the subject GRE. Since I have a math major, I have the ability to independently learn math materials and I can write and read proofs just fine. I just need to know which textbooks are most important to pick up to fill in my gaps. Classes I've Taken: Single- and Multi- variable Calc Differential Equations (though this course was pretty limited) Linear Algebra Real Analysis Topology Linear Optimization / Operations Research Probability Statistics / Econometrics When I picked up a book on the subject GRE (Princeton Review), I noticed that it talked about geometry, algebra, and complex analysis, which I know right now I should go learn. But it's not likely that I will be able to teach myself all these in the next 5 months (I also have a full time job), so I need to know where to prioritize. Thanks so much!! Let me know if you want more info... -----asymptoticallyAbnormal

Perfect. Thanks so much for your help. By the way, the less-than-ideal testing center that my friend registered at was Brookline.

*GRE in Boston* Hi everyone, This is my first post here so please forgive if I'm asking in the totally wrong forum. It would appear that there is considerable variance in the quality of GRE test centers. A friend of my told me she took the test twice, one place had no dividers between cubicles, was loud, and dirty. Another had noise-cancelling headphones. Does anyone happen to know whether there are places in Cambridge/Boston to avoid? Has anyone had particularly good or bad experiences? Thanks everyone