One week out, beginning to worry...

[Darth.Vegan]

So, the fact is I didn't end up having nearly as much time as I would have wanted and now I feel awfully unprepared. I am a very busy undergraduate student with 2 research assistant positions, a graduate level course, ridiculous general ed requirements and finishing my honors thesis in time for graduation. I know many students are super busy, and I'm sure I am not the first person to say this. I've had about 3 weeks of serious studying. While my scores have improved, I am unfortunately not where I need to be score wise for the caliber of schools I'm planning to apply to.

My current practice scores are Q:150-156 and V: 155-161 and AW: 5.

Based on those scores I am expecting somewhere around 152-154 on quant and 157-159 on verbal. '

While the verbal was ok, I am feeling really down on the quant stuff. I know I can learn it, I just need MORE time haha. I have the most trouble with rate problems, and proportions.

I'm hoping my GPA 3.94, and 2 years research experience will make up for this mediocre score.

Here is where I am planning to apply, should I reconsider some of these based on practice scores?

Wisconsin-Madison Sociology PhD

Cornell Development Sociology PhD

Stanford Sociology PhD

Brown Sociology PhD

UC-Irvine Sociology PhD

Oregon Sociology PhD

UC-San Diego Sociology PhD

UC-Santa Cruz Sociology PhD

Michigan Environmental Justice MA

Fordham Sociology MA

U of Oklahoma Sociology MA

UVic Sociology MA

Simon Fraser Sociology MA

Toronto Sociology MA

York Development Studies MA

[Instigate]

You say you have one week? Go through NOVA's book. It will surely help you increase your quant score. Also, it is just problems so you can go over it in 2 days.

[Willows]

Which program are you using to gauge scores? Every single program/test underestimated what my score in both sections would be. So, you may be surprised on test day.

[Darth.Vegan]

Which program are you using to gauge scores? Every single program/test underestimated what my score in both sections would be. So, you may be surprised on test day.

Barron's Online Test Prep. That would be awesome.

[Darth.Vegan]

While taking a GRE practice test today, I realized that I probably have serious ADD. It hasn't affected my work in college because by and large I don't procrastinate. However sitting for hours trying to take a test is tortuous. I actually have to remind myself to concentrate and then I end up concentrating on the fact that I am reminding myself to concentrate. I also can't stop moving, chewing my pencils etc. Ugghh. It got to the point where I was guessing on the 2nd quant section JUST TO GET IT OVER WITH, because I couldn't bare to sit there any longer. Ugghhh.

[Darth.Vegan]

torturous*

[Hanyuye]

Sigh, I'm having the same issue, though not to the extent of your ADD as you described it. I'm a former Math major turned English Major turned back to Math major. So I should be excelling in both parts! But I can't stand reading text on screen, it's @###@# horrible. I'm taking Calculus 4 and the verbose and sly quality of words in the Quant section doesn't coincide my current knowledge of Math. It's incredibly sickening, I swear!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[Darth.Vegan]

I feel ya there. I took social statistics last semester and got an A+. I personally think that is a much better predictor of my ability to conduct quantitative sociology. I ha.te reading the text on the screen, and just can't seem to get my attention where it needs to be. While I certainly have trouble with certain types of problems, I also make stupid mistakes like writing things wrong or not paying attention to what the question is actually looking for. Take out my stupid mistakes and I score much closer to 157-160. My partner is also studying for the GRE and taking it on Monday. She has been scoring in the 164-169 range and will be working with me for 2-3 hours Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night. My test is Friday so I am hoping that will help me get up into a decent range. I am hoping for a minimum of 75th percentile in both sections which is about a 158.

[Hanyuye]

Update us when you can xdarth!

[Darth.Vegan]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that by utilizing all of my time on the verbal sections and reading each reading comprehension section 2-3 times before looking at the questions, I improved my verbal score to 163-165. Unfortunately my quant score remains unchanged, but I start my first of 4 days drilling quant problems with my gf tonight. Hopefully I can improve it a bit before the actual test.

[Darth.Vegan]

So I took the test today V:163 Q: 150. It comes out to a 1280 when converted to the old scale.

The quant is a bit low I know, but I think the verbal is high enough to make up for it in most departments. I also got an A+ in stats last year which should buffer it a bit.

I am only slightly lower than UT-Austin's #14 (584 Verbal, 647 Quantitative) average quant and quite a bit higher on verbal so I expect to be competitive outside the top 10 and still have a decent shot within the top 10.

What do y'all think!?

[ZacharyObama]

No worry so much, brah. Make good pa-la-pa-la on da kine and hope for da best!

Edited October 13, 2012 by ZacharyObama

[dat_nerd]

I just read your first post and had to comment. Sounds like we're in the same boat, graduation, honors thesis, two research assistant jobs, and everything. Great job on the studying, and I wish you best of luck for you applications! Hang in there!

[Hanyuye]

I just retook the GRE today. Again, I want to state I'm a math major. Again, I received the same scores for the third time in a row. 158 Q, 154 V. I am beyond furious and since I'm taking 3 advanced math courses plus full-time work. I never had the time to get tutoring for the GRE nor could I afford it.....or find a schedule that fits my classes and work. This is ridiculous as I VERY CONFIDENT about today's test, and the approximate score said (158 Q, 154 V as noted above). I don't understand if I have a mental limit with the GRE or somehow I have taken a VERY drastic decline in test-taking skills. I really need help with this as I bought all the recommended books and yet as a math major, this over-simplification and verbose quality of the math problems are extremely ANNOYING. My GPA isn't that high and I'm desperate for a change. 3 times in a row and everytime I've changed my studying habits and still the same score. Really discouraging as I know MANY friends who are not math majors and scored 168 in the Q and 160 in the V in the first try without tutoring or with little assistance. Totally ruined my mood for the next whole month if I can retake it for the 4th time.

[chaetzli]

I just retook the GRE today. Again, I want to state I'm a math major. Again, I received the same scores for the third time in a row. 158 Q, 154 V. I am beyond furious and since I'm taking 3 advanced math courses plus full-time work. I never had the time to get tutoring for the GRE nor could I afford it.....or find a schedule that fits my classes and work. This is ridiculous as I VERY CONFIDENT about today's test, and the approximate score said (158 Q, 154 V as noted above). I don't understand if I have a mental limit with the GRE or somehow I have taken a VERY drastic decline in test-taking skills. I really need help with this as I bought all the recommended books and yet as a math major, this over-simplification and verbose quality of the math problems are extremely ANNOYING. My GPA isn't that high and I'm desperate for a change. 3 times in a row and everytime I've changed my studying habits and still the same score. Really discouraging as I know MANY friends who are not math majors and scored 168 in the Q and 160 in the V in the first try without tutoring or with little assistance. Totally ruined my mood for the next whole month if I can retake it for the 4th time.

I totally understand that you are frustrated! It is a torturous test for most of us and it is hard to tell why some people have more difficulties than others. I took the test five times so I definitely know how much retakes suck . So here is my advice:

Verbal: I increased my score from 150 to 163 and all I did is practicing words. I installed several vocab apps on my iPhone, had Barron's word list, Kaplan's top XYZ. words .... Trust me, it is all about vocab. Magoosh has some great strategies to approach the reading comprehension questions but I don't think that learning these strategies made a big difference (in my case).

Quant: Here I increased my score from 155 to 161. This is the part of the GRE I invested the most time and effort while practicing. I am still disappointed that I couldn't get a higher scores. I guess it's because I am struggling with the testing conditions (time limitations, length of the test...). My advice is to take as many timed prep tests as possible. The most difficult part of the GRE-Q is reading questions carefully and stay focused under pressure. I also liked NOVA's math prep book (not the Math Bible) as there are all types of questions that are covered on the actual test.