Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with gre and School

Can I get into grad school in math?

tamaraster — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:31:11 -0800

Can I get into a funded Math Master's or PhD program? I'm graduating from a 4-year college with my B.S. this Spring, and I'm in my mid-30's. I have good GPA at this school (about a 3.6, up to about a 3.8 in math courses specifically) and good GRE scores (720 V / 780 Q), but I have dropped a lot of courses (I've worked full time over the years while getting my degree), and back in the mid-90's I flunked out of the first university I went to. Are there graduate math programs that would accept me and give me a TAship or RAship with stipend and free tuition? I have one publication (a not very good one in Computer Science from a regional conference) and will have decently good recommendations, but I haven't done anything brilliant.

I'd like to get a PhD but I'm certainly open to getting a Master's first. Is there an obvious way I should proceed here?

How can one study for the GRE during their commute?

rr — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:38:04 -0800

A friend is doing a last minute cram for the GRE but is lacking in time. The bulk of her available time is in her 2-hour-per-day commute. Are there any _good_ podcasts she could listen to, specificall for vocabulary? Or .. should she look into hiring someone to call her and drill her for those two hours? If so... how? She's looked at podcasts on itunes and there is very little good content (and what's there appears to have been abandoned). The idea of hiring someone to do live call-and-drill for one or both hours of commute each day is something I thought of, but I wouldn't even know how to begin hiring someone for this.

Complication: GRE is in mid November, whatever action is to be taken needs to be taken now.

GRE Literature as Subject Test HELP!

miss-lapin — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:06:54 -0800

I'm trying to find a prep course for the Literature Subject Test of the GRE (which is not the same as the general GRE) in NYC. While I did well with the verbal section of the GRE, I scored lower than I hoped on the Lit. as Sub. practice tests I took in the fall. I also have test taking anxiety so a course specifically for this test would help with my confidence. It doesn't appear that Kaplan or Princeton Review offer a specialized prep course for this test. Any hints where I might look? Also, while I have several books I am using to help review, other advice on ow to prep is welcome.

High GPA Versus Low GRE

Delfena — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:51:46 -0800

Does a high GPA make up for a low GRE score for grad school admissions? Should I send my scores to schools if they are "recommended" but not required? I'm scheduled to take the GRE in two weeks. I took a Princeton Review study course over the summer, but didn't improve as much as I would have liked. My practice test score is around 1160, but I did receive a 5 (out of 6) on both writing sections. I'm applying to 4 grad schools, and only one of them requires GRE scores. My question is, should I send my scores to the schools that only "recommend" but not require them? If I do, and they end up being low (around my practice score), will my 3.98 GPA and good letters of rec make up for it? Would it look bad if I didn't send in my scores at all? Oh, my field of study is Urban Planning, and the schools I'm applying to are Portland State, NYU, UC Irvine, and the University of British Columbia. (UCI is the one that requires the GRE) Thanks!

Stuck in a bog of Graduate Decisions

stratastar — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:11:23 -0800

Help me decide what venue of higher education to pursuit. Let me give a rough rundown or blueprint of my situation so you all can get a feeling of where I am and why I'm in this quagmire:

-Recent graduate of undergraduate humanities program. Really enjoyed my course load and did well in my respective fields of practice. General affinity towards academia
-completed honors thesis, which was a mix of aesthetics/art history, literature, structuralist theory and philosophy.

-Pragmatic (financial) thinking coupled with a good tenure in my university's student judiciary and intellectually stimulating pre-law classes prompted me to take the LSATs...scored well (mid 160s) but not great (170+). Instead of applying straight, graduated and moved to a job as a legal assistant to get a feel for that field (as well as some needed cash).

-Currently working as a Legal Assistant and am quite miserable with the banality of the job and "office life." Planning on quiting in the next week or so...perhaps fill in the time with a temp job (what to do?) to keep the finances in order.

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Basically, I've ruled out Law School. Although I have seesawed between the idealistic starving artist/academic path and the pragmatic/enjoy a 911 Turbo/Law Career path, I truly believe that the former and not the latter will be right for me because my heart is in the humanities and my sense of cash is in law.

But here's the kicker: What area of graduate studies do I pursuit? I was an English Lit/Lang major but I tended to draw myself towards more theoretical and philosophical endeavors. A PhD in Phil is a huge commitment and it seems like an uphill struggle in a competitive field of academia.

I am quite certain that I will take the GREs in about 6 -9 months, but I don't know what programs I could apply to?
I also have some interest in economics and financial markets, but no real formal undergraduate experience in either (I started off in the business school but left to pursuit education in the humanities).

Basically, I feel like a Renaissance man in that I have interest in such a wide variety of fields, but I can't really hone myself into one that I believe will have a future in terms of stability as well as intellectual and personal gratification.

Any tips? Many thanks...

Tests and Politics...

MayNicholas — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:57:06 -0800

Grad school questions... GRE time (Saturday)... I have checked out the past questions asked about free practice sites and found a couple of them useful. I am terrified that I am going to bomb since I just can't seem to wrap my head around any of the math concepts. I haven't take math since HS and that was 16 years ago- but I'm great with statistics. Anyone have any good thoughts on how to use my statistics knowledge and apply it to the math portion? Also any more free practice sites to recommend? Thankfully my school doesn't have a cut off score. I have already spoken with the 2 proffs I plan to apply to work with and 2 of the grad students that will be looking at my app. One of which is my TA for one of my classes. She assured me that they look at everything, so I'm trying to keep all these things in mind so I don't freak out more than I am. Anymore thoughts of calm that got you through these stupid tests would also be greatly appreciated.
Also, any thoughts on anything else I can be doing. I always make a point to chat with my TA (not always- as in to the point of talking to hear myself talk- but just when I have something to say). She usually looks to me to get feedback on how the class went and how she can improve kind of thing. I'm really trying to up my political game to help improve my odds of getting in. I am on the reasearch team of one of the proffs I will be trying to work with and next semester I have already gotten permission from the other one to be on his team. What else can I be doing (aside from of course not asking MeFi questions when I should be studying)?