Physics GRE Discussion Forums

Just out of curiosity, has anyone taken/compared both the MCAT and the Physics GRE? I ask because a lot of people say the MCAT is so hard and difficult, and I wonder if it tops the Physics GRE? This is more a question of curiosity than anything else.

And a note: when I ask about comparing difficulty, I am primarily interested in which one it is harder to get a higher score in, not necessarily which one has harder questions. I'd be happy to hear people's takes on both though.

tiyusufaly wrote:
And a note: when I ask about comparing difficulty, I am primarily interested in which one it is harder to get a higher score in, not necessarily which one has harder questions. I'd be happy to hear people's takes on both though.

So you are basically asking if premeds or physics undergrads are smarter? From my experiance physics students are "smarter" (or at least more enthusiastic about science), but premeds work a bit harder. So, for me anyways, physics curves are a bit less rigorous than pre-med curves.

So you are basically asking if premeds or physics undergrads are smarter?

No. Not at all. I do not necessarily believe difficulty of the exam one has to take correlates to the intelligence of the test-takers. As an example, I found it to be much easier to score high on the SAT II subjects tests in Math and Chemistry as compared to the SAT I.

tiyusufaly wrote:As an example, I found it to be much easier to score high on the SAT II subjects tests in Math and Chemistry as compared to the SAT I.

Me too, but that's because the SAT I was so utterly dull that I kept on sleeping every 15 minutes while I was taking the tests.

tiyusufaly wrote:Just out of curiosity, has anyone taken/compared both the MCAT and the Physics GRE? I ask because a lot of people say the MCAT is so hard and difficult, and I wonder if it tops the Physics GRE? This is more a question of curiosity than anything else.

And a note: when I ask about comparing difficulty, I am primarily interested in which one it is harder to get a higher score in, not necessarily which one has harder questions. I'd be happy to hear people's takes on both though.

I wrote both last year. The MCAT is much, much, much, less difficult than the GRE Physics. Its breath of knowledge is larger but it's a pretty simple/ straight forward test. I hated the GRE physics...

Putting it simply, with lots of studying and pain and agony, the most I ever scored on the GRE physics was 87th percentile. With less studying and not as much suffering I managed to score 98th percentile on the MCAT.

Why would you guys go through both forms of torture?

To be a valuable resource on this forum, obviously! I mean, how else would we know how much smarter Physicists are than Doctors???

May the wind be always at your back,
-Wonton Burrito Meals

Danksci wrote:Why would you guys go through both forms of torture?

For some reason I thought it would also be a good idea to apply to medical school in case I had a change of heart.... in retrospect it was a stupid idea.