Physics GRE Discussion Forums

yes, I thought this test was easier than most of the practice tests. But I still messed up - I spent a lot of time for some reason on the topics of the 96 test, thinking I already knew the "easier" topics. Then I managed to forget some of the formulas for the "easier" topics!! Doh!

It's hard for people at my school. we never take a single electronics course, so the only time seeing ANY circuits besides LRC is in introductory physics course, and not much time is spent there, either. Also hard in the sense that I had to teach myself optics, quantum II, and thermal, because I haven't taken any of these classes...

so don't worry, you probably did better than I did..

i totally feel you're pain. i was busy studying these other exams,and all i really had to do was to master the simple stuff in the 0177 exam. this exam is really getting under my skin, because it was so "easy". i mean if it was hard and i bombed, yeah ok, life sucks. but now its like i suck. anyways i only answered like 60 questions, at least 10 were guesses. i really don't think i can get higher than a 750 (and this is with a miracle). but in the end, if this gets me into at least i one grad school i will be happy, with this score. hell i'd be happy with a 600, if that could get me in somewhere, but i guess that's unlikely.
i also had to teach myself some optics, and yet the stuff i learned didn't really show up. i also had to brush up a lot on thermo b/c my teacher never got into the statistics part of it, so maybe brush up is not appropriate, i mean learn. and the same thing with stuff from QM 2,i'm taking it now, and the teacher is going terribly slow,and not even following the book.
i wish i could take solace in the fact that its over,but for some reason i can't.

I've been told over and over by my professors that if you're an American citizen, and especially if you go to a non-sciencey college, the admissions people for grad school don't care so much about what you got on the PGRE.

coreycwgriffin wrote:I've been told over and over by my professors that if you're an American citizen, and especially if you go to a non-sciencey college, the admissions people for grad school don't care so much about what you got on the PGRE.

But, if one is an international studying at a 'non-sciencey' college... what about them? I have found lots of accomplished international students (in this forum) studying in their home county who apply here at US. If international students who study in US small non-sciencey college have to compete with them, then the game does not appear to be fair. Does anybody have idea on how this thing work?

Sorry, if this issue is already in the forum. I tried to search and could not find except this.

coreycwgriffin wrote:I've been told over and over by my professors that if you're an American citizen, and especially if you go to a non-sciencey college, the admissions people for grad school don't care so much about what you got on the PGRE.

They care, they just hold you to a different (lower) set of standards.

grae313 wrote:

coreycwgriffin wrote:I've been told over and over by my professors that if you're an American citizen, and especially if you go to a non-sciencey college, the admissions people for grad school don't care so much about what you got on the PGRE.

They care, they just hold you to a different (lower) set of standards.

Which would likely be of benefit to such students if said students then made 800-990 on the PGRE.