Can people who live in the States enlighten me as to how important this test is? It said it tested high-school level math - isn’t it just a repeat of the SATs then, except <i>after</i> university for some reason? I looked up the basics on Wikipedia and it says there are subject tests for it too. How important are those?
Yes, it is very similar to the SAT. The “basic” GRE is not really important, in the sense that, if you’re applying to a high-level school, every single applicant will have a perfect score on it, so it won’t really lead the colleges to distinguish between applicants. At the same time, that just means that you need a perfect score on it, or at least on the part that relates to your area. If you’re applying to some technical discipline, then they will never look at your verbal score, but you’ll need a perfect score on the math part.
I am only familiar with the subject GRE in math, and it is much tougher. For the “basic” version, you really only need to know stuff like how many degrees are in a triangle. For the subject test, you need to have taken at least a couple real math classes – there are questions in algebra, set theory, and analysis. The questions in those areas are fairly basic, but if you have not taken the classes, you won’t be able to figure them out. I’d imagine that the other tests are analogous in difficulty.
The subject tests are not hugely important if you’re applying to the all-time top schools. However, if you aim just a little lower, they could be very beneficial – for instance, I know that the math program in one school will allow you to skip the entire qualifying exam if you scored well enough on the math subject test.
What happened to your MCAT?
Thanks, SK. I’m not in the faculty of engineering nor am I in mathematics or physics, so I don’t think I’d be applying to a technical institute; do you think that other graduate schools would look at the verbal section more?
Sin: I have a pretty good score on my MCAT, but I’d like to keep my options open. If I don’t get in to the schools I want or if I decide to apply to a grad school in the States, I’d like to have any beneficial pre-requisite testing done with.
When I was considering English graduate school, I looked at the average GRE scores of a pretty wide array of schools. The top schools generally had an average GRE in the mid-700s for the relevant subject area (verbal), or alternatively an average total GRE in the mid-1400s. I haven’t encountered any school with a perfect average. The closest I remember was an average of 790 in math at some MIT scientific grad school.
The subject tests are generally equally valued. Many of the best schools consider the total of your relevant general GRE score plus the total of your subject test, and expect somewhere in the 1400s or higher. The subject tests are also <i>much</i> harder and knowledge-based. If you took the SAT II’s, you’ll have a good idea what to expect, only this time the bell curve is set much higher: you’re competing against the best of those who were the best last time.
Anyway, since GRE scores aren’t averaged together after multiple takings, I wouldn’t worry too much. Just take the tests as soon as possible so you can retake if necessary. If you change your mind and want to take the LSAT, on the other hand, it gets pretty stressful on test day.
I don’t mean to hijack, but do schools typically average out your SAT scores or do they just pick your highest score?
They take the highest score.