rokxal

Many programs take the average the the two GREs. Although it doesn't really matter assuming that you quant score in your first GRE was just as high as the 2nd. The lack of research will hurt your chances for UT austin and ga tech. You many also want to specify if this is for a MS or Ph.D.

UNC-CH posted their minimum GRE reqs on their website. The other schools seem appropriate for the stats you've posted. Also, MS students across the board rarely get any aid these days.

heh, sounds like they are taking a page from Google and Microsoft.

This is a bit unrelated but many game developers (even in team leadership positions) never went for a higher degree after their bachelors. I think that the industry valued work experience (foot in door, completion of projects, number of titles), creativity, and passion more than the education background. Those that survive the late night burnouts over the years eventually make it as lead programmers/designers/etc. Personally, I think the entire game degree gimmick, even for MS, is a money generating ploy.

The GRE General exam is usually required by most programs. The Subject tests are optional aka recommended (May help your application if done well) unless stated otherwise. You may also choose to not submit the GRE Subject scores if you didn't score well.

GRE scores do not help in the admissions process. They are formalities or "excuses" used to streamline the process (mostly as cuttoffs so that the thousand or so applications won't all have to be read) and more so the verbal section for international applicants... Retake the GRE and raise your verbal score above 540 so that no flags are raised. MIT/Stanford chances: This is a crapshoot for everyone. The people who get in are mostly those with serveral publications (MS students), superior reccos from recognized individuals in the field, and in the top 10% of the class. Don't know about the rest.

Attempted 55. Anyone else thought it was harder than than the 2003 sample exam?

Like the verbal section, the writing section just gives the professors some idea of your English background. 4.5 is the accepted standard for many schools, 5.0 for others. Anything below a 4 may begin to raise red flags in the sciences. Overall, its probably weighted even less than the verbal if the school decides to assign point values to different parts of the application. Remember that admissions here are not uniform as different schools will have their own "black box" processes. The writing section isn't discussed here as much due to the field and demographics of the forum's members. (i.e. engineering/CS/Indian correct me if I'm wrong) I've also heard of impact factor. As it relates to the academic field, publishing in higher tier international conferences or journals will obviously carry some extra weight. Any professor familiar in that field should recognize better publications when they see it. How much extra weight, I cannot say as top admissions are pretty much a crapshoot given the vast number of overqualified candidates.

Assuming you're applying for a PHD. The GREs are actually the least important. Research publications>LOR>SOP (must be related to some field and relavent to some lab)>GPA>GRE, with the GRE subject tests as an added bonus if recommended. For international applicants, the admission boards just check if the applicant knows English well us via the GRE verbal scores (usually 570-580+ are treated the same). Quants should always be close to 780-800 (90th percentile) for the sciences. The GPA is just another cutoff used like the GRE.

I'm an American and to tell you the truth, we also have trouble with the verbal section. Unless you were majored in some field in the humanities, there's no way that we would of seen most of the obsure GRE words in our daily lives. Granted, reading certain journals/newspapers and doing cross-word puzzles help the process. But many science/engineering ppl forgo those habits and simply end up with average scores. I personally memorized all of Barron's 3500 list + a list of other words accrued from practice exams. Being a native speaker (an average one due to the aforementioned reasons), I needed to rote about 1/2 of that Barron list plus a few other frequency word lists from other books. Reading comp is just developed through careful practice. No real strategies to use here. 22,000 words is excessive, I didn't see any unfamiliar words when I took the exam.

Aight, thx for all your help.

The GREs are but a small part the the entire application. Most top universities just use it as an initial cutoff for consideration given that they receive so many applications each year.

I got the same netscore as you: except with 790 q and 690 v. Funny how I also thought I flunked the Quant section and had doubts if I even read my unofficial score correctly. Edit: Then I literally added my two scores on paper... to confirm.

Another quick question: For a MS applications, would research publications and GRECS be weighed at all? I know that both are geared towards a PHD application but assuming that one has decent results for both, which one would give more of an "impact"?

As I suspected, GaTech seemed a tad too high when compared against UTA. I've also added UNC-CH to the list because of my interest in graphics, and UCLA. It also seems that I've avoided most of the Ivys (save for Cornell's 9month MENG) regardless of rank simply because the inherent lower chance of PHD admissions coupled with the astronomical costs of those private institutions and issues with funding for MS applicants. The revised list (in order of probable difficulty) after some tweaking stands at: Reaches: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Cornell University (MS only) University of Texas Austin High Moderates: University of Washington University of Wisconsin Madison University of Michigan Ann Arbor Moderates: UNC-CH (Disregarding ranking, their min requirements seem pretty steep) Georgia Institute of Technology UCLA Safeties: University of Maryland College Park (my current undergrad so MS should be in for a BS-MS track, PHD is still competitive tho from I could tell while doing UG research here) In all likelihood, I'll be lucky if I land 2/9 above maryland imo.

Thanks CalmLogic In any case, I've decided to take my chances with the GRECS heh. If I score above the 80%tile, I'll submit. Also, I've compiled a list possible universities to apply to. I think I may need a few more safeties (2). Any suggestions? Reaches: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Cornell University High Moderates: University of Washington Georgia Institute of Technology University of Texas Austin Moderates: University of Wisconsin Madison University of Michigan Ann Arbor Safeties: University of Maryland College Park (my UG but not guaranteed even) Thanks!

Sounds like a good plan. From what I gathered in past, MIT and CMU CS PHD programs want crazy research experience (i.e. publications). CMU doesn't offer an MS in CS to those outside of their CS undergraduate department. I'm not too sure about MIT's acceptance rates for MS (If they even have one) but I assume its as equally competitive as Stanford. Stanford PHD acceptance rates as I recalled is also in the single digits and its MS is VERY expensive. I'm not too familiar with Berkeley's CS MS but since its a public uni in Cali, there may be some demographic issues in getting in even on the graduate level. I was also looking at UIUC as a good possibility for a terminal MS. What about Cornell's Master of Engineering? Although I can't say for sure regarding the GRECS, I've heard that exceptional scores on it will raise my chances for fellowship/$$$ opportunities in certain departments. Of course, I'd rather spend my next 3 months writing strong SOPs rather than mad-cramming for more standardized testing but if the payoff is high enough, I may consider the ladder. Thanks!

Hi all, I'm currently a Comp Sci/Math double major in my 3rd year enrolled in a well-known CS undergrad department in the states (and also graduating in the 3rd year). I plan on applying to some graduate programs in CS this fall but I'm not too sure as to which ones suit me the best. Over the years, I've found myself interested in a variety of areas that seem to overlap both MS and PHD types of studies. Complexity and theory (PHD related) Computer Vision (PHD related) 3D Engines and Graphics (MS related) AI (in terms of theory and implementation MS/PHD related) Another issue is that I'm lacking some of the essential upper level courses in CS due to having double majored (the number of upper level classes in both math and cs combined however make up for this somewhat?). Basically my questions are as follows: *Is it best to apply to both MS/PHD programs, and if so to the same school? *Should I take the GRECS subject test given that my upper level concentration of CS courses is a bit lacking? Will my math concentration help or detract from this? *What schools in general should I consider to be safeties and others as reaches? (Yes i know grad admissions are hard to predict but I will inquire regardless ;) ) Some Basic/Random Stats Research: 2 years and on-going, 1 1st author reputed conference paper, 1 3rd author journal conference, possibly one more publication (a paper nonetheless) before most of the December deadlines Recs: 2 of them should be decent, hunting for a 3rd professor GPA: 3.53 (wish it was higher but I enjoyed my challenging course load) GRE: 790Q, 690V, awa awaiting

The quant score is very borderline. I suggest you retake it and shoot for 780+ for the top 15, 760 for 15-25. The verbal doesn't matter too much as 660 puts you in the 90% percentile and that the CS admissions don't consider it much unless you really bombed it as an international. Best of luck

Hi samar, my last section was an unidentified verbal section. While taking it, I realized that it was experimental due to its lowered level of difficulty and eventually the experimental questions. Personally, I was hoping the last section would be Quant as I thought I bombed it originally.

nice job spamming the last 4 threads with your info rocky... This is the wrong forum for these types of questions, not to mention the wrong way to get a decent response. Go start a thread in the the graduate admissions forum.

Hi, been lurking in these forums for a month now so here's my GRE experience. I am a native English speaker but had never fully invested time into much of the English language for that matter until I started studying for GREs heh ;). CS/Math Double major (790 puts me to shame ;( ) Quant: Much harder than power prep in my opinion. Very little actual math, just a lot of math principles tested and construed into strange problems. Personally, the 790 was a surprised as I had to "guess" on maybe 4-5 questions later on after the 10th question to keep up with the time. Verbal: Same level of difficulty and format as power prep (very good indicator). Got an early long RC, which hurt me on time. Experimental last: A much easier verbal but not realizable until the end. Overall impression: Definitely ran into some time troubles for both sections. An early long RC increased the pressure for the remainder of the exam. Needed a bit more preparation for quant to have gotten that 800. RC was difficult but only due to the type of RCs (content wise) presented. Actual Preparation: 1.5 months total: Verbal: *Barron's 3500 words (1 month, basically needed to rote about 1/2 of the words here) *Barron+Kaplan+arco+princeton+nova frequency words list (700+words) *GRE Bible reiterated the Barron Words pretty well *Big Book: The 27 exams here were a bit harder and used more of an antiquated style of language than power prep, (add all unknown words to your word list) *Random words picked up over forum discussions, daily discourse, the newspaper, ect *Read the New Yorker: I wished I had done this years earlier as it would have considerably helped the RC as well as improved my general knowledge. Eventually I had about 4-5 vocab lists of 400 words each floating around so I merged them and spent the time every few days to reiterate them. Also, I want to stress the need of using dictionaries for precise diction/2ndary defs (webster, encyclopedia britanica online, dictionary.com works fine). I grouped 1/2 my words based on similar definitions for review, but I would recommend against it as some of the questions are more prone to test you on the shades/degrees of meaning rather than the general definitions (this is not a subsitute for actually learning the words!) Quant: *Barron quant review/practice tests, pp, a bit of nova, and this forum! Awa: I wrote about 3 issue and 4 argument essays under timed conditions for practice. I suggest that people start a blog or post a lot of "discussion" in different forums to become better writers. Practice test comparisons: (1.5 months ago) PP1: 590 v, 790 quant PP2: 610 v, 780 quant I unfortunately burned both tests early on Over time: Big Book: ranged from 620 to 750 verbal, no quant GRE Bible: ranged from 600 to 800, Note that GRE bible inflates score too much (4 wrong ~=800), quant range from 760 - 790 Nova: verbal ~720, Quant 800 2 days before the exam: PP1: 790 v (due to seeing the same questions appear on this forum and in GREbible) , 800 quant PP2: 720 v (saw/remembered fewer questions ) , 790 quant Final comments: For engineers, sciences, maths majors: know that 780 quant is a cutoff needed to be semi-competitive for a good program (top 15). Verbal cutoffs are weighed much less; 610+ for the top 10 maybe). But remember that GRE scores are merely cutoffs (maybe for the 1st and 2nd rounds of the admission/slashing process) for admissions and perhaps for better chances of getting funding and aid afterwards for phd applicants. Know that after the GRE and GPA cutoffs, the rest of your package becomes much more of a determinant factor (Actual research done (publish, conference, etc), SOP/compatibility of research interests with the program, LOR). This is based on my experience with the US education process and through vicarious accounts of the graduate admission process. Final final Comment: To get over 700 in verbal, it seems that "roting" words just isn't enough. One regret I have is that I didn't adequately practice RC enough. I was never an avid reader to begin which should of raised flags but it didn't. Fortunately, I didn't see any words that I didn't know already on the actual exam which is a good indicator that the "mass" vocab review approach had worked. However, the RCs pretty much determine the your final scores after a certain point beyond vocab knowledge. I think this was mentioned before on this forum, Barron+other vocab will get you to 650-660, anything above that due to reading skillz. Well, best of luck to everyone else

B, like chestnut mentioned, context fits well. However, the question is biased against anyone living out the states or under a rock. Keep in mind that choices C, and a weak D show contrast. The literal sense of the sentence also doesn't offer other clues. It's moot in that sense so can you tell us the source of the question?

mnemonics are slow. I only use them if I repeatedly come across the same word during review that I missed before. Word groups help but I only made them for review after memorizing the Barrons first. Personally, the subtleties of some of these words in the context of the GRE exam is beyond Barron definitions (at least for some questions from BB) so use a dictionary if necessary. Picture dictionaries are just a market gimmick since most people won't/can't form long lasting associations between words and pictures. Its the same reason why most people tend to think in words rather than in images.

Learn more words. Get word lists from Barron, Kaplan, and Princeton review and memorize. Use other dictionaries like Webster, Encarta, dictionary.com for reference as many of the definitions from these review books are somewhat concise. Group the words by definition together to help rote. Read the New Yorker as some of the words show up there. Roots help somewhat but after memorizing 3k words, most of the unknown ones can be derived by prior knowledge unless they're esoteric nouns...