bluefly

yeah this one can be done pretty quickly if you think about it right dragonfinity has the right idea... you don't care what the points actually are and you don't want to bother taking the time to draw the graph since the functions are continuous you compare the values on different intervals, like between 1 and 2 for example, f(1)=1^12 = 1 and g(1)=2^1 = 2 so f g(2) = 2^2 = 4 so there must be a point of intersection between x=1 and 2. etc. I think dragonfinity explained it more thoroughly

a = -2 b = 1

Karmicsoul: Unfortunately, your old scores will show up on the report, along with your more recent scores. One of my professors (who was on the admissions committee at MIT years ago) said that they do look at your old scores, too. This seems pretty unfair to me but that's the way the system is... I think that if you show great improvement, though, they'll likely discount your first score and see that you've made up for it. I wish I were in a position to retake the test... I'm stuck for now so I'll just see how it goes. Maybe I'll get lucky?

Yeah, when you fill out those paper forms, you specify general, subject, or writing, and it sends out all of the scores at once. I think figured it out, and I think it does depend on which registration # you use on the form. If you enter a future number (or a future test date), they hold the paper forms until the scores from that date become available. But for over the phone reporting, I believe it will report everything that has become available so far. So you can either wait until the general scores become available and call back, or you can do it all by paper.

got my scores today: 600, 44% yeah I'm considering withdrawing some applications...

sorry, different test :P no one posts in the math forum though like they do here so I put my scoring question here, since that applied to subject tests in general

ah, nevermind 600, 44% I'm not getting in anywhere

Well on the form it says it will wait to send out the scores if you enter a "future test date", the problem is that they only ask for month and year, and I took both general and subject in the same month and year. Can't remember which confirmation # I used... I'm guessing and hoping subject since I don't think I had my general confirmation # at the time. It's also complicated because I have that CS subject test on my record, so I was just afraid of them reporting my current general scores along with my old subject score (which would screw me over again, plus it's not even the correct subject test for the programs I'm applying to). and man the suspense is killing me... I tried calling ETS for my score but got a "database is not available" error.

does anyone know if when you fill out those additional score reports, if your scores are sent out immediately from THAT time that they are processed (10 days after they receive the forms in the mail, I think), or do they wait for your subject scores to come in? I sent mine out a couple of weeks ago but if they had been processed AT THAT TIME, then my subject scores wouldn't have been on the reports because they're not available until, um, now it looks like. anyone know about this? ETS website isn't too helpful here

Yeah... I guess this is a little pathetic, but I just learned the other day that the writing topics are already on the gre web site; you just don't know which one you'll get. But anyway, I don't know the numbers, but my "issues" essay was the one about tearing down historical buildings to make room for modern needs, and the "argument" essay was the one comparing the mayor and the governor of two towns, Branchburg and something else (surprised I remember that much), and it was basically trying to say that the current governor should be elected against the mayor of the neighboring town. As an update, I just got my scores in the mail the other day, so now I know my writing score: 5.5 -- Pretty much what I expected, from taking the GRE last year.

Oops, nevermind, I read up.

Good job! Hey, this is slightly unrelated, but when I took my GRE, instead of two verbal or two math sections, I had one of each and an identified, optional section of nonstandard GRE questions. It said that the top 100 scorers would get $250 (something like that?) but it was the last section, I was tired, and it clearly stated that it was optional, so I quit after doing the first 9 questions. Is it just random whoever gets that section? My friend that took it the same time I did didn't get it; he got two verbal sections and one math section and had to do all three. When I took the GRE last year, I got two math sections and one verbal section.

I think the whole thing takes about 3 hours doesn't it?

Great score! I don't think it matters that you got 1490 instead of 1500; as someone else pointed out, you'll be over the 90th percentile in both verbal and quant.

My screen flickered too and it automatically converted to a lower resolution. I guess if you're having problems, you could convert to a lower resolution yourself before running the software.

Er oh yeah, forgot to answer the question way up there... yeah, I plan on getting my PhD in math. (No idea which area though... leaning more towards pure than applied)

Thanks! Yeah I remember a few math ones too. Let's see... the ones I can never remember how to do are the ones combining rates. Like, it takes Mary 5 hours to vacuum a floor and Timmy 3 hours to vacuum the same floor, how long does it take for them to vacuum the floor together? I don't know if you're supposed to just add their rates together or what, but to me it seems like it wouldn't be that simple. There were also a lot of questions involving percentages, and a lot of the answers had square roots in them. Basically it was what you would expect from the POWERPREP practice questions, no surprises. Although I felt like my test had a lot of geometry and just basic calculations (I remember doing a lot of stuff like 2274.17 * 194.37 etc.) and very little number theory on it, which would have been easier and less time-consuming.

Yeah, actually... (I guess delete this post if I'm not allowed to say, but I've seen other people do it) "sunder" (as a verb) and "pinion" tripped me up, both appearing towards the beginning of the test. Those are the only two I remember... the others were standard, that you'd expect to see on one of those word lists. I never did that 3500+ word list so I don't know if either of these words are on it, but they weren't on Kaplan's or Princeton Review's word lists, so I got unlucky there. And the issues essay was #26 (I didn't discover until last night that there's actually a complete list of these online); I didn't check what number the argument essay was. I think both went okay; I guess I'll see soon enough how I actually did.

I just took the GRE today (Nov 29th). I'm satisifed with my scores but a little worried that they might not be high enough... mainly the math, is it bad that I didn't get a perfect score on the quantitative if I'm a math major? :P For preparation I took the practice tests on POWERPREP and studied a vocab list I found somewhere on the internet (forgot where, now, but it had about 800+ words on it). I knew a LOT of words for this thing so I was a little disappointed that my verbal wasn't higher; I just got unlucky and the words they happened to pick today weren't words I had studied.

Hi, the actual score was 670. I think I did much better on the math subject GRE this year. I had been exposed to all of the major topics on it and most of the "special topics" (topology, real analysis, etc.) that appear on the test from undergrad classes, so it was just a matter of reviewing things, not learning anything new for the first time. My only complaint with it was that a lot of the problems were very computationally intensive, so I didn't get to finish, even though I knew how to do most of the problems.

Hey don't feel bad about your 44th percentile, mine was in the 30's last year. Yeah it was ugly... I was rejected from every school :( I was at a disadvantage because theory is 40% of the GRE and my school offers no theory classes (and I should have studied on my own but I didn't really know much about the procedure at the time) So I'm applying again, but this time I switched to math, since I thought I'd have a better chance (I have research experience in math and I figured my math GRE score would probably be higher). But it's kinda sad because CS is still my favorite, oh well.

Yeah I guess we technically can't discuss specific questions, though honestly I don't remember any specific questions by this point anyway. I thought it was harder than the practice one they give you on the GRE web site too, harder as in longer and more computationally intensive for such a short amount of time per question. Even though I had studied quite a bit, I don't think I did as well as I expected to... I left 12 blank ( :( ) and guessed on several. I think I spent too much time on the earlier questions. I'm hoping this doesn't totally screw up my chances of getting in somewhere decent; I'm a little worried now. It seems like some schools swear by the Subject GRE while others don't require it at all.

Hi, I noticed that the other subject test forums have a thread for the Nov 13 test, but not this one, so I'd like to start one if that's all right. Thoughts/comments?