Pgre Definition and 54 Threads

Hello, and thanks so much in advance for any advice. I’m currently a third year physics undergraduate student who’s looking for what programs I should apply to for my PhD. I’m not sure I should bother applying for anything top 20 but wanted to get a second opinion on my applications...

Some students I mentor in the SE US have reported that their local PGRE has been cancelled, but additional info is hard to come by. They are trying to find out if it is still being offered on that date at other locations. What do y'all know? Anyone know of a location in the US where it is...

Is 600 PGRE (28%) enough to get the entire application chucked at top programs like Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, etc.? The rest of my application is not amazing but is competitive (3 very strong research-based rec letters, 1 middle authorship, 3.7+ GPA from Ivy with 4.0 for last two years which all...

Are there any recent (after 2014) PGRE exams available online for practice?

Hi all, I've been out of school for about 2 years, I got my degree in physics and have been working in the semiconductor industry since, as an engineer in an R&D group. I am interested in going back to get my PhD now, simply since I was mainly doing theory (computational semiconductor stuff)...

PF: So here is the situation. I scored really really low on my Physics GRE. Honestly, I didn't prepare for it as much as I should have. I feel that I have legitimate reasons (one being that around that time, I was being stalked and kept going to security at my school but they said they really...

Hello everyone, I know this will sound slightly silly, but I'm feeling a little inadequate about my physics GRE score. I recently took it and scored an 860 (80th percentile), but I'm wondering if not getting in the 900s will hurt my chances for a top grad school. Do most schools recognize that...

Hello , I'm preparing for the GRE subject test in Physics. I have Irodov's Problems in general physics. I think that this book contains a large number of very interesting and somewhat challenging collection of problems. Is this book suitable for GRE study ? My goal is to get 900+ on the test.

I am in my third year of ungrad physics and am preparing to take the physics GRE. I've never really memorized formulas or needed to regurgitate anything besides the most basic mathematical axioms. I have learned physics almost completely intuitively, I have a pretty bad memory for exact formulas...

I got a 770 (65%) on the PGRE. I am an international student with a US master's degree in engineering, with no quantum mechanics or electromagnetism courses on my transcripts. I was wondering if I should send PGRE scores to schools that say it's recommended. The schools I had in mind are Brown...

Hello, I'm an ex-teacher (4 years) who got her Physics degree (with minor in Math) in 2010. I have a Masters in Teaching and went straight into teaching high school. I have since decided I wanted to go back to school for Physics/Astrophysics/Astronomy/Aerospace Engineering (still deciding...

Which book can i use for the preparation of classical mechanics for the PGRE exam , . Classical mechanics by John.R.Taylor has better review than Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems, by Jerry Marion and Stephen Thornton . But many people recommend to use Classical Dynamics of Particles...

Hi friends , I am an electrical engineering student , interested in applying M.S in physics program in Europe . So i have started preparing for this , when i searched the web how to study for PGRE , most effective and common suggestion is go through the recommended books for each subject and...

Homework Statement Let J-hat be a quantum mechanial angular momentum operator. The commutator [J^hat_x J^hat_y,J^hat_z] is equivalent to which of the following Homework Equations [J^hat_x,J^hat_y]=iħJ^hat_z [J^hat_y,J^hat_z]=iħJ^hat_x [J^hat_z,J^hat_x]=iħJ^hat_y [A,B]=[AB-BA] The Attempt at...

I've recently completed a four year honours undergraduate degree (Mphys-astrophysics) at university of Hertfordshire, UK with 2:1 classification. And I'm planning to apply for MSc/PHD in HEP at a Canadian university. I was wondering if Canadian universities are 'too strict' on PGRE scores...

I am pushing myself through an accelerated course of undergraduate physics (a number of reasons) and, if all goes well, it looks like I can complete the degree in two years. I have a 4.0 in physics up to this point, so I've seen no indication of my lack of work ethic/aptitude. After that, I...

I would like to know whether or not it is mandatory to give PGRE after my bachelors in engineering to shift to masters in physics? i am in the third year of engineering and pursuing a degree in nanotechnology but the recent exposure in the hard sciences has encouraged to change my field from...

I'm taking the PGRE in about 3 months and haven't really began studying. There's loads of study tips out there already, but I'm looking for any first hand experience anyone has had with taking/studying for the PGRE. I've found that no matter what tips you can find, first hand experience is...

Before I begin, let me just say that I've been studying for the past 5 months for the pGRE. I'm taking it in either September or October. I started so early because my school doesn't offer a few courses which are covered on the GRE (QM II, Mechanics II), so teaching myself those things took some...

Hello all, Sorry for the long(ish) post but please bear with me, I've been reading posts in this forum for a while but haven't posted myself before. I have the feeling this sort of thread crops up a lot but I really feel like I need some advice. So I'm applying for masters programs in...

Problem from past PGRE: A particle of mass m moves in a one-dimensional potential V(x)=-ax2 + bx4, where a and b are positive constants. The angular frequency of small oscillations about the minima of the potential is equal to: Answer is 2(a/m)1/2. I understand how this is found 'the long...

I intend to take the physics GRE this coming april, and will probably retake it again next year. I want to go to a good grad school, but my gpa isn't stellar (3.5ish), so in order to atone for my sins (so to speak) I want to put a lot of work into getting a stellar grade on the pGRE. However...

I have a GRE score of 6.0 writing, 170 reading, and 168 quantitative, and a 4.0 GPA. I also have 4 semesters of soft matter theory research and 1 summer of particle physics theory research. I'm applying to do theory to many schools, including MIT, SUNY Stony Brook, Stanford, Harvard, UMass...

Hi guys and gals, first post here, but I've lurked here before but just now registering and posting I'm getting ready to apply for my graduate schools. I'm not sure what exactly I'm seeking, so I want to provide a little background. I've always been a tinkerer, ever since I was young I've...

Hi there, If any people who have sat on grad school admissions committees are lurking out there, I would love to hear your opinion on this: I'm reapplying to grad school for next fall after I took my Masters and left at another institution. I made a right mess of things there; was going...

I did OK but not good or great on the PGRE last April, so I think I'm going to take it again. However, one thing that concerns me is if I actually do worse (since I took all of my core classes last year and I am rusty). Is there an option that allows me to only send the April score and not my...

Hi all, I've got a question about PhD programs: I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering, good GPA, and have been working for 4 years since. I will have strong rec's and plan to mostly apply to Materials Science and Engineering PhD programs. I did take the pGRE this spring and scored an 850...

So the way my schedule is looking, I will be finished after a fall semester. Now I want to do an REU during that summer leading into the fall, so I won't really be studying then, which is from what I understand, when most people do their studying for the PGRE. Would it be best to postpone my...

Hello. I have a quick procedural question about the physics GRE. I know that incorrect answers deduct 1/4 point from your raw score, but I do not understand how questions that are left unanswered affect you. Basically I am trying to understand if I have absolutely no idea how to answer a...

Hi Physics Forums, I have a bit of a dilemma because I am 12 credits short of completing my B.S. in Physics, but cannot return to school due to an outstanding balance and an inability to immediately repay it. So, my question is the following: given that I am just 12 credits shy of my...

I am taking the PGRE in April and started studying for it this winter. I initially took the 2008 test and was struggling. Then I decided to break the test into sections. First studying only the E&M questions, then mechanics, and so on. I figured out how to do most of the problems after working...

I recently joined this forum because I wanted to provide a "physics grad student perspective" which I often felt was missing. (This is only possible because I have a little extra time lately; I will soon evaporate back into my research, but while I am here...) American students are not used...

So, PGRE scores came in today. I did unbelievably awful. I always test poorly on standard tests, so I'm used to that. But I really don't know what happened here. I did very bad. And I know this isn't a good reflection of my physics background. I've been doing amazing in physics...

Hello, I will only be applying to US Grad schools next year (circumstances...), but I took the GRE this year anyway cause there was no real reason not to and it would allow me to take it without too much pressure at the time. So I just got my scores: 980, in the 94-th percentile. From what I...

Hey everyone, I am really nervous about my PGRE score. I scored in the bottom 5%. I am in the National Guard and so I am stuck staying in Texas. I wanted to apply to the condensed matter programs at Texas A&M, UT Austin, and Rice. I attend a state school up in Wisconsin right now. Here are my...

I recently got back my final marks for the first half of my courses (3rd year physics in Spain) and am getting a little frustrated at the fact that my marks don't reflect the work I've put into them. Grades in my country's system work as follows: "Aprobado" (5.0-6.9/10) "Notable"...

Homework Statement I am having trouble understanding how I would apply the Michelson Interferometer equation to a problem on the PGRE. Here is a link to a diagram displaying the interferometer as well as the equation which is very similar to the way the topic is shown in my REA pgre book...

Homework Statement Hello forum, please see the attached image. This problem amounts to finding the equivalent resistance for the circuit and using Ohm's law to solve for the current. Homework Equations V=IR The Attempt at a Solution What I really need help with is learning how...

Homework Statement The problem amounts to finding the eigenvalues of the matrix |0 1 0| |0 0 1| |1 0 0| (I have no idea how to set up a matrix in the latex format, if anyone can tell me that'd be great) Homework Equations The characteristic equation for this matrix is...

Homework Statement Hello PF, I'm studying for the PGRE and I am having trouble understanding why exactly we use the reduced mass to calculate the energy levels of the positronium atom. Well I think I understand why but I just can't visualize, conceptually, what exactly using the reduced mass...

Hi all, I'm sure this subject has already been posted before, so please forgive me if this seems like a rehashed post. I know from google searches what the GRE is, but how exactly is it different from a physics GRE? And do I have to take both? I know that probably depends on what grad...

These are the books that i have decided to study from for my PGRE...Any advice and recommendations are needed... Fundamentals of Physics : Halliday, Resnick and Walker Introduction To Electrodynamics : David J. Griffiths Introduction To Quantum Mechanics : David J. Griffiths Optics : E...

Hello PF, I have some questions regarding the PGRE in particular. 1) I heard most of the questions on the PGRE can be answered with knowledge of the Introductory Physics Sequence (intro mechanics, e&m, thermal, quantum). At the most, you would need to take one intermediate course...

I had multiple reasons why I missed the November PGRE, I believed those reasons were legitimate. Now however I'm worried that I'll have to take a year off for graduate school. I applied to 9 places, so far I only heard back from one place & it was a rejection. But no interviews or anything of...

I've heard mixed opinions regarding the importance of the PGRE. I heard from some that the PGRE has no relevance at all, as some profs on the admissions committee don't even LOOK at it. However, I've of course heard from others that its very important I've heard plenty of people with great...

The ETS released exams date back to 86. Have the exams changed much in style or content throughout the years? Surely, the older exams are worth working through, but are the "newer'' exams like 96 or 01 more like the exams administered in the past few years?

So a little background, physics major/math minor 3.81 overall GPA, 3.65 physics 4 good letters of rec combined 4.5 yrs research with 3+ at a good internship with a very renowned government funded private research company in southern California, don't want to name names However, I just...

Hey there, I am currently studying for my physics GRE which I will be taking in October of this year. Recently I made a comment to my schoolmates on my study strategy and I mentioned that I would not be taking a prep course but rather studying on my own for the exam. Many of them gave me a very...

I have a question about one of the questions on the 1992 Physics GRE. Some fellow students and I and a professor are going over questions to prepare for the PGRE and we came across one question that we can't seem to get a hang of. http://grephysics.net/ans/9277/17 This is the question with...

Hi, I am an international student studying in US. I have a Physics GPA of 4.0 and cumulative GPA of ~ 3.9. I recently took a PGRE and haven't obtained my scores yet. I am guessing that I should get a score of about 650 or so. I have pretty good research experiences in reputed places. I have...