Taking time to study for the PGRE

[RHLMJP]

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) as an undergrad, and I enjoyed that more than what I currently do which is very experiment heavy.

My application is fairly strong. I still have good contact with my rec letter writers, and they could write me strong letters. My undergrad gpa was ~3.9, I have 3 co-author pubs, and some undergrad research experience, in addition to my industry experience.

My weakness is the GRE. I haven't taken the official PGRE, since I had the job lined up and wasn't planning to go to grad school. I did take some practice tests recently, and ended up scoring poorly on them (~40th percentile, I think I'm out of practice). Would a score like this keep me out of a good school, or could I piggy-back off of my industry experience? I'm not aiming to go to MIT-level schools, but preferably something in the top 25. Would it be worth-while to take a few months and study to improve my score?

 

[vela]

Have you figured out why you did poorly on the practice tests? Was it the length of the test? Was it that you were rusty on specific topics? Did you review any material in between your attempts?

If you have a good handle on lower-division physics, you should be able to get a decent score on the physics subject test. If it's just a matter of being rusty, you could probably easily improve your score with a little bit of review.

 

[berkeman]

One of the best pieces of advice I got from my undergraduate advisor was to be sure to take a math class during the semester before taking the GRE/PGRE. His point was that you can get rusty with math if you aren't doing it every day, and at the time I had completed all of the mandatory math classes for my BS degree and would not have taken an elective math class that coming semester if he had not pointed this out to me.

It's a bit different for you now, but I would recommend doing some regular math (and physics) review for a while before taking the exam again. Maybe go through some of the MIT videos or use some other source to get you back into the swing of things...

 

[Choppy]

I think it's fairly common for students to put in a focussed effort into maximizing their PGRE score. We can't tell you how much that will improve your score, but putting the time in especially since you haven't been a student for a couple years, is likely going to help you do better.

It's important to remember that different schools will assess or weight your PGRE results differently too. You still don't want to do poorly, but if it's the only weak point on your application you should still be able to get into a good program.

 

[phyzguy]

I was able to improve my PGRE score substantially with a month or so of focused study. Take a practice test, then analyze the problems you missed and see what you need to do to get it right next time. Did you understand the problem but just make a mistake? Then practice problems of that type. Was the problem in an area that you never quite understood? Then spend some time studying that area. After you have worked through all of the problems you missed, take another practice test and repeat the process. This will work wonders.

 

[Dishsoap]

Here is my two cents on an ideal method to refresh prior knowledge for the pGRE. There are five exams from previous years posted online, you can find them here: http://www.alexhunterlang.com/physics-gre.

1. Study closely three of the five exams. You'll notice that the physics GRE can be reasonably split into two categories: questions of an underlying theme that is repeated (e.g., "Find the Lagrangian of a pendulum") and random trivia (e.g., "What is the age of the universe?"). You'll be focusing on the former.

2. Work through each of these problems using whatever textbooks you find useful. "Conquering the Physics GRE" is a great resource for this - it gives a brief overview of many topics presented on the pGRE, but the practice questions in the book are generally harder than what you'll see on the exam. You might also want to use an introductory physics textbook (something like Serway/Jewett, or Halliday/Resnick). Check your answers- the solutions are here: http://grephysics.net/ans/all-solutions_list.php

3. As you're working through these exams, write down equations, concepts, etc. that you need to remember. I had one page each for classical mechanics, quantum, stat mech, and E&M. Memorize them!

4. Take the 4th "practice exam" under test-like conditions. If you're getting in the 40th percentile without studying, I think by this point you'll be doing quite well on the exam. Again, check your answers with the solutions, and memorize whatever you forgot to study.

I'd be curious to see what people say about the above plan to study for the physics GRE for someone who just needs a "refresher".