What Are Some Recommendations for Studying for the Physics GRE Exam?

[Elwin.Martin]

I tried searching for posts about the Physics GRE but couldn't find anything, did I not look hard enough or is there a reason why nobody talk about it? I tried to see if there was a rule against posting questions about it on this forum but I didn't find anything that ruled out asking general questions about the test but if this is in the wrong place then I understand if it's moved or deleted.

I've spent a couple of days looking for information on the test and I've only found the kind of information fit for a wikipedia article so far, i.e. test dates, exam duration. I've been looking for some sort of aid in studying for the PGRE (looking ahead, I'm only just starting out) and so far I've found that the only books readily available are considered garbage by most exam takers (the REA books, specifically). Does anyone have any recommendations for books or should reviewing a standard text in each of the topics covered be the best approach? It seems like an unwieldy task at the moment, going through both Griffith's I have (ED and Qmech) alone seems like it would be exhausting.

Also, I was wondering if someone could compare the questions to an external problem source. I have Irodov's which I used for Physics Olympiad preparation in high school but I have a feeling that the multiple choice nature of the exam will prevent the questions from being quite the same form. There aren't many practice tests available for viewing either...

I'd ask what people thought about the difficulty but I'm sure that would be of little value without context so I'll request that anyone willing to share their experience with the exam give a little background information.

Thank you very much in advanced!

 

[jtbell]

The ETS website has the following information about the physics GRE, "from the horse's mouth" so to speak:

http://www.ets.org/gre/subject/about/content/physics

Note the link to the http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/pdf/Physics.pdf (PDF). It contains "one actual full-length GRE Physics Test" so you can see what you're up against.

As far as reviewing goes, I would simply use whatever textbooks you've used for the courses you've taken so far, and focus on basic concepts and methods rather than a bazillion special cases. If you haven't had a course in some area yet, don't stress out over it. If a graduate admissions committee sees that, for example, you took the exam in fall 2011 but aren't going to take a full thermo / stat mech course until spring 2012, they'll evaluate your score accordingly.

 

[Geezer]

The ETS website has the following information about the physics GRE, "from the horse's mouth" so to speak:

http://www.ets.org/gre/subject/about/content/physics

Note the link to the http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/pdf/Physics.pdf (PDF). It contains "one actual full-length GRE Physics Test" so you can see what you're up against.

Also, here's a website that has past Physics GRE problems and solutions: http://grephysics.net/ans/"

 

[vasel]

I found this to be very helpful: http://fliptomato.wordpress.com/2006/09/13/the-physics-gre-a-guide-for-undergrads/

 

[G01]

Also, the physicsgre forum will definitely be of some help:

http://www.physicsgre.com/