# GRE exam



## SSmith (May 12, 2008)

One of the perks of the new position I will be moving into is how close it is to a university (UAH) that offers an engineering PhD program. Part of getting my application package ready was taking the GRE. You have the option to either take the paper based test or the computer based test. The paper based exam is like the standardized tests we all now and love from public school. The computer version of the exam has about half as many questions at the cost of only seeing one question at a time. The test then scales up or down based on the accuracy of the response creating a shorter, but much more intense exam.

One big perk about the computer exam is that you get the scores immediately at the end of the exam instead of waiting weeks. My scores this time were 600 verbal/790 math. They are high enough to exceed the minimum requirements of the program, so Im not going to take it again (and save another $140). But Im curious if other engineers had similar trend of strong math performance with weaker verbal.

Anyone have any other thoughts about the exam?


----------



## benbo (May 12, 2008)

SSmith said:


> One of the perks of the new position I will be moving into is how close it is to a university (UAH) that offers an engineering PhD program. Part of getting my application package ready was taking the GRE. You have the option to either take the paper based test or the computer based test. The paper based exam is like the standardized tests we all now and love from public school. The computer version of the exam has about half as many questions at the cost of only seeing one question at a time. The test then scales up or down based on the accuracy of the response creating a shorter, but much more intense exam.
> One big perk about the computer exam is that you get the scores immediately at the end of the exam instead of waiting weeks. My scores this time were 600 verbal/790 math. They are high enough to exceed the minimum requirements of the program, so Im not going to take it again (and save another $140). But Im curious if other engineers had similar trend of strong math performance with weaker verbal.
> 
> Anyone have any other thoughts about the exam?


Those are good scores. If you look at the typical score of people going to the best grad schools (I mean like MIT, etc) those are right up there. Most engineers at those schools have verbals in that level. It may be partly because there are foreign engineers, I don't know. But you would expect engineers to have better quant scores than verbal.

For some reason I do better on verbal. I think I make stupid mistakes on math. Although it has been a while since I actually took this test for real. I think it is fun to practice these kind of tests.


----------



## SSmith (May 12, 2008)

benbo said:


> I think I make stupid mistakes on math.


The math questions are tricky--especially the ones where you have to evaluate which one is larger, the same, or cant determine. Most of those are set to have the initial response that you can think A or B is greater. But thats only true for variables &gt;0. If you consider those &lt;0, it goes to cant be determined. *shrugs*

MIT, really? I wasnt expecting they were on that level. Although Im afraid I should have taken them sooner. Having a wife and kid makes investing that much for full time school is impossible.


----------



## ODB_PE (May 12, 2008)

I had 780 math, 750 analytical and 560 verbal - the 780 seemed almost pedestrian in my program - I know at least 5 who had a perfect on the math. I thought I had the perfect on the math myself, but obviously no.

I've always done well at standardized tests. One of the benefits of being a white middle class male I suppose.


----------



## benbo (May 12, 2008)

SSmith said:


> The math questions are tricky--especially the ones where you have to evaluate which one is larger, the same, or cant determine. Most of those are set to have the initial response that you can think A or B is greater. But thats only true for variables &gt;0. If you consider those &lt;0, it goes to cant be determined. *shrugs*
> MIT, really? I wasnt expecting they were on that level. Although Im afraid I should have taken them sooner. Having a wife and kid makes investing that much for full time school is impossible.


Obviously you don't need much help with that math strategy anyway! They recommend trying four numbers, a positive, negative, zero, and a fraction. The problem with the CAT test is that if you miss a couple early questions, you're pretty much screwed. You can't make it up later. That's why they recommend being really careful at the beginning, and then WAGing if you have to at the end. Because missing early quesitons and not finishing is what they really nail you for on the test.


----------



## Capt Worley PE (May 13, 2008)

I took the GRE 20 years ago. I have no idea what I made. I wonder if I still have the results in my old bedside table at Mom and Dad's.


----------



## squishles10 (May 13, 2008)

I got 790 analytical, 780 math, 520 verbal hmy: But if I was supposed to read and write I wouldn't be an engineer so I guess that were fine with it. I took the computer version and liked it- it is kind of annoying to realize you messed up and not get to go back, or to keep getting easy questions which means you keep screwing up. ldman: I don't remember if I studied or not- probably did the verbal a little but I was still in college so I didn't have much spare time.


----------



## Guest (May 13, 2008)

benbo said:


> If you look at the typical score of people going to the best grad schools (I mean like MIT, etc) those are right up there.


Yeah .. but can they perform stormwater modeling, the hardest thing to do in civil engineering??

That is the question! :laugh:

JR


----------



## benbo (May 13, 2008)

jregieng said:


> Yeah .. but can they perform stormwater modeling, the hardest thing to do in civil engineering??
> That is the question! :laugh:
> 
> JR


I knew the answer was no, so I didn't pose the question.

Interesting, I have no idea what stormwater modeling entails, but I do know it is the single hardest thing in civil engineering.


----------



## Guest (May 13, 2008)

^^^ Actually, you should have responded:

What in the HEC-RAS are you talking about fool??!!

JR


----------



## adr (May 13, 2008)

Check out the MIT admissions website:

http://web.mit.edu/admissions/graduate/pdf...rtment_info.pdf

EECS (Electrical Engineering &amp; Computer Science, page 8) doesn't need GRE! My guess is they look at letters of recommendation, GPA, reputation of undergraduate school etc.


----------



## benbo (May 13, 2008)

adr said:


> Check out the MIT admissions website:
> http://web.mit.edu/admissions/graduate/pdf...rtment_info.pdf
> 
> EECS (Electrical Engineering &amp; Computer Science, page 8) doesn't need GRE! My guess is they look at letters of recommendation, GPA, reputation of undergraduate school etc.


I'm not really sure what your point is. Nobody is talking specifically about applying to EECS at MIT. We are talking about the quality of GRE scores. I just mentioned MIT as an example of a top school. I didn't expect somebody to fine tooth comb their admissions requirements.

Plus, who said anything about electrical engineering. I think SSmith is an industrial engineer. I don't even know if MIT has that department.

But according to the thing you posted every other engineering discipline requires the GRE

For example, most people on this website are civil engineers. MIT requires the test for this -

http://cee.mit.edu/index.pl?iid=4455#tests

I could find the ranking website to support my statement about SSmiths quantitative score being top-notch, but I don't think that's necessary. I mean, you can't really do much better than 790.

Well, just in case-

http://www.universityportal.net/2008/04/am...ngineering.html

http://post-gre.blogspot.com/2007/06/top-5...schools-us.html


----------



## rdbse (May 13, 2008)

Relax benbo.

I am sure adr was just pointing out a very interesting fact about MIT's admission requirements.


----------



## benbo (May 13, 2008)

rdbse said:


> Relax benbo.
> I am sure adr was just pointing out a very interesting fact about MIT's admission requirements.


What makes you think I'm not relaxed?


----------



## adr (May 13, 2008)

benbo said:


> I'm not really sure what your point is. Nobody is talking specifically about applying to EECS at MIT. We are talking about the quality of GRE scores. I just mentioned MIT as an example of a top school. I didn't expect somebody to fine tooth comb their admissions requirements.Plus, who said anything about electrical engineering. I think SSmith is an industrial engineer. I don't even know if MIT has that department.
> 
> But according to the thing you posted every other engineering discipline requires the GRE
> 
> ...


It was just an interesting thing I noticed. I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone.


----------



## SSmith (May 14, 2008)

benbo said:


> I think SSmith is an industrial engineer.


I have 5 years in my career and I still dont know how to answer that question.

Undergrad -- Chemical Engineering

3 years working Operations Research for the Army

Masters -- MBA

2 years working as a Reliability Engineer for the Army

PE -- IE

Doctoral Program -- Either Engineering Management or Systems Engineering

Does that qualify me as an IE? (For what its worth, when I got out of school I was offered a job as a Civil Engineer in Hawaii for USACE but had to turn it down because they called to make their offer literally 3 hours after I had accepted an Operations Research job at Fort Knox.)


----------



## wilheldp_PE (May 14, 2008)

SSmith said:


> I have 5 years in my career and I still dont know how to answer that question.
> Undergrad -- Chemical Engineering
> 
> 3 years working Operations Research for the Army
> ...


Operations Research and Engineering Management are both taught by the Industrial Engineering department at UofL, if that helps your decision out any. I just finished up the MEM program there last summer. And they didn't require a GRE score for that program.


----------



## Capt Worley PE (May 14, 2008)

benbo said:


> Interesting, I have no idea what stormwater modeling entails, but I do know it is the single hardest thing in civil engineering.


I went mechanical, simply because I was afraid of stormwater modeling. It is the Chuck Norris of engineering specialties.


----------



## benbo (May 14, 2008)

adr said:


> It was just an interesting thing I noticed. I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone.


No problem. I wasn't really offended, although I guess it could seem that way by how much I wrote. I'm no admissions officer but I'm sure that many places don't require GRE, and that there is no plance that uses it as a sole determinant of getting in.

This thread has really traveled a circuitous path!


----------



## What!! (May 14, 2008)

I have taken GRE twice. Once in 1997 with Paper test. Got 790 Math, 650 Analytical, and 500 verbal. With that score, i got accepted everywhere i tried. Took again in 2003 with computer, got 790 Math, and 650 verbal, did not have analytical, only analytical writing (5 of 6 or something like that). My brother had perfect score in math, and about 740 verbal. Still he did not get accepted in top universities. So, i guess just the GRE score does not matter for the admissions. They look at other things as well.


----------



## Guest (May 14, 2008)

Capt Worley PE said:


> I went mechanical, simply because I was afraid of stormwater modeling. It is the Chuck Norris of engineering specialties.


I was thinking about applying to Univ of Cal Berkley and claiming I have developed a GEM that includes an animated clip of stormwater flow.

Do you think that would qualify me for instant admission + full scholarship?? 



benbo said:


> This thread has really traveled a circuitous path!


I am doing my part to continue the tortuosity of the pathway! :thumbs: :bananalama:

JR


----------



## ktulu (May 14, 2008)

I have no freaking clue what I scored on the GRE when I took it. All I knew was that I had to take it to get into grad school at Auburn. I think that it was merely a requirement, and they did not look closely at the scores.

I do recall not scoring very well, but who really cares? I have the degree now.


----------



## Guest (May 14, 2008)

ktulu said:


> I have the degree now.


You have a darling baby too! Awesome pic! 

JR


----------



## benbo (May 14, 2008)

jregieng said:


> I was thinking about applying to Univ of Cal Berkley and claiming I have developed a GEM that includes an animated clip of stormwater flow.
> Do you think that would qualify me for instant admission + full scholarship??


Are you kidding!? They'll probably endow a chair at the university for you.

Maybe I shouldn't use the word "endow" with PE-Ness and Testee hanging around.


----------



## Dleg (May 27, 2008)

^ Why? :dunno:

I took the GRE in 1999, by computer. I liked the computer exam because the results were instant, but I got that nagging feeling that I was screwing up because of questions that seemed "easy" to me. I don't remember my scores anymore, but just like benbo, my math scores weren't so hot - I also tend to make a lot of simple errors with math, which is why I always triple-check anything I do for real. I can't remember the scores anymore, but I do remember receiving a perfect, or nearly perfect (99 point something percentile) score on "analytical", which cracked me up because the GRE is supposed to be a test that you "can't study for", but I did exactly that - I bombed analytical on my first practice exam, so I practiced it for two or three weeks prior to the exam, and aced it (couldn't improve my math score, though).


----------



## Samzmom08 (Jun 12, 2008)

I took the GRE shortly after I passed the EIT. I took the paper version to meet admission requirement, so I didn't care how I did.

Once you have a taste of the PE exam, nothing else come close.

GRE is like the SAT.


----------



## squishles10 (Aug 25, 2008)

I'm glad I'm not the only one that bombed verbal- 790 math, 780 analytical, 540 verbal. It was hard! I'm a little pissed that I didn't do better on the other two- they were stupid easy.


----------



## SSmith (Feb 16, 2009)

SSmith said:


> One of the perks of the new position I will be moving into is how close it is to a university (UAH) that offers an engineering PhD program.


After some consideration, I decided to give the Applied Math doctoral program a try at UAH. My biggest regret in undergrad was not doing enough Math, so this gives me a chance to make that right. Also part of the program requires 6 courses in another science or engineering field. Since there are exactly 6 courses in the RAM block that works out really well.

The systems engineering programs really didn't offer a concentration in any particular area (outside the dissertation); after my MBA, I want depth in a program more than breadth.

The only downside is I have 3 undergrad prerequisites before I can start working on the PhD's 54 hours + dissertation. I'm planning on finishing them by Christmas.


----------



## Supe (Feb 16, 2009)

Is anyone aware of how the GRE is supposed to be structured now? Supposedly they were making changes for '09, which is why I held off on buying any of the study guides.


----------



## snickerd3 (Feb 17, 2009)

SSmith said:


> The only downside is I have 3 undergrad prerequisites before I can start working on the PhD's 54 hours + dissertation. I'm planning on finishing them by Christmas.


Thats a bummer good luck!


----------



## Riceman (May 12, 2009)

I took the GRE last week, and got 790 Quantitative and 390 Verbal. The vocabularies were ridiculous and the reading comprehension was a bunch of nonsense. I'm pondering whether to take the exam again or not


----------



## benbo (May 12, 2009)

Riceman said:


> I took the GRE last week, and got 790 Quantitative and 390 Verbal. The vocabularies were ridiculous and the reading comprehension was a bunch of nonsense. I'm pondering whether to take the exam again or not


THat's a great math score. I think it depends on where you want to go.

A lot of engineering schools don't care that much about the verbal, and the average verbal at even the top engineering schools is not much over 500. I think it is because of so many foreign born engineers.

You could probably improve your verbal score by spending some time memorizing some words and with a little luck, but it might not matter that much how high that score is.


----------



## snickerd3 (May 12, 2009)

benbo said:


> You could probably improve your verbal score by spending some time memorizing some words and with a little luck, but it might not matter that much how high that score is.


I took a 1 credit class my last semester in college that was basically a prep class for the verbal part of the GRE. Classic civilization 100, it was totally online and we met 4 time to take tests. Basically all memorization of word roots and their meaning.


----------



## Chucktown PE (May 12, 2009)

I'm thinking about taking the GMAT some time soon and getting off my ass to start an MBA. The University of South Carolina has a top notch international MBA program and I can do it while I'm working. Does anyone have any experience with the GMAT?


----------



## chaosiscash (May 12, 2009)

I took the GMAT a few years ago, before I got my MBA. I wouldn't sweat it. It was more like a formality. I can't remember what I made, but I do remember not studying. Its a basic verbal/math/analytical skills test, so you don't need to know specific business principles info or anything like that. However, the MBA program I did probably didn't have the admission requirements that USuC's does.


----------



## benbo (May 12, 2009)

Chucktown PE said:


> I'm thinking about taking the GMAT some time soon and getting off my ass to start an MBA. The University of South Carolina has a top notch international MBA program and I can do it while I'm working. Does anyone have any experience with the GMAT?


I took the GMAT many years ago. It was easier to me than the GRE. I won't go into my scores but they were pretty good, and I didn't study and I'm no genius. You should certainly be able to ace the math.

When I took them, the tests were normal scantron type, and I think the GMAT actually had an essay , but I don't know about now.

I think both tests are now CAT - meaning your score range is pretty much set in the first third of the test, so you want to start strong.


----------



## rockycro (Jun 30, 2010)

GRE is pretty easy exam for an engineer. The math portion is simple college algebra, trig, geometry. The verbal portion was pretty straight forward.


----------



## ELEPE (Jul 2, 2010)

benbo said:


> adr said:
> 
> 
> > Check out the MIT admissions website:
> ...


I went to MIT as an undergrad. There is no industrial engineering department. Industrial engineering falls under the Sloan School of Management which also includes program in Operations Research.

For what it is worth a lot of schools only require GRE for foreign graduate students. I took it in 1999 and can't remember exactly what I got. It was something like 700+ verbal, 760math and a quantitative that for the life of me I can't remember.


----------



## afewgood (Aug 14, 2010)

ODB_PE said:


> I had 780 math, 750 analytical and 560 verbal - the 780 seemed almost pedestrian in my program - I know at least 5 who had a perfect on the math. I thought I had the perfect on the math myself, but obviously no.
> I've always done well at standardized tests. One of the benefits of being a white middle class male I suppose.


as i know, you'll still make it to 800 as long as u got 3 or less answers wrong. 2~3% of all GRE takers will have 800 in quantity.


----------

