The GRE
This page describes the Graduate Record Examination required for almost all students who apply to a graduate program. Most graduate programs require applicants to take a test on general content and a test on material specific to the applicant's major. Here we concentrate on the Physics GRE and how physics majors should prepare for it. Please refer to the GRE Web site for official testing information.
The GRE Physics exam is for many graduates schools an important factor in their admissions process (along with transcript, letters of recommendation and personal statements.) It is therefore very important for students to prepare thoroughly for the exam. Here we offer some tips for the exam.
General Study Tips
- Study with others! Studying with others provides many advantages including (i),learning problem solving skills from peers; (ii), being motivated by peers to work hard. Along this line we urge you to join the WPI Physics GRE Study Group.
This is an informal study group that meets once a week for an hour to go over problems from past Physics GRE subject exams, review physics concepts, and discuss strategy. Anyone within the Worcester community is welcome to join. There is an email list for meeting announcements and you can contact Professor Pierson to be put on this list. - Review thoroughly the fundamental elements of an undergraduate physics curriculum. From the breakdown shown below of a past GRE physics exam, it is clear that one should do a thorough review of classical and quantum mechanics as well as electricity & magnetism in order to prepare for the GRE. Also helpful would be statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, and if time allowing Opitcs and relativity. A good place to begin one's study is an introductory physics book, but one should go further.
Breakdown of GRE Physics Test GR9277 from Practicing to Take the GRE Physics Test, 3rd Edition: (ISBN: 0886851971) - Study one topic at a time. As a start, one should do the CM problems first to review the material thoroughly before doing the E&M and QM problems. This way, one avoids a pell-mell review of the various topic areas.
- Study over the summer! Studying over the summer is highly recommended because one is often too busy in the fall with classes to devote much time to the GRE.
- Take the GRE in the spring of the Junior year. Normally the GRE is taken in December of your senior year. You can also take it in November but you don't get the results back in time for it to help you in December. For that reason, taking it in April is a good (albeit expensive) way to get a good feel for the GRE exam.
- Use Guide books. There are two main publications for GRE review:
- Practicing to Take the GRE Physics Test - the "official" review book of the GRE board, it contains three actual GRE tests. It is available from the administrators of the GRE, the Education Testing Service and from Amazon (ISBN: 0886851971). This publication is highly recommended because it familiarizes you with actual problems. It is also a good idea to take one of these exams as if it were the real thing.
- The Best Test Preparation for the GRE in Physics - published by the Research and Education Association, it has a short review of the areas of physics along with practice problems with detailed explanations of every question. The problems are not actual GRE questions, and some students have complained that the problems in it are more difficult than the problems in the first book. Its review sections may be helpful, though.
Last modified: July 28, 2006 14:25:50