Preparing for mGRE

Forum for the GRE subject test in mathematics.
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nibbler
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat May 16, 2015 8:36 pm

Preparing for mGRE

Post by nibbler » Sat May 16, 2015 8:41 pm

planning to take the math subject GRE in the fall, i have not taken ODE nor prob and stats yet, nor any geometry. I have a lot of free time this summer so i plan on spending my time filling in the gaps before the exam, any recommendations for textbooks? maybe Dover?

p-adic
Posts: 96
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 6:42 pm

Re: Preparing for mGRE

Post by p-adic » Sat May 16, 2015 8:57 pm

All of the probability and ODEs you need for the test are in the Princeton Review book. Up to you if you want to study those subjects for other reasons. Not sure what you mean by geometry. What you need for one or two questions is basic high school stuff -- you don't need to know differential, arithmetic, or algebraic geometry for the test.

MathCat
Posts: 187
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2014 12:17 am

Re: Preparing for mGRE

Post by MathCat » Sun May 17, 2015 1:28 am

Don't worry about geometry. I agree with p-adic that Princeton Review book is sufficient for probability and stats and ODEs - these are not a significant portion of the exam. I would suggest prioritizing calculus (especially single variable), linear algebra, abstract algebra, and real analysis (some complex will pop up as well), in more-or-less that order. (Note: by analysis, I really mean learn the theorems of calculus, not just the computational aspects. You won't be asked measure theory or anything like that.) It also depends what you have seen - I don't think it's worth spreading yourself really thin trying to learn topics completely new to you at the expense of the ones you could grasp better. You have to be able to answer the problem very fast, so a superficial understanding isn't sufficient. It's probably better to learn a few topics well, if it comes to that.

arctanX
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:31 pm

Re: Preparing for mGRE

Post by arctanX » Fri May 22, 2015 8:26 pm

I would say just start doing MGRE problems and see what topics you need to learn/review. There are 4 past exam you can google in order to find, Princeton review has one, and you can look further on Amazon. I would not recommend the REA book. REA's practice tests are irrelevant for the exam.
Last edited by arctanX on Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

kevingee22
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2015 2:24 am

Re: Preparing for mGRE

Post by kevingee22 » Mon Jun 15, 2015 3:20 pm

arctanX, did you pay for the practice tests / lectures or is some of it available for free online? They are not free on the website besides a couple sample questions, and I could not find a PDF of the practice test; $30 for a practice test is quite steep IMO.

arctanX
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:31 pm

Re: Preparing for mGRE

Post by arctanX » Tue Jun 16, 2015 11:38 am

Yes, it is not free. However it's high quality and developed especially for the mGRE.
Personally, I hated the thought of not getting to the school I wanted just because of $30 here and $40 there. Also, there is not much else out there. So in my opinion - worth it.



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