So if I can get 100% on the practice test from the book...

Forum for the GRE subject test in mathematics.
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fleazo
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:02 pm

So if I can get 100% on the practice test from the book...

Post by fleazo » Mon Apr 04, 2011 12:03 pm

What would I be able to expect on the actual Mathematics GRE?

I have purchansed a book "GRE Mathematics Test", it has 6 full length exams. It covers what is on the ets website, you know stuff like algebra, calculus, linear algebra, analysis, topology, combinatorics, logic, etc... but I get freaked out by the "this is not comprehensive" note on ETS and in the book... I am confused on what else to study.

I haven't taken the practice tests yet in the book because it just arrived in the mail but hypothetically, if I were to be able to answer every question on all the practice tests (you know if I have a comprehensive knowledge of all the subjects covered in the book), what would I be able to expect on the actual GRE test? How much of the GRE questions cover topics not part of subjects reviewed in the practice books?


I would love to hear from people who have taken the actual GRE subject test and also reviewed from the books as well

thanks!

owlpride
Posts: 204
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:01 am

Re: So if I can get 100% on the practice test from the book...

Post by owlpride » Mon Apr 04, 2011 3:04 pm

The REA book? I found the REA exams not to be very similar to the actual GRE, but if you can answer all of them, you are probably in good shape for the real thing too.

If I remember correctly, the REA exams require a lot of math knowledge. When I took the first one or two of them, I had the impression that they were meant to be a review of "random definitions and theorems that I had long forgotten" in exam format rather than an actual practice exam. Questions on the actual GRE will require more on-the-spot reasoning but you won't need anything beyond the bare essential definitions and results from each branch of undergraduate mathematics.

The best advice I can give you is to work through past released exams (the ones published by ETS, not a third company) very very carefully. My real GRE was very similar to the official practice exams.

fleazo
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:02 pm

Re: So if I can get 100% on the practice test from the book...

Post by fleazo » Mon Apr 04, 2011 3:38 pm

thanks so much, I think this is excellent advice. Yes, it is through REA. Yeah, I was just looking through one of the practice exams and one of the questions is : " Which of the following is a topological property: (a) boundedness, (b) being a Cauchy sequence (c) completeness (d) being an accumulation (limit) point (e) length

I was like hey bring it on if this is how the subject test will be :mrgreen:

my hopes have no been dashed :oops:

Thanks for advice on the old tests that have been released by ETS, that's what I'll study!



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