Making a Resources website

[deltafunctor]

I'm a college senior whose going to grad school for math this fall (thank zeus).

I don't mind admitting that I was blindsided by the subject test this fall. I took the practice exam, finished with an hour to spare and only two missed questions, and wrote off the exam as a trivial matter that required no preparation. Then, I was beat up and dragged around the parking lot by the actual test when I took it this fall. It seemed much harder than the practice exam; in particular, I thought it was way, way more computationally intensive.

I'm not sure whether my perception was skewed or, if not, whether the exam will revert to an earlier, more benign, incarnation next year. But anyway: Now that I'm essentially done with undergrad, I thought that I would make a website to help future students deal with the subject test. So far, I'm just planning to link to some things I wish I had made use of (this forum, the four practice tests available online, ...).

So I thought I would ask whether anyone here has any recommendations that they wouldn't mind sharing. Is there anything you wish that you could tell your past self before taking this exam? Are there any books you found particularly helpful? Any websites?

Thanks,
-- LW.

[owlpride]

Hmm... I could share my experiences but they were very different from yours. There were no surprises on my exam last May. The vast majority of questions was structurally similar to questions on the practice exams (testing the same concepts in a similar format). There was nothing computationally intensive on my exam. Several questions could have tricked some students into doing extensive computations when there was a more elegant solution. My rule of thumb: if my approach requires more than three lines of computations, stop and think; I am probably missing the point. That doesn't mean that the exam was easy. I missed 8 questions and still got a top score.

What I would tell my former self: never touch the REA book.

You could also discuss test-preparation strategies for students with a weaker background. For example, combinatorics and elementary number theory seem worth learning for the exam but topology seems not.

[dragoonlp]

What I would tell my former self: never touch the REA book.

I totally agree with you.
NEVER, NEVER touch the REA book. It won't help you but lead you go to the wrong direction.

[jayeshbadwaik]

Hi,

I am a Electrical Engineering major. I am preparing for Math GRE and I guess I have done enough of the coursework. However, I have not given a single test yet and would like to start giving them now.
Can you suggest good books that contain a lot of tests? I am through with the basic knowledge, I just want to know about the level of questions that come. I have one test from the ETS site and Princeton Review book. However, I wanted one or two more books to look through. Any suggestions ?

[Hom]

Hmm... I could share my experiences but they were very different from yours. There were no surprises on my exam last May. The vast majority of questions was structurally similar to questions on the practice exams (testing the same concepts in a similar format). There was nothing computationally intensive on my exam. Several questions could have tricked some students into doing extensive computations when there was a more elegant solution. My rule of thumb: if my approach requires more than three lines of computations, stop and think; I am probably missing the point. That doesn't mean that the exam was easy. I missed 8 questions and still got a top score.

What I would tell my former self: never touch the REA book.

You could also discuss test-preparation strategies for students with a weaker background. For example, combinatorics and elementary number theory seem worth learning for the exam but topology seems not.

did you finish all of the 6 REA exams and then come out with this conclusion?

[owlpride]

I did the first 3 of the 6 REA tests before I looked at any of the official GRE exams. (I was going to save the "real" exams for last, so that I could get a better idea of what my actual score would be.) Once I saw the actual exams, I regretting panicking over the REA exams because they seemed nothing like the real thing.

[yoyobarn]

I would like to recommend this website: http://sfmathgre.blogspot.com/.

One of the few websites that provide detailed solutions to the sample tests.

There are a few errors, but usually people will correct it under the "comments" section.