September 2024 Subject Test Feelings

[fredholm.alternative]

i guessed on 1/4 of the exam, and i got an 800 (74% percentile). percentile-wise probably not good enough to be competitive but im not retaking, and hopefully unis recognize a lot of people are opting not to take the exam so the percentiles will be lower across the board. i know i missed at least 2 easy questions, and in practice exams i would commonly miss 1/4th of the questions (usually some small computational error) that i did have an answer for.

overall, really hard exam. i can finally refocus my attention on actually relevant math instead of stressing about potentially resitting the terrible exam experience.

btw, to the guy that was complaining the exam has nothing to do with research ability: i agree the exam SUCKS. but still, very few unis are requiring scores anymore anyways, so the ones that do want top scores. it's probably true that almost every top mathematician could easily get a really good score so it's an easy filter in a field where it's nigh impossible to do any meaningful research as an undergrad. unfortunately i am not one of them :,)

[Chessplayer]

i guessed on 1/4 of the exam, and i got an 800 (74% percentile). percentile-wise probably not good enough to be competitive but im not retaking, and hopefully unis recognize a lot of people are opting not to take the exam so the percentiles will be lower across the board. i know i missed at least 2 easy questions, and in practice exams i would commonly miss 1/4th of the questions (usually some small computational error) that i did have an answer for.

overall, really hard exam. i can finally refocus my attention on actually relevant math instead of stressing about potentially resitting the terrible exam experience.

btw, to the guy that was complaining the exam has nothing to do with research ability: i agree the exam SUCKS. but still, very few unis are requiring scores anymore anyways, so the ones that do want top scores. it's probably true that almost every top mathematician could easily get a really good score so it's an easy filter in a field where it's nigh impossible to do any meaningful research as an undergrad. unfortunately i am not one of them :,)

Your score is very good given the difficulty of the test .Back in the mid eighties, the subject test was in 15 subjects, including majors like engineering, computer science and economics.. Now it is only 3 subjects: psychology, math and physics.One could conjecture that these 3 will dissolve also eventually...However as far as math is concerned, for the top programs , the test is a good measuring Yard Stick ,as there are too many undergraduate math programs in which someone could merely breathe and get all A's in upper division math..There are also many solutions manuals available, which makes it hard for the professor to see if someone is actually copying or not..Only the very top programs require it these days and for a good reason.

[juicetrainwreck]

I got a 440. Literally terrible

[Chessplayer]

I got a 440. Literally terrible

Since I presume that the test is 50 percent calculus and differential equations, were the calculus problems very difficult??

[juicetrainwreck]

Yeah it was hard. But it's def doable. Honestly I feel like I could do much better after seeing it

[poly]

I took mine today and it does feel difficult..

[pr1234]

So I sat in sep and got 850 (84th percentile) with roughly a week and a half of revision. I spent the next month revising (subjectmath tests, princeton review, rambotutoring) and sat again today - felt like it went terrible. I think i got 50/66 at best, feeling pretty hopeless. Any advice?

[jj2949]

So I sat in sep and got 850 (84th percentile) with roughly a week and a half of revision. I spent the next month revising (subjectmath tests, princeton review, rambotutoring) and sat again today - felt like it went terrible. I think i got 50/66 at best, feeling pretty hopeless. Any advice?

Why would you need better than 850? I doubt any school cares. Besides, the next test is in April, so if you're applying now, you can't retake it anymore.