September 2024 Subject Test Feelings

Forum for the GRE subject test in mathematics.
fredholm.alternative
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2024 9:04 pm

Re: September 2024 Subject Test Feelings

Post by fredholm.alternative » Tue Oct 08, 2024 1:36 pm

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
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2024 6:42 pm

Re: September 2024 Subject Test Feelings

Post by Chessplayer » Tue Oct 08, 2024 2:59 pm

fredholm.alternative wrote:
Tue Oct 08, 2024 1:36 pm
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
Posts: 38
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2024 1:01 am

Re: September 2024 Subject Test Feelings

Post by juicetrainwreck » Tue Oct 08, 2024 4:54 pm

I got a 440. Literally terrible

Chessplayer
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2024 6:42 pm

Re: September 2024 Subject Test Feelings

Post by Chessplayer » Wed Oct 09, 2024 1:05 pm

juicetrainwreck wrote:
Tue Oct 08, 2024 4:54 pm
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
Posts: 38
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2024 1:01 am

Re: September 2024 Subject Test Feelings

Post by juicetrainwreck » Wed Oct 09, 2024 5:43 pm

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

poly
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Aug 04, 2024 6:59 pm

Re: September 2024 Subject Test Feelings

Post by poly » Sat Oct 19, 2024 10:40 pm

I took mine today and it does feel difficult..

pr1234
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2024 1:18 am

Re: September 2024 Subject Test Feelings

Post by pr1234 » Fri Oct 25, 2024 1:21 am

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
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2023 4:25 pm

Re: September 2024 Subject Test Feelings

Post by jj2949 » Fri Oct 25, 2024 5:38 am

pr1234 wrote:
Fri Oct 25, 2024 1:21 am
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.



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