The Physics GRE

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The Physics GRE August - October

The first and worst nightmare of applying to physics graduate school is the physics GRE. Everyone knows, some revere it as a powerful opponent, others quail in the brush when it comes around.

The most important lessons to know before taking it are:


1. It will NOT make or break your graduate career.
2. You CAN do well.
3. Scoring above the 60th percentile level is excellent.


You should understand the most graduate schools share your thoughts and feelings (well, okay, maybe not those feelings) about the standardized test, and so they use it as simply another interesting factor. But there is an extraordinary correlation between high scores on the GRE and a strong knowledge of physics, sadly, not vice versa. Thus it is, as always, a test of how to take tests, and how to relate it to yourself. A strong score will not hurt you, and a weak score will not doom you. The general philosophy is that each person has a weak part of their application, and the best possible place to have it is in the subject GRE section because in a silly way, that's almost the one that says the least about you and the part that you have the least control over. However, keep in mind that your score is a good measure of which schools will admit you easily. A strong score will open doors for you, but that is not to say that you can't open them in another fashion. A score below the 60th percentile will definitely keep Harvard and Princeton off your back, but it will NOT destroy your chances of getting into one of the top ten schools in your field. Clear?


The problem with the physics GRE is that a good sense of physics will help you do better. If you examine the very limited number of practice tests available, you'll notice that often a more extensive knowledge than is required in a particular problem will allow you to cut corners and arrive at a swift answer. Raw problem solving power is insufficient. Two of us took the exam a second time, which was good, but only one of us scored higher the second time. Keep in mind that taking the exam twice can have consequences: if you do much better, the first score will be practically ignored by most schools; if you do the same, it will strongly reinforce the score in the review committee's mind.


We're not sure if we should recommend taking the physics GRE early, but we will say that there is little you would learn in senior year physics that would help your score, so if you are motivated and happy enough, take it early to diagnose yourself. Registration for the fall test date will not be open by the time you return to Hopkins classes, but as soon as you do, pester the registrar for the bulletin from ETS. When you register, it may be better to send scores only to the limited number of schools that you get for free, and then wait. Once you know the scores and where you'll be applying you can send out Additional Score Reports, at more exorbitant prices. Hunt for as many materials as you can on the test, and be sure to share anything you find with the others, because you'll be amazed at how much you learn about the test and how to take it when comparing notes. (We often stayed up late philosophizing about the exam rather than studying for it!)


The best study aids for the physics GRE are working with a comprehensive, intensive first and second year physics book. We found that the first year text by Fishbane, Gasiorowicz, and Thornton was a powerful resource. The textbook for the first year physics major course might be another good resource. Review these books, chapter by chapter, look at the problems, and solve many of them. Avoid wordy books like Reif or Eisberg and Resnick; they may be a waste of time. Too, though, perhaps Sakurai the Brief would be a good resource, although at a little too sophisticated level. Remember that the questions you'll be asked are to be solved quickly; you'll never diagonalize an n x n matrix. The other extremely powerful tool in studying for the exam is physics tutoring -- and we mean the group tutoring program run by students of the department. You'll be working with first year students and dealing with a huge number of physics problems and problem solving techniques. The group format is optimal because you'll be forced to think on your feet real fast and solve a problem in your head before trying to explain it, and then change your mind when you realize you've read something wrong. Tutor: it raised one of our scores by almost 25 percentile points the second time around.


There are an extremely limited number of true practice exams available. There are barely four past exams released by ETS, and perhaps even fewer that you can actually find. Try to get one of the study books, but don't trust them: the same people in the world who think that neutrinos will kill you if you were hit by one generally write the study books. The purple book by REA is exceptionally poor and should only be used as practice problems; the real GRE will not include as many computations as that book until calculators are permitted. Use the ETS-released exams very conservatively; they're three wishes from the magic bottle to assess yourself, and should not be wasted. We recommend studying even before taking one because they are such valuable tools.
When the exam approaches, you may feel pressured by your academics. Take them off your conscience and allow yourself at least the one or two weeks beforehand to really kill some physics problem solving. Your instructors will understand, and if they don't, too bad. The role that chance and luck will play will seem so significant that anything you do will help.


We won't advise how to take the exam, because we didn't conquer it. Of the three of us, the best did around the 75th percentile. That's proof that it is possible, but don't feel limited by it. The only thing to keep in mind is that you need to answer as many problems as possible, unless you're very, very good. The answer-as-swiftly-as-possible technique bottoms out around the 80th percentile; to really break into the 90s you must know everything extremely well. The focus of the tests changes a bit each time, and hence you'll never see the same breakdown twice, although they claim it is constant.


We want to say something on how to interpret the scores: the GRE is taken by anyone in the world that is applying to physics graduate school in US. Many test takers are master's students, or from foreign educational systems where they've had two years of graduate school already, or from intense GRE prep factories. Many are US students taking it again in graduate school to qualify for governmental fellowship support. Thus, it is highly unusual for an undergraduate physics major to perform exceptionally well. According to the people we've spoken with, and you can elect to form your own opinions, we would say that loosely, a score above 60 is good, a score in the 70s will not keep you out of anywhere, and a score in the 80s will actually go to work for you. Typically though, people range around the 50s, and with a carefully constructed application, you can still go far. Our scores ranged from the low 50s to the mid 70s over both times we took the exam, and we were admitted into Princeton and Caltech, but also rejected from Chicago. The true consequences of your score are entirely up to you.


Finally, go ahead and pay the extra ten bucks (is it more now?) to get your scores early over the phone. Filling in high scores on your graduate school applications will help a lot. If however, you haven't done as well as you want, simply leave the blanks empty and wait for ETS to notify the schools. Taking the December GRE is not too late, although some may say so.

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