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GRE Computer Science Exam Canceled For '02
An anonymous reader writes "This may be a bit dated, but the Educational Testing Service has canceled the Computer Science GRE exam for November due to the fact that students were sharing and posting exam questions. One has to wonder about the immediate effect this will have on grad school admittance, as well as the long term changes that will likely occur to the tests as a result."
Exactly. While I was at school, an instructor pointed me toward the MCSE "brain dump" site. I never bothered to remember it because I am not planning on becoming MS certified. People would go there after the test and submit as many questions as they could remember from the test.
In high schools, first period Chem students would share info on the test to the later period Chem students. How much info can be retained with so little time to cache it?
Was it actual test questions? Or just pointing people in a more focused direction?
How many tests have you taken where half of the "knowledge" was "researchable material?" What year did the OSI model come to be? That was an exam question I faced on a multiple choice exam. I wrote in my own answer . . . E) go look it up because I don't need to know that to set up a network.
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... the point of GREs. Undergraduate entrance exams make sense; they verify that you have the prerequisite knowledge to take (pretty standard) undergraduate courses.
At the graduate level, however, you're supposed to be doing research. How do you define what knowledge is prerequisite for doing research in computer science? You can't -- all you can do is interview the students, get a feel for what sort of projects they are interested in, and decide if those projects sound as though they would be worth a degree.
Maybe things are different in the US of A, but I don't think I would personally want to study at any institution which would admit me on the basis of how well I did on an exam.
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GRE stands for Graduate Record Exam. Its the graduate equivalent of the SAT (another test taken to get into university). The GRE is broken usually into 2 parts. A general exam similar to the SAT ( MCAT, GMAT, LSAT etc etc ) that is supposed to test general knowledge and aptitude. Then there is the course or area specific portion which tests your knowledge of the area of study to which you are applying. eg: Comp. Sci. specific.
These are very popular or fairly popular at least in the US
Could someone in the US please tell me what a "GRE" exam is?
The Graduate Record Exam is a standardized test administered by the non-profit (yeah, right) College Board (same people who do the SATs). It's usually a required test for anyone wishing to gain admittance to graduate school. In addition to the general test, which tests language skills, basic math, and analytical skills, they also offer a wide range of subject tests. Some schools just require the general, some require both the general and subject tests. The cost for the general test when I took it was a whopping $90 or so. It's a grueling test that will ruin your day. Takes about 3-4 hours. The best part is that it's on computer and you get your scores instantly.
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How much of a kickback from ETS does a university get from requiring that students take the GRE? It's a pointless test, the real culling of the herd occurs after the comprehensives - and it's not like departments don't look at the student's transcripts before sending a positive admissions letter and offer letter.
So the real issue isn't forcing quality of students, it's a way for the university and a 3rd party to scam a little cash before taking the next 2-6 years of your life. People really don't realize how poorly this test reflects ability - when I first took it, I took it cold and got a 1300 on it. I bought a cheapo study guide and then made a 2200 on it. The only thing I did was practice a little on the included online adaptive program and look at some of the TRICKS at getting quick and easy answers.
First, scores may be used at the low end as a first sort method. People who score below a certain cut off might be eliminated from further consideration. This is often done to limit the number of applications that must be examined.
This is not always true. In fact, I would say that this is far from the truth when it comes to the GREs. Being in Grad schol myself at a large state school I have a friend whose research advisor happens to also be the graduate advisor for the largest department on campus. This department recieves MANY applications from Asia and the GRE scores are a joke. Almost all of the applicants have a 99% percentile on ALL three sections of the general exam. And yet when they come here they can barely speak english.
My friend was asked by her advisor which applicant she would pick out of the scores and she pointed to the individual with the low score. She said that he probably earned that score. Most schools know about the score inflation caused by Asia and take that into heavy consideration.
If your going to apply to graduate school, especially for the sciences, then GRE scores should be the last of your worries. The best thing you can do is take as many classes in your field as possible. Get involved in some type of research: REUs, ERULF, etc. And when you apply show that all you want to do is research, research, research. Make sure you pick out a field (doesn't matter what really) within your discipline and show that you have some interest and knowledge in that section.
Wait. You are wrong here.
Dozens and dozens of my friends and acquaintances (and myself) have taken the GRE, and based on their results, I can assert that, given that you study for the test seriously, it reasonably estimates your general aptitude. And that a GRE score is a reasonable measure of your academic skills, which when used along with other application materials, is really useful for admission decisions.
And the GRE Subject Tests are even more useful, since they objectively measure domain-specific knowledge, and tell you how much a student really knows about his subject. (cant rely solely on GPA!)
More importantly, however, there is one very significant positive point about the GRE, which just cannot be put down. The applicants to US Graduate School include a large number of students from dozens of different countries each having its own peculiar education system. Its almost impossible to compare such students coming from schools which the US schools have never even heard of before, let alone having some knowledge about their education quality. The GRE and other standardized tests are most helpful in this area because each and every student across the world has to give the same test, and hence the scores can be used to compare students coming from very different backgrounds.
I have found a solution to Riemann's Hypothesis, but have run out of spac
Admissions to a research program, like ours, is based on a bunch of different things. A good way to think of it is that your statement of purpose and your letters of recommendation are the things that build your case and everything else is an opportunity for you to shoot yourself in the foot.
First, on behalf of every professor inundated with e-mails, let me say that there's no benefit, whatsoever, in mass e-mailing every professor on the planet to see if they're interested in you. However, if you have a particular research interest that matches a particular professor (say, security of peer-to-peer systems or of mobile code systems, in my case), then do send that one professor a personal e-mail.
So, then, what makes for a good statement of purpose or good letters of recommendation? I always look for evidence that you've got technical interests beyond what you've done in class. I also look for evidence that you didn't just go to "how to get into grad school" school and follow their instructions blindly. Some of these letters just stink like they came from an insert-your-name-here template. Don't tell me "I have lots of energy!" Describe all the work that your energy has produced. Likewise, in many countries, it's customary for the student to write letters of recommendation on behalf of their advisors, who just sign them. Make your advisors write personal letters.
So, what value are the GRE scores? For the General GRE exam, there's some minimal value if the applicant is from the U.S. or Europe, but absolutely zero value if the applicant is from India or China. I don't know what they do over there, but every student seems to ace the exams, probably because they study so hard for them. The exams, thus, aren't measuring anything more than rote ability.
The CS subject test used to actually be useful and a strong score there would catch my attention (and a weak score was a huge red flag). Now, without that, we'll probably end up looking more at transcripts.
Still, let me emphasize, the best way to impress somebody like me is not with good grades or test scores, it's with research and technical experience beyond your class assignments. If you've worked with a professor on a research project, or if your code has found its way into the Linux kernel, that will get my attention (and I'll go look at the source to make sure you're telling the truth).
Obligatory plug: I'm looking for good security-minded students with strong backgrounds in systems and/or programming languages. If that's you, contact me.
As for selecting honest people, that's a noble sentiment, but it's difficult to determine honesty on an application, and it's not practical to interview all candidates.