GRE Subject Tests

[Kaz]

Got my scores from round two of the psych GRE. 740! 91%! w00t to me cheersmate . Feels good to know this part is wrapped up. Figured I'd update what little advice I could give on this sucker.

They really do try to put the fear of gawd in you about sharing info about the test, but I feel comfortable talking about it as long as I don't mention specific questions. So:

• The Princeton Review "Cracking" book is not enough all by itself. That should be common sense but I'm going on record PROMISING you it isn't.

• There was a lot more statistics and reasearch design questions then I expected. Can't tell if that was just the "impression" I was left with or if they actually exceeded the parameters mentioned in "Cracking", but I am definitely staying more on top of those two for my April retest.
  

• I was pretty confident in my anatomy and physiology, but there were some parts of anatomy referenced on the test that are simply absent from the "Cracking" book.

• Read the administrative instructions from ETS before going! I had no surprises or problems, but some people were genuinely surprised that they couldn't eat or drink during the test, that they couldn't use mechanical pencils, etc. Hate to be jerk but "Come on people!" This is such a giant test for most people as it isn't about Excelsior credits but getting into grad school, and they don't even read the rules! I even adhered to the "light layers" clothing recommendation and that even helped out a bunch because our room was quite cold to start with but slowly warmed up. Some people were either too hot or too cold most of the time. And a couple kids were very lucky that we started late because they walked in after the "official" start time but were still allowed to take the test. Maybe I'm just getting old but jeez

• It is my opinion that this avenue is awesome for particular kinds of learners/students and not so great for everyone else. I've always been weak in consistently churning out "x amount" of productivity on a weekly basis in school but strong in testing (the bigger and longer the exam the better) and simply understanding what we are "really doing" in class. As such, this option plays to my strengths and avoids my weaknesses. I would caution against GRE'ing your way through Excelsior/COSC if you:
  
  1. have test anxiety
     
  2. aren't strong in your multiple choice/recall memory skills
     
  3. prefer essays in order to get your point across. I say this because I've known many people who shine when they have a "conversational" opportunity through which to explain themselves but who struggle when they are simply given a Scantron sheet and a clock. Just very different thinking styles at work. Of course, there are people who are great at both, and they would do fine using this avenue IMHO.
     

I started back into studying psych by reading Psychology: A Very Short Introduction ISBN-13: 978-0192853813. This entire series is fun: small format paperbacks, around 120-200 pages, written by very well respected people in their respective field, aimed at the not-completely-ignorant laymen. It was relevant and not as obnoxious as jumping straight in with mnemonics to remember your limbic system from your neocortex. :ack:



• I focused on the Kaplan book this time around, using the Princeton as the review at the end. The Kaplan has more info in it and takes more time explaining it than the Princeton, but there isn't 100% overlap either. There's some info in each book that isn't in the other, and I thought that the Princeton was actually better for the Statistics section than the Kaplan. Overall I'd say using both books was definitely the way to go.
  
  
  
• I had old textbooks hangin' around and used them occasionally to clarify something I didn't fully grasp from just the review books. I actually meant to read through them more, especially the social psychology textbook since that was my weaker sub-score in the first test, but it really sucked trying to read the thing straight through :puke: . And honestly, I think it can hurt as much as help. Most of the body of text in a textbook is explanation: the formal definition, the definition again in a more conversational tone, a concrete example, a more abstract "algebraic" example, a case study, pictures, graphs, etc. The thing is, these should all be there because if someone doesn't understand it one way they may get it another way. But I've found that once I get something, I get it. Belaboring the point doesn't help me "get it" any better but it can lay the groundwork for getting me confused about something about which I have no confusion. So I say study till you get it, then move on.
  
  
  
• My local public TV channels (PBS and NJN) play college telecourses around 2:00 to 5:00 or so in the morning on most nights most times of year. I've watched almost all of the "sciencey" ones, but rewatched all the psych ones I could record, usually more than once. They had one series hosted by Zimbardo himself which was cool! It was a nice passive way to stay on top of it. Grinding out one more page of dense info can sometimes be counterproductive. Sittin' on the couch and watching an interview with a schizophrenic while eating munchies was a great change of pace. I also watched the human growth and development ones, as well as sociology. The g&d had a lot of Piaget and Erikson in it and even the sociology had some group dynamics overflow which was handy.
  
  
  
• One neat thing about studying for psych, is that part of what you study is about studying :coolgleam: . By that I mean memory, learning and test taking is part of what you are tested on, so you have to learn it and commit it to memory, lol. I actually saw myself doing some good and bad habits because I happen to read something that turned out to be what I was doing at that moment. It felt pretty neat! It lead me to try something I've never done before while studying that actually helped so I figured I'd share it.
  
  I googled for pictures of famous psychologists and made study sheets with them on it. I found it very helpful to remember, say, Bandura for the Bobo the Doll experiment after I saw him with a big smile and heavy black "emo" glasses. I suggest at least giving it try, as rote memorization of names can start to get unwieldy, especially when there is a concentration in a particular "school", time or place. For instance, the Germans between 1880 and 1930 started to jumble up for me.
  
  
  
• There is SO much info on the web it's staggering. If you had the inclination I'm sure you could find all you'd need to get whatever score you were hoping for freely available somewhere on the 'net. I watched this entire series for starters:
  YouTube - YaleCourses's Channel
  
  
  
• Google "pschology wiki" and just go nuts, lol! This was handy too:
  Scholarly Psychology Resources on the Web, Organized by Topic
  
  
  
• I try to replicate the actual testing event as close as possible, preferably a couple days before the real test. I try to wake up the same time I will on test day, sit down and run through the entire official ETS practice test with as few interruptions as I can manage, avoid eating and drinking as you can't bring any of that into the test room, etc. I did this and wound up with the exact same scaled score on the practice test as the real thing. Couldn't ask for any better indication than that.