Admission Procedure
Top 20 colleges and universities
Here’s a list of the top twenty renowned colleges you can apply to after taking your GRE. You can choose whichever you like, provided they offer the course you want to pursue.
Subject GRE application checklist
While you apply to a particular Graduate School or University after GRE, there are a few things you need to keep in mind and thereon take care of to ensure a secured and considerable admission. Here are the following things that you should have a clear idea about and you need to produce in absolute form.
- A completed Application for Admission form filled aptly with genuine details, avoid spelling errors.
- Two copies of official transcripts for all prior undergraduate and graduate studies. The Academic Transcript is the official copy of all your academic records. It should contain all the courses you have taken and completed either successfully or left unsuccessfully.
- Next on the list are two Letters of Recommendation, from referees, preferably professors, associated with your recent academic work. The Letters of Recommendation are significant elements in your checklist for application to the various grad schools and universities. Preferably written by the faculty members of your ex-university or the last institution you studied in, these recommendations are a proof of the hard work you have put in to come this far and also a token of your academic skills and qualities. It is a sort of a token of your professional and academic expertise. This is a mandatory element which gives the prospective faculty an idea about your background in academics.
- Next, is the Statement of Purpose. The Statement of Purpose focuses on your past research interests and how the university you are applying to matches those career goals. It is very different from what you had as an Under-Graduate Application essay. Also known as the Statement of Objectives or a Personal Statement, it discusses how you have approached a particular topic that fascinates you and how you have done extensive research work on it. This piece should be a reflection of interest in a chosen field presenting your skills and yourself in the best possible way and also set a standard statement of purpose and customizing it to each department. While writing a Statement of Purpose, first write a draft and get it read by a professor. After that, do the necessary changes if any and then type the final draft that you intend to send.
- Last but not the list is the Curriculum Vitae or your Resume.
Subject GRE: Paper-based test
Subject GRE is an essentially paper-based test and not a computer-based test as the General Test.
- The inherent advantage of it being a paper-based test is that one can go back to a previous question even after working on the last question in the paper which is not possible in the computer-based test where the database doesn’t allow that. You can’t even try to change any answer if you wonder whether it was correct or up to the mark unlike in a computer-based where the next question is not visible if you do not complete the previous one.
- Another advantage of the paper-based test is that the questions are placed in an ascending order of difficulty. They start off easy and then become hard.
- The questions are rated equally regardless of the difficulty in the paper-based test.
Practice tools
While preparing for a Subject GRE test, you should keep in mind that the exam actually tests the depth of your knowledge and not your memorizing skills. Before you get into hardcore academic preparations, there are a few things that can surmise your acute anxiety to a large extent. A little familiarization with the test format and kinds of questions you can expect can ease your tension to some extent also contributing positively to a successful test score.
Okay, now let’s trail a planned procedure to a worked-up study plan. First, let us tell you about the various practice tools you can use while preparing for GRE Subject tests. Unique ones are,
- GRE Subject Practice Tests: These are one of the most convenient means of preparing yourself to take the Subject GRE test. It is better if you start your preparation with this. A practice test will provide you with examples of the various types and kinds of questions, the test paper format and the testing conditions. Such papers will not just give you the correct answers and options but also give you the detail explanations as well.
You can buy such test series from most of the testing services (even from us) along with the instructions, answer sheets, score conversion tables and a self evaluation module as well.
- Test Bulletins: Next come the test bulletins which are available from the testing services. The free bulletins outline all the rules, regulations and procedures of the test at the same time offering sample practice questions for the GRE Subject Tests.
Other than these, the bulletin also encloses official test registration forms and other related GRE publications which may also help you with the preparation. So, visit any testing service website and find out which of them offers bulletins that can be downloaded along with practice tests and publications’ ordering information.
- Software: Almost all of the official GRE testing service websites offer suitable programs that you may download or buy. The software presents the GRE subject test in the form of a test mode or tutorial and test-taking strategies. In case it is in the form of a tutorial, it uses the test as a study aid supplying accurate answers and adjoining explanations as well.
On the other hand, the test mode stimulates the original version CAT exams. But you have to be a little selective while you pick a software. Opt only for those that resemble the actual GRE Subject test and also provide apt explanations and are easy to use.
- Guide Books: Test guides also prove to be helpful while preparing for Subject GRE. Such preparation guidebooks are often known as GRE for Dummies, Strategies to Help You Score Higher, GRE Supercourse or Practicing to Take the GRE Education Test. Such guidebooks range from $10-$50 and at times come with a companion software.
- Courses: If you really want a sure-shot preparation for your Subject GRE paper, then enroll for a test preparation course for the test. This is expensive, but it always gives you sure-shot and effective results.
A full-scale course offers books, test management tips, diagnostics tests and hands-on instructions. It’s up to you to choose whether you want to attend individual tutoring or small classes.
Any one of these won’t be enough to help you with the entire preparation; the more you refer to, the better prepared you are to take the test.