Unlike many in our field, I was weak on math and strong on the verbal sections of the SAT and GRE. I had been math-phobic in grade school, and it wasn't until senior year of college that I took a population biology class and realized the importance of math in ecology. I'm decent at standardized tests, but was getting terrible math scores on practice GREs after studying on my own. Luckily I was able to afford a (very costly) GRE prep course thanks to family support, and 'earned' a strong GRE score after learning all the tricks for narrowing down the answers on the math section in the prep class. I know our field is quantitative, but I don't think the GRE math section has much relevance to the quant skills practicing ecologists need. With the computerized adaptive testing, the ability to get the right answer fast is the key to getting a good math score (or at least it was when I took the GRE in 2007). Actually knowing the math wasn't good enough if one took too long to pick the right answer. Likewise, I think everyone realizes the need for strong writing and communication skills in science, but the obscure and esoteric vocab on the GRE also doesn't relate much to the real-world of presenting and publishing grant apps and research results. The GRE reflects one's ability to play that particular game, and not much else in my opinion. Moreover, I think they're skewed to favor students who can afford to take test prep courses, buy test prep books, and take the time to study (as opposed to working a job to make ends meet). There are some folks who are naturally able to excel at those tests, but I think the GRE doesn't reflect ability to do research, be it in grad school or thereafter.
-Alex ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 14:03:01 -0400 From: "=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Alex_M._L?=" <[email protected]> Subject: GRE Scores In Picking a PhD Student. Do they Matter? Last weekend I got into a long discussion on the value of GRE score in a = PhD=20 student. As the 2015 applicants start, I open up the discussion to the=20= community: I have a female student that has both a Masters (thesis) and publication = with=20 several years research experience. However, her GRE score are quite poor.= =20 Should I really pass up a seemingly great applicant because of low scores= ?=20 If a student has a biology Masters or a publication... do GRE scores matt= er?=20 Have we not moved past GRE scores when picking the next round of PhD=20 researchers for our lab(s)?=20 If you have a personal story of low scores and still attaining your PhD o= r=20 accepting a similar student... I would love to hear from you! Cheers! Alex M.L
