Comments | applyingtograd: Princeton Review Lit Subject Test?

gradschoolapp in applyingtograd

Princeton Review Lit Subject Test?

Oct 12, 2008 17:23

Hey, someone might have already asked this, but is the practice test in the Cracking the GRE Subject Test book harder than the actual test? I took it today, and I scored lower than I expected. If it is lower than usual ETS tests, by how much?

cracking the gre, gre subject test literature

Comments 8

sockmonkeyjoe October 12 2008, 23:08:01 UTC

That is actually an old test. Someone mentioned another test prep guide that made up its own tests that were ridiculously impossible, but it wasn't Princeton.
I took the Princeton test and scored a 480 first round, then did the ETS test a week later and got up to a 580. I have this week to try to average a 650 on the 3 remaining practice tests I have.
I think that test and the one you are sent after registration (also available on the GRE website) are pretty standard in style and general content spread.

judydarkness October 13 2008, 00:12:25 UTC

the PR exam in the prep book is, as sockmonkeyjoe says, an actual retired exam. consider it equivalent to the test you'll get when you take the "real thing" next month ( ... )

judydarkness October 13 2008, 00:15:48 UTC

um, and by "memorize the major works of major theorists" i obviously mean, "memorize who wrote what," NOT "commit the entirety of 'writing degree zero' to memory, and them move on to do the same with 'dialogic imagination,' etc."

just to be clear.

circumfession October 13 2008, 03:51:45 UTC

I found it slightly easier than my first test, and on par with the second. This will really vary depending on your strengths and weaknesses...if "analysis" isn't your thing, and it ends up being 55% of the test, it can feel considerably harder if it's only 40%.

sockmonkeyjoe October 13 2008, 05:26:03 UTC

I think the general problem is just that it expects you to have the entirety of the English literary canon between your ears. Like judydarkness said, it's reductive and stupid. You can get lucky and have a test that just happens to contain more facts with which you are familiar. I'm studying for the worst case, but hoping for the best.
By the way, if you haven't found it yet, check out Vade Mecum. It helps organize things in a manageable format (chronologically for the most part).

circumfession October 13 2008, 18:30:36 UTC

I agree that it's not a very useful test for admissions process, BUT ( ... )

eaw0929 October 17 2008, 15:09:06 UTC

I'm taking my GRE subject tomorrow. SCARY! I'll be sure to let you guys know how it goes.