GRE Biology

[teatime]

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Does anyone know how many times this test is offered every year? Is it computer or paper-based? For those that have taken it, how difficult/how much preparation did you put into it? What topics did it cover? I took general biology over a year ago, but recently took biochem and currently taking microbio, so I'm just wondering if I could be prepared to take it within a month or two.

Thanks!

 

[twelvetigers]

It is offered three times a year - April, October, and November. It's paper based. I thougt it was sorta hard, but it's mostly just thinks you've learned in your classes so far. It covers genetics, botany, biology, ecology, and a bit of microbiology. No biochem.

Hold on and I'll pull up a link with more info...

Here y'go. ETS goes into a LOT of detail explaining what may be on the test, and there's also a practice booklet PDF.

http://www.ets.org/gre/subject/about/content/biology/index.html

Oh, and I used the Kaplan book to study for it. That seemed to work fine. Maybe I would recommend taking it when you're not so busy or stressed out so that you actually have some time to go over material without being all distracted.

And, don't take it November of the year you want to apply - Oklahoma will take the scores, but Georgia might not (too late). And if you aren't applying to Oklahoma or Georgia... why are you even worrying about it? 😉

 

[teatime]

Thanks!

Just looked up the link, and sort of had a freakout, haha. Thats quite an array of topics...I'm guessing I will have to spend some time reviewing and take it in October.

 

[rtoddo09]

I also suggest buying a prep book. It covers A LOT of information... pretty much general bio up through physiology and then a bunch of plant stuff.

I did well on the sections covering animals with review from a prep book. I chose to pretty much exclude the plant sections while taking it because I was unsure of a lot of it. Its paper based so it works like the SAT where you get no points for not answering and negative points for incorrect answers. Don't let skipping questions freak you out because they have a wicked crazy scaling system (which you can find in many prep books) so you can determine how many correct answers you need for the score you want/need.

I should have prepared better and longer for the test in general, but I got around the average score that OK State accepts with my first time.

It was definitely not a fun test to take though. 😴

 

[twelvetigers]

It's not the worst test ever, just long. Being able to skip questions helps - you only have to answer like 100 of them, or something (out of what, 300? I can't even remember).

So... yeah, it kinda sucks, but you just do it.

MAN I hope I never have to take that damn test again! 2x is enough.

 

[slimbean]

Does anyone know how many times this test is offered every year? Is it computer or paper-based? For those that have taken it, how difficult/how much preparation did you put into it? What topics did it cover? I took general biology over a year ago, but recently took biochem and currently taking microbio, so I'm just wondering if I could be prepared to take it within a month or two.

Thanks!

Like twelvetigers said, the last time you can take the test for the year you are applying is october. I look it then and just barely got the scores by the deadline at the end of Nov ( for UGA). I just got a practice booklet and studied that. The boof I had, an REA book, had a pretty good review of the material covered in the GRE. The test is somewhat challenging but it depends on how recent you have had bio..i think general bio, cell bio, and genetics where the most prominent subjects/ pertinent classes. Also, i personally did better on it than the general GRE but I tend to be better at science and found it easier to study for than the general, but it depends on the type of student you are. I think I studied for about 2 months, I studied a little every day and did practice exams on the weekends..i did have a fairly easy semester while I was taking it..so it helped so that I did give a pretty full 2 months to study...hope this helps

 

[teatime]

I also suggest buying a prep book. It covers A LOT of information... pretty much general bio up through physiology and then a bunch of plant stuff.

I did well on the sections covering animals with review from a prep book. I chose to pretty much exclude the plant sections while taking it because I was unsure of a lot of it. Its paper based so it works like the SAT where you get no points for not answering and negative points for incorrect answers. Don't let skipping questions freak you out because they have a wicked crazy scaling system (which you can find in many prep books) so you can determine how many correct answers you need for the score you want/need.

I should have prepared better and longer for the test in general, but I got around the average score that OK State accepts with my first time.

It was definitely not a fun test to take though. 😴

What is considered a "good" score? Sorry I'm a newbie at this.

 

[slimbean]

I also suggest buying a prep book. It covers A LOT of information... pretty much general bio up through physiology and then a bunch of plant stuff.

I did well on the sections covering animals with review from a prep book. I chose to pretty much exclude the plant sections while taking it because I was unsure of a lot of it. Its paper based so it works like the SAT where you get no points for not answering and negative points for incorrect answers. Don't let skipping questions freak you out because they have a wicked crazy scaling system (which you can find in many prep books) so you can determine how many correct answers you need for the score you want/need.

I should have prepared better and longer for the test in general, but I got around the average score that OK State accepts with my first time.

It was definitely not a fun test to take though. 😴

Oh yes, I agree...I did NOT answer a BUNCH of questions..maybe like 20 and I was still able to get a decent score!!! So I do think you need to take those practice test to see your strong points and figure out what to skip or what is a good strategy

 

[teatime]

Like twelvetigers said, the last time you can take the test for the year you are applying is october. I look it then and just barely got the scores by the deadline at the end of Nov ( for UGA). I just got a practice booklet and studied that. The boof I had, an REA book, had a pretty good review of the material covered in the GRE. The test is somewhat challenging but it depends on how recent you have had bio..i think general bio, cell bio, and genetics where the most prominent subjects/ pertinent classes. Also, i personally did better on it than the general GRE but I tend to be better at science and found it easier to study for than the general, but it depends on the type of student you are. I think I studied for about 2 months, I studied a little every day and did practice exams on the weekends..i did have a fairly easy semester while I was taking it..so it helped so that I did give a pretty full 2 months to study...hope this helps

I just scanned through the practice booklet of questions and found I was able to answer a lot just from memory. I think doing a month or two of review will be good prep.

 

[twelvetigers]

What is considered a "good" score? Sorry I'm a newbie at this.

I dunno the UGA average, but for Oklahoma it was 560 last year and 553 the year before that. I've known people to make 700+ without much sweat. I'm uh, not one of those people. But, I got above the average. 🙂

 

[slimbean]

What is considered a "good" score? Sorry I'm a newbie at this.

UGA admissions told me that they consider a 600 and above a competitive score...although I think you should aim for well above 600...In the end, I think what matters more than your score is your ranking/ percentage compared to everyone who takes the test as the scores depend on the test and varies with each version

 

[cowgirla]

I dunno the UGA average, but for Oklahoma it was 560 last year and 553 the year before that. I've known people to make 700+ without much sweat. I'm uh, not one of those people. But, I got above the average. 🙂

:cough:nyanko:cough:

I really didn't study much at all. I did the practice test once, looked through some old "rapid review" biology books, but didn't go into much depth.

I also didn't skip many questions. My brain just isn't wired that way. I think I skipped 6? in the whole test. It had been four years since I took intro bio, and a year since I took ANY bio related class, and I was relatively happy with my score. Was it amazing? No. I probably could have done better if I had studied more, but I was okay with what I came out with. Like TT, I was above the average, and that made me happy.

 

[TexasTiger]

I only had to take it for OkState, and so I took it at the November deadline this past year with no problems from them receiving it. I had graduated in May '08, so it had been about a year and a half since I had any formal classes on biology subjects, and I used the Kaplan practice book (which I HIGHLY recommend! I believe it was the main reason for my test score) I went through pretty much the entire thing, including the practice test (the practice test the ETS sent me was completely bunk...I got through the first 15 pages of it and then they repeated...and then I got about 5 new pages...and then they repeated again. Ugh! )

Anyway, I went through it in about two months, and did the exact same thing as cowgirla and only didn't answer 6 questions, haha. It worked for me, tho, as I got a score well above OkState's average. And while they may not include in-depth biochemistry, I felt that on mine there were a lot of questions about mechanisms (photosynthesis/glycolysis/etc). Nothing that isn't covered in your general bio courses, but more than I expected. Oh, and lots of plants, which was kind of annoying.

Good luck!

 

[bioch]

Has anyone here tried the ebooks from the GREBIO website?

 

[Glammyre]

Has anyone here tried the ebooks from the GREBIO website?

I don't think this test is required for veterinary schools anymore. I'm pretty sure Oklahoma State was the last one to require it, and they dropped it partway through the application process for the class of 2016.

When I was studying, I think I just got through the sample test offered by ETS before OKState pulled the requirement and I stopped.