Question on the GRE

[shootermcgavin7]

I have a strange question about the GRE, my girlfriend was a little help on the question but I'm still curious. I've always planned on leaving public accounting after I made manager in the Big 4, but due to agreements with Atlanta-area schools, I never had to take the GRE for my MAC.

One option that I've left open is going back to get a PhD in economics. I probably would only leave the business world to go back to grad school if it were a top school for econ (i.e. Uni of Chicago or MIT), otherwise it wouldn't be worth the 4-5 years it would take.


The question I had was directed towards those that have taken both the SAT & the GRE.

How did your scores compare? In other words, what relation could I expect in my SAT scores from long ago in comparison with my GRE scores?


Edit: Added proper punctuation.

[MixmasterNash]

Eh, probably not much meaningful correlation beyond, "if you're smart, you'll do well at both." GRE maths is actually easier than SAT. Math-related subject tests are harder. Verbal isn't too much harder than the SAT and analytical was fairly simple for anyone can solve simple logic puzzles. It's been 7 years since I took them so they may have changed.

If you want into Chicago Econ, you better be able to pull great GRE scores without any worry and deal with other, more important things instead.

[Pup]

Really not much comparison...I'm taking the GRE in the fall and from the study guides i've got its just a different concept. If you're in accounting then you'd have no trouble with the math portion. The writing portion is basically nonsense, you get 30 minutes to write on some passage they present you with, its not real writing, its impromptu garbage. But, take some pretests, get a study guide and you should have zero trouble.

[RickTheDestroyer]

My experience was that it was pretty nasty, and I actually did pretty well. I disagree about the writing section being pointless- it shows graduate schools how capable you are of either presenting an argument and backing it with logical thought and support and deconstructing a separate argument of someone else's. I consider these pretty valuable life skills for academic work.

The math is easier than SAT math- the catch is that there's no calculator and that there is always ALWAYS a trick or easy shortcut- the clock is your biggest enemy there. The real problem with it is that the mode for the distribution is an 800 (all your math-oriented people) the scores then dip and then come up again at a lower score- it is very far from a normal distribution (which made my 730 equal to 75% percentile- good for a psych student, not so good for engineering or something).

The vocab stuff is similar to the SAT stuff. This presented a bit of a problem for me because I never really worked at having a vocabulary full of big words (I've never had much trouble expressing myself with smaller ones, and I find that I can communicate much more effectively by doing so). The other problem is that they give you less to work with (i.e. for the analogies you're filling in the entire second half instead of just one word), they're also sticklers for different shades of the same general idea.

All that aside, I'd recommend that you invest a little $ in some of the preparatory software and drill on through it. Mine wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't had to sit in traffic for 3 hours beforehand.

[mrelwooddowd]

I asked my wife. She said her GRE scores were substantially lower, but it depends on the individual for the stated reasons. I know that she was very concerned with the writing scores, as it's a huge factor in her particular field, which is musicology. She owned the writing portion, though. I seem to remeber that she submitted writing samples as well??? I could have that confused with her graduate applications, but I'm almost positive that she did this for the GRE also.

[shootermcgavin7]

If you want into Chicago Econ, you better be able to pull great GRE scores without any worry and deal with other, more important things instead.

Yeah, the average score for accepted students into both Uni of Chicago and MIT PhD in Economics program are both over 1500.

[Gyno Rhino]

GRE is a joke.

[Gyno Rhino]

Yeah, the average score for accepted students into both Uni of Chicago and MIT PhD in Economics program are both over 1500.

Are you talking about the tests NOW? As in just Math/verbal scores added together? Some schools still have their requirements list as the old three score version.

They used to have a different analytical section that was a third number score. Now it's just this goofy writing test on a range from 1-6.

All that aside, why would you go to MIT to get a PhD in econ?

[shootermcgavin7]

Are you talking about the tests NOW?

Yeah; average writing score for them is over 5, as well.

All that aside, why would you go to MIT to get a PhD in econ?

For some reason, they have the 2nd best in the nation right behind Uni of Chicago. Virginia Tech's is pretty highly rated as well.

[Unholy]

Pshhh SAT was easy B/S

[MixmasterNash]

I took the three parter, the first year it was computer based. What a horrible interface and experience. Maybe that drove me to HCI.

When did they go to a stupid ass written section? Do they do a written section for the Chinese GREs? That has to be ridiculously painful to grade.

[RickTheDestroyer]

Are you talking about the tests NOW? As in just Math/verbal scores added together? Some schools still have their requirements list as the old three score version.

They used to have a different analytical section that was a third number score. Now it's just this goofy writing test on a range from 1-6.

All that aside, why would you go to MIT to get a PhD in econ?

I believe that the old analytical scores were typically listed separately, and a 1500 average is probably correct for the combined verbal and quantitative sections, as nearly all econ students at a top school probably aced the quantitative section.
Again, I think that the writing section probably gives a better indication of capability of conducting graduate-level work than the old logic section did.

[shootermcgavin7]

I hate to bump this 7-month-old thread, but I finally took this bastard and wanted to thank everyone for their advice.

[WBBIRL]

What did you get??? I found the SAT's to be a gimme and that if you even payed attention half the time in HS and maintained a C average you could easily get 1000+. I went to school with some real dim wits and they managed 800-900 (most of them). I think the national average is only 950-1050... that was ofcourse before it got changed. Havent heard anything about the new one... but the 1600 pointer was just very easy. I never tried very hard during HS or even cared and pulled a 1100 out.

[shootermcgavin7]

What did you get??? I found the SAT's to be a gimme and that if you even payed attention half the time in HS and maintained a C average you could easily get 1000+. I went to school with some real dim wits and they managed 800-900 (most of them). I think the national average is only 950-1050... that was ofcourse before it got changed. Havent heard anything about the new one... but the 1600 pointer was just very easy. I never tried very hard during HS or even cared and pulled a 1100 out.

530 for verbal
800 for quantitative

So basically, I did what I needed to. Having researched it a little more since April, the programs I'm looking at don't care what your verbal score is. Which is good, because I could have studied "vocabulary" for weeks and still not improved my score by very much.

[Y2A]

Why leave public accounting when you reach manager? Thats when the money gets better and you dont have to work anymore. Seems like it around here anyway

[shootermcgavin7]

Why leave public accounting when you reach manager?

Because I hate it. But I don't think I'm going to stick around long enough to make manager anyway. This will be my 2nd busy season as a senior and that might be all she wrote.

[Y2A]

Im going into my 2nd as a staff, senior looks to be the most horrible job ever. Gotta get outta here

[Allie]

Really not much comparison...I'm taking the GRE in the fall and from the study guides i've got its just a different concept. If you're in accounting then you'd have no trouble with the math portion. The writing portion is basically nonsense, you get 30 minutes to write on some passage they present you with, its not real writing, its impromptu garbage. But, take some pretests, get a study guide and you should have zero trouble.

WORD!

I'm doing some mentoring with people from a program I'm considering. I'm only going to take the GRE if the advisor for the specific program suggests it to help deflect weight off of my less than stellar GPA.

Get a GRE for Dummies book, or take a KAPLAN course if you really feel the need or absolutly need a competative score.

[MM]

Because I hate it. But I don't think I'm going to stick around long enough to make manager anyway. This will be my 2nd busy season as a senior and that might be all she wrote.

Please, just tell me the money is good. I'm begging you.

[shootermcgavin7]

Please, just tell me the money is good. I'm begging you.

It's very good.

The flip side to that are 80-100 hour weeks (one of my big clients is listed in Europe, not NYSE, so their US financials have to be done Jan 31st) from Jan-Mar, and 55-60 hour weeks Aug-Nov (thanks to Sarbanes-Oxley); 38 weeks or so out of town.

It used to be bearable before Sarbanes-Oxley because you at least got a break the rest of the year.

[Utopianhopes]

Hey, would you guys who already are accountants have any helpful tips for future accountants?...

[Y2A]

Yeah, change your major

[MM]

Yeah, change your major

Too late. Besides, I'd rather work my ass off for good money than have an easy job and make $40K for the rest of my life.

Shooter --

I'm just curious (you can PM me if you want, or just not respond or whatnot): would you be willing to give me a brief example of the timeline of your career. I.E did you start as a staff accountant, move to this, etc. I'm going to graduate in a little under a year, and I'm interested. I'm up in Maine and I know you're down South, so I imagine you started out with better opportunities than I did.

Just curious.

[shootermcgavin7]

Too late. Besides, I'd rather work my ass off for good money than have an easy job and make $40K for the rest of my life.

Shooter --

I'm just curious (you can PM me if you want, or just not respond or whatnot): would you be willing to give me a brief example of the timeline of your career. I.E did you start as a staff accountant, move to this, etc. I'm going to graduate in a little under a year, and I'm interested. I'm up in Maine and I know you're down South, so I imagine you started out with better opportunities than I did.

Just curious.

You have a PM.

For a general thought on the hours - this is not a problem for a lot of people. Long hours in general are not a problem at all for me if I really enjoy what I'm doing. I don't.

There are people who work at my firm who are genuinely passionate about accounting principals. I'm not.