

Ask HN: Is GRE useful outside graduate school? - kailashbadu

Having finished Bachelor’s degree in CS and subsequently worked as a professional programmer for 3 years,  I am finally considering going to the graduate school. As part of the preparations I will be sitting for the GRE general test sometime in  next few months. Upon reviewing and practicing the test material  I realized that something is bugging me really bad.<p>I have heard many people disparage GRE. Their grudge is that, among a few others,  much of what your study for  the GRE test is not really useful in the graduate school, nor is it helpful later in your career. Now that has really started to worry me because I think I am spending more time on it then what I probably ought to.<p>Take vocabulary. Memorizing hundreds of abstruse words was no fun when I started. I was merely cramming . However, things started getting interesting when I actually began writing down the words, looking the meaning up in a dictionary, analyzing the usage, and applying the words in my own sentences. Of course it’s taking inordinate length of time but the experience is really enthralling and edifying.<p>Practicing  for ‘Reading Comprehension’  lead me to the world of critical reading and writing. I began to critically read newspaper op-ed , keep an eye on the techniques that author uses to  constructs the passages, and find flaws or strength in every  argument he or she makes. Again it is slowing me down but I am getting engrossed. So much so that I bought an entire text book on Logic; one that teaches how to make arguments, identify fallacies, and do deductive and inductive reasoning. My interest only seems to be growing by leaps and the bounds.<p>Now I am worried that the amount of effort I am putting into it is just not worth it. Everything on the test preparation books too is focused only on maximizing the score on the actual GRE test day (quick tricks and tactics without deeper learning).<p>Can some of the things I learn for GRE can be carried over to the graduate school and the career that follows it?  Should I be putting as much effort into it as I am doing now?
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how_gauche
GRE is completely inapplicable to grad school, I'm pretty sure it's used with
a cutoff to thin out the applicant pool.

I didn't study for mine one iota and did pretty well (got into Yale) -- I
think if I'd spent some time preparing I could've had close to straight 800s,
but I don't see that alone getting me into the schools I was rejected from.

Honestly I think "GRE scores" are about 19th on the list of things most
university departments look for when they're seriously considering applicants.
You'd be much better off putting that effort into preparing material for
publishing.

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kailashbadu
To clarify, I am eying an elite CS school.

Would you mind explaining what do you mean by preparing material for
publishing, please?

