GRE and other questions

nevermoree
Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:48:17 +0000

Make him do his own research!
Might as well get the GRE out of the way. He can take it multiple times but why waste time and money? It’s pretty different from the SAT/ACTs however. The quantitative sections are probably roughly equal in difficulty but he will most likely have to study a bit for the verbal section. (Also, there’s talk of the GRE changing in August 2011 to a format that allows for more time and doesn’t adjust question difficulty based on correct answers among other things so you might want to take that into consideration too)
Berkeley is almost certainly going to be a stretch. Even kids with high GPAs and great research experience from top UG schools aren’t guaranteed to get in. I’d say that you ought to encourage your kid to look into more programs - not only location but also curriculum and requirements.


Is he looking at Masters or PhD programs? Echoing what others have said, most PhD programs at decent schools will have funding. Masters’ programs are much less reliable though it’s entirely possible to get a TA or RA position depending on the school.

Also, since he’s fluent in German, maybe you should encourage him to look at graduate schools in Germany. Could be a great experience.