Psychology GRE

[crshore]

I did a search through the threads, and I may have missed it, but I could not find anything about the GRE Psychology subject test.

My college (Charter Oak) awards 18 credits if you score in the 40 percentile or better.

My concentration is in psychology and I have been preparing using a Kaplan test prep book and some of my old texts. I'm scheduled to take the exam on 11/03/07.

Is anyone else taking the test on this day? I'd also love to hear a first-hand account (experiences...scores, etc.) of anyone who has taken the exam.

[skyfall123]

Well I was going to wait to get my score (takes about 6 weeks) before talking about the Psychology GRE, (I took it 10/6) but I'll tell you what I know. I signed up for it on a whim since I'm a few credits shy of an Excelsior Business degree. I figured if I could score high enough, then it may be worth going for the 2nd degree either from Excelsior or Charter Oak.

I had no time at all to study for the test. So a couple of days before the test I went through the 215 question practice test, and lo and behold I got about 60-70 percent right. There are some subject areas that use verbiage that actually makes sense and applies to the field. Psychology is one of them. So with a little knowledge and life experience, there are many terms and concepts that are familiar. Now I took a couple of Psych classes 30 years ago, so I knew the basics i.e. Frued Id, Ego, Superego....Pavlov's dog...Thorndike....etc... What I found was that many of the questions could easily be narrowed down to 2 answers, from there you have a 50% chance.

On my first go round of the GRE, I answered only the questions that I felt strongly about. I answered 168 out of 205. The next round I answered all but 1. One question I was clueless on.

To qualify for the 18 hours at Charter Oak you'd need to get around 105 right. I think that it is very doable. Excelsior is alot tougher, you need close to 150-180 to qualify for the 30 credits, which is why I answered all the questions.

The scale as you may have read gives you 1 point for each correct answer, gives no value if you skip the question and deducts 1/4 point for each incorrect answer. I felt that when narrowed to 2 answers you have to take the odds and guess on questions that basically give you a 50% chance of answering correctly.

The questions are of the same type of variety as the practice test. If you know who the main players and their specialties are ex...Piaget working with children, the Feminist Psycholgist (don't know her name off the top of my head but would recognize if I saw it) the concept of care, etc...and you study the IC sections comparable to Human Growth and Developmental (thats what they called it back in the day), Abnormal Psychology and maybe Intro to Psycholgy, I think that you would have no problem pulling the required percentage to get 18 credits at Charter Oak.

If you have no prior Psychology knowledge and video is your thing, then watch the Annenberg series on Psychology. That will bring you up to speed.

As crazy as this sounds, with very little time to review, I found that going to Wikipedia and looking under subjects like Cognitive Therapy etc... were generic enough to be very usefull for this test. Familiarize yourself with the very basic concepts of each major area, then use your common sense to narrow down the answers on the test. Common sense rules!

Good luck, I know that you will do well enough for the 18 credits!

[crshore]

Awesome feedback...thank you! PLEASE let me know how you did when you receive your scores.

I'm ashamed to say as a psychology major, I got a raw score of only 112! That's enough to get the 18 credits through Charter Oak, but it was a little too close for comfort for me. Plus, I get pretty darn bad test anxiety, so I'm worried about that impacting my score.

A lot of my background is in child, developmental, and abnormal psychology. I need to brush up on physiological psychology, sensation and perception, and statistics/research design.

I've been using the Kaplan review book, and I just dusted off my Intro to Psych text. I'm just so nervous about it!!

Thanks and good luck to you.

[crshore]

OK, I just HAD to share my good news....

I got a 630 on the Psychology GRE which means I get....18 credits at Charter Oak!!! Do you know what that means??? No more classes after my finals on 12/15 and I will walk down the aisle in June at our graduation!! I am so ecstatic!!

Thanks to the support I've received on this site, I've tests out of 30 credits and have saved an incredible amount in tuition that I did not have to pay.

Did I mention how thrilled I am?

[skyfall123]

Great job!!! Wow what a feeling!!!! and did you mention that the 18 credits which fulfilled your requirements for your Psych Major at Charter Oak cost you $135.00 total!!!

What a great GRE success story. For those who are in a position to give the subject GRE's a try. The next test coming up will be in April and costs $135.00. Another member earned 18 credits for her GRE English exam. There are about eight subject GRE's which are normally used when you apply to Graduate school.

In this case, Charter Oak will give you 18 credits for passing above the 40% percentile and Excelsior will give you up to 30 credits depending how well you do.

GRE Subject Tests Overview