Gre/mat?!?!

ASU_Sdvls · Aug 8, 2003

Personally speaking, I find the MAT to be a lot easier than the GRE. I have heard that, as a rule, Humanities and Liberal Arts majors tend to score the highest on this test. Thus, if you are good with words and have a substantial amount of cultural knowledge, the MAT should be fairly easy. It is an analogies test after all. I recall seeing only two math related questions on the particular test that I took. If the school you want to attend is lenient as to which test to take, I recommend that you take the MAT.

Athlein · Aug 8, 2003

VaMedic,

Why not take sample tests of both the GRE and MAT? The most important thing is that you score well, after all.

The drawback to the MAT is that you cannot prepare for it. However, you can raise your GRE score by hundreds of points by studying.

Keep in mind, too, that the GRE is more widely accepted than the MAT.

purplemania, BSN, RN · Aug 8, 2003

I went online to find sample tests of both and decided I was not analytical enough to pass GRE so went for MAT. Who cares what "they" think. Do what you have to do to get in the program. The only thing that matters is that piece of paper you get AFTER you complete the program, not what happened before then.

sjoe · Aug 8, 2003

Some schools accept the results of only ONE of these exams, and there is no way of accurately guessing which one goes with which school. So I would suggest you contact the schools in which you are interested, and see which test, or possibly both, they use.

SteelTownRN · Aug 8, 2003

There certainly is a way to prepare for the MAT! You buy a review book (Kaplan or Baron's are both good.) And you do practice problems. Yes, they are analogies, and they test your reasoning ability, and there is no way possible to know every word in the langusge that could show up in an analogy, but you can get the idea of reasoning by practicing with a review text. I'd also buy a basic Greek mythology book, as there are alot of mythology questions. (Just remember that Zeus is pretty much the father of everyone.) Also, if math is your weakness, you may want to get a basic geometry book and review a few common forumlas, like finding the area of different shapes, and what the names of the different shaped triangles are. That is how I prepared and I scored really well on the MAT.

SteelTownRN · Aug 8, 2003

One other thing that I forgot to add, there are review courses for both the MAT and the GRE. I took the MAT for entry into a master's program, and the GRE for entrance into the doctoral program. I was freaked out a bit by the amount of math on the GRE, so I took a review course. It was the BEST investment that I made. I also checked out from a local library reviews on video tapes for the math content. They really explained some basic angebraic and geometric concepts that I had long forgotten. Think of the review as a refresher course. I'd definitely check into a review course, if you can find one. Most universities offer one each semester.

Also, there is software for reviewing for both tests. Not cheap, but also worth the investment. If you do well on the entrance exam and have a desirable GPA, you get a non-conditional admittance. If the score/GPA is not desirable, most schools have a probationary admission, in which you must make a B average in your first 12 hours, or you are out of the program. (Most people make A's and B's in grad school anyway, but probationary admission is not something that I'd like hanging over my head if I could control it by studying for the admission test.)

Good luck!

eltrip · Aug 8, 2003

The MAT is taken over 50 minutes. That's it! I took it in June & I almost enjoyed the test, oddly enough!

Seriously, comparing the cost between the two & the time to take, my vote is for the MAT.

Good luck to you on whichever test you choose!

VaMedic · Aug 9, 2003

Thanks for all the replies. I just saw Kaplan has an online review for the MAT and I will probably go that route for right now. I was talking to a coworker today and she took Kaplans GRE review and made a much higher score than her initial try. Same thing as most of us, she had forgotten those basic Math and Algebra equations. Thanks again.

RW