I plan to apply to graduate school in a few years, and will need to take the GRE General Test. I’m currently working on a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, and since I’m doing it on a part-time basis, it will take a while to complete. In the mean time, I decided to take the GRE now to get some idea of where I stand, and whether I need to buy test prep materials or study to get a better score later.
I took the test a few weeks ago, and received my score report yesterday. I won’t need to buy test prep materials or take the test again. I scored a perfect 800 on both the Verbal and Quantitative sections, and 5.5 out of 6 on the Analytical Writing (essay) section.
On the other hand, I took the practice GRE Computer Science Test last night, and only scored 840 out of 900 possible (91st percentile). I think there are errors in two questions on the practice test, but even discounting those I am not satisfied with my score. The questions relating to finite automata theory seemed particularly difficult, so I’ll spend some time studying that area before taking the actual test.
firstly, the computer test tests mostly math skills, similar to the quantitative and to get 800 on the quantitative is not so hard in the general test it means only that you are in the 94th percentile. But the people taking the computer test or smarter at least math-wise than the general test-takers which means that it is likely that your percentile will drop because you are now competing against people whose strength is computers and math and not just against everyone who takes the general test.
btw, some schools consider the gre valid for only 2 years, so you might consider waiting to take it.