Tips on preparing for the GRE?

[Bocete]

Hey

So, I've started preparing for the test. After doing two sample tests, I see that my vocabulary is flawed at best, regarding the Verbal tests. English is not my native language, so go figure. I did pretty good in quantitative tests, nearly perfect.

Right now, I'm mostly anxious about building my vocabulary: I can barely remember ever encountering a word only minutes after going through it. Even if I do, the meaning mostly eludes me.

I still haven't tried anything engaging writing skills though, but I guess I'll do good enough after reading many samples. I've read a few. Reading them will give me the feel I need to strive for, and with some practice, I'm confident I'll do good.

For what it's worth, I'll be taking the paper-based test, as it's the only one available where I live. That means the question difficulty will not be adaptive, and that I can answer them in any order (therefore, in increasing order of difficulty). Otherwise it's the same as the computer version.

Which strategies/sources do you recommend? Tips, anything? What are your GRE stories?

[Rocker949]

Princeton Review publishes study guides for that. Most of the other study guides I found for the GRE seemed pretty worthless.

[LiquidMidnight]

With regard to the analytical writing section, be able to truly argue for and against a point. Be able to pick out when the author is inferring causation when it's just correlation. Be able to see flaws in both your arguments and the author's arguments. If you're taking the paper-based version and you don't formally type, then you're at an advantage. I'm a trained-typist, and I was still making final edits up until the last couple of available seconds.

The verbal section, unfortunately, comes down to just having a large vocabulary. It's hard for me not to go on a rant about the criterion validity of the verbal section of the GRE. I have a pretty large vocabulary, and there are words in the GRE wordbank that I would never use in my professional, let alone everyday, life. The verbal section of the GMAT at least has more face validity than the GRE, but I'm trying not to rant. You'll come across words that you don't recognize. When that happens, you have to use inductive and deductive reasoning, along with the process of elimination, to pick the right word.

The quantitative section does not require any long or complicated computations. To me, the quant section primarily measured your knowledge of backdoor ways of solving what immediately looked to be complicated math questions. As I stated in Cassanova's recent thread on algebra, I never had an algebra class in my life. While I did teach myself algebra and geometry and can solve equations fairly well, I felt that I was lacking in the ability to use those backdoor problem solving techniques.

I destroyed the analytical section, did average on the verbal section, and did below average on the quantitative section. I went into a Master's program that didn't require GRE scores. I then worked hard to have a good vitae at the end of it. I then leveraged my high undergrad and grad GPAs, research experience, and vitae against my pedestrian GRE scores to get accepted into a PhD program. Of course, if your
going to the engineering program at MIT, you're admissions package may need to be flawless.

[Chebass88]

I took these in August 2007. My scores were 570 verbal & 760 quantitative, plus something in the writing section.

Here is my advice.

1. Practice makes perfect. Go to your local bookstore and purchase a review book. There are numerous vocabulary words typically found on the GRE. Write these on file cards and study them as much as possible. You might not have to use them, but if you can - score one for you.

2. The GRE is mostly about evaluating how well you think in a difficult environment (time crunch). The math (quantitative) is made of exceptionally easy math. There is nothing in there that requires anything more than HS geometry.

3. Take practice tests. When you sign up for the GRE, they will have several practice tests for you. Use them, with a stopwatch and find your weaknesses. Use practice tests from the book you purchase. The biggest issue is learning HOW to take the test. There are some tricks to the math and analogies sections - if you know these tricks, you can easily pass those questions. As an example - they almost ALWAYS include the classic "How many fenceposts are required to fence a length of xyz?".

4. Essay - take a minute or two to organize your thoughts on the scrap paper. It makes it MUCH easier to execute a well thought-out essay if it is organized. If English is not your first language, do not use some of the more advanced techniques (e.g., beginning your essay with a quote, for example).

Hope this helps!

ian

[Bocete]

Thanks, people

Regarding the writing section - I can easily spot flaws in someone's argument. At least, with sample issues on the GRE site and some other samples I've seen, I've had no problems. I haven't used a pen in a few years though, so I'll have to prepare using pen and paper. Writing essays has always been easy to me, and I feel they have always shined most in any of my applications.

Regarding the verbal section, I'll have to do some hard time trying to remember as many words as possible. Nothing else.

I've found the quantitative part easy. I did two samples, and every time I was done in 20 minutes per section, with at most one mistake per section, amounting to 750 points. With some more practice and clear focus on the big day I'll probably do even better.

I am applying for a masters program right now. I still haven't decided where am I going to apply, but I assume Stanford will be the most elite. We'll see. Right now, I have a vocabulary to build up.

[tycobb73]

To get good at vocabulary your best bet would be to break down the word into its components. Kaplan is very good at teaching you how to do this. That is why every kid is asking for origin in spelling bee tests. Unfortunately you can't do that.

[Bocete]

Originally Posted by tycobb73

To get good at vocabulary your best bet would be to break down the word into its components. Kaplan is very good at teaching you how to do this. That is why every kid is asking for origin in spelling bee tests. Unfortunately you can't do that.

I had no idea Makes sense.

[UnsungZeros]

Originally Posted by Rocker949

Princeton Review publishes study guides for that. Most of the other study guides I found for the GRE seemed pretty worthless.

This. I swear by the Princeton Review books for just about all standardized tests. All the other books (Kaplan, etc.) just don't do it for me.

I think I stressed a bit too much before taking my GRE. It wasn't so bad and I scored fairly well. So the best advice I can give you is to just relax, especially the day of the test.

[crow01]

I recommend investing on a veritas prep class online. They teach you what to prepare and how to take the exam.
But just taking the class is not enough, you gotta study a lot, and I mean a lot. Then take a practice test every 2 weeks.

[fdeck]

Here's a tip: Don't get the flu, like I did. I took the general in the morning and the subject test in the afternoon. I did OK until lunch, then I completely conked out and had to bail out of the subject test halfway through.

Well, I got into grad school somehow.

[SoonerMatt]

Don't take the test during your school's biggest rivalry football game. I took the GRE the weekend of OU-Texas and didn't do nearly as good as I could have because I was anxious to get out of there and watch the game. I took it again a month later and did much better.

I personally thought the math section was a joke, but the verbal section is a huge pain in the butt. If you buy a GRE review book buy the supplement verbal book; unless you can nail the vocab you're screwed.

Give yourself about 2 months of prep time. Anything longer than 8 weeks and you'll burn yourself out and your score will go down.

[cap'n crunk]

Practice your reading comprehension. I know it sounds like the easiest part of the test, but that's how they get you. If you get a longer reading about a subject with which you have little to no familiarity, it can end up costing you tons of time and dragging down your score.

[MakiSupaStar]

I used to teach it with the Princeton Review, but it's been years. I would, however, recommend a class with the Princeton Review. Their techniques and study guides are good. They guarantee a score gain as well. Most students do average at least 100 points gain on a test they took without the class.

[Bocete]

I don't think enrolling in any preparation class is possible. Besides having the GRE available in my country for only a few months, I don't have the means to electronically pay for any online lessons. Even paying for the test itself is a huge hassle I'm going through right now.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by Bocete

I don't think enrolling in any preparation class is possible. Besides having the GRE available in my country for only a few months, I don't have the means to electronically pay for any online lessons. Even paying for the test itself is a huge hassle I'm going through right now.

Ah, I see. Then look into picking up one of their guides. Their techniques are pretty good. If I were to take a test, and they taught it, I would pay for the classes out of my own pocket. I already have my Masters though.

[dullsilver_mike]

I don't think the verbal section even expects you to actually know a lot of the words that pop up because they're so far out. I'd spend the time (if you have it) learning a lot of your English, Latin, and Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes, so that you can construct an approximate definition of most words that pop up that you haven't actually seen before. When it comes time to list an antonym of a word (that was a section of the verbal when I took it at least), you can get pretty far by just understanding the word contains a negative prefix, or suffix that denotes a person, etc.

No worries on the writing section if you're rhetorically savvy. I don't think many programs even look at that score yet anyway as it's a relatively new section ( no school seemed to care much that I dominated it )

[LiquidMidnight]

Originally Posted by dullsilver_mike

I don't think many programs even look at that score yet anyway as it's a relatively new section ( no school seemed to care much that I dominated it )

Which is pretty stupid, IMO. Being able to justify your thinking at a thesis or dissertation defense is probably going to be more important in many graduate programs than being able to solve a geometry problem.

[Bocete]

God, I'm weak with the verbal section. I don't do any good in it. I've been writing every new word down, with pronunciation and synonyms, later testing myself using flash cards. So far it's been quite overwhelming; only a few seconds after going through a word I can't seem to get it right again. And, I'm unable to proceed practicing the verbal section because I see 2-4 new words with every question, making the word list grow very quickly. What do you recommend?

[Brad Barker]

you may or may not want to wade through this old thread: my graduate school thread!


i think admissions departments will give you some slack if you're not a native speaker and do well on the TOEFEL.

[ChiliPepper]

How many weeks did you guys practice for the test ?