GRE preparation

[Ross123]

How long do you guys prepare for GRE?
3 months ok?

[Bubba]

From past posts I've seen most people recommend three months and no more....

[ramlau]

How long do you guys prepare for GRE?
3 months ok?

I spent roughly 20 hours altogether on quant and two weeks (hours a day) on verbal - damn those hugemonstrous vocab lists! It was worth the time though.

Ram

[Antichron]

Memorize one or two 500 word lists, take a dozen or so sample GRE quantitative tests at the bookstore. (I never bought a book - I just hung out at the bookstore for about eight hours a day for a couple weeks) There are also lists of all the possible "Issue Topics" and "Argument Topics" at:

http://www.gre.org/pracmats.html

I recommend writing 3-5 topic and 3-5 argument essays - this will get you in the mindset of the five paragraph essay.

Finally, a couple weeks or so before the test, download the GRE PowerPrep program at the above website and go through the entire thing.

Three months is plenty of time to prepare yourself to get a very good score on the GRE. (Though I can't think of any reason you would need to take it by May...) Good luck!

[housecleaning]

3 months? Try 3 days.

[Antichron]

Haha. I knew a guy who studied for the GRE for about fifteen minutes (I believe this claim from him - he studied for his Ph.D level game theory class for an hour before the exam and ended up with the third highest score). He started looking at a word list, got impatient, and decided to play video games instead. He ended up with an 800Q/650V, and he can't even remember his AWA score.

He's the smartest person I know (and is now pursuing his Ph.D in econ. at MIT), so I don't exactly reccomend his approach to studying for the GRE. It can be done, however.

For the mortals (and those who lack self-confidence), a good couple months preparation can secure you a very solid score. There are only so many different types of quantitative questions they can ask - studying can definitely increase your score here. Just be sure to be prepared to do some quick thinking on the day of the test. And, quite frankly, who cares about the verbal or the AWA?

[Freethinker]

Ross, depends on your goals. I prepared very little for the Quant, but I made a great effort on verbal because I'm an international, and it paid off! I prepared intensively about three weeks. For me it was better a shorter and more intensive prep, because I feel a longer one would have made me very hostile towards the test.

[Zavera]

All I did was practice my test taking skills.

For verbal, don't bother studying; it will not help.

[ramlau]

For verbal, don't bother studying; it will not help.

I don't know about that. While a low score doesn't hurt, a high score certainly helps. As I remember, some FAQ pages of the PhD Programs specifically point out that almost all of their recently admitted students scored above 90 or 95% in each section of the test.

But for international students, I guess it's no big deal as long as the score ain't embarrassingly low.

Ram

[Zavera]

I don't know about that. While a low score doesn't hurt, a high score certainly helps. As I remember, some FAQ pages of the PhD Programs specifically point out that almost all of their recently admitted students scored above 90 or 95% in each section of the test.

But for international students, I guess it's no big deal as long as the score ain't embarrassingly low.

Ram

I should probably clarify my argument; what I meant to say is that there are basically two different types of people: those who get the verbal sections and those who do not. If you honestly don't understand analogies, for example, then knowing 10,000 extra words plain won't help because the key ability in completing those questions is missing.

I've seen many people hopelessly study thousands of verbal words in vain because they plain don't see the connection in analogies and sentence completion.

For others it makes perfect sense to study the words because they can really use it.