how i scored 1440/1600 in GRE

[dipenambalia]

Dear all, I am Dipen Ambalia from Mumbai…am working as a business analyst in Mphasis-HP…since 2003 I have been taking CAT, CET, GMAT and GREs..! I knew I deserved something good. So I waited till now.. took GRE on 6th aug 2009… got 1440- verbal 640 + maths-800…even in 2005 I had attempted GRE..that time my breakup was 640+780…. Anyways, this article is just an attempt from my side to help GRE takers…
First of all, ignore what the world hypes about the difficulty level of GRE… people unnecessarily keep saying that ‘GRE is getting tougher day by day’..i don’t agree with that. Its your level of preparation that is going to make the exam sound easy or difficult.
FOR VERBAL: I really wonder what ETS is upto when they want to know whether students can remember the meanings of words that normal human beings never ever use… I mean, come on, have you ever said “hey, I got discombobulated” instead of “hey, I got confused”!!! but anyways, we can’t change the rules of the game, so we just need to know how to tackle the beast…
By the way, you all must be aware that GRE is an ADAPTIVE test..right?... lemme not touch that aspect then…
Ok. There are 4 types of questions that are asked in verbal section : 1) Antonyms (around 8questions) 2) sentence correction (around 7 questions) 3) analogies (around 7 questions) 4) Reading comprehension. (around 8-9 questions)
The first 3 types of questions can be very well handled if your vocab is good. Of course I m not expecting you to know the whole dictionary! ..just make sure that you are thorough with the word list given in BARRONS GRE. I really feel that BARRONS GRE is the bible for preparation for GRE!.. you would find many people who would say “ dump that barrons first”.. I wonder what makes them feel that!... I scored 640 2 times by using only barrons!
The wordlist in barrons is of 3500 words!... words like – discombobulated, recidivism, appurtenance, hiatus! WHO ON EARTH USES THOSE WORDS!! …someone tell me!
Anyways, there is no shortcut to learn the word list. You have to spend time to remember the words. You do anything to keep the words in your mind – write the words , use flash cards, make silly associations of words and some pictures in your mind, read out the words loud, start using the words in your day-to-day speaking. Discombobulate thy friends!!
I will give you one example. There is a word –stickler. It means a person who is particular about everything, someone who wants everything to be at its own place.! In engineering college, I had a room partner named Yogesh More who was very particular about cleanliness, neatness!... so I created a mental association of STICKLER and Yogesh More! So next time I see the word stickler, I know what it means!!!...understood?
Create ANY DAMN pattern to remember words. Don’t worry about what the stupidity or foolishness of the pattern. Its only till the time you take the GRE, that you need to remember those patterns!..right? 
Once you are done with the wordlist, you start reading a thesaurus. Thesaurus is mainly to give u an idea about the different shades of any word. Like, the the example of the word – application. The normal meaning we know is that of a formal letter to get some work done. But there is one meaning of ‘application’ that normally all don’t know. APPLICATION also means DILIGENT ATTENTION. So, thesaurus will give u all the synonyms of a word.
After you are done with the barrons wordlist, you can directly jump into solving questions. Seriously, once you know how a word is used in different contexts, the above first 3 types of questions would be easy for you.
Reading comprehension has been haunting me since 2003!... I still haven’t been able to figure out what the passage said and what I understood! … kidding! There are many ways to tackle reading comprehension. I would tell you what I did to handle reading comprehension.
First read the passage slowly! Believe me, you will save a lot of time by solving Antonyms and Analogies quickly. So you can use that time in reading comprehension. I m not trying to blow my own trumpet, but really I could solve antonyms in just 5-6 seconds. Btw, there are 30 questions to be solved in 30 mins in verbal section. i.e a min a question. I used to save 55 * 8 seconds and I used to use that time in reading comprehension…get my point?
Use you strength to save time on easy questions and use that time wisely on the tougher questions. I used to spend arnd 4 mins to read a 70 line passage!.. I know you must be feeling that I was very slowly. But, I took time to comprehend! This is what happens when you don’t have a good reading habit!
When you read the first paragraph, try to judge what the next content is going to be. If the author is disgruntled about something, then be sure that he is going to propose something that is better than the previously mentioned method. And subsequently he will propose why he thinks the other method is good…etc. GRE passages normally follow a pattern. After solving some 50-60 passages , you will come to know the structure of the passage. You will even be able to anticipate what can be asked!...practice s very very important here. Google for “1000 reading comprehension”. use that document for RCs. It’s a sea of RCs. But be sure that you understand what is going wrong after each reading comprehension. The NUMBER of ‘RCs solved’ is not important, it’s ‘what you learned’ is important.
After you are done with all this preparation, solve GRE BIG Book. It’s the bible of GRE exams. I had solved some 8 tests and I can surely say that the second question in the main exam came verbatim from the GRE BIG Book.!
And after that don’t forget to solve the tests given in the ETS GRE Powerprep (CD that you get on registering for exam)
Let me know if can be of more help to you.
Btw, I m have not discussed MATHS because its damn easy!... if you want, I can discuss that too in a new thread….
Happy GREing!!

[sham12345]

can you please throw some light on the

SENTENCE COMPLETION ? how much time did you take ? will that be tough ? or easier?


and what about the analogies ? can you please throw some light ?

[Monster Matty]

Yeah, I think it is all about really knowing the vocabulary if you want to do very well on the verbal. That takes practice because a lot of the words are rather obscure.

[krishna3456]

Dipenambalia, thanks a lot for such an eloborated and usefull information on GRE verbal section. I have to mug up all the word from barron.Hope i could

Last but not least Congratulations for your wonderful score

[mzx100]

how did you practice the writing section? Some of the topics in the issue pool are almost impossible finding supporting examples....

[dipenambalia]

The Analytical Writing Assessment requires candidates to respond to two essay questions within 45 + 30 minutes:

1) Analysis of an Issue, which asks candidates to discuss the complexities of an issue and take a position on the subject (45 minutes)

2) Analysis of an Argument, which asks candidates to evaluate an argument or critique a line of reasoning (30 minutes)

Do your best to show that you have:

a) excellent reasoning skills
b) good writing skills
c) the ability to quickly organzie your thoughts
d) the ability to produce a coherent essay in the required timeframe


Grading Scale

Each of your essays will be graded by a reader and assigned a score between 0 and 6. The score is assigned based on the general impact of the writing on the reader. The following criteria define each score:

Outstanding (6): a cohesive, well-articulated discussion of the issue/argument with demonstrated mastery of the elements of effective writing. Contains insightful reasoning and/or persuasive examples. Varies sentence structure and vocabulary appropriate to the subject. Superior use of grammar and mechanics.

Adequate (4): presents a competent discussion of the issue/argument. Expresses ideas clearly with adequate organization. May lack sentence variety and show some flaws in grammar and/or mechanics.

Poor (1 -2): Weak or deficient in basic writing skills. Provides little evidence of the ability to understand or analyze the argument/issue. Unfocused and disorganized. Severe and persistent errors in language and sentence structure.



Writing Tips for Issues


1) Take 2 minutes to understand the topic. Do a brainstorming about the pros and cons and make a decision.

2) See, whenever you take a decision to support a point or oppose a point, you would necessarily have some example to support your standpoint. Otherwise your mind wouldn’t conclude that you are supporting or opposing a point.

3) There is nothing like "right" or "wrong" choice. You will be evaluated strictly by how well you support your choice with reasoning and evidence.

4) Get to the point immediately. Your first sentence should offer a solid endorsement of one choice over the other.

5) Use a simple format. I recommend a 5-paragraph approach:

a) The first paragraph begins by stating your choice and then discusses why that option is he superior.
b) The second, third paragraphs would be your 3 points about your viewpoint. Use the PREP formula – Point, Reason, Example, Point (again, but in different way or different words) (here, use starters like – FIRSTLY, SECONDLY, THIRDLY)
c) The fourth paragraph would be about the side that you hadn’t taken. By that I mean, recognize the OTHER SIDE too; discussing both sides of the issue shows that you see the full picture. Recognizing and dealing with possible objections makes your viewpoint stronger.
c) The fifth paragraph with a concluding sentence reaffirming your decision. (here, use starters like – In Sum, To sum up, …etc.)

The more organized your essay, the more persuasive it will be.

6) Don't restate the situation, alternatives, and criteria in your introduction. State your choice and the reasons behind it. Offer an interpretation in light of the stated criteria. It's up to you to indicate why certain facts are positive or negative factors.

7) Write in a calm, rational, objective tone. Don't take an extreme position.

8) Make your writing flawless, with correct spelling, grammar and writing mechanics. Choose simple, everyday vocabulary and syntax with which you're comfortable. Don’t use the words from the wordlist!..that will surely discombobulate the evaluator!... you surely don’t want to discomfit him ..right???

9) I recommend spending 10 minutes reading the issue, making a decision and planning the essay. Use scrap paper to jot down a quick outline of the points you intend to make. Then spend about 25 minutes writing the essay. This leaves about five minutes at the end to proofread for spelling and grammar.

10) make sure you finish your essay, as it demonstrates your organization and time- management skills.



Writing Tips for Arguments


1) Take the argument apart, identifying the conclusion and evidence. Restate it in your own words.

2) Evaluate the argument's persuasiveness. Does it use evidence effectively to reach a conclusion? Are their gaps or flaws in the logic? Unwarranted assumptions?

3) Determine what additional evidence or information would increase the validity of the argument.

4) Use a simple format. I recommend a 5-paragraph approach:

a) Get to the point immediately. Your first paragraph should offer your assessment of the argument and its reasoning.

b) The second, third and fourth paragraphs would be your 3 points about your viewpoint. Attack the gaps, flaws, unwarranted assumptions.

c) Finally, give additional evidence required for the argument to be more persuasive. Show that you see the full picture

7) Write in a calm, rational, objective tone.


8) Make your writing flawless, with correct spelling, grammar and writing mechanics. Write legibly. Choose simple, everyday vocabulary and syntax with which you're comfortable.


9) use your time wisely. I recommend spending five minutes reading the argument, developing your strategy and planning the essay. Then spend about 20 minutes writing the essay. This leaves about five minutes at the end to proofread for spelling and grammar.

10) Make sure you finish your essay, as it demonstrates your organization and time-management skills.

happy AWAing!!

[lux]

awesome!
so u r positive nothing else required for verbal other than barrons right??

my friend gave GRE and right in the beginning he said non barron words came during the test!

por favor, El Señor throw some light on maths also?
how did you manage the time during the test?

if GRE is in a month do you have any quick tips??

thank you

[nguyenchitin]

Thanks for awesome post. Math is not my concern since my major is math/CS. If your are weak in this, I think the best way for math is exercise. Do all the tests you find, again and again until you get 100% out of everything.

About verbal, I don't have that great memory for studying 3000-4000 words in some months but I am trying my best. I would like to ask one question is that if it useful to study the roots and prefixes/suffixes. Does the root list shorten the route and hasten the time of studying words, or it is a complete waste of time? Should I start studying the root-list first before continue with my Barron-list?

If the roots are useful, which list of root/prefix should I use? I am currently having several books but the root-lists are not the same. Someone please answer this because I am really really suffering with the vocabulary.

[dipenambalia]

Originally Posted by lux

awesome!
so u r positive nothing else required for verbal other than barrons right??

my friend gave GRE and right in the beginning he said non barron words came during the test!

por favor, El Señor throw some light on maths also?
how did you manage the time during the test?

if GRE is in a month do you have any quick tips??

thank you

See, Barrons is the minimum that you should do...for both the attempts, i was thorough with Barrons... and i can safely say that more than 95 % of the words that i saw in the exam were from barrons... in the recent GRE, there was one antonym for BEDECKED. this word is not in barrons... but most of the words ARE from barrons... so if uare thorough with barrons, then u can be confident abt giving a good performance...
its practically very difficult to cover evry word in english...so better u do what has higher probability of coming in the exam...

[dipenambalia]

Originally Posted by nguyenchitin

Thanks for awesome post. Math is not my concern since my major is math/CS. If your are weak in this, I think the best way for math is exercise. Do all the tests you find, again and again until you get 100% out of everything.

About verbal, I don't have that great memory for studying 3000-4000 words in some months but I am trying my best. I would like to ask one question is that if it useful to study the roots and prefixes/suffixes. Does the root list shorten the route and hasten the time of studying words, or it is a complete waste of time? Should I start studying the root-list first before continue with my Barron-list?

If the roots are useful, which list of root/prefix should I use? I am currently having several books but the root-lists are not the same. Someone please answer this because I am really really suffering with the vocabulary.

i really feel that a good knowledge of prefixes, suffixes and roots helps in a greeeeeeeeat deal... dont start wordlist unless you know prefixes, suffixes and roots .... that would be my sincere advice..