GiancarloDoria

Hey! Thanks for your words, Carpenia. Although, I still don't have my report with the registration number - I had to call the phone service, instead. In fact, I am wondering why it takes them so long: it's been seven weeks now from the test day. As soon as I get it, I will give it. Bye! Giancarlo

Hey guys! I would need a piece of advice from whoever thinks they can help. I took the test some weeks ago, and got a 800 on quant and a 710 on verbal. But I've also got a somewhat disappointing 5.0 on awa... I put this down to the fact that I'm from Italy, and English is far from being my mother tongue. Yet, since I want to try to apply to Ivy league colleges (for a PhD in polical science), I'd like to know if you think that the Awa score will seriously damage my application. If so, should I take the risk of retaking the test? Thank you for your help!

Hi! I would need a piece of advice from you guys. I took the test some weeks ago, and got a 800 on quant, a 710 on verbal, but a somewhat disappointing 5.0 on awa... I put this down to the fact that I'm from Italy, and English is far from being my mother tongue. Yet, since I want to try to apply to Ivy league colleges (for a PhD in polical science), I'd like to know if you think that the Awa score will seriously damage my application. If so, should I take the risk of retaking the test? Thanks for your help!

Hey! Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I was on vacation... Well, I don't have any particular software: the only one I tried was that on the kaplan website, which - as far as I'm concerned - is indeed quite good (probably even better than the book itself). Coming to think of it, try also the practice test from http://www.800score.com . Anyway, though, I've the feeling these tests help you to evaluate your actual level (which is important in order to decide whether to in fact take the test or skip it) but do a much less important job in preparing you. For those of you who asked me (in public and/or in private) about maths tips, I'll try to focus on that... even though I don't think I got many useful ones. Again, though, I'll do my best. Finally, if - by any chance - anyone is willing to tell me something about what a good recommendation letter and personal statement, I'd really appreciate it. Giancarlo

I'm talking about the five tests that you find at the end of the official ETS guidebook to the Gre. You can purchase it in the bookstores (if you don't have it, you have to get one). I assumed you know it.

Well, I've been thinking a lot about that, since I've tried almost all of them :-). In the end, ironically, I think the best one was the first one I tried, i.e. Barron's. It has an awful lot of words in the verbal section, but what's particularly good is the mathematical part, with a great deal of "facts" to memorize (like formulas and properties of numbers). The practice quantitative tests are not exactly similar to the real ones; but the verbal ones are. To be honest, even though I know people refer to it as the best one, I didn't quite like Kaplan, especially the verbal section: the analogies tend to be rather weak; the rc questions seem also a bit imprecise; the lists of words to memorize, on the other hand, are particularly well chosen. The on-line laboratory, in the end, is probably Kaplan's strongest asset. Princeton seems quite ok to me, but it has also some weird analogy and rc questions that really don't seem to be particularly well based. The others books didn't seem any good. In the end, using Barron's and of course ETS official is prbably the best way. Coming to think of it, I have a piece of advice about the ETS one: don't do all the five tests immediately. Spread them throughout your preparation, alternating them with Barron's or something else. Otherwise, it's kind of hard to realize if you are in fact improving. Hope I've been useful!

Hi Carpenia! Here are my suggestions for the RC, even though you must consider that I'm definitively not a native speaker, so what I really had to concentrate on was the vocabulary. 1) I read the passage altogether, trying to do it as if I were reading an interesting book, just forgetting about the test. I know many people say it's more useful to just skim it and to go back and localize the useful information after having read the question. This does not work for me: many questions really need you to grasp the whole meaning of the paragraph, so just skimming it is not enough (even worse, I have the feeling they put trick answers that you tend to choose if you do that). 2) Practice some of the official material, but I wouldn't waste much of my time with other (expensive) stuff: the offical ets guide gives you the right feeling of the kind of questions you are going to be asked, and that, I think, is enough. Again, questions focus more on generic attitude of the writer than on facual or nonfactual information. 3) This is not specifically related to RC, but it is indirectly: when you are taking the actual test don't spend too much time on analogies and contraries (even though, again, the opposite is true when you are preparing!). If you don't know a word, make an educated guess and go on; if you feel like you got it, read all the possible answers just to be sure, then click and forget all about it. By doing so, you'll have much more time for RC, which in the end constitutes the vast majority of the test. I know these are definitively no deep insights, but - again - RC was not the part I had to concentrate on, so I just tried to rationalize the way I prepared for it (I think I did pretty good on that, 'cause I surely got many vocabulary questions wrong). Hope I've been helpful. Also, thank you KINDAM for your help!! G

Hi! I'm kind of new to such forums, so I feel a bit ashamed of just dropping here and starting to ask for tips; yet, I think that at least I might help somebody who needs some advice on how to prepare. My question is pretty much the one on the title: what now? I'm a student from Italy, I graduated in philosophy and got an ma in international affairs. Now, I want to try to enter a PhD in political science in the Us; so, does anybody know what to do? I don't have much knowledge about how things work in the Us: is it about knowing the right people? how much do these tests count? should I try to contact some faculty member? And also, people tell me my score is quite good, and from the information I gather on this website it seems the same; yet, is it enough to hope for admission in a good university phd? Ok, if somebody wants to help, I'd really appreciate it. If somebody wants help, as much as I can, I'd be happy to give it. Bye!