Oldman

Thanks kkaman! A few other pointers I wanted to share. A good deal of this exam is psychological. I improved 300+ points on the math from the first time I took it. And, I didn't study inbetween exams for over a month. One day, I picked up the Kaplan guide and worked through all the advanced problems with relative ease. That assured me I had internalized the material. I decided to just schedule the exam. Also, I didn't tell anyone I scheduled. Last time I put a lot of pressure on myself by telling everyone I was taking it. Everyone had high expectations and it put a lot of unnecessary pressure on me. So, keeping a calm mind helps a lot. There's no other way to explain the huge increase in my score. Now, if you could just pick the order you wanted to do the sections haha...it doesn't help when your worst section is last on the exam. I was tired by the end but did not want to take this again so I pushed through... In summary: 1) Know what score you need and don't worry about getting some rediculous score if it's not necessary. Anymore the GRE is just a formality of applications. Once you hit a schools average they go straight to your letters and statements. 2)Know that the worst that can happen is you have to take it again. No big deal really. Keep a cool mind and don't panic about this exam. It's just a test and in the grand scheme of your life is pretty miniscule. Also, it's pretty miniscule in the minds of most schoools. No reason then for you to get tensed over it. 3) Don't download 5GB of material from all these sites. Just pick a guide and figure out what your weaknesses are. Kaplan and Barron are the best. Use PowerPrep to gauge your readiness (by the way don't use other prep exams to gauge your scoring level just use them to assess your weaknesses). The questions are easier, but the score it provides is still accurate. If you hit your target score on PowerPrep, schedule your exam. Up to the exam, don't overdo it. Just do about 12 math problems a day on the essentials and review your notes and formulas. Also, take your last full exam a week prior then don't take any more. You want your mind to be fully charged day of exam. Your mind gets fried taking too many prep exams. Also, I made a point to get 9 hours of sleep a every night the week leading up to the exam. I've read research that your math skills are the first thing that go when you're sleep deprived. Get plenty of sleep leading up to the exam and don't go out all night partying...it will pay off for you. Good luck everyone! I work 50+ hours and have been out of undergrad 10+ years and don't use math at all in my job. So for all those reading this who are "bad" at math, if I can do it you can do it too!

Hi guys, I'm happy to report I passed the GRE today! Total score was a 1200; not near as high as some of the folks on here, but good enough to meet the averages for the programs I'm interested in. Here’s my debrief: Writing section: I did well on this section probably because I write all day at my job. I accidently picked the option I didn't want to write about and panicked for a second, but then a bunch of ideas came to my mind so I was ok. The argument essay was pretty easy and loaded with logical fallacies so it was easy to dissect. My advice: Just pick a few essays on the ETS web site at random and write a few practice essays. If you’re not sure how to spell a word on the exam, just don’t use it. Verbal: The verbal section was pretty hard. I never really studied for this section as I can't get motivated to simply study lists of vocabulary words. I tried studying for it but it bored me to death. haha Luckily, I read all day for my job and in my spare time, and the exam weighs the reading comprehension section heavily. I think this was the life saver for me. The passages were boring though. The passages are laden with scientific mumbo jumbo so you just have to sift out the unnecessary info and get to the meat of the passage. My advice: I don’t really have any as I didn’t study for this. I don't know how you guys can study 3000 words. I received a 590. I read a lot, so I think the reading passages saved me. I didn’t have a clue on some of the antonyms. For the analogies I used process of elimination. The sentence corrections were straight forward. Quant: The math section was hard and I didn't get to finish, but still got a good score...thank you God! I always did well on the geometry questions during practice so that was a strong point for me on the real exam. The time-killer for me was the data interpretation questions. I got one chart that took like 5 minutes just to figure out how the data was structured. There was probably a short cut, but under the time pressure my brain doesn't always let me think straight. Anyway, I did well so I don't care anymore. My advice: For those looking for a 600 range score, Kaplan’s math workbook is enough. If you want higher, you probably need more than what is available in most test prep books. My general advice is to take the GRE right out of undergrad and don’t wait 10 years like me. Haha Do it while the college algebra courses are fresh on your mind. Also, PowerPrep is still a good indicator. I got the exact same score on my real exam as the powerprep exam #2 and right in the range on test #1. PowerPrep was easier though…I used Kaplan’s math guide for the math part. Their advanced questions do very well at duplicating the types of questions I saw on the GRE (again for the 600 range). On to the rest of the applications!

Vtomar, the test is random. Even if someone answered your question, there is no way the information would help you. Be careful discussing live GRE material, another test prep site, scoretop.com got shut down by GMAC, the vendor for the GMAT, for discussing live questions and test conditions. They also seized the site's hard drive and are conducing an investigation on who accessed the site: Shutting Down a GMAT Cheat Sheet

Yes, I have a few beefs with ETS as well. For example, they claim on their site that scores rarely increase so re-taking has minimal value. Then why do they not allow you to see your score then decide if you want to cancel it? It's my score and my $150. If the score is unlikely to increase, what difference does it make? It sounds like they aren't too confident in their research.

Makes sense now, thanks Goldust! Thanks for posting giddy, I had never seen that problem.

1. The first problem is a sequence. They take a while to grasp. Unless you're aiming for a really high score, I wouldn't worry too much about them for now. 2. The second one you will need to get good at. The GRE loves to use geometry to see if you can set up two equations. First, learn the rules the GRE expects you to know for geometry. -The first rule here is that a straight line equals 180 degrees. So you can immediately see that 2x + 2y must equal 180. Set up one equation. 2x + 2y = 180 Divide both sides by 2: x + y = 90 - Always remember you need two equations to solve for two variables. So, think back to the rules you learned...is there anything I can apply to get that second equation? Yes! Before we cover it, note that the GRE will rarely give irrelevant information in a problem. So look around...what haven't we used yet? The 150! What rule can we employ? The exterior angle (150) is equal to the sum of the two interior opposite angles (2x and y in this case). There's your second equation. 2x + y = 150 Solve for either variable and you will see y = 30 and x = 60, So the answer is C. First, review the basic rules of geometry. You'll need these tools to approach two equation geometry problems, which are pretty abundant on the GRE.

hmmm...seems like you need 3 equations...but only enough info is given for two equations? Was this in powerprep? I don't remember this one.

Good job!

Great score and nice assessment of the real value of the GRE.

Yes, create a template. Princeton Review has some great tips on this. The template can be easily molded to any issue they give you. The advantage is you already have the structure in place, so all you have to do is fill in with your examples. For the argument, the template can be even more ridgid as they use the exact same logical fallacies every time. Typically a hasty generalization from the results of a survey or study and a false analogy where they will attempt to imply that what happend to group A correlates to group B. They'll also throw some crazy circular reasoning or argument from silence into the case. For the issue, you don't have to agree, just be objective. Also, don't disagree or agree based on your feelings, agree or disagree based on which ever side you have more examples for. All you're looking for is a score, so go with whatever side you can think of more examples for. I disagreed for my issue, but I also pointed out that there are valid points on both sides of the issue and brought up a few of the side I disagreed with to show I was being objective. Geek Goddess: Did you track your practice test results? I'm curious how your practice exams correlated with your actual score...did you find yourself acing all the practice exams you took after a while? Also, do you feel any of the practice matieral out there provides scores that are useful for predicting one's real GRE score? For example, I tend to do good on Kaplan exams but not on Barrons...did you find yourself acing all the practice exams you tooks or did you do better on some over others? Thanks again for all your contributions!

Thanks for the great responses. For the essays, create a template and stick to it every time. I cleared about 1000 words for each essay in the exam solely due to having a solid template in mind before I took the exam. Volume is one of the biggest components of the essays, so once you get your ideas just start writing. Also, read the paper every day until your exam. Try the New York Times or the Economist. This will help you with RC and thinking of ideas for your essays. Seriously, come up with a template and write it a few times until you have it memorized. Then, it's just a matter of filling in the details. Even if you are tempted, don't deviate from the template. The essay graders are not looking for a sensational news story, just to see if you can write a basic college level essay with good grammar. Also, if you're not 100% sure you know how to spell a word in the essays don't use it. Most academics correlate intelligence with spelling, so if your essay has silly spelling mistakes you risk a lower score. For the verbal, I agree I created some crazy mnemonics to get those hard words. The thing is, vocab is best built over time. 2 weeks is going to be tough to get a score like geek goddess, but you can memorize the high frequency list in that time. .

Great job! You guys are inspiring! oh, can you give some more details about the electronic dictionary? What brand did you get and where did you get the word lists? Thanks.

Great work! You deserve that score! Don't underestimate yourself!!

Great! Here are my verbal notes, I hope they may be of some help to everyone. I got a 600, not stellar, but above average. Like others have said, don't get dejected from other parts of the exam. I got quant before verbal and I knew I blew it and it affected my ability to focus on the reading comp. With that here are my notes, feel free to add more if you want: The GRE tests three main analogy types: · Easy words with a simple relationship · Easy words with a hard relationship · Hard words with an easy relationship Strategy For all analogies: 1. Always use Process Of Elimination (POE). · Write A, B, C, D, E down on your scratch paper for all analogies · Read each analogy, often a tempting one will be placed early on in the answer choices to throw you off · Immediately eliminate non-relationships. If an answer choice has no apparent relationship, cross it off. They do include meaningless answer choices. 2. Determine what type of analogy it is: easy/simple, easy/hard, hard/easy to avoid each types common traps. · Easy words with a simple relationship – Defined as words where the meaning of both is common knowledge and they are testing the primary definition of both words o Common trick: § Be careful with answer choices that appear to be related to the stem. For easy relationships these are often a trap. o When you know both words- § 1. Create a sentence to link both words § 2. Apply that sentence to the answer choices, using POE as you go § 3. If more than one choice remains, try to get more specific o When you don’t know one or both of the words in the stem pair § Use POE and eliminate meaningless answer choices and answer choices without defining relationships · Easy words with a hard relationship – The words appear easy, but don’t seem to go together so a bridge is difficult to form. o Common trick: § May be testing secondary meanings, for example NICE; its secondary meaning is skillful. o When you know both words- § 1. Create a sentence to link both words § 2. Apply that sentence to the answer choices, using POE as you go § 3. If more than one choice remains, try to get more specific o When you don’t know one or both of the words in the stem pair § Use the parts of speech strategy to try to help figure out how they are using the word. § Use POE and eliminate meaningless answer choices and answer choices without defining relationship · Hard words with an easy relationship – Hard words can be defined as words you either don’t know or analogies that are loaded with GRE words. o Common trick: § Hard analogies test simple relationships. When you see hard analogies immediately think of “synonym or antonym”. Essentially, the stem pair will basically mean the same thing or they will be opposites. § A lot of times, answer choices that seem related to the stem pair are correct, unlike easy relationships. If all the words are hard, finding the answer choice with the same subject area is a good guess. o When you know both words- § 1. Create a sentence to link both words, first think “antonym/synonym” § 2. Apply that sentence to the answer choices, using POE as you go § 3. If more than one choice remains, try to get more specific o When you don’t know one or both of the words in the stem pair § Use the happy/sad test to try to determine if you’re dealing with a antonym or synonym § Use POE and eliminate meaningless answer choices and answer choices without defining relationship § If you don’t know some of the words in the answer choices, don’t automatically eliminate those answer choices. We have a tendency to discount choices if we don’t know a word in the answer choice. The test makers do that on purpose.

Well, don't question your abilities to do well in school. The GRE doesn't correlate to anything except for how good you are at taking the GRE. haha For verbal, Big Book is very relevant for today's vocab section. So, look at your accuracy ratio there. Unfortunately, for quant there is a lack of quality material out there. The best bet is that if you know everything that would be on a college alegebra exam you'll be fine.