peterv

Hi everybody! It's been so long a time that I haven't frequented Testmagic! First of all, thanks a_nirvana, Nimisha Thanawala, dangerstudy, blueblood, coolpaggy, indienne, ashish83, and Illusionz for your congrats and all your nice words!! I hope you did well in the GRE. Sorry for not getting back to you any earlier. I recently (June) finished my (2nd) master's degree - this was in the Athens University of Economics and Business - MSc in Finance & Banking. I am also working full time (for quite a few years now... :-). Actually, I haven't even used my GRE score yet! So, now I have the 800/800 GRE that expires March 2010 and a 730 GMAT that expires January 2009, and I'll see when and how I'll use them... Any advice/ideas on this would be greatly appreciated! At the same I have been admitted to the Law School of the University of Athens. I have passed 6 of the 41 courses required for graduation. (There was a time that the MSc and the LLB program overlapped and I was also working full-time... This was pretty hectic! Actually, this may explain why I haven't even posted a single posting for the last year of so...) manusrat, prasanna_gre, asmit, and Jughead_Jones I have not forgotten you! My many thanks for your congrats go to you as well! But, you asked for some additional info, so I'll be answering your postings individually... Good luck everybody! Actually, this site of Erin's is an absolutely great service to the GRE-test-taking community!! Peter V. Hi Girish! No, I did not use the big book. Actually, I never got a hold of it. I based my study, especially in the last phase of it, on the ETS-provided CDs. My advice is to do a lot of Kaplan and ETS material in preparation for the exam... Check out my first postings in this thread, where I discuss my study approach in some detail. Of course, there is no "one-size-fit-all"; what works for one person does not necessarily work for another... Good luck! http://www.newyorker.com/, http://www.economist.com/ Sorry, I was too late. You must have taken the exam by now. Hope you did well! I was too late for you too... Hope you did well!

Which are the schools you intend to apply to?

Thanks IndianCS and aquadevil2002 !

Congrats Dingus!!! :tup: Way to go!

To begin with, what would your answers be? Have you given it a thought?

Blue is good added stuff - or comments -, red is bad original stuff. You need work both with your "elements of written English" and with your general flow of expression. Try to use articles (a, the, ...) You don't pay any :2cents: in doing so, so do it! Very important: The topic is basically raising a dilemma between never censoring and sometimes censoring. Seems to me that you have misunderstood the meaning of word censor , so that you advocated always censoring. This would sound rather undemocratic and authoritarian an approach to the American faculty correcting your essay... Your intentions might be good, but you would get misunderstood... (Actually, I think there was a 60s song with a refrain that went something like that... :D) I am hesitant to assign a numeric score, because I'm no expert. Maybe a 3? You can improve a lot; just keep working on it...

Interregnum is "[a] period of temporary suspension of the usual functions of government or control" (American Heritage Dictionary), just like hibernation is a period of temporary suspension of activity of (say) a bear. So, it is E, not D.

Here is the official word from the ETS: "Repeat Test Takers Individuals are permitted to take GRE tests more than once. GRE score reports will contain scores earned within the past five-year period. [...] There are several ways in which graduate departments can judge multiple scores for an individual (e.g., use average of all scores, use most recent score, use highest score). Using the mean score may be the best technique because it is the most objective. Whatever approach is adopted, it should be used consistently with all applicants."

Hey Dr. Watson, don't worry! I was not insulted - took it as a compliment. Thanks! :D

start preparing people for the GRE. I was thinking of that actually. Maybe it is worthwhile giving it a shot. As a side thing first...

Thx gforce and Dr. Watson!!! (Actually, I did get a 6.0 in AWA...) Dingus, what can I say... Seems that somehow I have a fan in you now! Thanks for all your reputation (or whatever they're called) points too! Actually, from what I've noticed from your participation in the forum (which is certainly much more active than mine), you're a great guy, helping people a lot and keep the spirit up... Good work... :tup:

Congrats gaurava!!! :tup::grad: Ur the 3rd 1600 guy in the last two months (Freethinker, you, and myself). Statistics say there should be fewer than 1000 such people each year, so seems TMians beat the average!!! Also we have three continents represented (Asia, Central/South America, Europe -- well you could count me in either Greece or Canada). Way to go! Good luck with your applications! Let us know how it goes...

I did!!! #1 reason not to go to Canada! But, the good thing is that there are not many other reasons not to go to Canada... :) Friendly people, humane culture (no guns, no religious zealots, relatively equitable distribution of wealth), an affluent country, very tolerant to immigrant groups. Toronto a very clean and safe city with an excellent transportation system. Low-tuition / funding opportunities in universities! Excellent health system. Overall, one of the best countries in the world to live, but the weather, well, um... :whistle:

Ok guys, take it easy... :) This is just "tourist" Czech that I know. Maybe less than 20 words... (e.g. dekuji = thanks, most = bridge, Cesky = Czech, Recko = Greece, na shledanou = good bye: things like that). I also know some "tourist" Turkish for that matter (maybe 50 words). Not the kind of language proficiency you put on your resume... :D

escalonab, Venting is a great way to defuse one's frustration!!! :D Now, to that gist of the matter. I have an opinion (my :2cents: on the issue) that is different to some degree from the one exposed by Dingus, Econ, et al. I don't disagree at all with your assertion that your English is exceptionally good. You seem fluent enough. But GRE Verbal is not and AFAIK was never meant to be a test of proficiency in English per se. This is the role of tests such as TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS, Cambridge's and Michigan's Proficiency in English. There are many absolutely fluent, native English speakers, that would not make a good grad student (say) in Philosophy or Literature, while there are some not-so-fluent, possibly non-native English speakers that would. Just bring the fluency in English of Henry Kissinger in mind - not to speak of his heavy German/Yiddish accent; but in him one finds an excellent scholar of political science. Have you read his book "Diplomacy"? Notice the facility with which he properly uses educated words such as interlocutor. I have met Chinese guys whose English for the purpose of communication was rather poor, but whose Master or PhD theses used nearly impeccable scientific English. So, while there certainly exists a correllation between English proficiency and the verbal skills GRE Verbal tests, it is possible for one person to have one of the two in a higher degree and the other to a lesser one. How can they ask for 600 in verbal??? Is this some kind of trick so no one gets the scholarship? Actually, 16% of test takers score >= 600 in GRE Verbal... But, I understand your frustration... I would say the same things... I have above average vocabulary and I did terrible on GRE. Just above average vocab is not sufficient for a high GRE verbal score (and, actually, it is not only vocab that counts in GRE Verbal). Do you know what obstreperous means? lachrymose? precipitous? precipitate? politic? maelstrom? I'm more proficient in english than 90% of the people in this country, and yet I cannot meet their damn req's. Show me the country which gives 10% of its citizens scholarships for graduate studies overseas, and, believe me, I will apply for citizenship! :D Viel Gluck mit ihren Studium in Deutschland!!! :grad: Was its der Bereich? Philosophie, Religion, Soziologie? Oder sind Sie ein Ingenieur vielleicht? Good luck in any case! Welcome to Europe! :)