jhilmil

Hi Diegee, From what I have read and heard from various people, if you have a good academic record, projects, etc and a good GRE score then AWA does not matter that much unless its exceptionally low like say a 1...But again, this is what I have heard and read at various places...the best people to answer this would be the universities where you apply...it all depends on them and they may have different priorities depending on the type of course....So I'd suggest you write to the universities you are interested in applying for.

Hey nj89...sorry i did not login since d last few days....don't know if my msg is reaching u on time....Quant was pretty much like they have in Powerprep...same level questions can be expected.

Hey Mystal...Wish you good luck...dats a good powerprep score...I did not manage to get that much in any of my practice tests:)...am sure u'll will be able to do very well...be calm and give it your best shot...good luck to u!!!

Hii all, Was on a short vacation but am back to write about my approach towards GRE. And while I was on vacation I recd my scores online. Got a 4 in AWA. :(...though I was not expecting a 6, definitely hoped for a 4.5-5 as I thought I had written quite well. Anyways coming back to my preparation for GRE, Preparation time: 2.5 months Preparation material: Quants: Nova and Barron's Verbal: Barrons, Big Book 27 test papers To begin with, I clearly knew that I would require more preparation in the Verbal section. I am above average when it comes to Quant. So I knew that with some good practice from good books I will manage to do well in Quants, though I never thought I’ll score 790 J I started with the Barron's wordlists (50)....Did an average of 2-3 lists daily..My target was to complete them in about 20 days which I did achieve. Along with word lists I started doing Maths from Barron's. First I read all concepts and then started solving the exercises in Barron’s. Once I was done with this, I started doing Quants from Nova. This book is really awesome. Though the problems in this are a bit difficult, it gives you a lot of good practice and covers all concepts really well. As I was doing the problems from Barron’s and Nova, I kept writing important points or shortcuts that would help me in the exam. I had made a small booklet that included all concepts, formulae, shortcuts, or any different method that I did not know. I kept reviewing this list atleast once in 2 days. While going through Maths from Nova, I started doing Big Book for Verbal (27 set of test papers). I did not solve complete papers. I first completed Analogies and Antonyms from all papers. I realized, that I did not know many words from Big book despite going through Barron’s list twice. But, I did not lose hope. I continued doing all papers and made a note of all words I did know (which were many by the way). So by now I had a list of words that I did not know/remember from Barron’s and Big book. I would go through only these words and revise them regularly. I did not make any cards for the words as I found it to be time consuming. Instead, I would just mark the hard words in my book itself. For RC and sentence completion, I solved about 10 big book papers. I then realised, I was not doing very good in RC's, so I started practising a bit more of them. Also I have to say that doing Analogies from Big book, definitely gave me a lot of good practice in analogies (initially I was very bad in solving them). This practice really helped in making bridges easily while solving analogies. For AWA, I did not practice much. I went through some AWA topics and and wrote on one issue and argument topic each. Now coming to test papers, I started solving them about 15 days before my actual test date. (which I felt was quite late) List of tests taken and scores Barron’s Test 1 from book: V-590, Q-530 Barron’s Test 2: from book V-630, Quant- 680 Barron’s Test 1 from CD: V- 620, Quant- 700 Barron’s Test 2 from CD: V- 620, Quant- 720 Powerprep 1: V- 580 Q-700 Powerprep 2: V- 600, Q- 720 I did not score exceptionally well in any of my practice tests, but that did not dishearten me. I definitely would get upset for sometime after my practice test. But then immediately I would get back to work. I would check all questions that I did wrong and would make note of them. At the same time, I did not stop my daily revisions of wordlist and Maths concepts. I knew that the practice tests are not the end of the world. Ultimately you need to be best prepared for the D-day and that’s what kept motivating me despite my not so good practice test results. On the test day: My test was at 9.00 am in the morning. I had a good breakfast. Reached my test center about 45 minutes before my test time, filled the form at the center and relaxed for about 10 minutes. Started my test a little before 9.00 am, went through all tutorials though I had seen them in powerprep. That helped me relax and get adjusted to the environment. Also I did some typing practice on the new keyboard. At home, I use a laptop, so I thought doing some typing practice on the PC's keyboard will help me get well adjusted to it. After the tutorials, started with AWA section and managed to finish it on time with some time left to check for typos. Then, I took my 10 min break. Next section was Verbal. I had 3 RC's and had to literally run through them. I made sure that I do not spend too much time on any 1 question. Managed to finish verbal just in time. Next was Quants. I did my first 10 questions very carefully. After that I realised, I neededto gain speed in order to complete the section. However, I did not do any hasty calculations, was very careful in doing them. I had one minute left when I reached the last question. Managed to finish it on time. Next, I got a Verbal research section, I was happy that i did not get an unidentified section :)...Solved few questions in research section, and then randomly started guessing as I was curious to know my score :) I must admit, that one of the factors that motivated me throughout my prepration period was reading about success stories on this forum :). I learnt a lot through this forum and would take the opportunity to thank all you lovely people for posting on this forum and helping people like me. In the end, I’d say, that if you put in your best, you will be able to get the results. Don’t let small setbacks like a bad score in practice test upset you. Instead, keep going. Do work on your weaknesses but at the same time do not completely neglect your strengths. That’s what my approach was. I did emphasize on my weaknesses but did not overdo it at the expense of my strengths. Keep a balance!! I wish all GRE test takers good luck. May you all do well!!!

Thanks multishiver...really appreciate your reply :)

Hii All, I took my GRE yesterday and scored a 1450 V-660 and Q-790...Am am super happy about my score. But one doubt has left me worrying.I completed my AWA sections just 2-3 mins before time and took the 2-3 minutes to check for typos...but i did not click on the 'Exit section' option...It timed out itself and asked me to proceed I am now doubtful if my written essay was saved by the system or not....As far as I thought if the AWA times out then whatever you have written is saved...But I am a bit apprehensive about it now. Will really appreciate if someone clarifies this. Will write more about my studying strategies later in details as right now this doubt has completely blocked my mind. Thanks!!!

Hi everyone, I have my exam in two weeks. RC's has been quite a problem for me in completing my verbal section. Have been practising RC's from Big book...however, am finding them quite difficult compared to the ones in Barron's. Does the actual GRE have RC's as difficult as given in Big book or are they more similar to Barron's ? Specially the 80- word length RC's. It takes me about 12 mins to solve them and yet I tend to get answers incorrectly. Also because of RC section am not able to do enough justice to other question types while solving papers and do them very very quickly. Am trying to practice more RC's but honestly am feeling a bit low with every RC that I solve. Any suggestions for practice and improvement will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi all, I am taking my GRE in two weeks...Haven't started with the AWA section yet. Could you'll tell me which books should I refer to create a basic format for AWA which can been used for all essays....Currently I have Arco's book on real essays in GRE and Barron's with me. Suggestions will be highly appreciated. Thanks!!

Thanks for your reply Rezwansk.

Hi everyone, I was looking out for the Big Book sections for quants...I have the Verbal sections with the 27 tests, but can't find the quants one. Can anybody tell me where it could be found? Have heard that the Maths in it is not relevant to the current test pattern..its is as per old pattern...Only the verbal part is of relevance for current pattern...Is it true?... Do let me know about it. Thanks!!

Hi Friends, As the subject of my post suggests am planning to take GRE in mid June...Have started preparing since mid April Currently am using Nova and Barron's for Quants...nd Barron for Verbal. Is this going to be sufficient? I aim to score around 1500. Also I had another question....Since am taking GRE in mid June...nd just incase I need to give a retest...will I be able to give it in early July or will I have to wait for exactly one month. (As a retest cannot be taken within the same month). Will really appreciate your comments and suggestions. Thanks.