Jump to content
Urch Forums

shan23

1st Level
  • Posts

    11
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by shan23

  1. Hi topj28/Saaransh, I have a question - in all your other posts in this forum itself, you've mentioned that you got 1410 (V 650, Q 760). Refer to the following posts : http://www.www.urch.com/forums/gre/131490-my-gre-practice-tests-score.html#post866127 http://www.www.urch.com/forums/just-finished-my-gre/6688-practice-gre-tests-vs-real-gre-26.html#post864667 http://www.www.urch.com/forums/gre-awa/132632-got-1410-gre-but-awa-3-0-how-painful-it.html#post863712 http://www.www.urch.com/forums/gre-awa/127001-1460-gre-but-only-3-0-awa-please-help.html#post863493 (I know that the above posts can be edited by you to "bump" up your score there as well - just hoping you have enough honesty to come clean that you increased your quant score from 760 (which you say u'd got in all your other threads), to 800 (for praising GREEdge !!)) The only question I'm asking is, if you were indeed so benefited by the program, why lie about the actual scores ?? You mentioned it twice in your post on this thread, (once by the total 1450 (instead of 1410), and then again by the actual score) - so I have had to assume this wasn't an unintentional typo. The score you actually got (1410) is a respectable score anyday - but by choosing to enhance it only when praising GREEdge(and also disclosing your actual ID, which you hadn't done in other threads), it seems you have a certain interest in promoting their reputation !! Are they refunding all/part of your fees for this "service" you proffered ??
  2. OK...even then, is there anyone who has actually won that award ?? I recall hazily that it was supposed to be awarded to the first 100 people or so to beat their AWA score....so wanted to know if thats a myth or do people actually get this cash prize...
  3. The point is - I gave this feedback at the very second day I enrolled (in December 2010). But I neither got any feedback from the team, nor was the UI in the least improved. Even now, as per your words, the suggestions are in "R&D phase" !! Considering that I'm in the SW industry myself, and this is just the UI itself, there's no way to justify such a huge response time to users - and in fact, would discourage any further feedback from users (as they know they themselves would be unable to benefit from the feedback, so why waste the time and effort ?). Pls, pls follow the SW development methodology practiced worldwide - instead on one, huge, yearly upgrade to the package, roll out updates/features on a weekly/monthly basis. So that, the original users who had given the feedback, are still around to get benefited by them !! 1 suggestion for improving the vocabulary - follow the process used by number2.com (I won't detail it here - just have any team-member join the free site, and see how the vocab builder incrementally increases your vocabulary, with graded words. The UI is simple (1 click per question, instead of click and confirm), and the summary reports elegant. Just a suggestion, feel free to reject it if you don't like it. I'm pretty sure that the "adaptive" concept is being misinterpreted here :) - if one gets a better score in Test (i+1) as compared to Test i, that does not mean that these tests are adaptive !! The definition of CAT is that, within the test, the level of questions present is a function of the user responses to the previous questions, making the choice of next question an adaptive one. Any person can (and should, as studies have shown familiarity increases proficiency in standardized tests) score more on Big Book test 10 compared to Big Book test 1 - does that mean that the Big Book (paper-based) tests are adaptive ?? Also, its interesting that you mention the score in the CATs !! Did you see my point above about the scoring used ?? Let me repeat it here for clarity : On top of that (this feedback is equally true of both verbal and quant), at the end of the test one gets an obtuse graph, not a score !! Its the test programs job to interpret the graph, not the test takers !! So, apparently, while my SFA's knew my score and could chalk my progress, I couldn't do so, for some strange reason, all I got was a graph and a score range "650-700 approx" !! But apparently, the actual score was tabulated after all, only kept out of my knowledge. It would be nice to actually give a reason why this was done - and yes, I didn't have the patience to compare two remarkably similar graphs in CAT i and CAT (i+1) to see how much I had improved !! So, even if the CATs were adaptive, I wouldn't know !! And anyway, the avg scores reported in the "Progress report" showed that I averaged 680 in quants - I'm thankful I believed in myself more than I believed in that !! Thank you for your wishes. Unfortunately, the next phase (applications) would be keeping me busy now - but IMHO, I've given plenty of feedback (both in this forum and directly in my telephonic chat), which should keep the content team busy :). Anyway, the entire GRE is changing, so I guess there may not be much point in changing the old UI now....
  4. In my GRE test (details of which can be found here), I got a research section at the very end. It was an analytical task, which promised $250 if the response to that matched the quality of the response in my actual AWA. Of the 3 analytical writing tasks, I felt I made the best effort here ironically !! I got my AWA score today (5.0), and I'm sure the response to the research section would have rated at least 5 if not more...so, I'm wondering, does anyone here ever won the cash prize from ETS ? If so, what was the time taken before ETS informed you of the decision (that you've won the cash prize !!) ?
  5. I'm not an expert in formulating "crash courses" :), but nevertheless, I'd try to help you. It seems you have a fair bit of time on your hand, way more than I had. You should aim at getting 800 in quants, you know - otherwise, due to the adaptive nature of the test, you might wind up getting 700 only !! The only way to prevent that is go for the kill - a straight 800. As for AWA, how confident are you about your writing skills ? If not very confident, pls find and go through the book I mentioned for AWA (its available on the net) - solve at least 2 random issues/arguments per week to build up your confidence, and ask someone (a friend etc) to rate it based on the GRE scoring guide. That would help you understand where you are at the moment. For verbals, since you have time, use number2.com extensively to build up your vocabulary. Start solving Big Book exams - first solve it without timing yourself (aiming to get the RC's correct), and then when your accuracy increase, time yourself. If you can get as many correct as I did or nearby, you should be good to get a 700+ V score. Hope this helps !!
  6. I'd say the Barron's CAT (the one on the CD - there are 2, but I had time to give only one) is pretty much >= the actual GRE content. If you get all correct on Barron's, you should get a perfect score on the actual GRE. But it would have been helpful if they (Barron's) at least converted the raw score into the final format, like Princeton, which would have made me rate it higher .
  7. @call2 - Could you help me out a bit, by posting your profile (GRE breakup/TOEFL/GPA/University/Work ex/Publication etc) ? I'm hoping to pursue a PhD in the same area as you are (Algorithmics), so was piqued by your post !!
  8. Pls, do not write in ALL CAPS - its very rude and would offend most members. Organize your post coherently (tabulate your scores, GPAs, work experience, expectations etc like in a CV), and there might be more experienced members who can help you...
  9. The score you saw IS the actual score you got !! You'll get the AWA score in due course, about 2 weeks, but there is no such thing as a "tentative score" :)
  10. I started out with my GRE prep almost 6 months before the exam. I know what I got isn't something one should target for (there are people here who've got 1600 after all !!), but still, I believe anyone can get what I got, provided one has enough time/perseverance in their hands... Let me give my background a bit - I've been educated in English medium schools all throughout, which had inculcated a real passion for books. I used to read voraciously, but I never really paid attention to increasing my vocabulary, preferring to guess or understand words from their contexts rather than looking them up. The first time I picked up Barron's, I was amazed to see the actual meanings of some of the words I thought I knew !! I therefore decided to brush up my basics a bit first - started reading Norman Lewis' Word Power. I read it from cover to cover including all exercises, tests and revisions, in little less than a month - not a very good pace admittedly, but I didn't want to rush over stuff once again, coupled with the fact I didn't get more than a hour per day on weekdays (I'm currently working in a reputed MNC, where I have quite a bit of responsibility to handle). NL really, really opened my eyes, by showing the "bridges" between various familiar words - I couldn't recommend it more (even if you never plan to write GRE, do go through it if you at all care about English as a language). Next, I thought I did something clever by enrolling for a widely advertised "test prep course" (details of my experience about it can be found here). I'm skipping that part here, as I don't recommend it. I started going through Barron's Wordlists, though not in the "traditional" way (flash cards and other stuff). Each morning, I used to pick a wordlist, read all the words in it, marking the difficult ones and writing them down separately (without their meanings) - and at night, I used to look at that sheet, and fill up the meanings as I recalled them. This was really helpful in assimilating the entire wordlist - proceeding at this rate, I finished the entire Barron's list in about 2 months. After which, it was simply revising the wordlists again from 1-50 - at first pass, 2 WL/day, then 5 Wl/day...till 2 days before GRE, when I was going through 25 WL/ day !! All this while, I didn't neglect my quants...contrary to what many people claim, it is NOT a walk in the park if you are aiming for 800. One has to be really careful to avoid the "obvious" answers (IMHO, the real talent in the test makers is evident in the way they come up with wrong answers that are oh-so-close to the correct one !!). I went through Peterson's GRE Math Bible - its simply awesome, and if you were even a moderate in math at High School, you'd find it really helpful !! I took a month to go through this book (the last month before GRE), and the "Medium" and "Hard" problems were the ones most useful... I also practised AWA from a book title "Answers to the Real Essay Questions" by M.Stewart - its a great book, not for the essays and arguments (pls, pls, do NOT try to mug the essays, its an exercise in futility !!), but for the valuable tips and advise in attempting the questions. Especially the "analyze an argument" section - trust me, once you've gone through the tips in the book, and looked at 5-10 sample answers to actual arguments, there's nothing left for GRE to test you about in that section !! The "Issue-perspective" section is a lot subjective thing though - I've always enjoyed writing essays, so I didn't practice more than 2-3 essays before the exam. If you feel you are weak in this area, practise more and then compare your attempt with the one in the book, to learn how to enhance your answer. In the final week before the exam, I did nothing but Revise WL from my notebook Practice Big Book Verbals (towards the end, I consistently got all the RC's right, scoring on an avg 36/38 questions) Take online CATS. About the CATs I've used, let me list them in descending order of their accuracy and usefulness: PowerPrep - no question about it, its the real deal. Scores :- 1460 (700V, 760Q) - a month before GRE 1520 (720V, 800Q) - a day before GRE [*]Princeton Online CAT - you get a free online test once you register on their website, and 4 more if you buy their book. I didn't even look at the book, only took the CATS. Got an avg of ~740 in verbal and 800 in quants in the 4 tests, again pretty close to what I got [*]Barron's. I'm rating it third because it doesn't give an actual score, and I guess thats because its not a CAT per-se, but the level of questions were really challenging here, without being unreasonably long. If you get all questions correct here, you are looking at a potential score of 1600 IMHO !! [*]Kaplan - pretty good test questions, but again, no comprehensive scores at the end like Barrons. Questions are easy though, but good to keep yourself sharp !! Oh...and I forgot one of the best resources I got for FREE !! For those of who are working (like me), you can use those 5-10 minutes of breaks in office to sharpen your vocabulary like I did, using Number2.com :: Free Online Test Prep !! Its amazing for a free website - the level of words gradually increases as your vocabulary builds up (towards the end, I got 200/200 right in the Vocab Builder section there, all words being level 5 difficulty - whereas I started with about 90% accuracy in level 3 words 6 months back !!). For more bang/buck, ask a friend (or simply use a second email id) to register as a "tutor" for yourself - that account would get weekly "summaries" of your progress, including the time spent, words attempted, difficulty of words, accuracy, average standing w.r.t the rest of the community etc, which would really help focus your efforts !! Thats about it for now - I think I've mentioned everything here. Let me know if you have any queries, and I'll be more than happy to answer them !! PS: One test tip - you can legitimately guess questions randomly at the very end of the test !! At the end of quants, I had 2 mins to solve 2 questions. The first one involved computations which would have eaten up my time, so I blindly guessed it and moved on to the last question, which I then solved correctly. I still got 800, so no reason anyone else can't do the same !! PPS: Just got my AWA scores - I was expecting a 5.5, but had to settle for 5. Well, I guess I should have written my essay a bit more coherently, as I'm sure my argument rated a 6 :)
  11. Let me share my experience with GREEdge as well here, as people should know what they are getting into. I had signed up for the "Complete GRE" program, which lasted for 6 months. Here's my thoughts on my experience... Pros: I really liked the quant tutorials, as I had forgotten many elementary points in Geometry - these tutorials helped me brush up my memory in quick time. But I had to say, even if it was useful, it was presented in "last night mug-it-up" format - here's the property, here's an example, move on to the next, without bothering to give its proof (At GRE level, all geometry proofs take at max 5 lines, but that aids immensely in understanding). I personally proved all geometry properties from net/on my own while preparing, and this helped me immensely in boosting my confidence !! The wordlists were also pretty nice - I especially liked the way in which all antonyms and synonyms of a word was posted in the same page with the word. Cons: The wordlists had no way to mark "difficult" words - i.e. words which are new to you and you want to get back to revising them later. In case you intended to do so, you have to manually note down the wordlist number, word number - and then, since the wordlist opened sequentially, go through all n-1 words before opening the nth word !! Talk about an inane UI designer !! More examples of a terrible UI - even if learning module was great, it was a nightmare trying to revise !! There was no way to smoothly go from one topic to next - at the end of each topic, one had to encounter the infuriating page "Revision is an important part blah blah..." (we know that, that's why we are trying to revise in the first place, following which one was taken back to the main index, where I had to choose the subtopic, and then i got to the subtopic's index, and then (phew!!) I could reach the next subtopic !! I really beg the GREEdge team - please, do an usability test before launching your design - any person would be infuriated by the number of needless clicks needed !! The exercises in the Verbal module were a lot inane - they should stick ONLY to the format of questions in the GRE, and don't invent formats of their own. This isn't a general purpose program, but one meant specifically for GRE - so while the instructions can and should be innovative, the tests at the end should not !! I got questions like "find the synonym of", which isn't present on GRE !! There is NO WAY to evaluate AWA essays in the structure of the program - considering I enrolled for "Complete GRE", I expected something for AWA. But there was nothing !! Thank god for Barron's that I managed to do reasonably well there. Even when I took the initiative to send essays directly, I didn't get the kind of feedback that I was looking for (a merely quick reply that it was "good" isn't much of a help - someone needs to go through the kind of commentaries provided by ETS in their sample CD). At no point of time, did I feel that the tests were actually adaptive - while writing CAT in Princeton Review and the actual GRE, I could actually feel the questions getting progressively tougher, but not so here....this was a big disappointment to me, which caused me to attempt only 5-6 of their adaptive tests. On top of that (this feedback is equally true of both verbal and quant), at the end of the test one gets an obtuse graph, not a score !! Its the test programs job to interpret the graph, not the test takers !! The content team for quants needs to understand what constitutes a HARD GRE question - its NOT a problem that takes 3 long multiplications and 1 long division to solve, but rather a tricky question where the answer is deceptively simple, but most people would not get the catch at first glance. In the actual GRE, there was ONE question where I actually had to do a long division, and this was the 25th question (I had gotten everything rite before - i had ample time to double check!!) - and that was the ONLY one. This is well reflected in the Princeton Review Online CATs - they were the closest one can get outside of the actual GRE (I got 3 straight 800's before I went to GRE, compared to which my score in the GREEdge program never crossed 700, as I was frustrated by needlessly verbose problems with loooong calculations but no "twist"/ catch to it). Again, you can see why I didn't bother completing them !! Last but not the least, the SFA's take a bit of interest in you during the "orientation", but after that, its hard to get in touch. At least my verbal SFA was nice - she took the initiative to talk to me and tried to help me out on AWA (though her feedback wasn't enough IMHO). But as far as quants was concerned, it was a total loss - doubts remained unanswered for weeks, and by the time I got an answer, I had forgotten all about the question !! Anyways, Ive always believed in self-study, so I didn't care too much about SFA participation - but I thought about giving this warning if someone expects to get daily/weekly feedback from their SFAs !!! In case you are wondering if I'm taking out my frustration due to poor performance, fear not - Both my quants/verbal scores were above the 97th percentile :) I'm simply unhappy at the value for money I got, considering the tall tales on the website. Seriously, honestly, truthfully - I would have been better off without spending this money. Since this is about GREEdge, I won't mention what I used to prepare and what I think is more than sufficient...If there's an active thread for recent GRE Takers to offer advice, I'll post there (once I find it !!) while the experience is still fresh in my mind !!
×
×
  • Create New...