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For me, this used to be my favorite verbal type to work through since they're quick to work through (either you know it or take a good guess and move on). Now I don't like them very much since they rely on vocabulary quite heavily. Here is some tips that worked for me, but generally Barron cover this section really well along with data interpretation. What Nancy9 said is basically the main tactic toward solving Analogies. If I don't know one of the two words or none, I would look at the answer choices. I would eliminate the ones that don't have definite relationship with each other like "doctor:scalpel" and "rash:desperate". The reason is a doctor unlike "surgeon:scalpel" don't always use scalpel, while a surgeon does. While a rash person isn't always desperate, but is careless (rash:careless). After taking out pairs that don't have definite relationships, you increased your chance of getting the question right. This might not always work like when you don't know many of the choices' words, but at least you can eliminate some answers based on their relationships. As for data interpretation questions, I used to love them since they're easy to solve under the old format. But then I dislike them since their questions got more trickier, requiring some calculations, plus the graphs like bar graphs might be hard to read. And if you read wrong even by a bit, it could screw your calculations. I would study the tactics in Barron's or any books that offers tips on tackling these problems. Other than this, you just need to work more of these problems to get experience on it. Good luck.

Yes, I took both of my GRE in the US and I didn't encounter any probability questions both times, but that's just me. You might have one of these when you take your GRE, so it's pretty much random. I just can't believe the math part got so hard between the old and the new GRE format in spite of me being good with math normally. That's the way ETS made it.

Warning: This will be long. Thank you all for being so nice. I have to say that I might have gotten some luck and help from 'up above', in order to obtain this score, aside from practicing really hard. When I was given the option to cancel or record the score, I thought I only did a bit better than my first time, but was jaw-dropping surprised to see it so high. First of all on the type of questions I got, I forgot most of them. I do know I was tested on two math sections and one on verbal. For some reason on the math section, I seemed to get more questions than usual on sequences and functions, but other than this, the math sections are pretty standard with many questions requiring long calculations. As for the verbal, it was also pretty standard with nothing out of the ordinary except more words than usual that I recognize (I guess all those word workouts paid off). Second, I have to say Barron's is definitely the Student's Choice, for it offers more tips, tactics, and tricks like no other book out there. I got it from my local library right after coming here for the first time. I would have gotten the 15th edition if it wasn't restricted by the library and I didn't want to spend any money on one. I went through the WHOLE thing in the period between the two GRE I took. This is pretty much what I used to study for my 2nd test. It definitely helped me a lot since it is the best book out there that simulates closest to the real test. For the verbal section, I also studied from a 1000+ word list, a ~200 word list, and the most-frequent word list from the 14th edition, for my verbal study. I know my verbal is really down, so I concentrated all my initial effort exclusively on improving it. I read through all the tips and advice for each type of question in the book along with the example questions. Then I took on all five sets of questions for each type of verbal questions (20 total sets of 20 questions each). As I work these through day to day (usually 2 a day), I would also take one model test in between to check if I really improved or not. In the end, my results for each verbal question types from the workout section is : Antonym: 50/100 correct Analogy: 50/100 correct Reading Comprehension: 71/100 correct Sentence Completion: 75/100 correct Not bad, considering that I used to dislike doing the verbal part ever since my first PSAT test. Here are some quick tips I could give for each type that worked for me: Antonym- This section along with Analogy, as we know, depends heavily on vocabulary. They're usually either you-know-it-or-you-guess questions. Aside from learning as much words as one can, here is how I deal with it when I absolutely don't know the word. For me, I would eliminate those answers that doesn't have an apparent opposite word for it. For example, the words "valued" and "abdication" have no clear-cut opposite words for them (even though there might be). Thus, you can eliminate these and narrow down choices. While the words "dark", "prompt" (verb), and "bellicose" has instant, apparent antonyms, so these you can keep for consideration as possible answers. After eliminating 2 or 3 choice words with no antonym immediate coming to mind, your chance of getting the question right will be higher. This tactic along with the rest of my tips might not always work, but at least you're taking an educated guess at the answer choices. Analogy- This along with Antonym used to be my favorite verbal type to work through since they're quick to work through (either you know it or take a good guess and move on). Then off I go to take onto the reading questions. Now I dislike these two due to its heavy reliance on words. Instead, I like RC and sentence completion since they don't rely on words and could be worked through in spite of them being time-killers. Here, if I don't know one of the words or none, I would look at the answer choices again. I would eliminate the ones that don't have definite relationship with each other like "doctor:scalpel" and "rash:desperate". The reason is a doctor unlike "surgeon:scalpel" don't always use scalpel, while a surgeon does. While a rash person isn't always desperate, but is careless (rash:careless). After taking out pairs that don't have definite relationships, you increased your chance of getting the question right. Reading Comprehension- Not many people like to read long, boring passages, and then answer questions about something they have a hard time comprehending. Me included, but I come to like these now since I started getting better at it. The most important thing about RC is keep firm track of time because it'll fly by as you struggle to understand each sentence. I know it's important to understand the passages, but you'll find yourself running out of time at the end with 2 minutes left and 10 questions to go (not a pretty sight). To solve this problem, I would read through each passages at a pace faster than usual when I read a book at home. This way I would not find myself going word-by-word, but still retain a good outline of what the passage is all about. If you find yourself having to reread a particular section of a passage to understand it, MOVE ON because this is what's cutting your time short. Then I would move to the questions and then go back to the passages for answers. I wouldn't go into detail about how to select the right answers, but I usually keep this in mind overall. When I try to come up with an answer, I would eliminate all those answers that seems to relate to what the question is asking for (but doesn't) and contain info not quite relevant to what the question is asking for. In addition, when the question is about the passage's author's tone, it's usually an objective, indifferent, or neutral tone , but almost never an extreme tone like hate, angry, or outright joy. This is because ETS wouldn't print anything that is highly opinionated or controversial. These two pointers may not seem clear or 100% perfect, but for me, I was amazed when I started getting RC questions right. Sentence Completion- My plan for this one is simple and quite effective. I usually prefer two-blanks questions compared to one-blank since you could easily eliminate more answer pairs if one of the two words is wrong. For each problem before you look at the answers, try to fit words into the blanks. Then look at the answers and see if any of the choices fit your words. Also, watch out for tone-changing words like 'albeit', 'although', and 'on the contrary' because they are very important in finding the right answer. Phew, now that's over. I'll cover the math section very briefly. Most people do quite well with math their first time, but wanted to score at least 750 to feel satisfied. The thing is if one does quite well the first time like scoring a 690, there is not much space to improve, requiring test-takers to be almost absolutely perfect to get at least 750. What I did to score from 720 to 750, which is like getting 1 extra question right, is pretty simple. What I did was I went back to all the practice tests' math sections that I took and tally up all the mistakes I made into several categories (counting, probability, data, fraction, geometry, triangles, etc.). This way I could see what kind of problems was I committing the most errors. For me, it was counting, word problems, and data questions. Thus, I studied exclusively those categories from the Barron's guide. And this is it. If you are not clear on any of this or have questions, email me or post it here. Good luck.

Hello, I just finished taking GRE today. Was I ever so happy about my 2nd GRE score!!! You'll know what I mean when you see the score.:) GRE 1: 1130 (V410, Q720); this past August GRE 2: 1430 (V680, Q750); today I would like to give thanks to the Barron's guide (14th edition), and all the tips and its posters that I read from this forum toward improving my score. Hopefully for those that struggle to get the score they want, good luck and "May the force be with you" during the test.

Hello, this is the first time I've posted and I just finished taking it today. Was I ever so happy about my 2nd GRE score!!! You'll know what I mean when you see the score.:D Real GRE 1: 1130 (V410, Q720) Real GRE 2: 1430 (V680, Q750); my highest ever GRE score, practice or real PowerPrep 2: 1170 (V460 Q710); I accidentally overtook the first one twice and so that's why I have no result for the first one. GRE Paper Tests (10th edition): 1210 (V460 Q750), 1200 (V460 Q740), 1180 (V480 Q700), 1160 (V440 Q720), 1260 (V500 Q760), 1360 (V560 Q800), and 1150 (V470 Q680) Barron's (14th edition): 1210 (first model test), 1160 (2nd), 1140, 1240, 1320; forgot the math and verbal score since I had to return the book to the library without copying each scores Kaplan: -- Princeton Review: --