gre_hunt

Very high profile. BTW. You might wanna reconsider Yale. Try to see their recent profile, you will know, what I mean. Why not Caltech or UC. Anything wrong with the Californian? ;) Go for it dude!!!

I sent an additional score request couple weeks ago via a regular mail. I just wondered if it arrived. I called ETS couple days ago regarding my GRE score request. I did not expect to talk with a polite/humble representative. I actually prepared to probably deal with a moody one. I can understand. They must have dealed with tons of phone calls a day. What happen was this: I called the first time talking to a female representative. She talked like she was afraid I would smell her bad breath.. I'm serious! That's alright, as I said I prepared. So I asked about my request form. She asked me few things like last name, test date. She said " We haven't got anything yet" I asked "If I would make a score request by phone and the request form arrive the ETS later, would I pay for the fees twice?" She said "No" bla bla bla...Then the conversation was over. I was about to make a phone service score report, but I somehow called again talking a male representative. Asking the same questions. He asked me more personal questions than the previous one. Then he said "Yes we have got the form" He even mentioned the schools I put in the form. And he told me that if I called + mail arrive, I had to pay twice and no refund... Long message.. Just wanna share the experience and warn everyone about this. ETS is somehow monopoly. So they don't care much about this tiny flaw of the systems. So it's us who have to protect our benefits.. Good luck :)

Hi again. Although there is only one response, I think I 'd better go on with it. These are my strategies when I practice (II): 4. Never use templates suggested in practice books out there. I believe that many students do that. It's fast and easy but it makes your essays very boring. Imagine how many essays a rater has to read. No matter what the topics are, you guys begin with the same sentence, proceed with the same style, use the same conjunction and even end with the same phrase. I'm sure the rater won't be impressed. So...you should come up with your own template. Make it flexible that you can slightly alter for each topics......So..Forget about those templates....Trust me... 5. Memorize flexible examples. Well...ETS clearly said that they wanted to read the examples in your essays. So why not have them ready in your brain rather than give a few sec-min to come up with examples which might not best fit because you will be nervous. For example, I always have " Alexander Flemming who discovered Pennicilin" It could be an example of serendipity, effort (working hard), impact to the modern world, smart man etc. So have your own flexible examples ready. Few are fine... 6. For the "issue" essay, I always stand on the point where I know I lean on one side but I can reach another. Some people love to pick left or right. I think it's more difficult to write and convince those raters. Keep in mind that they pick side too even though they are not supposed to. Besides, to pick a definite choice sometimes make you offense another side. At least, if you lean on one side while aware of good thing of another side will provide you more things to write, right? That's my trick. But if you feel comfortable and confident to pick a definite side, feel free to do it. Let's see how people find this info useful..... Good luck:)

Hi Everyone, After gathering info from this forum, I think it's time to return something. Before you go further, please note that I am an international student whose 1st language is not English. So what I write today might not suit those who speak English as their 1st language. A little more about me, I have finished general GRE several months ago. My verbal score is quite bad (less than 400). But my AWA score is 5.5. This proved something. It proved that you don't need the fancy words to impress the essay raters. With a tiny vocab database in your brain, you can "hypnotize" them... How? These are my strategies when I practice: 1. I always aim my essay to be 520-550 words. The longer (perhaps) the better. But you should at least make it hit 500. Too short will be blunt even though you can convey all info you need. But who wants to read the blunt essay. 2. I avoid using flashy words. Actually I am not capable to use them :D I think this might be the case for those whose 1st language is not English. It's risky to use the fancy words with a good purpose but it turns out to be awkward and perhaps mislead the raters. Clear and concise is perfectly fine. The formal words you found in the daily articles are sufficient. 3. I try to build up at least 5 paragraphs. 1 for intro, 3 for contents and the last one for conclusion. You might get an extra one for the content, it's a bonus. It's called "fve-paragraph essay" which north american students practice since they were in the grade school. We can use that too...And it works. Alright, I will continue if I found that people are interested in what I write.. Good luck to all of you

Hello everyone. I'm gonna have a subject test in this month. Too bad, I messed up with the institutions where the scores should be reported. I'm not quite sure which institutions I chose when I registered online. I knew exactly 3 out of 4. But the last one I could not remember 'coz I had 6 schools in mind. I wonder if anyone know whether the list of the schools would be in the score mail? Or can I check from any place? Thanks

Thanks parvati, I think the number 3. of your flaw is similar to the one I've tried to attack. It's clearly stated in the passage that it's the false sense of security to be blamed but you question, are there any other possible reasons?.... Or you believe that perhaps there is something else. Suppose that it is really something else that make peole drive carelessly, it does not weaken the argument at all.. Because people still drive carelessly no matter what the reason is.

Hi guys, I found that some arguments are oddly difficult. Usually, I will attack the assumption and raise that as a weak point of the argument. For some of them, I found it's hard. And I notice myself I begin to attack the premise instead. e.g. Studies show that in 70 percent of traffic accidents, at least one driver involved is less than 10 miles from home when the accident occurs. This statistic indicates that drivers have a tendency to drive incautiously when they are close to home, probably because familiar surroundings give them a false sense of security. Thus, the places where people feel safest are the places where they are in fact at greatest risk of serious injury. Conc: the places where people feel safest are the places where they are in fact at greatest risk of serious injury. Premise : 1. Studies show that in 70 percent of traffic accidents, at least one driver involved is less than 10 miles from home when the accident occurs. 2. This statistic indicates that drivers have a tendency to drive incautiously when they are close to home, probably because familiar surroundings give them a false sense of security. I found myself to argue that " No...drivers are not necessary to be familiar with those surroundings around home, what if they have just moved in...such and such" Is this correct? I am attacking something CLEARLY STATED in the argument. Please clarify before I sink deeper..... :mad:

I am preparing for scary GRE. I am looking for good Journal, magazine or sources of article which are useful for GRE, can anybody recommend? I heard the New York Time but I want something else too... Thank you:)