BG School: The GRE

[Not not Mattaru]

Dear BG,

I am taking the GRE soon and have a few questions to those who have taken it before.

Mainly I want to know the disparity between your prep/expectations and the actual test. Did you feel well prepared with your prep work, and what prep work did you do?

I have been using Kaplan books and a math-only book by Nova. I have found the math in the Nova book is consistently more difficult than the math in the Kaplan book. Anyways, if I were to take my scores on the Kaplan practice tests in the book after some decent study I would be around 1340~ cumulative and hovering around 90 percentile on both.

Math is not particularly important for the programs I am applying for (outside a few programs which look at the cumulative score as much as the verbal only).

Thanks.

[archibaldcrane]

It's hard to do book study for a computer adaptive test. If you can find a practice test that is computer adaptive, it will be easier to get an idea of what you're up against.

When I took the GRE, the reasoning/logic section of the computer-adaptive test kept getting harder and harder. But the thing about logic problems is that to make them harder, they just get longer.

I got every question I answered correct, but didn't answer the last two because I didn't get to them - the problems just got so long and took so much time to figure out I ran out of time in that section.

I think when I signed up for the test it came with a prep booklet that had a CD with a practice computer adaptive test - I don't really remember though, that was 8 years ago. I didn't really do any prep other than looking through the booklet and taking the one test on the CD.

[Not not Mattaru]

Are you sure that isn't the LSAT? GRE sections are verbal, quantitative, written. I think LSAT has reasoning/logic games.

Nonetheless, the same deal with computer-adaptive stuff. Makes it hard to study for unless I just try to drill the upper-tier type questions. I think I may be able to take some online adaptive tests through Kaplan, but I have to sign up for some of their bullshit. Meh.

In the NOVA book, it categorizes the problems by difficulty level, and some of the explanations for the solutions will take up like a whole page, which just makes me wonder how reasonable it is to think a question that obviously takes longer than a minute and a half would be on there.

[archibaldcrane]

I'm sure I didn't take the LSAT, and that I took the GRE. It may have changed in the last 8 years though, but it definitely had a whole logic/reasoning section.

Here, they call it "analytical reasoning" - http://www.bestsamplequestions.com/g...reasoning.html

[Suiram]

I took the general GRE last fall. You can download a copy of the software used in the test itself. It contains two full practice tests and additional sets of problems for each question type, and it even shows you, for each writing part, a selection of 5 essays on the same topic each with a different score, and the reasons they were graded as such. It's called PowerPrep I think, just search around the ETS website.

Anyway, I personally made two mistakes. One is that when I took the two practice tests, I was more lenient with myself (I skipped the writing parts, I took a cigarette break between verbal and math). So I wasn't prepared for the reality of sitting stressed-out in front of a computer screen for 3 hours, and my verbal score dropped 30~40 points, my math score dropped 20. Also, as I said, I skipped the writing part when practicing, figuring I could just sit down and come up with something on the spot. I didn't get a really great score there either, because I hadn't trained myself to be able to eloquently bullshit on something I didn't care about for 45 minutes.

As for outside prep things, I don't really know. Maybe try that software and see how you do. But remember, take the full test as though it was the actual test or it won't be as helpful!

(Just to clarify what I mean above, since I'm about to run out the door. What I would have done differently, is 1. Study the writing topics, both the Opinion and Argument ones, they're all listed online. The pool is too big to actually memorize them all, but really spend a good deal of time going through and thinking about them until you can get a picture of how you would write about them for 45 min (for the opinion) or deconstruct the issues entailed (for the analyze argument one). And 2. Although this is mostly because I'm a smoker--but by the time I got to the verbal/math sections I'd already been in the place for 2 hours, and while they give you a 10min break it's like fort knox and you can't leave the area. There's not a lot that can help that but it would have been better I think if I'd at least prepared myself for it by taking the practice tests more seriously.)

[Kwijiboe]

I've taken both tests. The GRE has some analytical reasoning questions that test your capability of identifying main points, conclusions and also tests formal logic (What must be true according to the stimulus).

There are some other similiarites between the GRE and LSAT, but that's about as complicated as it gets for the GRE.

Just make sure you're ready on test day, make sure you go in without stress.. in fact, don't study for the last few days before the test. Getting bad anxiety on test day will definitely lose you a few points.

[Rysa]

I took the GRE in 2004, and I believe a year or two prior to that, they removed the analytical reasoning section. I can't give too much advice. I only took it for the formality of submitting a complete application to my graduate program. I had worked with a professor doing undergrad research, so I was "in" as long as I had a completed application. I didn't find the test overly difficult. I made around a 1160 without really studying anything beyond going through a Kaplan book a few times a week or so before the exam.

[Sylphet]

The GRE (at least back when I took it) was: verbal, math, and analytical; the LSAT is for law school admission, not grad school. Apparently this has since changed to an analytical writing section.

As far as preparing, the most important thing is to know what can be covered and make sure you are familiar with it so there are no surprises. Unfortunately I did take it a while ago (in fact I took it the last year it was offered as a written test) and I'm not sure if the preparation would be the same now anyway. It's a shame they took out the analytical section, I rather liked the logic games they had.

Best of luck to you.

[scrockstar]

Go to www.kaptest.com and sign up for one of their GRE classes. Not only are the in person classes very helpful but you gain access to their website which has some of the best resources to help you study. They offer you 9 practice adaptive GRE tests that work just like the GRE and are timed in the same manner. After you have taken one they show you which area you should focus on and provide you all practice tests and material to do better in that specific area of the test. I know it's about $1,000 but it is some of the best money I ever spent and helped me go from 600s to 700s.

If you are looking for something free and just for the verbal part then go to www.freerice.com and do vocab for an hr a day for a few months and your verbal score will shoot up. You also help feed starving people so it's a win / win.

Good luck : )

[Not not Mattaru]

Thanks for the responses so far. I'll have to look into the ETS stuff Suiram.

[Zoolander]

lol, I really like that freerice.com. I should add that to my daily rotation of web sites. Guess I'll be doing the GRE in about a year...

[Maguspk]

I took the GRE last weekend. It's a very easy test I got above 700 on both the verbal and the quantitative sections. I looked through the Cracking the GRE, 2010 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) to refresh on various things and get a brief idea of how to approach the test strategically.

Quantitative
Study for this, you most likely aren't as familiar with middle/high school math as you think you are. Just read through the review book I mentioned above's math section, it has good examples and basic advanced stuff which you are probably not familiar with at all, like combinatorics.

Verbal
If you are a native english speaker you'll get above 500 on this section easily. If not, I guess study?

Writing
Not even acknowledged most places, find out if it is in your case. If so I guess study for it, but for me I didn't need it so I just relaxed and took the first 1:30 of the test without a care in the world.

[Not not Mattaru]

I took the GRE last weekend. It's a very easy test I got above 700 on both the verbal and the quantitative sections. I looked through the Cracking the GRE, 2010 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) to refresh on various things and get a brief idea of how to approach the test strategically.

Quantitative
Study for this, you most likely aren't as familiar with middle/high school math as you think you are. Just read through the review book I mentioned above's math section, it has good examples and basic advanced stuff which you are probably not familiar with at all, like combinatorics.

Verbal
If you are a native english speaker you'll get above 500 on this section easily. If not, I guess study?

Writing
Not even acknowledged most places, find out if it is in your case. If so I guess study for it, but for me I didn't need it so I just relaxed and took the first 1:30 of the test without a care in the world.

Quantitative: Yeah, I found that out after the first week or so of studying but it has been coming back.

Verbal: For the programs I'm looking into I am going for 700 or so...

Writing: Yeah, I'll practice some, but they probably care more about a writing sample than the GRE score.

I'll try to peruse through Princeton Reviews stuff at Borders or something to see if there is enough different material to buy it.

[scrockstar]

Quantitative: Yeah, I found that out after the first week or so of studying but it has been coming back.

Verbal: For the programs I'm looking into I am going for 700 or so...

Writing: Yeah, I'll practice some, but they probably care more about a writing sample than the GRE score.

I'll try to peruse through Princeton Reviews stuff at Borders or something to see if there is enough different material to buy it.

Just remember that a 700 on the verbal is a 97th percentile score (give or a take a bit depending on year) while a 700 on the quantitative is a 72 percentile score.

Also your GRE score is heavily tied into your IQ score. So if you have an IQ of 130+ you can literally roll out of bed and expect a GRE score of 1200+ while someone else might study for a month and only get a 1000.

Keep in mind that your GRE score is not the most decisive factor in your grad school application process so work on getting good letters of recommendation and voluntary work / internships / research experience to help set you apart from some of the other applicants.

[Palin]

Math should be OK if you had College/HS math, just use the practice tests to refresh yourself on concepts like multiplying exponents, lines and angles, etc.

Verbal is a bitch. Start cramming vocabulary words from the ETS word list.

I used the Kaplan books my first time taking it and it turned out horribly for me. None of the words I studied were on the test, the Math had me unprepared for the difficulty of questions I saw, etc. The second time I took it I printed out the math review and vocab review from the actual ETS site and found my scores to be much better.

YMMV.

[Not not Mattaru]

Math should be OK if you had College/HS math, just use the practice tests to refresh yourself on concepts like multiplying exponents, lines and angles, etc.

Verbal is a bitch. Start cramming vocabulary words from the ETS word list.

I used the Kaplan books my first time taking it and it turned out horribly for me. None of the words I studied were on the test, the Math had me unprepared for the difficulty of questions I saw, etc. The second time I took it I printed out the math review and vocab review from the actual ETS site and found my scores to be much better.

YMMV.

I'll have to look at the ETS list, Ive been doing other vocab builders as well.

I'm glad to hear from your Kaplan experience, I have felt the math in it has seemed pretty easy...I'm using another book for math now that is a good deal more difficult.

Scrockstar: Yes, I know, but its always good to remove the most doubt possible. I have a few letter writers (professional and academic, one of which who has experience with me as a student in her graduate level course), full-time DC internship experience, doing part-time volunteer work at a cultural center for a few months, then going overseas for about 1-2 years in the fall. These things are more just time consuming than anything, the things that I feel I am in more control of right now are my GRE scores/Statement of Purpose. Verbal has always been my strength...anything putting me above 90th percentile would be a definite success in my mind.