General GRE test

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I am just curious to know how many of you have taken this? I've heard it is like a more difficult SAT, which is daunting since, as a Canadian, we don't have SATs. I didn't need the GRE to get into my Masters program, but I will definitely need it for my PhD program since I am looking into going to the US. I am TERRIBLE at multiple choice tests, but it is important I do well on it. I feel like I have NO time whatsoever. I have this full school year. In the summer I have to learn both German and Latin (I am doing a Theology degree, so I need a lot of lanaguages). Then next year I have a full year plus a thesis. I have to apply by December or January to these schools, so I am not sure how I am going to fit it in. It is really stressful even to think about right now. How much studying did you do for the GRE and (if you don't mind posting) what were your scores? I am really nervous about the math section. It looks really hard!

I'd have to do some digging to look up my scores. i remember getting a book called Cracking the Code: GRE or something like that. It was a workbook with practice questions and the kind of answers needed.

The math got me. I had to take the test a second time because of the math. The good news, it was all math I had learned in high school. Get someone to refresh your memory on algebra and such.

Im one semester from completing my BA and the GRE spooks the heck out of me.

Math and I are not friends. It is algebra and geometry that I have trouble with, and anything advanced really. I failed grade 10 math. I never took grade 11 math. Then for grade 12 (which I took after I went back from dropping out of school), I got a 96% somehow. I think it is because I memorized everything we were doing for the tests at the time. I got 100% on almost every test I was given; however, if I were given those exact tests today, I would certainly fail them. Guess I'll have to do some studying. I am thinking it might be best to take one of the real courses where they prepare students for the gre, since I don't think it will be any use to study math on my own.

I've taken it twice.
My scores were pretty good when it came to vocabulary and analysis (the Verbal and Analytical parts), but absolutely horrific for the math (the Quantitative portion of the exam).

Do I remember what my scores were? No. Besides, they've revamped the test in the last couple of years and the scoring has been revamped as well, so my scores would be irrelevant.

Fortunately for me, both of the programs I applied to (and were admitted to) did not care about my math scores, they were more interested in my vocab and analysis. This is good because I will never be good at math, nor will I ever understand it!

For you, the most important thing is to Practice. Not only do you need to beef up your test-taking skills, but you also need to get used to the format of the test.

If you've never taken the SAT or ACT, I suggest you begin with one of them, then move on to the GRE.

Be sure to buy a practice book that comes with a CD so that once you get used to practicing on paper, you can then practice on the computer, because I'm pretty sure that all the placement tests are now given on computers, so it's essential you feel comfortable.

I know that you say you don't have time, and I believe you, what with the workload that you've listed, but the only way to prepare for this exam is to study the guidebooks and practice.

I'm also preparing for the GRE. I found the Manhattan test prep books to be very helpful. After talking to some people about it, I think it's just all about practicing test questions.

I was thinking of taking one of those courses where you actually spend time in a classroom preparing for it. So expensive though, and I am not sure if they make much of a difference. Has anyone else tried that?

The distinguishing feature of the General GRE is the weird format of the questions in both the verbal and math sections. The questions are not straightforward as they are on the SAT and ACT, while the material itself, e.g. vocabulary in verbal, algebra/geometry/probability/data analysis in math, are not advanced. I would suggest that you get a practice book with practice tests on CDs to review the material and learn the format of the questions. Many of the questions look harder than they are due to the weird format. You can get familiar with the several types of questions. You can do well on the test by practicing a lot. I am not sure about the class. Those classes always cost a lot, and I am not sure what one gets out of them that one can't get from practicing by self.

When you go take the test, you sit in a cubicle with a computer. Sensory wise, the cubicle is quite isolated, and you can't see anyone from it. There are noise-blocking headphones for each cubicle, but they are rather uncomfortable to wear. I wore them for most of the test, with my ears hurting, but they blocked out most of the noise, eggspecially the other test takers typing. You can request disability accommodations, perhaps to take the test in a separate room, I am not sure. The test center is like Fort Knox, and you can't take anything eggsept pencils inside. I wanted to wear my hat to block out the fluorescent lights, but that was not allowed, because the video cameras tape you from the ceiling. Disability accommodations need to be requested for that.

I did not spend much time studying for the test. I spent a lot more time on the GRE subject test. I spent about a week practicing the test, and I did well. You can kind of tell how much time you need to study if you first review the math, then take a full practice test, and see what scores you get.

I spent over $1000 for one of those prep courses, then realized too late that all I needed to do was buy the Kaplan test prep books. The verbal section is set up to trick you- so it uses it's own definition for the words and not the commonly understood definition. If you can memorize large amounts of data, all you have to do is memorize the definitions. It's something like 600 words that could possibly be on the test. The math section was exactly like the prep book. The essay portions have a trick to them, like a certain structure, and you can get that too from the books.

Bottom line: Buy test books from the current year, read them carefully, then memorize whatever you can.

And don't go into the test stressed out. Remember it's not that big a deal and you can always retake it.

It's not hard to get a good score on the GRE provided you are willing to put in the effort and have a decent memory. (A few months should be more than enough time.) Just take a few practice tests and if your scores are too low then use practice workbooks/software (the free software the GRE testing company provides is fine) until your score reaches the desired level.

The GRE is also very formulaic and almost all the questions come from a few basic categories; you can increase your score by being familiar with each type of question that may come up. Ironically, it's more or less at the same level as the SAT (maybe even slightly lower).

For the math part, it's only highschool level math so you don't have to know anything advanced. Just learn the different types of questions and practice solving each type until you become proficient enough.

For the verbal part, a lot of obscure words are used so if you don't know enough of them you might need to memorize a large list of vocabulary words. One way to do this is by repetition (it's boring and tedious but works quite well). Just get a list of the one thousand or so most common GRE words (Google for it) and drill until you know most of them. This should boost your verbal score significantly unless your vocabulary is already very good.

Basically, the GRE is a stupid waste of time (which is unfortunately required for getting into many grad schools) that mostly measures how much effort you spent studying for it.

As for time spent and results, I did some minimal studying on the math part since I already had a top score on that. I worked on the verbal part for a few months, memorized about a thousand words and drilled on the different types of questions. I'm not going to post my exact scores; however, my combined math and verbal score was well within the top 1%.

I dunno I am not the smartest man alive but I thought the GREs were pretty tough.

I did reasonably well on them (around the 75th percentile on all categories, well enough to get into grad school 1 out of 6 ) but I'd never flex like the test was a piece of s**t to me, it was manageable but it was no joke.

I took the GRE this summer. I used a prep book called "Cracking the New GRE" (if you're not aware they changed it August 2011). I found the vocabulary most helpful--they do tend to use the same vocab words over and over on the tests, and thus memorizing those words can boost your score, many words appeared on the test that were in the prep book. On the other hand, the math on the test was WAY harder than in the book. There are two verbal sections and two math sections. For each, how you do on the first will influence the difficulty of the questions in the second set (but how you do on a question within a set will not influence the other questions in that set, which was the case for the old test--all assuming you're taking the computer-based test). I think what happened was that I did very well on the first math part and then was given the really hard, genius math part and failed it. And the essay rubric is an Aspie's nightmare, very vague and basically boils down to, "It needs to be good, but we can't quite tell you how."

Incidentally, I would recommend that book mostly because they have lots of snarky comments about how the GRE isn't actually that effective and how the new changes are stupid, I was pretty amused. Someone who wrote that book clearly has beef with ETS.

Oh man the essay part was the most nerve racking for sure. I took mine in 2007, long before I ever applied to grad school, but it was the computer test and I'm sure it was the same deal. I can't remember at all what I had to write about for the essays but whatever it was I lucked out and it was doable topics.

I have to take the GRE sometime in the next year as well and it frightens me. I was supposed to take it last year for my MA program but found out they accepted the Miller Analogies test so I wimped out and took that instead. My scores were not great but I have been very successful in grad school so far so I'm not sure it was a good measure of anything at all.

I got a 90+ percentile on verbal and math without studying. I ended up getting 75 percentile on the writing. That was the only section that I really should have studied, just because I didn't know what format was expected. All I can say is, I've studied calculus and discrete math as part of my degree. After that, I found the math section quite easy and I remember (eventually) understanding what every question was asking and how to solve it.

I did the prep course for over 1000. It did prepare me quickly and efficiently within a few months. Which was what I was looking for. So I got the scores I wanted 1st time around. 88% on quantitative and 53% on verbal. For my program, all I needed to score high on was quantitative really, verbal just needed a mid score and analytical writing I dont think they really cared.