Gre

[The_Sweetest_Thing]

Anyone here ever write it?

On average, what's the amount of study time per week/per month? (My test is approx 3 months away). What's the best stdy guide? Any tips on how to prep? How to memorize all those damn blasted words?

 

[melon]

Are you referring the GRE for graduate school? If so...

1) Can't help you on the writing section, because I took it before it was added. At least you don't have that goddamn analytical section anymore, so count yourself lucky.

2) You can't memorize the words. It's impossible. You should know all the root words and meanings of prefixes/suffixes so that you can deduce the meaning on the basis of that. If you ever studied Latin or a Romance language (French/Spanish), this should be a bit tolerable.

3) Is there still a math section? Luckily, there's no college-level math in it. It's high school Precalculus on downward.

It's a computer test, yes, but I found getting a book with written tests the easiest to study.

Melon

 

[kellyahern]

3) Is there still a math section? Luckily, there's no college-level math in it. It's high school Precalculus on downward.

That still didn't help me when I took it Of course, by the time I took the test, I hadn't taken a "real" math class in 4 years (Intro to Computers counts as a math credit?! Thanks FSU ).

 

[oliveu2cm]

Get a book. Since I was applying to schools for English, I bought the Kaplan GRE Study Guide for English. It had a small section on math with review questions.

I read all the tactics on how to write the essays, what the judges are looking for and all that. There are things you can do to get a good grade with those essays, so I definitely suggest studying that.

I also looked through all the words in the book and studied the ones I did not know or was unfamiliar with. But like Melon said, there's no way to memorize them all.

Good luck!

 

[AcrobatMan]

There was a BARRONS guide for GRE ...way back in 1998..not sure if that is the best... given things have changed in GRE

 

[melon]

I hadn't taken a math class for four years when I took the test either. I ended up studying so hard for the math section that I scored 130 points higher on that section than the others.

Melon

 

[innominata8]

kaplan GRE is a decent book. i used it and scored decent enough to get into dartmouth (and i was neither a math or english major as a ugrad). as for the writing sample, practice writing out sample essays from whichever book you choose. from what i could tell, there was definately a fairly specific ''style' that the reviewers were looking for. having that 'style' down ahead of time (ie, how to break down the topic, etc...) will help you immensely. good luck.

 

[The_Sweetest_Thing]

I've got roughly three months. My biggest concern is the amount of studying to put in each day. I'm not sure--is it a full time thing? A couple of hours a day?? I don't know

 

[melon]

I've got roughly three months. My biggest concern is the amount of studying to put in each day. I'm not sure--is it a full time thing? A couple of hours a day?? I don't know

You've got a long time. I think I crammed over two weeks...lol.

Melon

 

[meegannie]

I took in the olden days of the analytical section (which I did spectacularly on, despite the fact that I think I have no logic skills), and didn't prepare at all (I had to take it as a graduation requirement and UK postgrad programmes don't care about GRE scores). I finished it in under an hour, and actually ended up doing decently well on it. Obviously it's changed since I took it, but I think if you just spent a couple of weeks preparing for it, you'd do fine.

 

[innominata8]

I've got roughly three months. My biggest concern is the amount of studying to put in each day. I'm not sure--is it a full time thing? A couple of hours a day?? I don't know

a few hours a day is more than sufficient... if you're going to study more than that, use it to build your vocabulary as the vocab on the GRE is tenacious.

 

[anitram]

Out of the college-level entrance tests, from everyone I've spoken to, it seems to be the easiest one, so hopefully it goes well for you.

I've taken the LSAT and I also worried about how much I should prepare for it. If I were you, I'd definitely sit down one weekend and time myself to do the test all the way through just to see how good you are about time management. That sometimes helps you decide which sections to spend more time on.

 

[innominata8]

i agree with the above post...the biggest thing on any of these grad-entrance exams is time management. having a bit of endurance doesn't hurt, either. the best way to tackle both of these is to sit down and do a few exams in advance.

just know, it could be worse: the MCAT is 8 hours long and it's full of chemistry and physics. i took both and the GRE was almost fun compared to the MCAT.

 

[anitram]

I actually think the MCAT is relatively easy if you're a life science student, because you can study for it in an organized way. Even years after my undergrad, I was able to breeze through the biological sciences section, although organic chem required some work.

The LSAT, IMO, is much more frustrating, because it's essentially an IQ test for which you really can't study.

 

[innominata8]

hmmm....that's interesting. i hated the MCAT, but didn't mind all the prep work i did for the LSAT (prepped for it, but never took the exam...). then again, i was pre-law and not pre-med; i'm sure that has something to do with it.