Questions about the GRE

[serene]

If you took the GRE, how did you prepare for it?

If you used their official practice test, how well did it represent what you actually saw on the test?

Any advice for me from GRE veterans?

(I'm taking it in September. So far, the prep materials make me think I have a good chance of doing well on it, but I welcome any caveats or tips.)

Comments

[jae]

I didn't prepare. In fact, I was living in East Germany at the time, completely immersed in the German language and thinking in German, and could barely string two sentences in English together without going "um, uh, what was that word again" in the middle. Needless to say, I didn't do all that great, even on the language parts, which is what you'd think I'd excel at. *g*

It did get me into grad school, though, which was the important thing. *shrug*

-J

[serene]

Thanks. Unless something weird happens, I don't think I'll suck at it (the language parts are appearing to be within my current skill level, and I'm doing a math review for that part), but the best GPA I'm probably going to be able to do (if I get a 4.0 this year) is something like 3.1, so I want to hedge my bets if I can.

re: Questions about the GRE

[betonica]

The thing about the GRE (and all standardized tests, as far as I can tell) is it's all about knowing how to tackle their particular kinds of questions. So yes, use their practice test - dissect it and get so you can answer their questions in a split second - and find other practice questions wherever you can. The more practice you have with the format, the better you will do. I practiced a lot for the verbal/written/whatever, and did quite well on it. (Reading Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen really helped, too.) I didn't practice much for the math (because I'm quite good at math) and didn't do as well, although my scores were certainly acceptable.

Re: Questions about the GRE

[serene]

Thanks! I've been glad for the math review, because while I'm good at math, too, I had forgotten some things (some rote things like the quadratic formula, and some procedural things like the most efficient way for me to work out a word problem), and it was good to have some practice doing it rather than waiting and having to figure that stuff out at the test.

Re: Questions about the GRE

[vito_excalibur]

Second this. I used to teach the LSAT, and from what I can tell the GRE is similar in that the questions are quite formulaic, and there's a strict linear relationship between time spent practicing that particular (otherwise useless) skill and doing well on it on test day.

Re: Questions about the GRE

[serene]

Thank you!

Hey, I was just noticing it's mid-June.

No reason for me to mention that or anything. Just, you know, it's June.

(*little poorly-suppressed anticipatory squee*)

Re: Questions about the GRE

[vito_excalibur]

I'm, uh. Aware. :P

I keep looking down at my twitching belly and going, "Any time now! Just so you know! Now would be fine!"

Re: Questions about the GRE

[serene]

:-) Feeling okay, besides the whole alien invasion thing?

Re: Questions about the GRE

[vito_excalibur]

Yes, thanks! I mean - tired out a lot, and walking REALLY slowly (because the kid bounces on my cervix, and I have practice contractions, and my pelvis is falling apart, and that all adds up to pain.) But I understand that's all quite normal.

3 weeks to go at the outside. Or, could be this afternoon. SIGH.

I was telling Mr. E, part of the issue is, I'm scared of labor! I'm scared of breastfeeding! I'm scared of being responsible for an infant! I am SO READY to STOP being scared of these things and just start CONFRONTING them! But I can't, because the timing is not up to me. Aargh so frustrating.

Re: Questions about the GRE

[serene]

James says you'll be out of beta soon enough. (He's laughing as he hears me actually type what he said. :-)

Re: Questions about the GRE

[serene]

("Or is it out of alpha? Maybe it's not ready to ship until it's 18. Maybe that's the problem -- we missed the ship date on our kid!" -- yes, this is how my boyfriend's mind works All The Time.)

[wcg]

I took the GRE in 1987, and used both the general exam practice test and the special subject practice test for physics. The general exam was quite a lot like the practice exam had been, but the special subject exam differed quite a bit. Even so, I'd recommend both practice tests to anyone taking the real tests today. If nothing else, they serve to introduce you to the overall scope of the tests, and that's valuable.

[serene]

Thanks!

[hitchhiker]

i used barrons. their practice tests were harder than the actual gre, which was useful.

[serene]

Good tip; thanks!

[eeyorerin]

I took some practice tests.

Then the night before I went to see Rocky Horror at midnight (it was Halloween), stayed up until 3 am, almost overslept the next morning, sprinted across another college campus in the rain, and did just fine on the bits that mattered. Oh, and it was my 21st birthday. :)

[j00j]

I took the GRE in uh, 2006 or so, and it's a wee bit different now, I think (did they get rid of the analogies? I liked the analogies!), but the practice test from the website was representative of what I saw on the test, and did give me a good indication of what I'd have trouble with (math, because I didn't remember how to do things, and because I always test poorly with math, as I need to do it very slowly to get it all right). I used a Kaplan prep book, I think, and that was helpful too. With the math, I know what I needed to do was become familiar with the types of questions they had and know the tricks for being able to get through them as quickly as possible. I also highly recommend taking a practice test that's adaptive like the real one is so that you are more familiar with that experience. Some of the standardized test strategies I learned as a kid don't work with that (e.g. you can't skip hard questions and go back and do them later), so it's good to be prepared.

[serene]

The new test lets you mark questions and return to them, thank goodness. Thanks for the tips!

[serene]

:-) I plan to get a good night's sleep beforehand. Luckily, I was able to get a noon test time, so I won't have to get up super-early.

Re: Questions about the GRE

[trinker]

Um...presumptuous of me, but if you want to talk to someone who's been through it twice (homebirthed both times, First time with some complications) and still nursing...and done a *lot* of reading/discussion/gatherine stories...

PM me. I can either hook you up with someone, or talk to you myself.

Re: Questions about the GRE

[vito_excalibur]

Hee. I'm totally stealing this for the announcement. :D

Re: Questions about the GRE

[vito_excalibur]

Thanks, that's nice of you; but I don't really need to talk to people more right now, I just want to get ON with it! You know?

Re: Questions about the GRE

[serene]

But only if you release on time!

[ajnabieh]

I took it, using the free online prep materials provided. And I did well enough; I was sufficiently familiar with the test structure, and that's all that matters.

To give you an idea, I took the GRE approx 4 (5?) years after I took the SAT; during the intervening years I took only one math course, and many literature and social science courses. My SAT math and verbal scores were 260 points apart. My GRE math and verbal scores were identical. Make of that what you will.

Re: Questions about the GRE

[trinker]

Yes. The last few weeks with #2 were very much about being ready to be *done* with the inside part.

[merielle]

I did the free online prep and used a Barron's book. Both were useful to help me get back into the groove of standardized testing.

I took the adaptive test, and I overthought the math like whoa. I'm nervous about math (not stats, weirdly, but other math), so I kept being all, "Was that right? I wonder if that was right. [Next question] Is this harder or easier? Am I messing this up? I don't know. Crap. CRAP." I mean, I did well enough to get into grad school, so it was fine, but had I calmed the hell down and just focused, I would have done better, I think.

Re: Questions about the GRE

[serene]

:-)

James: "Yeah, and then as soon as it's out of beta, THEN begin the BUG FIXES!"

Me: "Eighteen YEARS of bug fixes."

Him: "Well, that's the scheduled date, but you know how these things go!"

Me: "Boy, do I ever."