Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So I'm going to be taking the GRE soon, so I can start applying to grad schools. Has anyone else taken it? I'm a fairly good test taker, but is it hard? Is it something that you can retake, like the SAT until you get a score you're happy with? Or is it a one shot thing. Thanks for any information you can give me about the GRE.
So I'm going to be taking the GRE soon, so I can start applying to grad schools. Has anyone else taken it? I'm a fairly good test taker, but is it hard? Is it something that you can retake, like the SAT until you get a score you're happy with? Or is it a one shot thing. Thanks for any information you can give me about the GRE.
I took the GRE about 2 years ago, and I had to take it twice. The first time I got cocky, and didn't practice for it, went to work the night before from 9PM to 6AM, slept for a couple of hours, woke up and rushed to my test a noon. And the results were: 420 Math and 520 Verbal. And I am an engineering major. Even though I felt like i did horrible in the Math part I still clicked to see my score. (Mistake) I signed up to retake the test as soon as possible. (two weeks later)
From talking to my professors, and to the grad admission office, I got that for my program the Verbal score was not as important as the Math and that the Verbal area took a lot longer to improve.
I got one of those GRE practice books, ignored the theory and just focused on the practice exercises in the Math area. Took the day off from work before my test. Went to sleep early. Woke up with plenty of time. Ate a good breakfast. And retook the test.
Got 800 in Math and ~570 in Verbal.
Take home message:
The test is easy. If you finished your undergrad and put some efford into it, you likely already know what you need to know for the test. But(!!!), do not underestimate it. For you to finish the Math part you not only need to know how to solve the problems but most important you need to be able to solve them in the time that you are given. This is not as trivial as just getting the right answers, for some of the problems is easier to eliminate the wrong answers than to actually solve the problem. So at least for the math part, practice.. practice.. practice.. in order to do well on the test, you need to be able to solve them fast. So a Math marathon the week before the test is in order, your brain has to be able to recognize and solve the problems in the shortest time possible.
On the verbal area, well, English is my second language. I had been speaking English for about 6 years before taking my test so my vocabulary is not as broad as someone who has been speaking English for most of their lives so I was prepared to take a low score for Verbal.
According to the people at my school, to prepare for the verbal part you have to do it over a long period of time, with small vocab increments with time for the new knowledge to sink in. I personally did not have time for this, I took my GRE very late.
PD: Also try scheduling your GRE early, so if you feel like you did not do well on your test (i.e. you did not see the last question) you can just not have it graded and retake it without having problems with you application deadline.
So I'm going to be taking the GRE soon, so I can start applying to grad schools. Has anyone else taken it? I'm a fairly good test taker, but is it hard? Is it something that you can retake, like the SAT until you get a score you're happy with? Or is it a one shot thing. Thanks for any information you can give me about the GRE.
The GRE is set up in the same format as the SAT. You can re-take the exam if you are not happy with your score. Just be aware that the university will get ALL of your scores. Some universities will accept your last score, while others will average the scores together. So, I would recommend studying and practicing before jumping right into taking the actual test.
ETS publishes the actual GRE tests from the previous year. You should purchase them and practice with those tests. That way, you will know your strong and weak areas. Research shows that it is easier to improve your math scores than it is to improve your verbal. In fact, people, in general, score lower on the verbal section. I would recommend the book: Cracking the GRE by Princeton Review.
I cannot say whether the GRE will be easy for you or not. It varies from one person to another. However, if you did well on the SAT, then you will likely do well on the GRE.
The GRE is not particularly hard, but I would recommend studying for it over a few months rather than trying to cram for it. I took it years ago when there was no writing section, but I made the mistake of not bothering to study for it until around 2-3 weeks before the test. The result was that my verbal scores were just so-so.
I've had 2 of my kids go to grad school and took the test. They both purchased a GRE study book with practice tests in it. I looked at the verbal portion and it's really stupid as far as I'm concerned. Vocabulary words that no one ever uses in life. Both of my kids studied for several weeks using this book and did well enough to get in. These practice tests give you a good idea of what to expect, especially giving you a good idea of how to manage your time since you do have to work quickly.
If you're not used to taking computer-based tests then I would suggest using the practice CDs first; all of my test-taking skills were the traditional paper-based methods (do everything you know first, then go back and work on the rest as you have time). The computer tests don't work like that, and it did throw me off - they require a different tactic. Of course the best test-taking skills won't make up for not knowing the right answer, but it can only help. I'm applying to go back to finish my PhD now and realized that my old GRE scores have expired, so I'll be studying, too. And this time I won't skimp on the actual full simulations. (I got cocky because I did very well on the SAT, and am usually a great test taker, but the different format threw my tried-and-true methods out the window.)
The GRE verbal section is similar to the verbal section of the SATs (provided you took them a while ago). Analogies, reading comprehension, sentence completion, is there something I'm forgetting?
The math section is MUCH easier than SAT math. First, the GRE only covers through Algebra I, so you can pretty much only study that topic (no geometry or advanced math courses needed).
The writing section is similar to the SAT writing essay section.
The only difficult thing is adapting yourself to the computers. I found it very difficult to do the verbal section on a computer although the writing was much easier since you could type your responses.
And remember that the GRE is an adaptive test - the types of questions change depending on whether your previous responses were correct or incorrect.
You can find a plethora of information on the GRE website. Good luck!
The GRE isn't particularly tougher than the SAT, but, in my opinion, it depends on your undergraduate coursework background. This is a situation in which it helps to have actually listened in class. I'm saying this for myself--I heard what I needed to hear in undergrad in order to make good grades, but as soon as I turned in my test papers, a lot of that information became useless and I simply forgot about it. Also, since you take most of your general classes in your first two years of college, many people tend to forget some of those basic skills--like statistics, trigonometry, stems, roots, etc. Some of those skills may be helpful to you when it comes time to take this expensive test. I'm a middle of the road test taker. I took the test once and scored in the 1000-1100 range, which was only 60 points lower than I scored on the SAT (which I took in 1999, so we didn't have a writing section). I got into every school that I applied to. Granted, I didn't apply to Harvard, Yale, UNC, Duke, etc., which also makes a difference.
I utilized websites that I found online, as well as one of those Kaplan study guides. However, I didn't really buckle down and study until about a week before the test. I'm naturally a crammer and a procrastinator. It's not the best habit, but it's how I function. Like Davey said, if you did well on the SAT, you're likely going to do well on the GRE. Only you know your test prep styles. I wouldn't recommend going out and spending thousands of dollars on test prep classes, but if that's what you need in order to get into a competitive program--especially now that more people are going back to school--then you gotta do what you gotta do. Good luck!
The Kaplan guide should be a huge help. I would prepare, your scores will definitely reflect the effort.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
