Countdown to the GRE! Any words of encouragement?

[LaeDeesNP]

T - 3 days... and it will finally be over.

Anyone have any words of encouragement (or warnings!)? I don't really remember preparing for or actually taking the SAT so it's almost like the GRE is a whole new world for me. I'm fairly confident, but it would still be nice to hear from others who have been in my shoes...possibly to ASSUAGE my fears (nice use of GRE vocab, huh?). In the very least, I'm shooting (hoping, praying...) for an 1100 to qualify for a certain scholarship, provided I get into this particular school. It's funny, the GRE is the only thing I'm concerned about. Otherwise, my admission packet should be looking pretty decent, at worst. BUT, anyways... I suppose there's no sense worrying about it...I've prepared (and continue to prepare) and I will do my best.

Here's hoping that "my best" is at least an 1100! :grad:

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

RNKatePSU--

I took the GRE about 3 years ago. Mind you it had been 20 years since I last took college English and algebra. I studied the verbal stuff like crazy and blew off studying the math, because I had always been good at math. So of course I breezed through the verbal and got hung up on math:icon_roll. Plus it was extememly cold at the testing site and I finally left when my hands got so cold they were numb. The biggest surprize was having to calculate the volume of geometric figures like cones and cylinders, knowing the formulas for graphing like circles, parabolas, etc, and determining odds. I still scored 1250, so I bet you will do fine.

Gets lots of sleep the night before, and take a break or two during the test if it is allowed.

Good Luck,

Julie

[BBFRN, BSN, PhD]

I'm right there with you, RNKate. I'm using the Princeton Review book to study for it. I need 1100 as well, but I am so rusty on my math. Good luck on your exam, and let us know how it went!

[Itshamrtym]

GOOD LUCK TO YOU BOTH ON YOUR EXAM...... I HOPE THAT YOU NAIL IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PMHNP10]

Long winded story, but bear with me, please.

I think the format has changed a bit from when I took in in '05, but I assume it's still computerized, correct?

I am excellent at math. I've taught it and have never been scared of numbers. As I did my Kaplan or Princeton review book (I don't remember which), I missed like a handful of questions from the 100s of practice ones I did. I consider my vocab to be somewhat limited (relative to my math skills) so I was banking on kicking the math portion's booty and sailing through the verbal.

A couple days before the test I looked at another prep book and started seeing things (symbols) I had never seen before--again, I taught HS algebra and geometry, so this was a shocker--if I recall, they were using weird symbols for functions. Also, they got more into proportions/odds and permutations and other less common math functions, which aren't too hard, but it had been soooooooo long since I dealt with those, I really needed more time to prepare.

For all tests I've taken (i.e., ACT, MCAT, and GRE), the material hasn't been the worst part. I've always been a really slow test taker; I get too analytical. The one good thing about my Princeton or Kaplan review book was that they taught several little tricks to answering questions more efficiently and understanding how to take the test.

So test day comes and I get the math portion to start which is excellent for me, but I'm hopin to see more of the traditional math problems rather than the types of problems present in that 2nd review book. Well in my world of Murphy's law, most of the questions were very similar to the ones in the 2nd review book, so I required much time to get through them. In fact, I didn't even look at 5 or 6 of the math questions and I had to quickly scan a few others and take my best guess. Furthermore, the questions I did complete were not much like the Kaplan review question--they were much more difficult, IMO--so needless to say I was deflated. With my weaker subject coming up, I nearly decided to give up. Thankfully, I didn't and all was well in the end.

So the moral of the story is that no matter how horribly you think you might have done, the best advice I can offer is to not give up. Also, if you still have the option of submitting the test for grading when you've completed it, do so. After all, you've already paid the money, and by not getting the test graded, you don't get a refund.

Good luck to you.

[icyounurse, BSN, RN]

You will do fine!! I over studied for it myself, I bought out the Barnes and Nobles test prep section, was doing about 1100 on practice tests and was so very anxious. The whole time I was doing the test mt eye lids kept doing this uncontrollable twitch thing, I guessed on alot of questions and was sure I was doomed........So I submitted the test and got...........a 1310..........I nearly had a heart attack, I could not believe my luck. You will do better than you think, especially if you have prepared!! Good luck!!!