GRE HELP ! What to study?

SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS · Dec 13, 2013

I crammed for about a week: trig/geometry formulae and vocabulary, mostly. I did very well in those areas. The essay portion, not so much- you have to present a structured, logical argument. Most of what I used was just formula sheets I got online and vocab lists also from online (basic SAT/ACT type ones). If I had to take it again, I'd probably do better on the essay portion because I've been back in school for awhile now and had to write a few papers. If you've been out of school for awhile, I'd recommend a book like "They say, I say" to get your writing skill where it needs to be.

JDB254 · Dec 16, 2013

I used a program called Benchprep that I bought online. I bought it at a huge discount, I think I paid around $25. It included helpful reviews on the content of the test, as well as a lot of practice questions. I did well on the verbal and quantitative reasoning sections. I didn't have time to really study the essay section, so I didn't do as well in that area. Good luck to you!

scarykarrey · Dec 16, 2013

I was really happy with the Princeton Review GRE prep book. I think it helped, as it had plenty of practice questions and lots of strategies for how to narrow down your choices and solving problems.

mzaur · Dec 16, 2013

I did very well (166V, 159Q, 5.0W) and studied hard for two months. I've given people advice before, so I've pasted it below. Let me know if you have any questions

For the verbal, what I did was memorize as many vocab words as possible. I used this list Barrons 800 flashcards | Quizlet as well as Word Smart for GRE 2 Word Smart for the GRE, 2nd Edition (Smart Guides): Princeton Review: 9780375765773: Amazon.com: Books

That gave me enough vocab. I made flash cards, drilled them daily, made piles of words I was comfortable with and piles of words I needed to further study. That way you can consolidate and not drill 1000 words per day. You want to try to use these words in sentences to instill the meaning. You also need to review the words often so you don't forget. Aim to learn as many words per day as you are comfortable with. 20-30 words per day is reasonable. Put the words that you absolutely know in one pile, another pile for words you kind of know, and another pile for words you really don't know. I think I studied my "definitely know" pile once a week, my "kind of know" pile 3x a week, and my "absolutely don't know" pile every day

Also, try to do as many practice tests as possible. Kaplan's new GRE book comes with a bunch of practice tests on the DVD. I also did practice tests from Barron's book, as well as Princeton Review. You can actually get a free practice test from Princeton online. I remember that I just had to copy and paste the ISBN from the practice book on their website, and the ISBN can be found on Amazon (so you don't actually have to buy their book). Also, read, read, read. If you can read fast and comprehend text quickly, you will be at an advantage. Read smart websites: Project Syndicate: Economics, finance, politics, and global affairs from the world's opinion page BBC News - Home Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology The New Yorker

The verbal section tests primarily your vocab and reading comprehension. So the only way to do well is to memorize many words and practice reading. Practice tests as your best friend here.

Same with math. Practice tests allow you to get in that frame of mind where you have to answer questions quickly and efficiently. When it comes to test day, you want to have memorized all the formulas that you need for the math section. And really there aren't that many formulas. Stuff like areas of different geometric shapes, some algebra, combinations, permutations, etc. I used Kaplan and Barron's for the math section, as well as random sites I found online. Look here for formulas;

GRE Math Formulas Cheat Sheet | Magoosh GRE Blog

I actually heard really good things about Magoosh. Not sure how much it costs, but it might be worth it to do something like that. Unless you are really motivated and don't mind just studying on your own from books. From what I understand, Magoosh has all the material condensed and has videos explaining how to solve problems. I would still do practice tests though if you do decide to use something like Magoosh.

As for the writing section, I took it the first time and only got 4.0 -- I assumed I would do well since I have a degree in philosophy and can write papers very eloquently. The issue is that unfortunately they expect you to use that archaic formula (intro paragraph, 3 body paragraphs, conclusion). So you should really use that formula. Intro paragraph spells out everything you want to say with a concluding thesis statement. Topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph. Conclusion paragraph rephrases everything. Actually the very best guide I found about the GRE writing was on Sparknotes.com which I'm sure you can find yourself. They really spell it out nicely there and give you plenty of examples. I used that guide and their formula pretty much exclusively and wrote timed practice written tests. ETS has a website where all the topics are listed, so you should definitely use that and practice writing at least 3-4 timed tests. I ended up getting 5.0 (90th percentile) on my second attempt, so the formula definitely works.

Lastly, ETS has PowerPrep software with 2 practice tests. This is the best practice test (obviously) with the most accurate prediction of how well you will do. I would do the 1st one 2 weeks before the test to see where you need to focus and the 2nd one 3 or 4 days prior to the exam.

One more thing. Pacing yourself is important. Keep calm and don't freak out if you don't know an answer. Just do your best and practice breathing. If you find yourself spending too long on a question, guess and move on. If you see that you're running out of time, skip ahead and guess on the rest of the questions since you do not get points off for wrong answers.

If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask! Best of luck