The GRE, this hard??

[sweetie_pie]

Okay, so...I'm planning to take the GRE in May. I got this great study book with practice tests, a cd, tips and all of that. I've been making flashcards of vocab words and looking at sample questions. This morning I sat down and took the first practice test. Did the whole thing, straight though, 3 hours. I thought the questions were semi-tough, but I honestly thought I did OK. Then I checked my answers...I got less than half right in both the verbal and quantitative sections!!! So discouraging!! I know questions are weighted differently based on difficulty level, so it's actually impossible to know what "score" I got from this but...I really thought I did better. I did well on the SAT and ACT, I thought I was a pretty good test taker...but I'm sorry, these questions seem kind of stupid (yes, I'm in a bad mood!). I need to get high enough scores for the grad school I am applying to, and taking it more than once reduces your competitiveness according to the university's website. Yikes!!

Anyone who has recently taken the GRE...were you able to do alright on it on your first attempt? I plan to study a lot between now and then...but these questions are so frustrating!

Oh, and I know you can cancel your scores at the end of the test if you feel like you totally bombed it, but then you can't even see your score right? (Not that this is a great thing to plan on doing since it isn't a cheap test to take). Ughhhhh

[TC3200]

My ex-husband did poorly on it the first time but bought a computer based GRE test prep program and he practiced and practiced with that thing and pulled his score up amazingly the second time he took the GRE. He said it really helped.

[bigboi]

What subjects are tested on the GRE?

[sweetie_pie]

Ahh okay good to know I'm not the only one that thinks this test is a struggle! The tests is composed of 2 essays, an argument type and an issue type where you have to take a position. Then there is a quantitative section with math stuff (algebra and geometry mostly...no calculators ), a verbal section with antonyms, sentence completion (harder than it sounds, I feel like most of the choices make sense haha), and analogies (these kill me!! might as well say puddle is to glitter as bubble bath is to turkey baster hahaha most random things). It's really....great

[sweetie_pie]

Actually, a friend just informed me that I am wrong about what is coveredo n the NEW GRE (effective August 2011). There are NO analogies (praise the Lord!!) or antonyms. Instead there are more reading comprehension-type questions. Woo hoo! Feelings SO much better. If anyone is curious about the specifics, check this out GRE :w00t: