So, I'm taking the GRE next week and am wondering if any of you have any tips for me!
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
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GRE Advice?
- Thread starter thebassoonist
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Reconsider grad school? 
Just kidding (sorta?) -- I've taken the GRE once time and received a less than stellar score; I'm retaking it in October. I guess all you can do really is not stress over it. Don't rush through the questions, but don't spend longer than two minutes or so on each one. Good luck!
Just kidding (sorta?) -- I've taken the GRE once time and received a less than stellar score; I'm retaking it in October. I guess all you can do really is not stress over it. Don't rush through the questions, but don't spend longer than two minutes or so on each one. Good luck!
I wouldn't get too worried. I took it (admittedly 15 years ago) and thought it was pretty much a joke. It seemed to be essentially the same test as the SAT, but I had just completed four years of college, not three years of high school.
@OP
Buy a Stanford GRE prep book and start working through it daily a month or two in advance and do the all the practice exams you can on the cd. It´s the cheapest way to get familiar with the exam and know what you need to practice on.
EDIT: Just reread that you were taking it next week. Um... still buy the book and do the practice exams to become familiar with the format of the test.
@it5five
The summer before you are applying is probably a good time to do it. It allows the schools to receive the scores before the application deadline.
Buy a Stanford GRE prep book and start working through it daily a month or two in advance and do the all the practice exams you can on the cd. It´s the cheapest way to get familiar with the exam and know what you need to practice on.
EDIT: Just reread that you were taking it next week. Um... still buy the book and do the practice exams to become familiar with the format of the test.
@it5five
The summer before you are applying is probably a good time to do it. It allows the schools to receive the scores before the application deadline.
Thanks for the advice. I've gotten the Princeton book and have been reviewing it. The vocabulary stuff is ridiculous...
Yeah, that was my worst score. I've always been good on the math side of things and the vocab has always haunted me. Doing the book vocab exercises really helped me out though.
I wish I had really started doing them about 3-4 months before the test instead of only one.
The vocabulary was definitely the worst part of it for me! One of the words that turned up on the analogies had nine syllables! I'm sure, if I had wanted to, I could have figured out the root and then the myriad prefixes and suffixes that were tacked on, but I decided to skip that one
Meanwhile, the math was pretty much a joke. I hadn't taken a math class since high school, and I scored very well (pretty much without studying) on that section.
If you look on ETS's (the company that writes the exam) website, they should have a list of all of the possible essay questions, as well (or, at least they used to - I took the test five years ago, so it's possible that things have changed a little). I don't suggest you try and outline answers to all of them, as there are about 200. But it will certainly give you a sense of what to expect. It was super easy, IMO.
Also, don't know if this is still true, but it used to be that when you signed up for the exam, ETS sent you a CD with a bunch of practice tests on it - the sooner you sign up, the faster you got your hands on that disk.
Good luck, everyone!
Meanwhile, the math was pretty much a joke. I hadn't taken a math class since high school, and I scored very well (pretty much without studying) on that section.
If you look on ETS's (the company that writes the exam) website, they should have a list of all of the possible essay questions, as well (or, at least they used to - I took the test five years ago, so it's possible that things have changed a little). I don't suggest you try and outline answers to all of them, as there are about 200. But it will certainly give you a sense of what to expect. It was super easy, IMO.
Also, don't know if this is still true, but it used to be that when you signed up for the exam, ETS sent you a CD with a bunch of practice tests on it - the sooner you sign up, the faster you got your hands on that disk.
Good luck, everyone!
