Tips for maximizing my month of studying! Verbal intensive

[evelynne]

Hello!

My dream program is PhD in Art History, so I need to take GRE with strong verbal scores. I'm not sure how important is math for them, but I don't want an embarassing score from it either

English is not my first language, so I struggle with verbal a bit. I seem to be pretty OK with Reading Comperehension, but the "fill in" sentences are difficult for me. I studied quite a lot for about a month, then took a month break/less intense study (new job, summer...) and I've been studying intensively for the last 2 weeks. 

My test date is October 15th, but I also signed up for November 10th date in case I need to re-take and improve my scores. I might cancel it if I do well on the first test.

I read awesome motivational posts on this forum, about people who studied hard and got 170 scores

My intended goal is around 165 for verbal and ideally 160+ for math. I took a practice test yesteday and scored 154 verbal 154 quant, but I did it after the whole day of work and at night, so my brain was not working that great. Do you have any tips and strategies for me, how could I maximize my performance during the month of study until Oct 15th (and possibly another month until November 10)? Especially to improve verbal scores? I know that I need to review basic math for quant and hopefully that'll help, but I have no clue how to get better in verbal.

I'm using:

-Magoosh videos, questions and flashcards (I got 30day subscription until the end of September. I am not sure yet if I want to extend it to 6month subscription to have Magoosh until my second test's date...what do you think?)

-Manhattan verbal textbooks

-ETS Official Guide

-ETS Verbal Questions Book

 

Do you recommend using ETS essay grading software for 20$, or is it not worth it?

 

THANK YOU!

[GREMasterEMPOWERRichC]

Hi Evelynne,

If you know the specific Schools that you plan to apply to, then you should be able to research the Schools/Programs in a bit more detail so that you can get a better sense of the type of GRE score that you would need to be considered a competitive applicant. PhD Programs tend to be highly competitive though - since there are so few spots for the pool of applicants - so Admissions Committees tend to 'nitpick' the OVERALL application. This is meant to say that you'll likely need more than just a strong GRE score to get into your first-choice Program. 

When you take your practice MSTs, you should plan to make each experience as realistic as possible. This means that you need to take the FULL TEST (with both Essays), take the Test away from your home, at the same time of day as your Official GRE, etc. Taking the Test at night, after work, is NOT realistic, so you should try to avoid that. If that's the most recent score though, then we have to assume that a Q154/V154 is your current ability level. To hit your goal scores, you're going to have to put some significant effort into BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. 

You should study as you see fit for the next week, then take a new practice MST. That score result will provide some important information about how well you're progressing. If you don't see any meaningful improvement, then you'll likely need to invest in some new practice materials and learn/practice some new Tactics. You should plan to post back here after you've taken that next Test and we can talk through the results. 

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich

[evelynne]

Hello Rich!

Thank you so much for helpful advice! I followed it and got 4 more points during my second practice test, with realistic test experience (same hour as my test). I am planning to do one more realistic-experience practice test before my GRE to see if I've improved!