Brent@GreenlightGRE

In my opinion, it's both easier and harder than the SAT/ACT. Content-wise, the GRE is easier. HOWEVER, the computer adaptive nature of the GRE pretty much ensures that EVERYONE struggles. As others have suggested, take an official practice test ( https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/powerprep2 ) to see where you stand. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

IMPORTANT RULE: If two sides of a triangle have lengths A and B, then: the third side < A+B So, for this particular question, we know that b < a + c We have: Quantity A: 2b Quantity B: a + b + c Let's subtract b from both quantities to get: Quantity A: b Quantity B: a + c Aha! Our rule tells us that b < a + c, so it MUST be the case that Quantity B is greater. Answer: B Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

First of all, the GRE is computer adaptive, which means it's programmed to give you questions that are on the edge of your abilities - for more on this, see our free videos - https://www.greenlighttestprep.com/module/general-gre-info-and-strategies/video/1250 (the adaptive part starts around 1:40) As far as test anxiety goes, proper mindset will do wonders for your score. If you're interested, I wrote two articles on this topic: - http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/articles/mindset-and-body-language-gre-destroyer - http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/articles/junior-girls-volleyball-scoring-big-gre I hope that helps. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

I second that! Cheers, Brent

I wholeheartedly agree! Also, proper mindset will do wonders for your score. If you're interested, I wrote two articles on this topic: - http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/articles/mindset-and-body-language-gre-destroyer - http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/articles/junior-girls-volleyball-scoring-big-gre Cheers, Brent

For someone who didn't prepare and professes to be bad at math, you did exceptionally well! I'm sure that many of the people who read this post will scream silently into their lattes. Cheers, Brent

Your score breakdowns don't provide much information regarding what's needed to increase your scores. The GRE is a test of your math and verbal skills AND it's a test of your test-taking skills. So, taking practice tests is an important part of your prep. This will help you build your test-taking skills, and it will help you identify any remaining area(s) of weakness. While analyzing your practice tests, there are four main types of weakness to watch out for: 1. specific Quant skills/concepts (e.g., algebra, geometry, etc.) 2. specific Verbal skills/concepts (e.g., vocabulary, 3-blank text completion questions, etc.) 3. test-taking skills (time management, endurance, anxiety etc.) 4. silly mistakes For the first two weaknesses, the fix is pretty straightforward. Learn the concept/skill and find some practice questions to strengthen that weakness. If your test-taking skills are holding you back, then you need to work on these. For example, we have a free video about test anxiety at http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/module/general-gre-info-and-strategies/video/1252 Finally, if silly mistakes are hurting your score, then it's important that you identify and categorize these mistakes so that, during tests, you can easily spot situations in which you're prone to making errors. I write about this and other strategies in the following article: http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/articles/avoiding-silly-misteaks-gre Cheers, Brent

If silly mistakes are hurting your score, then it's important that you identify and categorize these mistakes. Some examples might include: - sloppy writing causes a 7 to mysteriously turn into a 1 - you fail to notice crucial information such as x is an integer or w < 0 - you calculate Pat’s current age when the question asked for the Pat’s age 5 years from now. - and so on Once you have identified the types of mistakes that YOU typically make, you will be able to spot situations/questions in which you're prone to making errors. I write about this and other strategies in the following article: http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/articles/avoiding-silly-misteaks-gre Regarding your anxiety, check out our free video on handling that - http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/module/general-gre-info-and-strategies/video/1252 Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep (a free and comprehensive GRE video course)

I can't speak for those videos, but you might want to try out our free video course. We provide various strategies for tackling each Verbal question type. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

gughok has nicely demonstrated the advantages of using algebra over plugging in numbers. In general, plugging in numbers is useful for determining statements that are not true. For example, the values a = -1 and b = -1 show that the statement ab < 0 is NOT true, but it doesn't prove that the statements a < 0 and b < 0 are true. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

To improve your quantitative score, I believe that you should compartmentalize your learning and take the time to master each topic (e.g., percents, ratios, exponents, statistics, etc.). This means that, for each topic, you should: 1) Learn the underlying concepts (rules, attributes, notation, etc.) 2) Learn GRE-specific strategies related to that topic 3) Practice dozens of questions all related to that one topic. 4) Don't stop working on that topic until you have mastered it Then, and only then, move on to the next topic. If you're interested, our free video course is divided into separate topics, so you can follow this kind of plan. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

Yeah, in fact it's the practice question that comes immediately after the one you posted :-)

Here's a related question to try: http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/module/gre-algebra-and-equation-solving/video/973 Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

We know that we can create a 30-60-90 triangle, so we already have 3 angles. Once we know the length of any side, we can determine the remaining sides. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

Agree, this question is on the cusp. We have 3 difficulty categories of questions. I'd say this is high medium or possibly low hard. To answer abohammed's question about practice tests, we have a recommended list of free practice tests here: http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/resources/practice-tests Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

We have a free GRE course with 500+ videos. I'm confident it can help. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

This should help: http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/test_day/ Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

Taking a couple of practice tests is a good idea. If you're scoring around your target scores, then you can relax. If your scores aren't where you need them to be, you need to identify remaining areas of weakness and work on those skills. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

Check out our free GRE prep course. Each module starts with the most basic concepts and eventually covers 170-level concepts and strategies. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

Here's a link to Test Center Procedures and Regulations that may help: http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/test_day/ Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

I mean devote 100% of your attention to the passage, Otherwise, there's the potential of suffering from what I call the Sunday morning newspaper syndrome where you realize that, for the past minute (although your eyes have passed over the words) you have been thinking of other things. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

I'm not sure I'd agree with the quantitative sections being about tricks. While there are a few shortcuts one should be aware of, most questions can be solved by applying some common strategies. For example, most QC questions can be solved by applying one or more of six common strategies. If you're interested, we have free videos that explain all of these strategies: http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/module/gre-quantitative-comparison Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

TakeruK is absolutely right - GRE math questions are not designed to reward human calculators. Instead, they are intended to measure your quantitative reasoning skills. The great thing about most GRE math questions is that they can typically be solved using more than one approach. The best approach is the one that gets us to the correct answer quickly. Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

Nice work! What do you think accounted for the significant improvement? Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep

I have found that students with strong math backgrounds typically make the same mistakes: since they find most math questions easy, they don't focus and they go wayyyyy too fast. As a result they misread questions, they miss important information (e.g., x is a POSITIVE integer), or they make silly errors. My first suggestion is to either take more time reading the question, or read the question twice. If silly mistakes are hurting your score, then it's important that you identify and categorize these mistakes so that, during tests, you can easily spot situations in which you're prone to making errors. I write about this and other strategies in the following article: http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/articles/avoiding-silly-misteaks-gre Cheers, Brent - Greenlight Test Prep