avenger11

Started with applications for this year..Just realizing that so many other components apart from GRE go into making a successful application. My good GRE option just seems more like hygenie now rather than an advantage

Yes, AWA doesn't matter much to schools. Quant+Verbal matters more. Quant for STEM courses and verbal for humanities, liberal arts type of courses

I think the best way to learn vocab is to learn new words through a wordlist and then read high quality newspapers and magazines which have high editorial standards. You are most likely to come across the words that you learn in these editorials.

Use PoE(Process of elimination) while attempting such type of questions..figure out the answers that you think are definitely wrong and then eliminate them. That really works

Use PoE(Process of Elimination) to tackle such questions. You may not know which answer is right but you can eliminate which answer is wrong. That's the way to go

You don't need math tables for gre. also be selective in word lists if you have limited time to prep...

Yep, no better way than this to improve your usage and contextual knowledge of new words.

Gre will do this more and more often in high difficulty level questions..so be prepared for such type of questions

What should be the strategy for learning vocab- is learning a vocab list + reading newspapers a good strategy?

With vocab, it was simple. I wrote all the words that i got wrong in a small notebook and revised them daily or tried using them with family friends. That really helped

Finally decided to apply to 7 schools this year..2 stretch, 3 reach and 2 safe..hoping to make into one of them

Yes, around 10 days... did you also take the gre recently ? And i do think 330 is good but not very high

Do analyze the diagnostic test well. It'll help you give insights into what your weak areas are.

Hmm..thanks for the validation. i was somehow starting to think that i scored a bit less than what i'd need at top schools

I took the GRE last week and scored a decent 330(V-162+Q-168,AWA-5.5). I know it took me a very long time to write this debrief, but I had to focus on other work immediately after the GRE. I thought that I must share my experience in the hope that it will serve to benefit others in whatever small possible way. How long I studied? I studied a total of 4 months out of which the first month was on and off studying and the last month was focused prep. Studied around 2-3 hours on weekdays and 4-5 hours on weekends. What Material I used? 1. ETS OG: Do I really have to talk about its importance. It’s a must have book for your GRE prep 2. Manhattan 5 lbs books- Comes with 6 practice tests that are worth taking apart from a number of practice questions that you will get in the GRE book. 3. GRE Verbal Grail: Since Verbal of GRE requires you to prepare with a focused approach, it is very helpful. Around 300 practice questions are there and theory for RC is very good. 4. The 45-day GRE Vocab Book: One vocab practice lesson every day is the way to go. I did one new lesson every day and revised what I have done in the past. Finished it in dot 45 days. Section Specific Tips: RC: This section is the most difficult to improve. I think what helped me was I read at least a couple of articles from NYTimes, Economist, Atlantic etc. each day for three months leading up to the exam. Also, like I mentioned, I did OG GRE RC passages too. They tend to be more difficult but will provide you excellent practice. Moreover, I think vocabulary is really important. Your command over vocab will go long way in improving your comprehension. For instance, if you run into words such as totalitarian, right/left wing and you know the meaning of those words you will instantly know what the author is going for. I would highly recommend you create your own wordlist of tough words from OG passages on quizlet. I never take notes for RC. I think it is a waste of time. What I do instead is – read the first paragraph and first couple of lines of each paragraph and skim through the rest. Once I’m finished reading I go back to passages only for specific details questions that too only to cross check my answer. I think this strategy saved a lot of time.I essentially treat CR as mini RC. I read the passage really carefully and use Process Of Elimination to get at a right choice. Especially if you are at 99%ile POE will be immensely helpful for those tough passages. Vocab: This section is the easiest to improve. Initially I never timed myself. Instead I gave myself ample time to understand why a particular choice was right/wrong. I spent insane amount of time on learning from questions I got wrong. Microstrategy: I never try to anticipate a correct answer. Why waste your time and energy anticipating a correct answer when GRE gives choices? There are thousands of ways in which you can correct a wrong sentence. Are we going to run all those scenarios w/o reading the answer choices? I think it is just inefficient use of your time. Food, Exercise, and Sleep: Food- We all have our own unique bio-chemical identities i.e. we all know what foods give us sustained release of energy w/o making us full. I think it is best to avoid processed food, caffeine (red bull), processed sugar during the exam. I carried simple food with me for exam. Exercise: There is tremendous body of evidence suggesting benefits of exercise on brain function. I almost never missed daily 30 min brisk walks. I used to listen to wordlist or math tables during those 30 min. Sleep: I think data on positive effect of sleep on brain function is quite conclusive too. Here is a great TED talk on neuroscience of sleep http://www.ted.com/talks/russell_foster_why_do_we_sleep if you are still not convinced. Consequently, I never cheated on sleep during my months of prep, however tempted I was. I’d highly recommend a 9-10 hours of sleep before the exam day. It is a long post so thanks for reading. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have for me. Good Luck!