wormwood_radiation

What score did you receive on the practice test? And what practice test did you take? (Barron's? Kaplan? PowerPrep?) I would recommend, if you haven't already, download the free PowerPrep software from ETS and taking the first CAT simulation practice test. Use that score to gauge your weaknesses. My major weakness was quantitative, after failing most rudimentary math courses through my entire high school career - and Barron's has been invaluable. Do the Math Review and as many practice questions as possible to both polish your skills and get into the mindset of "GRE Math" which is a fairly unique animal. Most problems will not require you to solve them "brute force" through protracted, painful calculations but to identify some sort of shortcut or trick within the numbers provided. Honestly, if I had to recommend one GRE prep book, it would be Barron's. The word lists - both the "hit parade" of high frequency vocabulary, and extensive alphabetical or themed word lists will be incredibly helpful to you if you're studying on a tight schedule. The quantitative review was excellent - dividing the sections into specific question types (Quantitative Comparison, Data Interp, etc) or by type of math (geometry, number theory, probability, etc). The practice tests that come with Barron's, however, are not the best reflection of the actual exam (as far as I know) but that is what the PowerPrep software is for. I take the GRE in 3 days, and of the $200 I spent on various GRE materials, I wish that I only bought the Barron's book. Take my advice with a grain of salt, however - I can't be 100% certain how prepared I am until I take this damn thing. I'll post an update once I finish the exam with additional thoughts.

Thank you for all the responses! Now I'm hoping for an identified experimental section at this point.

For any of you who took the GRE recently (last few months), what was your experience as far as the experimental sections? Was it identified or unidentified? Did you get a second quantitative or a second verbal? Did you find it overwhelming, or that it adversely affected your concentration/mental stamina? I'm particularly bad at math, though the last two months of intense studying have managed to get my practice scores in the 700 range. I'm worried that I'd be unprepared for the surprise and additional intensity caused by an unidentified quantitative section. If it has been common for recent test-takers to get an additional quantitative section, I'll probably just start adding another quantitative section to my practice sessions. Second, did you find the difficulty/structure of the quantitative section to be comparable to the Powerprep? I have heard mixed accounts of the actual GRE quantitative questions being more "tricky" or convoluted. If this is the case, which test prep company offered more representative questions? I've been studying from Kaplan, Barron's and the Powerprep software. I'm taking the GRE in two and a half weeks, and just trying to fine tune to the actual GRE and correct minor performance issues. Thanks in advance!