GRE Study Methods

[justacigar]

For those of you who have done well on the GRE, what study materials did you use? Especially those of you who have retaken the test and done better. My old scores are expiring this year (nooooo!) and I would definitely love to improve in all areas. 

I am trying to channel my nervous energy about likely rejections into something useful, like preparing to do this all. over. again. 

[Mickey26]

Hey  

So as a Psych major, I haven't done math ever since High School. I really liked Magoosh (you can do a free trial, or google for a discount code, there's so many out there); it was especially helpful with the math as it basically re-teaches you all the math you need! Magoosh also has a number of free resources you can google. For example: http://magoosh.resources.s3.amazonaws.com/Magoosh-GRE-Vocab-eBook.pdf

I also highly recommend you download the Magoosh GRE flash card app for your phone (free!)--I find this was more helpful than the Magoosh GRE Vocabulary Builder which was multiple choice. 

Buy: any edition of the official ETS GRE Guide. Made by the test makers, and any edition will do as they don't really change the question much.

 

I found that the Kaplan books were kinda meh from my experience. Their tests also seemed too easy compared to the real GRE.

 

Best of luck!  

Edited January 8, 2019 by Mickey26
Spelling, my bad haha

[RTIAssessmentsandIEPsOhmy]

My scores expired 4 years ago, so I am in the same boat. Previously I studied using Kaplan and got a 160 V, however, I did terrible on the Q (149). Since I have to retake anyway, I would love tips to improve my Q.

[huskypsych]

If you also happen to be in need of a side job - Kaplan is always hiring ACT/SAT tutors and if you work for them you get access to all of their materials (books, lectures, online resources) for all of the tests they offer (even the ones you don't teach) for free. Super situational but that's what I did. 

[dakotaS]

I mostly used Magoosh. I would recommend taking as many practice tests as possible. 

My scores are:

V: 156 - 73rd percentile

Q: 155 - 58th percentile

AW: 4.5 - 82nd percentile

I'm not sure how good you consider those. I could reach 160 on both but my scores are the average for the program I am applying to and I don't want to pay another $205 ?

[dancedementia]

I basically brute forced all of Magoosh's math problems a week before the exam, haha. I didn't study at all for verbal or writing. My scores were 168V / 163Q / 5.5AW. My starting scores were in the mid-150's so I was very happy. The GRE questions felt much easier than Magoosh's, so I had a boost of confidence during the exam which definitely helped with my performance.

Edited January 8, 2019 by dancedementia

[psykick]

The ETS website always has two free full length practice tests and other free materials such as a comprehensive bank of writing section prompts (https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare) which I used to supplement Princeton Review materials. I practiced outlining answers to those prompts for like 10 minutes a day for about a week, and felt solidly prepared to remember some of the examples I used. My score in Writing improved by 2 points!

Princeton Review can be really costly (I was lucky to have it provided through a summer program), so more specifically I'd recommend its online component. It's useful, allows you to hone specific skills, and has more practice tests/sample questions than I thought possible.

A free and low-key vocal review resource is the VictorPrep podcast http://victorprep.com. It's fairly short (11-20min) and reviews about 4-6 words per episode with a review of 40+ words every few episodes. It's nice to listen to in the shower, on a commute, or simply while doing another "mindless" activity. I can't recommend it enough.

As a side note, Take practice tests in an environment as close to the real one as possible. That means clearing the table, turning off your phone, and once you schedule a test date, taking them at the time you will then. Doing practice tests at 8AM with no distractions was Trash INC.,  but I sure as hell was used to it by the time I was in the actual room.

-

[justacigar]

24 minutes ago, dakotaS said:

I mostly used Magoosh. I would recommend taking as many practice tests as possible. 

My scores are:

V: 156 - 73rd percentile

Q: 155 - 58th percentile

AW: 4.5 - 82nd percentile

I'm not sure how good you consider those. I could reach 160 on both but my scores are the average for the program I am applying to and I don't want to pay another $205 ?

Wow these are almost identical to my scores! I considered mine to be somewhat competitive and really wish they weren't expiring  my worst fear is that I'll retake and do worse than the first time

[justacigar]

@Mickey26 Thanks for the tips! I used Kaplan the first time around and did not find the material to be very helpful. I just ordered the ETS prep book so hopefully that one will be better. I'm just terrible at studying and can usually pull okay scores out of my ass but really need to do well!

[justacigar]

23 minutes ago, dancedementia said:

I basically brute forced all of Magoosh's math problems a week before the exam, haha. I didn't study at all for verbal or writing. My scores were 168V / 163Q / 5.5AW. My starting scores were in the mid-150's so I was very happy. The GRE questions felt much easier than Magoosh's, so I had a boost of confidence during the exam which definitely helped with my performance.

I'm worried mostly for the Q. I am stellar at stats but the math they have on the GRE is BRUTAL. Like, I don't remember how to do math from 8th grade lol. Those scores are beautiful :')

[dancedementia]

2 minutes ago, justacigar said:

I'm worried mostly for the Q. I am stellar at stats but the math they have on the GRE is BRUTAL. Like, I don't remember how to do math from 8th grade lol. Those scores are beautiful :')

Same haha. Geometry and probability killed me. I like Magoosh you can customize your study (e.g. choose from different areas, difficulties, question types), and each question has both a written out explanation and a video explanation (for those who are more audio/visual learners vs. verbal/written).

[justacigar]

2 minutes ago, dancedementia said:

Same haha. Geometry and probability killed me. I like Magoosh you can customize your study (e.g. choose from different areas, difficulties, question types), and each question has both a written out explanation and a video explanation (for those who are more audio/visual learners vs. verbal/written).

Thank you so much for the feedback! I'm going to look into those for sure. 

[Mickey26]

4 minutes ago, justacigar said:

@Mickey26 Thanks for the tips! I used Kaplan the first time around and did not find the material to be very helpful. I just ordered the ETS prep book so hopefully that one will be better. I'm just terrible at studying and can usually pull okay scores out of my ass but really need to do well!

 I think the best tip anyone has ever given me is to always ensure you have time to take it twice! I didn't plan on taking it twice, but I am SO glad I did! I credit Magoosh for the improved scores!

First time:

V: 156 - 73rd percentile

Q: 151 - 42nd percentile

AW: 4.5 - 82nd percentile

Second time:

V: 161 - 88th percentile

Q: 158 - 58th percentile

AW: 5.0- 92nd percentile

[Noegenesis]

Official ETS practice tests and AWA prompt bank > Magoosh + free practice tests from reputable vendors > Manhattan's 5 lb. practice problems

[Temperance]

As a note, if you use Manhattan Prep's 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems, then don't pay their Verbal Reasoning section much mind.  Their Quantitative Reasoning questions are, however, excellent.

If you need to take the GRE Psychology Test, then an introductory psychology textbook is sufficient.  I used the one published for free by OpenStax and did very well on the test.  The practice test that ETS provided was, in my case, a fairly accurate estimate of how I did on the real test.  On the other hand, the Kaplan book for it was lacking, to say the least.

[Bopie5]

On 1/8/2019 at 2:08 PM, psykick said:

The ETS website always has two free full length practice tests and other free materials such as a comprehensive bank of writing section prompts (https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare)

^^^ I second this. I took both the free full length practice tests, supplemented them with a free 1000 word+ deck of vocab that I found online to prep for the verbal, and ended up with a 168V / 159Q / 6.0AW on my first try of the test. I actually did better on the actual GRE than I did on either of the two practice tests. And reading ETS's free material on the AW section carefully and repeatedly helped me a lot!

[solmate95]

I personally completed the ETS official general guide, ETS verbal practice questions, and ETS quant practice questions (3 separate books) in 3 weeks. My scores went from 161V/161Q without studying to 164V/166Q with the books. I also went through 100~300 words per day on the Magoosh app. Long live Magoosh!

[upsy]

I've always read a lot and liked arcane vocab, so I wasn't worried about verbal. Without studying, I got 170s and the occasional 169 on practice tests for verbal, so I didn't study for it. Quant was my main focus. My initial practice test scores were in the high 150s. I studied the ETS guide and the ETS practice quant, which moved be over the 160 hump. I got 161Q on my first test. I got the Manhattan 5lb prep book and studied around 30min-1hr/day (more on weekends) for another month, getting my practice test scores up to 164Q at the highest. On the actual test, I got 163Q. I felt if I had managed my time slightly better I may have been able to get 164Q, but I didn't want to sit the test for a third time when I felt at the absolute best I'd be getting 1 more point. It sounds like I should have tried Magoosh!

[GradAppl5]

I studied quantitative reasoning from Manhattan's strategy guides and the 5 lb prep book over a period of three weeks, while also solving problems from ETS' official guides and practice tests. It definitely helped since I managed to score 166 there!

As for verbal, I flipped through Magoosh flashcards once a day for almost two weeks. My score was 160, which I think could have definitely been improved with more comprehensive reading. 

Edited February 16, 2019 by GradAppl5