GRE advice

[miss_liza_ann]

I need some advice about retaking the GRE. I was hoping to be accepted and not need to retake it, but that did not work out. I was frustrated with my testing experience. I prepped as much as I could for several months before the test despite dealing with personal issues and being a caregiver to a relative at home who passed away last fall.

My Verbal score was 141, Quant 142 and AW 3.0. Note, that was my first attempt at taking the test.

When I took the verbal section, I remember accidentally skipping at least 5 questions and could not go back to finish them. ?

I studied from the ETS books but I took the test feeling unprepared with how difficult it actually was. 

Is Magoosh really as beneficial as a lot of people made it out to be? I'm kind of stumped as to how to study for it again.

Any advice would be amazing! Thanks

[Rezzy S.]

30 minutes ago, libbyyehca said:

I need some advice about retaking the GRE. I was hoping to be accepted and not need to retake it, but that did not work out. I was frustrated with my testing experience. I prepped as much as I could for several months before the test despite dealing with personal issues and being a caregiver to a relative at home who passed away last fall.

My Verbal score was 141, Quant 142 and AW 3.0. Note, that was my first attempt at taking the test.

When I took the verbal section, I remember accidentally skipping at least 5 questions and could not go back to finish them. ?

I studied from the ETS books but I took the test feeling unprepared with how difficult it actually was. 

Is Magoosh really as beneficial as a lot of people made it out to be? I'm kind of stumped as to how to study for it again.

Any advice would be amazing! Thanks

I used two books and studied for 4 months which helped me do better than i had any right to because I hadn’t taken a math class in over 9 years. Get the Princeton review book to learn the concepts, tricks, and test taking strategies (these are important!). Then to actually practice, get the 5 lb. book of GRE questions and practice, practice, practice. If anything is still fuzzy, I reccommend just free videos you can get on youtube. The other thing I would do is find the biggest set of GRE vocab words on Quizlet and study them every day.

I think the only thing that may be worth paying a little more for or asking a friend for would be one on one help with writing. The strategies in the book are really helpful, but feedback is really important in improving writing. Good luck!!!

Edited April 23, 2019 by Rezzy S.

[VS-SLP2B]

50 minutes ago, libbyyehca said:

I need some advice about retaking the GRE. I was hoping to be accepted and not need to retake it, but that did not work out. I was frustrated with my testing experience. I prepped as much as I could for several months before the test despite dealing with personal issues and being a caregiver to a relative at home who passed away last fall.

My Verbal score was 141, Quant 142 and AW 3.0. Note, that was my first attempt at taking the test.

When I took the verbal section, I remember accidentally skipping at least 5 questions and could not go back to finish them. ?

I studied from the ETS books but I took the test feeling unprepared with how difficult it actually was. 

Is Magoosh really as beneficial as a lot of people made it out to be? I'm kind of stumped as to how to study for it again.

Any advice would be amazing! Thanks 

I bought the 5lb. book of GRE questions and while I didn’t use it too much it was definitely good practice. I think I also had bought the GRE Prep book for 2018. This is the book I used the most for studying. 

To help for the math portion I watched videos on Khan Academy. It was beneficial for me as math is without a doubt my biggest weakness. 

I also downloaded the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards app. About any free time I had like my commute to work was spent on the app. If I remember correctly it keeps track of which ones you got right and which ones you got wrong. I think this definitely helped my verbal score. 

While you’ve already taken the test I don’t think it would hurt to maybe take a practice test again just to refresh your memory of what to expect. 

I hope this helps!! Best of luck! 

[Ecstatic!]

I took a Kaplan course which was expensive but worth it, especially as I had been out of school for a long time so I needed the extra support. I had signed up for Magoosh but personally I found that I had to go back and learn some basics from Khan Academy before I was able to grasp their material. From my past research, Magoosh has excellent reviews and is known to be one of the best test prep options out there - I just did not get back to it to find out how good as Kaplan kept me busy all the way through until I received my acceptance. If I had your scores, I would start off Magoosh as it's highly rated and inexpensive. Good luck.

[TMA008]

I bought the 6 month magoosh GRE prep and found it extremely helpful. I'm not a strong standardized test taker and it really helped me. I studied for about 3 months off and on and the final month I studied quite a bit. I definitely could have studied more, but even with that little amount of prep I was able to score 152 V, 153 Q, and 4.0 W. Not the most amazing score but definitely fine when applying to grad school. The questions from magoosh are super similar to those on the GRE if not a little bit harder. It also gives you projected scores, and my ultimate GRE scores were exactly what magoosh predicted. If you are able to afford it I would 100% recommend magoosh. It's almost fool proof and does all the work of creating a study plan and coming up with study questions for you. Also the complete breakdown of each question in written as well as video form is super helpful. 

[swimbikespeech]

I hope this doesn't sound absurd, but being in a better place personally right now might be all you need. I know what it's like to be that caretaker and how much of a toll it can take on you. Why not try again now, and see where you are? I did not study for the GRE and was just in the right "zone" when I took it. It might go better this time without having to do much ore prep.

[Laurenf131]

I also did Magoosh and found it extremely helpful! Not only do they have 1200+ practice questions and multiple full-length, timed tests, but every question has a video and text explanation of the answer so you can learn from your mistakes. I studied for about a month or month a half before the test and my scores went up dramatically from my practice test. I found their practice questions to be very close to the style and difficulty of the actual GRE. Magoosh gives you estimates on your scores based on your performance on the practice questions too. I personally used the math instructional videos and the test-taking tips and tricks videos the most. If I hadn't used Magoosh, I probably would've had to take it twice because I wouldn't have done as well the first time I took it. For that reason alone, I think it was worth the price. I think my GRE scores, boosted by my practice with Magoosh, helped me get into grad school. 10/10 would recommend, even if you just do the three-month instead of the six-month.

[mel16j]

On 4/23/2019 at 7:04 PM, libbyyehca said:

I need some advice about retaking the GRE. I was hoping to be accepted and not need to retake it, but that did not work out. I was frustrated with my testing experience. I prepped as much as I could for several months before the test despite dealing with personal issues and being a caregiver to a relative at home who passed away last fall.

My Verbal score was 141, Quant 142 and AW 3.0. Note, that was my first attempt at taking the test.

When I took the verbal section, I remember accidentally skipping at least 5 questions and could not go back to finish them. ?

I studied from the ETS books but I took the test feeling unprepared with how difficult it actually was. 

Is Magoosh really as beneficial as a lot of people made it out to be? I'm kind of stumped as to how to study for it again.

Any advice would be amazing! Thanks

I highly recommend Magoosh! Its a little pricey, but if you can catch it when they are having a sale, I saved a ton! And raised my score by more than 5 points the second time around. The first time I only used Manhattan Prep study book set. 

You could also use the 5 lb practice book, find some free practice tests online (I think ETS website even has some) and phone apps for vocabulary. Be persistent and dont give up! Good luck  

[BioCook]

I found Magoosh to be very helpful. That's all I used throughout my GRE prep.

[KendallSLPA]

I second everyone else’s advice. Magoosh is what I used, although my test scores weren’t great, I studied with Magoosh on and off and was still able to improve my scores from the first time. I managed to be accepted to all the 3 schools I applied to. 

[14SLP14]

I used a lot of the websites free practice tests. Every site has a free one or multiple. Kaplan, Magoosh, princeton, review, manhattan review, and ETS.  That way you don't have to pay but they can analyze your results and tell you where you need to improve. I also found it helpful to just get used to taking such a long test, get used to the types of questions, and build the stamina. I also used the free magoosh vocabulary app! It's really helpful and you can verse other people which makes it competitive and fun! I used this app after I took the GRE a first time! I used it a bit everyday and increased my verbal score by 5 points! I also used the Kaplan book which was really helpful. If you're short on time there's also a princeton review GRE crashcourse book that still has a lot of helpful info!

[hopefulfuturespeechie]

I tried Magoosh, but found it not super helpful. I ended up going through Kaplan it was super expensive, but the teachers were really helpful!