New vs. Old GRE

[apoc64]

I am planning to enter a history program in the fall of 2012.  I was planning on taking the GRE in 2011 but I just learned of the new changes - http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/know   When I took the diagnostic test in Barron's GRE 18th ed, I got a 500 verbal, much lower than I hoped for.  I did well on reading comprehension and sentence completion, but bombed analogies and antonyms.  However, after reviewing the vocab and other test material, I got a 700 V on the next practice test.

The new test seems geared to my strengths and the sample questions online seemed easy to me.  However, there are more study guides and advice available for the old one, and it seems like the kind of test where studying really helps.  Also, I would also like to get it over with sooner.  The new test doesn't start until August 1st, 2011.  Does anyone have any thoughts on which one I should take?

[JustChill]

As I'm sure you realize, your verbal score is pretty important for history PhD applications. A lot of my friends -- and I too -- underestimated the GRE based on some practice tests we took, on which we always scored well. Once it came to the real thing, almost all of us scored lower than we had in practice runs.

I can't comment on which GRE would be "better" for you to take, but which ever you choose, I recommend you spend a good deal of time memorizing those pesky vocab. That will help your analogies problems a lot. Depending on what caliber history programs you are aiming for, you'll usually be expected to score above 700 to be competitive.