GRE stress

[Nessie]

Hi all,

I'm from the UK and am hoping to apply to a couple of US universities for a PhD starting 2011. BUT I haven't even looked in to taking the GRE yet (I've only just finished my MSc). Will there be enough time to study for them before the December deadlines (I've heard I'll have to take them about 4 weeks in advance) ? I was good at maths in school, but haven't studied it for 5 years and I think I'll need scores of around 700 to get into the schools I want. Any recommendations for study course/material would also be fabulous.

Cheers!

[newms]

Hi all,

I'm from the UK and am hoping to apply to a couple of US universities for a PhD starting 2011. BUT I haven't even looked in to taking the GRE yet (I've only just finished my MSc). Will there be enough time to study for them before the December deadlines (I've heard I'll have to take them about 4 weeks in advance) ? I was good at maths in school, but haven't studied it for 5 years and I think I'll need scores of around 700 to get into the schools I want. Any recommendations for study course/material would also be fabulous.

Cheers!

It really depends on your background. The Math sections is High School level maths, so if you were good at Maths in High school you should be fine - just take some time to go through the practice exam from ETS. If your back ground in Maths is fine I think you can take the exam towards the end of October and do quite well if you start practicing from now. The key to the GRE is really practice and the best practice resource is the practice test from GRE and the test booklet they send you - quite a few of the words I saw on the verbal part were in that booklet. All the best!

[db2290]

I'm also from the UK - it's probably post-GCSE maths to give you a reference point. It;s actually the verbal section that needs longer revision, in my view.

Good books I'm using: Kaplan, Barron's (particularly for word list)

Edited September 12, 2010 by db2290

[adaptations]

My suggestions is to take a diagnostic test (ETS offers one on their website) and see where you are starting from. Some people need more time on verbal, others on math. You should be able to see fairly significant results in six weeks of studying if you really apply yourself. There are plenty of resources to help you study, from the previously mentioned books to Princeton Review etc.

Best of luck.

[Nessie]

Thanks for the replies guys, all were very helpful!

I did a diagnostic test in the Barron's book and got 650V and 630Q before any studying, do you think 5 weeks is enough to get these up to 700ish? I guess this is a bit of a silly question as everyone's different, but I guess what I'm asking is how people have found their practice scores compare to their real ones and how much have people managed to improve upon them by studying?? Since I'm so short on time, I'll have to apply to my schools before i sit the test and i don't want to embarass myself/waste time by applying to good schools and then sending in terrible GRE scores if this is likely!! Hope this makes some sort of sense!

Cheers!

[newms]

Thanks for the replies guys, all were very helpful!

I did a diagnostic test in the Barron's book and got 650V and 630Q before any studying, do you think 5 weeks is enough to get these up to 700ish? I guess this is a bit of a silly question as everyone's different, but I guess what I'm asking is how people have found their practice scores compare to their real ones and how much have people managed to improve upon them by studying?? Since I'm so short on time, I'll have to apply to my schools before i sit the test and i don't want to embarass myself/waste time by applying to good schools and then sending in terrible GRE scores if this is likely!! Hope this makes some sort of sense!

Cheers!

I definitely think you can get your scores up to around 700ish with 5 weeks of prep time. Just get a good prep book, and make sure you go through the practice booklet from ETS and you should be fine.

[adaptations]

Five weeks should be enough time to see significant improvement - if you put in the time. My experience is that it is easier to increase your math score in a hurry, but that will vary for each person of course. Good luck!

[augustquail]

Thanks for the replies guys, all were very helpful!

I did a diagnostic test in the Barron's book and got 650V and 630Q before any studying, do you think 5 weeks is enough to get these up to 700ish? I guess this is a bit of a silly question as everyone's different, but I guess what I'm asking is how people have found their practice scores compare to their real ones and how much have people managed to improve upon them by studying?? Since I'm so short on time, I'll have to apply to my schools before i sit the test and i don't want to embarass myself/waste time by applying to good schools and then sending in terrible GRE scores if this is likely!! Hope this makes some sort of sense!

Cheers!

I the test thursday, so i will have only spent 5 weeks studying total. I took a princeton review practice test a week ago, did really terribly (like, below a 1200) and I took one yesterday after studying my weakness areas and got a combined score of 1300. So you definatley have enough time. If you can figure out what type of questions you get wrong, working on those is the most helpful. And studying vocab for the verbal is important too.

[Nessie]

Thanks guys, that's reassuring news! Now to get off the net and actually do some studying...

Good luck with your tests and thanks again!