From 450 to 600, What would you do?

[Mocha001]

I want to improve my verbal score. I got 450 which was quite bad even though I am not a native speaker.

Now, I am planning to retake it in January. I have about 2months and half to prepare.

What would you do if you were me?

Should I just focus on vocab?

I do not think I have enough time to improve reading score. The bottom line, I want to score 550-600.

Or just keep doing practice tests????

[JoeySsance]

[Bukharan]

Practice tests are not really of much help for *significantly* improving verbal, I think.

Study vocabulary. Have lists with hundreds of words and drill them. By heart. Every day until January. You will definitely improve your score then!

[Mocha001]

I did numbers of practice tests and this is still the result I got.

I took ETS's prep tests and I scored around 550- 600. But, again, the real test was a lot harder than I thought.

There is no way I can memorize 3500 words completely. So I am thinking about studying Barron's 800 words completely

and then, I should study FISKE book. I am not sure how much I can do, but it is better than nothing.

I had studied words over 10 months. Unfortunately, I was overwhelmed and those words did not stay in my brain so long.

Now, I need to focus on particular parts and work strategically.

Oh, And also I want improve my writing score from 3.5 to 4.5 or 5.0.

Any suggestions? Just practice writing??

[JoeySsance]

For the writing, read sample essays that earned top scores and try to structure your ideas using those as examples. I've found it helpful to look at a bunch of prompts and just outline how I would write the essays. What would be my main position or point? What evidence would I cite? What are some of the underlying assumptions? etc. etc. I'm way too lazy to make myself actually write full timed essays (which is a very bad study habit) but at least it's better than ignoring the essay section altogether. Check out ETS's pool of essay prompts. You've definitely got a bit of time between now and January. Maybe look at 5 a day and make quick outlines for how you would write them. Perhaps you'll see your organization skills improve and at some point you might want to make yourself write some of the essays. I'm sure someone on GC wouldn't mind checking them out for you so you have an outside opinion. Touch base with me and if I'm not particularly busy when you do, I'd be delighted to help you out. Let me know!

As for the merit of taking practice tests, I've been working on a lot of old verbal sections. I find that they help me get used to the question types and to ameliorate my skills in certain areas. What I do is I keep a post-it note around and jot down words I come across on the practice tests that I don't know or can't remember and I look them up later and do my best to commit them to memory (through online flashcards and the like). While you may not pick up a whole ton of new words this way, it's certainly worth considering, if anything because it's good general practice. As for learning new words, yes, do check out the Fiske book. Barron's 800 Words is a good book too, especially with its chapters on roots.

Here's a neat download where I found 27 old ETS-administered GREs. It just contains the Verbal sections, but that seems to be the area you want to practice the most. Between now and my exam (which is coming up really soon), my goal is to finish going through these and noting words or analogies that give me difficulty.

Check it out and let me know what you think: http://noteshelp4u.blogspot.com/2009/09/gre-big-book-check-your-prepration.html

Note that these are obviously in the paper-based format. You'll definitely want to supplement this practice with PowerPrep, ManhattanGRE's free CAT exam (http://www.manhattangre.com), maybe Princeton Review's CAT exam (http://www.princetonreview.com/grad/free-gre-practice-test.aspx)... basically as much free (but reliable) CAT practice as you can get between now and your test date.

Sorry if my ideas appear somewhat desultory. I was just writing down tips as they came to me. Good luck!

[history_PhD]

For verbal, either make note cards or buy them. The ones by Barron and Kaplan are both very good. Go through all of them and find the words you don't know. Drill every day. This is what I tried to do. Good luck!

[JoeySsance]

Here's a neat download where I found 27 old ETS-administered GREs. It just contains the Verbal sections, but that seems to be the area you want to practice the most. Between now and my exam (which is coming up really soon), my goal is to finish going through these and noting words or analogies that give me difficulty.

Check it out and let me know what you think: http://noteshelp4u.b...prepration.html

Note that these are obviously in the paper-based format. You'll definitely want to supplement this practice with PowerPrep, ManhattanGRE's free CAT exam (http://www.manhattangre.com), maybe Princeton Review's CAT exam (http://www.princeton...ctice-test.aspx)... basically as much free (but reliable) CAT practice as you can get between now and your test date.

Sorry if my ideas appear somewhat desultory. I was just writing down tips as they came to me. Good luck!

Hey everyone. I just thought I'd make a quick note of something important. I've noticed people have downloaded the old verbal sections I provided. (You're welcome, by the way) It's worth noting that these are from when the exam used to include the Analytical section (not the essay but the multiple-choice version with logic games and argument analysis). As I said earlier, you'll definitely want to supplement these with some CAT-practice, not only to become familiar with the CAT-format but also to practice more recent questions. You should be aware that a handful of the questions in that plethora of verbal sections are NOT at all like questions you would see today. To see what I mean, you should check out ETS's free guide online (http://www.ets.org/s...actice_book.pdf <-- The verbal sections in that booklet are identical to those in Test 1 of the download verbal sections I provided). In ETS's booklet, such questions are marked with asterisks (pay close attention to the kinds of questions it deems invalid). Who knows how many more of such invalid questions types are to be found in the other verbal sections. Since there are 54 verbal sections total in the download I provided, there's a chance a fair chunk of the material is of no use (and might only confuse and frustrate you). Furthermore, it will be distributed throughout all of those sections and will not be marked with asterisks; just be aware of that. Obviously, you should use your best judgment. Invalid questions may come in the form of analogies whose bridges seem to have the most tenuous connection to the answer choices or reading passages from genres you would never see in today's GRE.

By the way, I'd like to know that my posts on this site are helping people, so please say so! I hate when people silently and ungratefully pilfer... I have so many other neat, free review resources that I'd be happy to share, but I'm starting to wonder whether GC is really the place to do so...

Edited November 13, 2010 by JoeySsance

[Hatem]

Hi JoeySsance,

Thank you for your help and for sharing those valuable information with us.

I wonder if we should rely on "old" materials for preparing for the GRE.I myself decided to purchase new versions of the popular GRE prep.books as Barron's and Kaplan.Actually I am afraid that old versions of those books may contain unnecessary questions/exercises.Although I am an international applicant and many of these books cost me a lot of money but I decided to go for it.

[JoeySsance]

You're welcome, Hatem! I'm really glad you found them useful.

The last thing I wish to convey is any semblance of wounded sanctimony. I just thought of this place as a cool community where people share resources and acknowledge the help they get (as you have). It probably takes a few seconds to type out "thank you" (a fraction of the time it took someone to photocopy all 54 of those verbal sections people have been taking for granted).

[augustquail]

I want to improve my verbal score. I got 450 which was quite bad even though I am not a native speaker.

Now, I am planning to retake it in January. I have about 2months and half to prepare.

What would you do if you were me?

Should I just focus on vocab?

I do not think I have enough time to improve reading score. The bottom line, I want to score 550-600.

Or just keep doing practice tests????

Practice tests can be very useful, if you pay attention to the results. If you take a princeton review practice test (you get 2 free online ones when you buy the review book), when you click on 'review results' there is an option that lets you see the percentage of each *type* of question that you got right. Take that practice test, and then look at these results. Whatever is your lowest percentage, focus on that (though you should always study vocab).

What I did to study vocab was to, over the course of a month or two, write down any word I read that I didn't know, or couldn't define clearly. I bought to gre review books, and I went through all of their vocab lists (like thousands of words) to find the one's i didn't now. Then I compiled all of these words into a word doc, with the definitions, and quizzed myself. The last week, I made a stack of about 100 words that were on the list that were either very likely to appear, or that I had a lot of difficultly remembering.

There was only one antonym question I had to guess at, and I guessed it right, so this stuyding method definately helped me. I've always had a pretty good vocab, but I would have gotten 5 or 6 questions from if I hadn't studied more vocab.

[anonacademic]

By the way, I'd like to know that my posts on this site are helping people, so please say so! I hate when people silently and ungratefully pilfer... I have so many other neat, free review resources that I'd be happy to share, but I'm starting to wonder whether GC is really the place to do so...

Hear, hear! Thank you, JS (although - unfortunately! - I have already taken the GRE and so cannot apply your GRE advice). I've noticed the same problem - not with my field-specific board, but out in the general stream of things. It's unfortunate.

Getting back to the topic: My advice is flashcards. Those that you write out (I find just the process of writing them helps me remember). Then you must keep drilling yourself all the time - on the elevator, during commercials, on the toilet - whatever it takes

When I've taken foreign language courses, I used an extended version of this strategy, which was very helpful despite the fact that I seem particularly inept at other languages, living and dead. After the flashcards, I would quiz myself again and again on groups of ten or twenty, which forced me to write them down again and again and make sure that I knew (as opposed to "kinda knew") the specific definition and application of each.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Chumlee

[JoeySsance]

Here's some fun procrastination that might help you build the vocabulary you need to increase your verbal skills:

This is an open invitation to any and all who are currently preparing to take/retake the GRE as well as to all those vocab junkies out there!

[Mocha001]

I have been studying 30 chapters on Friske word power. It has been great! How is everyone doing?

I am actually bad at sentence completion than analogy or antonym.

[A2011]

I would not just do practice tests. To go from a 450 to a 600 you want to spend the first 1/2 to 2/3's of the time you have on learning the material. I recommend ordering (rush delivery) Kaplan's 500 GRE flashcards. If you drive a lot, I would supplement it with GRE Vocab CD's - http://www.amazon.com/GRE-Vocabulary-AudioLearn/dp/1592620086/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1290313792&sr=8-4 - Amazon says it takes a couple of months to ship it, so buy a used one on there. The woman who reads the words butchers the pronunciations of some of them, but since its a written test it will not matter.

I would probably do the online version of Kaplan's course and/or get a tutor if you are not too strapped for funds. There is just no getting around being comfortable with the vast majority of the 500 words on those Kaplan flashcards. As far as reading comprehension, if the Kaplan strategies for reading comprehension do not work for you (they did not for me), I recommend www.kingofreading.com. Learn first, then hit it hard with the practice. tests. As far as the quantiative section, it depends what your current score is vs. what score will get you into your target schools. My advice - do not take any section for granted. If verbal is the tough section devote most of your time to it, but do not ignore anything. I recommend studying an average of four hours a day if possible, or at least two hours a day, until you start getting closer to the scores you want on practice tests.

A final word about practice tests. The only practice tests that, I think, are worth anything are the actual Computer Adaptive Tests (CAT's) because that is what it is like on test day. Make sure you do your two essays first, like on the real test because you have to get yourself used to the draining experience of doing that and THEN doing the Verbal and Quant sections.

[warpspeed]

Also, take a practice test (I liked princeton reviews that came with their book) that breaks down your answers into question types. For me, I was getting all my sentence completions right from the beginning so there was no need to waste time on those studying. Study vocabs, bridges and how to read for answers. Also, it should be worth noting that a lot of time you generally just do better the second time a round. I brought my score up 90 pts in verbal without studying almost at all. And a 120 in math. Just by focusing on how I was taking the test and not the material.

[Mocha001]

Thank you so much. I am planning to retake it in the middle of January. So one and half months now.

I am focusing on vocab right now and planning to do some prep tests.

[Mocha001]

Do you know any good websites about GRE words based on meaning?