GRE Round 2: What to Expect?

[dlb89]

Hello all,

I wrote the GRE last summer and didn't receive a particularly stellar score. I'm back at it again and will be writing it for the second time in just under a month.

For those of you who've written the GRE more than once, what was your experience with the second (or third, fourth, and I hope for no one, fifth!) time? My main issue the first time around was that I was horribly nervous and ended up getting quite physically ill pre-, during, and post-exam (you don't want to know, haha).

Thanks in advance! I appreciate any insights you can provide me with :-)

[I/O The Derry-O]

Hello all,

I wrote the GRE last summer and didn't receive a particularly stellar score. I'm back at it again and will be writing it for the second time in just under a month.

For those of you who've written the GRE more than once, what was your experience with the second (or third, fourth, and I hope for no one, fifth!) time? My main issue the first time around was that I was horribly nervous and ended up getting quite physically ill pre-, during, and post-exam (you don't want to know, haha).

Thanks in advance! I appreciate any insights you can provide me with :-)

I just took the GRE for my 2nd time yesterday. I took it once last summer and wasn't satisfied with my verbal score. I found that it was much more manageable the second time. I already knew what kind of questions to expect and this time I prepared two weeks in advance. I would say that it can't hurt to take the test again, but I would not recommend going into it unprepared. After all, its quite a large gamble ($160 to be exact) to risk not doing any preparation. I improved my verbal by 110 points. go for it! Just be confident and prepare!

[dlb89]

Thanks for the reply! Glad to hear you did better this time around...a 110 point increase is great.

I'm spending about 2-3 hours each day prepping, mainly focusing on increasing my verbal score and secondarily on my quant score (I'm in anthropology...they don't care too much about quant).

I just took the GRE for my 2nd time yesterday. I took it once last summer and wasn't satisfied with my verbal score. I found that it was much more manageable the second time. I already knew what kind of questions to expect and this time I prepared two weeks in advance. I would say that it can't hurt to take the test again, but I would not recommend going into it unprepared. After all, its quite a large gamble ($160 to be exact) to risk not doing any preparation. I improved my verbal by 110 points. go for it! Just be confident and prepare!

[Mal83]

I took the GRE twice. I experienced something similar to you my first time in that the night before I was checking the ETS website one last time to make sure I had everything that I'd need to be able to start the test, like ID, confirmation, and directions to the test site, while doing this I came across their rules for being letting in. I realized that I had not put my middle name in while registering for the test, but it's on my driver's license and every other form of ID I have. I'm just not used to using it so I didn't think twice while registering without it a month prior. But the rules said that the name on your ID must match EXACTLY the name you used to register, if not you won't be let in to take the test. Well, I basically freaked out when I saw on my confirmation that I didn't put in my middle name. I mean I freaked. My parents were telling me it's no big deal, that's not something that they'd turn me away for...I really tried to believe that, but what did they know? I couldn't get over it, I spent 4 months preparing for this and I might not be able to do it because I made some moronic mistake. I could not stop thinking about the possibility of not being let in the next morning, it totally consumed me. I had anticipated just relaxing that night after months of preping. I had to be up at around 5:30am to get there on time, I could not sleep at all, I searched the internet to see if anyone has posted something similar, I just kept turning it over in my head, I beat myself up pretty bad. Didn't fall asleep until around 12, woke up at 3:30, I was loosing it. $160 and I was also working at the time so I needed a Saturday test day, not too many of those. So I just decided to go with it and see what happens. I went there and you know what happened? Absolutely nothing, I got in just fine, even started the test early. After the flood of relief wore off though, I was exhausted. I only got through like half an hour before realizing I could barely focus. 3 hours of sleep and nothing but worry for an absolutely insane reason cost me big time. My score was dismal across the board. I was beside myself. I had to take it again or I wasn't going anywhere. I did it about 6 weeks later, I didn't study much, I figured I had done enough and I just wanted to get it over with. A few days before I had gotten back into it to refresh but that's it. Instead of going there terrified I went in like I owned the place. I took it at the same place at a later time of day. So I knew exactly what to expect which of course took some of the pressure off. I literally gave the computer a big "F You!" before I started and I ended up doing Ok enough for me to be satisfied that I'd get accepted somewhere. As in a 220 point combined increase and a whole point increase in the writing section. So it's very easy to say to not let the nerves get the best of you but I realized that you'll do better if you go in at least trying not to be nervous...in a sort of "show that test who's boss" kind of way.

Edited June 26, 2011 by Mal83

[starmaker]

I've taken it twice, but the first time was five years ago and for an entirely different set of applications, so the second time wasn't really a retake.

I did do a lot better the second time (100-point difference), although I didn't do badly either time. The first time, I had done plenty of practice on paper and in non-adaptive computer format, but I'd never taken an adaptive test before. I psyched myself out during the actual test - panicking about taking too much time on individual questions, convinced that the test had decided that I was stupid every time I got a question that seemed easy. This time, my practice tests were computer-adaptive. So I learned not to freak out about performance in the middle of the test, and that what I think is easy or hard is not always what the GRE thinks is easy or hard, and that my natural pacing skills were pretty good and I should trust them. So I was a lot less anxious.

Edited June 28, 2011 by starmaker