Exam Conditions

[grekid]

Hello,

Could someone please shed some light on practise test taking conditions ? i.e do you go out to a library to take a test or at home ?

I work full time (I know tat's not an excuse) and I'm finding it exteremely hard to stay away from work distraction. Heck I locked my office phone at work. And voila they call my home phone and bug me in the middle of my exam. With all of this I'm not able to concentrate well enough. I know I can definitely incerase my score if I can focus, focus, focus!!

Also, do you guys take / recommend any specific drinks before the exam, whiskey ? Just kidding I know i read somewhere here that most of them prefer 5Hr energy and caffeine. Any recommendations / thoughts would be highly appreciated.

Many thanks.

[Rachel B]

I just took the test this morning!

I did all my studying at home, but the library (and your phone turned off) is also a really great place, especially if they have private study rooms.

I don't recommend any specific drinks. I made the mistake of drinking a whole bottle of powerade before the exam and Prometric is very strict about breaks!

Edited August 17, 2011 by Rachel B

[rainy_day]

I would really recommend that the day of the exam you eat and drink as you normally would. Have a cup of coffee if you normally do each morning, but don't have 3 extra cups b/c you'll just feel jittery and likely crash midway through the 4+ hour test.

[grekid]

Rainy_day and Rachel B - Thanks! One full bottle! oh boy!

I scheduled my test in the afternoon, just because I feel I'm more awake in the afternoon than morning. I'm not a morning person.

Rachel B - I'm assuming you to your test in Chicago ? I'm scheduled to take the test in downtown. Do you have any comments / suggestions with re: test center ? Hope you did well on your test.

Also, how many practice tests did you guys take leading up to the test ? I have purchased 800 score and Manhattan, I'm taking one test per week.I should also let you know that I'm terrible in quant (although improved a little).

[Rachel B]

Rainy_day and Rachel B - Thanks! One full bottle! oh boy!

I scheduled my test in the afternoon, just because I feel I'm more awake in the afternoon than morning. I'm not a morning person.

Rachel B - I'm assuming you to your test in Chicago ? I'm scheduled to take the test in downtown. Do you have any comments / suggestions with re: test center ? Hope you did well on your test.

Also, how many practice tests did you guys take leading up to the test ? I have purchased 800 score and Manhattan, I'm taking one test per week.I should also let you know that I'm terrible in quant (although improved a little).

I actually took my first test in Lombard and my second test (yesterday) up in Deerfield. I just didn't want to have to deal with any stressful city driving before the test!

I took a total of six practice tests before the actual exam: the two practice tests in my Princeton Review book, one practice test in my ETS book, and then one online test each from ETS, Princeton Review, and Kaplan. Seriously, utilize the free online tests, especially since they offer timed versions.

Also, I bombed the Q-section of the first exam (~40th percentile). The second time around I committed myself entirely to improving my Q-score since I'm going into a science program and I did rather well on the AW score of my first exam. Plus, it's way easier to study for the math part than the verbal since it's more likely that what you're studying will be on the actual test. I studied every single page of Princeton Review's Math section and I improved my score by 140-240 points. On top of that my V-score still improved, obviously not as much as my Q-score, but every little bit helps.

[grekid]

Thanks Rachel. I wish I knew there's a center in Deerfield / Lombard, that would've been fantastic for the same reason you've mentioned. I just looked up to see if I could reschedule - all centers are full until November.

I took a practise test today and I scored a pathetic 590 on Quant I have about a month to go, so quant will be my focus. I hope I'll improve my scores....

Good luck with your applications! All the best.

[dntw8up]

...I work full time (I know tat's not an excuse) and I'm finding it exteremely hard to stay away from work distraction. Heck I locked my office phone at work. And voila they call my home phone and bug me in the middle of my exam. With all of this I'm not able to concentrate well enough...

Unplug your home phone when you're taking a practice test.

[Rachel B]

Thanks Rachel. I wish I knew there's a center in Deerfield / Lombard, that would've been fantastic for the same reason you've mentioned. I just looked up to see if I could reschedule - all centers are full until November.

I took a practise test today and I scored a pathetic 590 on Quant I have about a month to go, so quant will be my focus. I hope I'll improve my scores....

Good luck with your applications! All the best.

It only looks like they're booked until November. I think the reason they block out all the other dates is because you have to wait 60 days to take the test again so when you go into your account the test finder knows when you're scheduled and won't show you any available dates until 60 days after. In fact, my test was scheduled at 11:30 a.m. yesterday and they actually called me at 9 a.m. saying they had an open seats at 10 a.m. and I could come in early if I wanted to. You might want to call ETS to see if Deerfield or Lombard has open spaces

[grekid]

Thanks Rachel, you rock! I called up prometric, they asked me to call back in a weeks time to see if something opens up in Deerfield. They are full on the dates I'm looking for.

[bdon19]

Rainy_day and Rachel B - Thanks! One full bottle! oh boy!

I scheduled my test in the afternoon, just because I feel I'm more awake in the afternoon than morning. I'm not a morning person.

Rachel B - I'm assuming you to your test in Chicago ? I'm scheduled to take the test in downtown. Do you have any comments / suggestions with re: test center ? Hope you did well on your test.

Also, how many practice tests did you guys take leading up to the test ? I have purchased 800 score and Manhattan, I'm taking one test per week.I should also let you know that I'm terrible in quant (although improved a little).

I took the GRE in Chicago this morning! (I'm so glad to have gotten it over with, too!) I commute downtown regularly for work, so I'm used to the train, but if you do have access to the Metra from wherever you live, it might be a less stressful option than driving into the city. The test center is only a 15-min or so walk from either Union Station or Ogilvie. Definitely show up a little early, though. It was hard waking up at 5:45 for the exam (I'm not a morning person, either), but worth it to get there a little early. There was a pretty long line when I got inside, but they're efficient and get you through quickly. There are a lot of security measures they take (you have to lock up all personal items, keep your ID with you at all times, get run over with one of those metal detector wands, turn out your pockets, etc.), but they're just routine. Unfortunately those kinds of things always freak me out more than they should--I get so scared I'll be unintentionally violating something! But it's really not a big deal. Because you're just set up at a computer, I found myself feeling less like it was a real test than I would have had it been set up in a classroom or something. It felt like just another practice test.

I didn't stress TOO much about test prep. I bought the Kaplan and Princeton Review books and then did the free ones (ETS PowerPrep, Kaplan, and Princeton) online. Personally, I don't think studying really does you all that much good, since you can memorize hundreds of vocab words and have only 2 of them show up on the test. Even though Quant doesn't matter a whole lot for my discipline (English lit), I brushed up on facts/formulas, etc, and ended up doing pretty darn well for someone who hasn't taken a math class in four years! But really, I think the best thing you can do is just familiarize yourself with the test format. Once you know exactly what kinds of questions you'll be facing (and the difference between squares and ovals), you already are saving yourself a ton of time. You know exactly how to approach each question, and I think that's really what the test prep books are best for. You can't cram info into your head overnight, but you can train yourself how to approach each kind of question you'll be given.

Oh yeah, and then there was that essay part. I didn't study for that at all. I felt like I did alright, but who knows? I wash my hands of it until November!!

[grekid]

Bdon19 - Thanks for the run down and inside scoop. I'll be better prepared when I arrive at the center. And yes, I'm planning to take the metra.

"I get so scared I'll be unintentionally violating something!" That happens with me all the time, good to know there are other who feel the same way

Question for you - Did you use the calculator at all in the exam ? The more I'm testing I feel like I'm wasting few minutes here and there using the cal. I mean I'm probably using it more than I should. Any thoughts ?

And were your scores close to what you anticipated / got on Powerprep ?

Good luck with your applications! All the best.