People who have taken the GRE: Did you take it once for 'practice' just to get the experience?

[jilly11]

Hi,

Did you find it beneficial?

If you haven't taken the GRE yet - would you consider doing this?

Thanks!

Jilly

[Lox26]

Hi Jilly,

I am taking the GRE next month because of the incentive (50% off registration). I suppose that is "for practice," as I was not planning to take the exam for some time. That said, once I decided to test in September, I began studying to attain the highest score possible. If by practice you mean thoroughly prepping to see you fare before you'll need to take it (i.e., right before application deadlines), I think that is a good thing. Best of luck!

[Immuno]

I took the powerprep practice tests "for practice." They are extremely accurate as to the level of difficulty that you will see on test day. My scores on the practice tests matched up almost exactly with my scores on the real thing (of course, I took the old GRE, but I'm sure it is true for the revised one as well). It is better only to take the real thing once and never have to worry with it again!

[TypeA]

I'm not sure how relevant you'll find this, but I took the GRE with the mentality that I had to get it over with in one go. This was because I took it at the end of July, right before the new format, and I didn't want to have to completely start over with studying (particularly for the quantitative section). I did pretty well, well enough that I don't want to take it a second time, and I was personally motivated (both when studying and actually taking the exam) by the idea that I only had one shot at the old version of the test... that's just me, though. If it helps you mentally to know that you have a second chance, that's great, but I agree with the above comment to use practice tests as practice. They cost a lot less.

[emmm]

I took the GRE early (in June), once the class I was teaching ended. I wasn't thinking of it as "practice," exactly, but I realized that the only way I'd seriously study for it was if I took it and really hated my score. Also, I found that going in thinking of it as my practice run greatly reduced any sense of stress I might have had about the test, which I think allowed mee to do my best on the test. Anyway, the strategy (whatever it was) seemed to work, and I ended up only taking the exam once.

[rainy_day]

There is no way I would want to give ETS any more money than I already had to. Take some practices test, either through PowerPrep or a Princeton, etc, and do the best you can to keep the conditions "test-like" (i.e. don't let your roommate come in and talk to you about Friday Night Lights when you're halfway through).

[morningdew]

I took it as a practice for my first time (old version) because I learn by physically doing things, so I needed to experience how GRE actually worked. I think it was beneficial for me since I know how it works now (computer, test problems, etc). On the bad side, I didn't cancel my score so I have really crappy score in my record and that I spent money. I'm taking again this September to take advantage of that 50% as well, but I know that I will be more prepared than before.

[Rachel B]

The first time I took the GRE I bombed. I was under the impression that I would just do a little bit of study and do well enough. Not the case, so I took it as a practice. The second time around I buckled down, studying my butt off, and my scores nearly doubled in percentiles. It pays to study, trust me!

[gellert]

Yes. Well, I paid for a second session before I took the first GRE because I felt like it might make me less nervous, make me feel less like it was my "last chance" (I took the old version and did NOT want to take the revised test). I definitely think it made a difference, though I did end up going back and taking the second test as well (with an 80 point increase).