What to do between now and Christmas?!

[NObama]

I hate standardized tests and always do quite badly on them. With this mind, I have to take the GRE either by the end of the month or early January. I have trouble determining what to study. I go through the books (I am using the Official GRE, Barrons, and Princeton Review Cracking the GRE) and see the stuff and I feel I know it. Come applying it and I lose all sight of the material! Its so frustrating.

I feel I have a strong profile for my chosen school (Yale MA in IR) but I dont want the GRE's to stand in my way. I have devised a study timetable but so far its hard to stick to. between applications and essays, time is scarce.

How did you guys study? What worked, what didnt? How can I improve my scores (Q155, V161 in practice tests)?

[NObama]

Are 4 weeks even enough? How much time should I spend? (i know stupid question but any advice from experienced test takes would be helpful)! Thanks!

[Helpplease123]

What areas are you struggling with? 4 weeks is plenty of time to get your scores up

[NObama]

I think its a general psyche thing. I read the stuff and I know it. When it comes to applying I struggle a little.

I think largely Algebra.

[Helpplease123]

Well i ended up with Q159 and V165 so i'm by no means giving advice as an ace test taker but for my revision, the main things i focused on were learning the words (this may have been more of an issue for me than you because we don't ever get vocab tested in England and I think you probably learnt lots of them for SATs) and loads of practice tests and questions for the quant. The Kaplan book I had gave you access to 6 online practice tests which were really helpful and and lots of practice questions. Also going through the answer keys and picking up shortcuts and tricks they give you. What bits of the algebra do you find difficult? Something thats always helped me with the more complicated algebra is just abandon it altogether and picking fake numbers instead, not sure if you're already doing that?

[Hopin'-n-Prayin']

I am summarizing a post earlier this week to someone who had a similar question:

I've taken the GRE twice in the past three years, and I regularly tutor students in the GRE. I use the Kaplan book to prepare mys tudents and I used it myself for my re-test and improved my math score by 120 points (old scale).

Two reasons why I endorse Kaplan- one, their 100 math concepts section in the back of the workbook is the GRE math bible; and two, they do not try to teach you gimmicky puzzles to de-code (I just cannot conceptualize the 'cracking the GRE' methods).

PS- I do not work for Kaplan. I am an independent tutor and one of my first student's gave me his Kaplan workbook after he took the test.

Here is a proposed study strategy: master the math concepts (1-100) BEFORE you try practice questions and when doing the practice questions, focus on the practice questions' answers, be able to spot when another question calls for the same answer method...

...others may disagree, and they may know better, but my clients and I have had success doing it my way...

Goog luck...and LOVE your user name...

[NObama]

Well i ended up with Q159 and V165 so i'm by no means giving advice as an ace test taker but for my revision, the main things i focused on were learning the words (this may have been more of an issue for me than you because we don't ever get vocab tested in England and I think you probably learnt lots of them for SATs) and loads of practice tests and questions for the quant. The Kaplan book I had gave you access to 6 online practice tests which were really helpful and and lots of practice questions. Also going through the answer keys and picking up shortcuts and tricks they give you. What bits of the algebra do you find difficult? Something thats always helped me with the more complicated algebra is just abandon it altogether and picking fake numbers instead, not sure if you're already doing that?

Thanks. Yeah, I often plug in with numbers but still some aspects seem alien to me, even after reading them 2 minutes prior!!!! I think its a case of knuckling down and reading the stuff till I have it down cold.

[NObama]

I am summarizing a post earlier this week to someone who had a similar question:

I've taken the GRE twice in the past three years, and I regularly tutor students in the GRE. I use the Kaplan book to prepare mys tudents and I used it myself for my re-test and improved my math score by 120 points (old scale).

Two reasons why I endorse Kaplan- one, their 100 math concepts section in the back of the workbook is the GRE math bible; and two, they do not try to teach you gimmicky puzzles to de-code (I just cannot conceptualize the 'cracking the GRE' methods).

PS- I do not work for Kaplan. I am an independent tutor and one of my first student's gave me his Kaplan workbook after he took the test.

Here is a proposed study strategy: master the math concepts (1-100) BEFORE you try practice questions and when doing the practice questions, focus on the practice questions' answers, be able to spot when another question calls for the same answer method...

...others may disagree, and they may know better, but my clients and I have had success doing it my way...

Goog luck...and LOVE your user name...

Thanks. I didnt get the Kaplan book but I may have to give it a try. At the moment I'm not doing practice tests and looking to nail down the core math stuff. Any further tips?

[Hopin'-n-Prayin']

I make it a three step process:

1. master the core math stuff

2. do enough questions and study enough answers so that you get comfortable "interpreting" the questions (each type of questions is begging to you employ a certain, correct method- while at the same time daring you to employ a wrong one

3. Do even more questions, now trying to identify how the same "questions" can change thier appearance

It is my firm conviction that there are a finite number of questions on the GRE (and GMAT) math, they are just very cleverly disguised to look differently. Everybody has a different approach that works best, this was mine...

ps: Kaplan is the only book I know of that presents all of the math concepts in list form. When I realzed that I had mastered all but three of four of them- I knew I was ready...

[NObama]

Thanks a lot. Anyone else want to chime in? I feel like I need all the help I can get.

Motivation to read through all these books and practice q's is becoming a problem too!

[Kitkat]

Part of what I think helped me (167V, 160Q) was just the idea of going through as many practice exams as possible before taking the actual one. I think it was just a matter of getting myself so used to it that I didn't psych myself out during the test. That and then if you get so used to the rules, you have more time to take for the questions themselves.

So what I might suggest is do a little practice with the barrons and princeton review, do a test, see where you messed up, review do another test and so on. I would suggest trying to do the practice test under similar conditions to the test situation. Don't let yourself have any distractions, and take advantage of break times, during practice and the actual test. I know when I took the actual test, I took the ten min break, and it helped a lot. After all it is a long test, and even if you know the material, your brain gets tired/bored after awhile, even though you know how important it is.

I would also suggest that you focus on the section(s) that are most important for the degree that you are looking at. I have noticed that while both sections are important for more competitive schools, the programs themselves will still favor one over the other. Mine for example is more quant heavy (my verbal will be a bonus, but my quant is ave. or above for the programs I am looking at). So as long as the other is in a good range, the more important one is the one that will make or break you in many ways.

[gellert]

I went from really truly terrible scores to 1450+ (old GRE) after studying for only three weeks, so you can definitely do it!

I recommend Barron's for verbal and Princeton Review for math. I didn't actually study verbal at all (it's my strong point) beyond just glancing briefly over the Barron's top-500 list, but from what I could see (and what I hear) their list is the most comprehensive as well as the most advanced.

Barron's math is much more difficult than what you'll encounter on the real thing, but if it helps you to master than and then feel confident with real GRE math, go right ahead. If you'd rather work with lower-difficulty stuff, check out Kaplan (very easy math) or Princeton Review (very similar to what's on the real test).

Edited December 10, 2011 by gellert