Urgent! Help

[NObama]

I think I may have posted here about this before but I can't find it so perhaps I hadnt but I am working abroad right now and cannot take the GRE test prior to a certain date. Between working full time and everything else with living in a foreign country, I am very nervous about the GRE exam. I have roughly 4 weeks. I need help with the following:

- applying Algebra techniques

- recognizing when to do so - i.e. if a question can be solved with elimination but is quicker with algebra

- reading comprehension - best tips?

Basically, I have submitted some applications without the GRE and have explained the situation to those concerned and they seemed receptive as most meet to make decisions in February.

So please any help with studying timetables, what worked best for you, problems, anything I may have missed, techniques that work, the whole lot will be so useful to me.

I really appreciate this!

Thanks guys

[Agradatudent]

For math, I used the Kaplan book and NOVA's GRE Math Prep Course. The Nova book had alot of extra stuff you'd never need for the test, but was nice anyway. The Kaplan book is sufficient for the test I think. The nova just had more practice.

I don't know too much about the new GRE but the Kaplan book is very helpful for the old so I assume it's fine for the new.

JUST MAKE SURE YOU READ ALL THE SECTIONS!!!

Edited January 9, 2012 by toypajme

[coonskee]

When I studied for the GRE, I used the 1,014 questions book from either PR or Barron's (I think?) and just did a bunch of those (sorry I can't remember the company, but the book has a number over 1,000 in the title ). They got me into the swing of things. Also if you have an iPad, iPhone or iTouch (or maybe an android phone?) there's a great vocab app with flashcards that may come in useful. It's free and really good to have for "on the go" studying - I know that's not what you asked for but I figured I'd add it just in case you forgot you wanted to review vocab too

**Edit: I studied for three weeks; two casually and the week before the test slightly more intensely (ended up memorizing 300 vocab words in four days ._. Ask me what I remember now.

Edited January 9, 2012 by coonskee

[NObama]

This is great guys. Any more tips, specifically in relation to how you re-learnt formulas from high school and applied them successfully?

What was the hardest part of the test for you and how do you think you overcame it?

Thanks!

[Helpplease123]

No tips as such... just learn what you don't remember and do as many practice questions as you can get your hands on (for the maths part that is) and learn vocab. I used Kaplan book, Kaplan vocab flashcards and Official GRE book...would highly recommend Kaplan book for the 6 practice tests alone

[NObama]

Thanks!

Would love to hear more from anyone else out there!

Helpplease - I'm using the Princeton Review, Barron and ETS official books. I have the Nova for the GRE Math. Would you reckon this will suffice? And with the new GRE, you dont really need to know too many words, am I right in thinking that?

[Helpplease123]

Do any of them apart from GRE official have practice tests? I couldn't use the official tests as I have a mac but i'd imagine they're the most helpful of all...I used Princeton review for GMAT maths and it was far too easy and I haven't heard great things about Barron...not a clue on Nova, sorry. The most important part is practicing endless problems and looking at solutions (even if you got them right) in case there was a shorter/quicker way to solve. One thing that really got me through was using number substitution when the algebra got too confusing - but don't decide to do it half way through solving...look at the problem and decide from the start, can I do the algebra or should I go straight to numbers, otherwise you'll waste too much time. Only way you can figure out your limits on that is by doing loads of timed questions.

As for the vocab part, as it turned out I did know about 2/3 of the words on the test but there were tonnes of flashcards I didn't know and some came up, so i'm glad i'd done it. You can vaguely learn about 50 words a day in like half an hour, so may be worth investing a bit of time. Having said that, if you're American you probably covered a lot of them during your SATs..might be worth checking out a list, the review books might have one in the back (Kaplan did)?

[prefers_pencils]

Hi NOBama,

I just posted this in another thread, but I would be wary of The Princeton Review. I found several errors in the answer key to one of their math sections. I used the ETS book and CATPrep online software.

I was very nervous about the math section. Most helpful was just doing the questions, especially in a study group. We did questions individually and discussed collectively. Whoever got the right answer would walk the rest of the group through their steps until everyone understood. I found this process much more helpful and efficient than trying to laboriously review the concepts one at a time. It also built a lot of confidence to see my accuracy improve over time. In terms of shortcuts, one of my study group members shared her Kaplan book, which had helpful tips in that regard.

Good luck!

[CooCooCachoo]

The Kaplan book has the "Official Kaplan" method for everything, which is hilarious. It's like trademarking common sense. But I think their books are a helpful preparation.

[NObama]

Thanks for the help guys.

Right now, I'm working from the Barrons, TPR and ETS. I do like the sound of the Kaplan book but I think adding something new at this stage may just be confusing.

I'm still struggling with learning some of the algebra techniques. What did people find helpful when learning math again?