Advice from someone who raised GRE verbal score

[onoitsashlyn]

I took the GRE for the first time this December. I didn't study or anything, I just wanted to see how I would do.

 

I received a Verbal score of 155 and a 4.0 on the writing. I would like to raise my Verbal score to 165 or more and my writing to at least a 4.5 so I will be guaranteed a spot in my online graduate program. They only look at verbal and writing.

 

Reading/writing are my strong subjects but I have no clue what to study to raise my score. Is there anybody that has actually raised their GRE Verbal score that could give me some advice on what books to study or what to do? I have over a half a year to study. Thanks!

[compiler_guy]

Did you try memorizing GRE words?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=gre+words

 

Go over all the top-500 words that usually appear in the verbal part of the exams.

I also recommend flash card appications, like:

http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/gre-flashcards.cfm

Kaplan and others have one too.

 

Also practice and solve a lot of GRE tests, in a real GRE-like environment ( no breaks other than one ten minute break, from start to finish of the test ). You could get tests simulations from kaplan, manhattan and other gre-prep companies.

 

For writing - I suggest you practice a lot. Write some GRE-like answer to a discussion question. Do it every day, maybe even two times a day. The difference between 4.0 and 4.5 is not that big - so you have a great shot to bridge the gap!

 

Best of luck.

[onoitsashlyn]

Thank you for the advice! I will definitely try this. Did you get your verbal score to increase this way?

[compiler_guy]

Thank you for the advice! I will definitely try this. Did you get your verbal score to increase this way?

Yes, by 9 points :-)

[ArizonaState21]

If you have a year and a half, just try and read a lot. If the Economist interests you, it's a high-level vocab magazine. Also, for the writing, just pay very very close attention to what the grading rubric asks for. A study book can provide advice on how to go about the essay, you just need to hit the points that the GRE wants. I don't think you'll have any problem, but I'd advise you to study up for maybe a month (try a few full-length Saturday morning practice tests) and finish the GRE this summer. Then you won't have to worry about it senior year. I wished I would have done my earlier, I scored V168 and W6.0. 

O, and in my opinion, screw studying vocab words. Ha. 

[OctaviaButlerfan]

I raised my score by six points, I think - 161 to 167. My Analytical Writing score went from a 5.0 to a 5.5. There was a period of three years between the two tests, and honestly, I didn't study at all for the second one. I did, however, follow advice I had seen on various forums. For instance, in the AW section, I included as much supporting detail as possible. I tried for at least two examples or pieces of evidence for each body paragraph.

 

I agree with ArizonaState21; reading a lot is probably the best thing you can do to increase your Verbal score. I was reading much more in the years between those two tests than I had been in the two years before I took it the first time. I had also been taking some graduate courses in the interim. Finally, make sure that you are reading work that challenges you.

[wsc215]

Hey, I'm ESL, and the first time I took the GRE I got an 155. The second time I got an 164.

 

Depends on what you're having trouble with. For me, vocab was no problem. IMO if vocab is your problem, then it's straightforward. Just grind out a ton of words, I guess.

 

I had trouble with the reading comprehension mostly. I ran out of time often and fell into a lot of trap questions.

 

What I did was just grind out a ton of tests, identify the problems I missed and before reading the question itself, I'd try to categorize the answers. What they are talking about, what the claim is, etc, just broke it down. Then I went back to the question and I could clearly see what problem I missed.

 

I really agree with Octavia's post, too, reading challenging books will help your score quite a lot.

 

I got a 4.5 on AWA both times, doesn't matter for my field apparently.

[midnight]

I had the same issue as wsc; the reading comprehension kicked my butt, but I didn't have any problem with the GRE vocab.

 

My score only increased the equivalent of two points upon retake, but I boosted it to 164, which was fine for me.

 

If it helps at all, one of my sentence completion questions was taken directly from The New Yorker. It wouldn't hurt to read The New York Times, either.

[onoitsashlyn]

Thanks for all the advice! Hadn't been on here in awhile so just got a chance to read the comments. I will try these tips and hopefully I can get it up