General GRE and Psych GRE

[CharlieRae]

Hello All,

 

I just have a few questions regarding the two GREs. I have already taken the general GRE, and did not score nearly as highly as I would have liked, so I will be retaking. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestion with re-studying in terms of things that they found important, especially if you have written it multiple times.

 

I am also going to be studying for the Psych GRE, and from what I have gleaned, I will be using a textbook and essentially memorizing it, with extra focus on areas of weakness. Are there any textbooks that you would recommend in particular, and old vs. new?

 

Also, are there any prep books that do a good job of thoroughly covering the content of the exam.

 

AGH.

 

Grad school stress!!

Edited May 16, 2013 by CharlizeRai

[33andathirdRPM]

On which areas of the General GRE did you not do as well as you had hoped? Did you use any preparation materials or take any GRE prep classes?

 

Unfortunately, I'm not much help for the Psych Subject GRE. Hopefully someone who has taken it will chime in.

[Psychgeek]

Hi there! So I'll help you out more with the psych GRE since tips on that are harder to find. I would not recommend just memorizing a textbook... That would be extremely challenging. I just bought the Princeton Review Psych GRE study guide and read that a few times and made flash cards for all the things I wasn't familiar with (during my first read through, I marked everything that I already knew and set those aside). That's all I used for studying and I did very well. It was a lot of fun to study for (although I'm a huge psych nerd). Also, I made sure to spend the most time on the topics that are more heavily represented on the test (such as developmental). If you buy a book (or even look online) you can find the specific topics and the percentage they represent on the actual test.

[lypiphera]

For the general GRE, I didn't take it multiple times, but I did study a lot before taking it the first time and did well.  My two main sources were a Kaplan study guidee and the ETS website, which has a lot of good material, practice tests, and even software that lets you practice taking the test exactly how it will look on test day.  That won't be as important for you since you already took it, but they had live sessions and workshops and more, and I never paid for anything other than the Kaplan book.  My advice would be to go through the whole book, making sure you are solid on all the basic math concepts, and then take as many practice tests as you can find, reviewing each time to understand every wrong question.

[Guest |||]

What lowered your school?

 

Was it a particular section where you tanked?  Was it a matter of not understanding instructions?

 

Perhaps you just didn't have the stamina or endurance to carry on?

 

In either case, focus in on where you dropped the ball and fix the weakness.

 

 

 

As far as particular book, I used Princeton, and found that was very solid.

[CharlieRae]

Hello lovely folks,

 

I greatly appreciate your responses! I think part of the issue would be the stamina definitely. I used to have a great mental ability during school, and have used my brain far less in the two years since I graduated. In saying that, by the 2 hour mark, I had a horrific headache to finish the exam with.

 

I did quite well on the analytical response (96 percentile), but only 71 and 73 in verbal and math! 

 

I think I may have attempted to look at two many materials, and to be honest, I did not look at Princeton at all! 

 

Thank you kindly! And if you have any other hints, they would be welcomed. 

 

Char

[Scarf in the wind]

Hello

 

Hello lovely folks,

 

I greatly appreciate your responses! I think part of the issue would be the stamina definitely. I used to have a great mental ability during school, and have used my brain far less in the two years since I graduated. In saying that, by the 2 hour mark, I had a horrific headache to finish the exam with.

 

I did quite well on the analytical response (96 percentile), but only 71 and 73 in verbal and math! 

 

I think I may have attempted to look at two many materials, and to be honest, I did not look at Princeton at all! 

 

Thank you kindly! And if you have any other hints, they would be welcomed. 

 

Char

Hello Char,

 

What was your score for Verbal and Math? I'd like to know the score equivalent for when I take the test. Thank you.