What's the best way to study for the GRE super fast?

[fakecoffeesnob]

Hi,

 

I'm new around these parts so I apologize if this is a stupid question.

 

I'm a current undergrad - a junior - who had no intention of taking the GRE particularly soon. However, I realized I may want to apply to a BA/MA program with a February deadline (I also have a fall deadline option if my scores suck, thank goodness, but that's not ideal for other reasons), for which I would need GRE scores. And they would have to be awesome, because I'm a fairly long-shot candidate. 

 

I did well on my SATs (2340) and ACTs (35, superscored) without much studying and really enjoyed both tests, so I figured I'd do well on the GRE. Just took a powerprep practice test, though (with no prep whatsoever) and I was pretty disappointed - 162 verbal, 161 quant. Test conditions were far from ideal - I'm in a Starbucks and I can't stop listening to the fascinating interview happening next to me - and I had plenty of time left over on each section (at least ten minutes per section), so I'm sure there's room for improvement there.

 

I thought the math seemed really easy but some of the vocab was challenging. Weirdly, it looks like I did better on verbal anyways. I don't think I lack any of the quant skills or need specific teaching in regard to that but I should probably be a little more thoughtful and methodical about everything. I'm a former math major and I wasn't confused about how to approach any of the math questions, so it's not the actual math skills that are challenging.

 

Ideally, I'd like to go home for my three-week christmas break, study like crazy, and then come back to school and take the GRE right away. I live in a city with plenty of testing centers, so I can pretty much take it whenever. Is that an insane timeline?

 

Given that I'm starting from decent-but-not-stellar scores, what's the best way to study? Just a ton of practice questions? Practice tests? Should I pay for Magoosh or a tutor? I really don't know what the best way to proceed from here is, so any help is welcome.

Edited December 13, 2013 by fakecoffeesnob

[TakeruK]

Since it doesn't sound like you have any issues with test taking formats etc. my advice would be to just "cram". Memorize as many words as possible and do as many practice tests questions as you can (as a break from memorizing and/or as an alternate way to test your memorization. But don't forget to practice/study for the writing portion too.

[EgQ54]

My background is similar to yours: 2300+ SAT, STEM major. I pulled off a near perfect score (169V, 170Q, 6.0 AWA) with about three weeks of self prep--no Magoosh, no tutor, etc. You can probably do the same.

I didn't study for quant at all. I used Manhattan Prep's study guides 7 & 8 for strategies for writing and verbal. I memorized Manhattan Prep's 500 essential words and 500 advanced words and Barron's 500 GRE words using flashcards in about two weeks (about 100 words per day). I did reading comprehension practice questions from the Manhattan Prep 5 lb book and the GMAT official guide. Lastly I took the 2 practice tests in the ETS official guide and the 2 PowerPrep tests. You can definitely pull off at least a near perfect score in three weeks if you spend a few hours on prep everyday.

[smartypants14]

My background is similar to yours: 2300+ SAT, STEM major. I pulled off a near perfect score (169V, 170Q, 6.0 AWA) with about three weeks of self prep--no Magoosh, no tutor, etc. You can probably do the same.

I didn't study for quant at all. I used Manhattan Prep's study guides 7 & 8 for strategies for writing and verbal. I memorized Manhattan Prep's 500 essential words and 500 advanced words and Barron's 500 GRE words using flashcards in about two weeks (about 100 words per day). I did reading comprehension practice questions from the Manhattan Prep 5 lb book and the GMAT official guide. Lastly I took the 2 practice tests in the ETS official guide and the 2 PowerPrep tests. You can definitely pull off at least a near perfect score in three weeks if you spend a few hours on prep everyday.

IMPRESSIVE!!!