how many words did you memorize for the GRE?

[JackieW]

On that delightful note...

Where are you all getting your words from? I've been doing number2 and the lists in the PR book. Are there any other lists I should be looking at?

[Biff]

On that delightful note...

Lol...sorry, I was being a bit melodramatic.

I focused on the Barrons high frequency word list, which was helpful.

[JackieW]

Lol...sorry, I was being a bit melodramatic.

I focused on the Barrons high frequency word list, which was helpful.

Oh, I wasn't referencing your post! The entire thread seemed to take a negative turn, so I was trying to re-focus.

[johntravis667]

I've got the GRE coming up on Tuesday, and while I have a rather large vocabulary, I've been using the Kaplan GRE word list and their flashcard pack to refresh specific definitions and refresh the synonyms. While there are occasionally words I've been dumbfounded by, usually my practice test mistakes come from not having a specific enough knowledge of the word. I've seen my practice scores improve from 580s to 680+, so hopefully when I take the test I'll stay above 650.

As a side note, I think that the Kaplan GRE Verbal Flashcards are a great buy if you don't like writing out all the cards yourself, and you want to have sentence examples and pronunciations (HUGE Help for me) right on the card. Plus, I like that they're small-sized flashcards, so I can take 30 or so with me each day and don't even notice them in my pocket.

~john

[gradschoolseeker]

I studied over 1000 and only 3 came up on the exam.

[atlas]

I memorized thousands of words. My GRE verbal score rose 200 points. I basically went through the Barron's GRE book and made flash cards of all the words I didn't know by heart from the whole word list (not just the high frequency GRE words). It took me about 2 months to make these flash cards. Then I spent another two months studying the flashcards. This might sound a little extreme, but it worked and gave me a great handle on the verbal section. If you've got the time...this method works.

[profound_g]

Wow you guys are nerds. OTOH, I was cracking up reading it, so what does that make me?

Sedulous. Hey I remember something, and it was over 6 months ago!

reading the past replies to this topic, I'm a bit baffled by the ambient anti-cramming stance. I get it, a lot of people are "naturally" good at the GRE from their particular life experiences and education but I don't think it's very fair to the rest of us. I probably read as much as the next English Lit major, especially with a concentration in the victorian/modernist periods, but English is only my third language. I've been learning with flashcards and randomly reading the dictionary and things like that but I still got a mere 580 on my last practice test. Also, the GRE is especially confusing to people whose first or second language is French (like me): a lot of English words also exist in French but mean something completely different... Like enervate, sanguine, derogation, accolade, diligence to me sound like enerver (to annoy), sanguin (bloody), derogation (a type of law), accolade (a type of hug) and diligence (a type of cart driven by horses). And don't even get me started on weird English inventions like "raconteur".

Ugh.. this is going to be fun.

It must be a non-representative sample. And as English is not my first language either, I'm with you, regardless.

I have to admit that I was a huge crammer, and it did help a lot...

On my first practice test I scored in the 450 range on verbal, so I panicked and systematically went through the entire Barrons word list and made a ridiculous number of flashcards (I don't even know how many...1000? 2000?). I made the flashcards a few months in advance, but didn't really study them in earnest until the last 2 weeks leading up to the test (I probably "learned" about 500 words in the last 5 days). I ended up getting 710 on the actual thing, which was a HUGE improvement.

Although I can't really recommend the cramming from a health perspective - that much stress can't be good for anyone! - it really did work, and a lot of the words I studied ended up on the test. I would especially recommend studying the past tests, because a surprising number of words I got wrong on the practice tests showed up on the actual one.

On the other hand, I can totally see where the haters are coming from...if I had a naturally great vocabulary I'd be annoyed too if someone who crammed for 2 weeks got a similar verbal score. But I also don't think that those who have not been exposed to obscure words, for whatever reason, should have to resign themselves to having a low GRE verbal score on their grad school application. The GRE is a silly and somewhat arbitrary test that may or may not be a predictor of grad school success, and I think students are justified in using any study method that will work for them.

I studied for about 2.5 months. I don't think this is cramming though. I learned many many words. I got a very good score.

Bottom line - you need to have an excellent GRE vocab, not just an excellent vocab period. Even if you're confident in your knowledge, take a sample test and see how it goes. If you get a low score you can either study despite your naturally great vocab, like Biff put it, or not, but if you don't choose to put in the effort know that it's your responsibility.

[rainy_day]

I have to admit that I was a huge crammer, and it did help a lot...

On my first practice test I scored in the 450 range on verbal, so I panicked and systematically went through the entire Barrons word list and made a ridiculous number of flashcards (I don't even know how many...1000? 2000?). I made the flashcards a few months in advance, but didn't really study them in earnest until the last 2 weeks leading up to the test (I probably "learned" about 500 words in the last 5 days). I ended up getting 710 on the actual thing, which was a HUGE improvement.

Although I can't really recommend the cramming from a health perspective - that much stress can't be good for anyone! - it really did work, and a lot of the words I studied ended up on the test. I would especially recommend studying the past tests, because a surprising number of words I got wrong on the practice tests showed up on the actual one.

On the other hand, I can totally see where the haters are coming from...if I had a naturally great vocabulary I'd be annoyed too if someone who crammed for 2 weeks got a similar verbal score. But I also don't think that those who have not been exposed to obscure words, for whatever reason, should have to resign themselves to having a low GRE verbal score on their grad school application. The GRE is a silly and somewhat arbitrary test that may or may not be a predictor of grad school success, and I think students are justified in using any study method that will work for them.

This is encouraging. I got a 540 in the practice test, and am taking the real thing in two weeks, without a lot of studying to go.