I know nothing of the GREs and can't afford a test course. What should I know?

[kaiphi]

I'm checking out a book today to start studying and taking it next summer. 

I'm a junior in uni trying to get into a journalism program; my verbal score goal is 600 because that's what NYU's j-school lists (even though I know I can't afford it.)

Tips?

[Eigen]

I think the vast majority of people just need a book and not a prep course. In fact, until I found theses boards, I'd never heard of anyone doing a course for the GRE. 

Most of it is general knowledge, some basic test-taking skills help. The practice tests you get when you register for the GRE can also be quite good to get a feel for the timing & questions. 

I recommend, if you can, checking out a couple of different books (most public libraries have some as well as the University libraries) to get some different material. 

[Vince Kotchian GRE Prep]

There's no one-size-fits all answer to this question. To give you an answer, I would want to know.

1. What score did you get on the ETS practice test (from PowerPrep 2 which is free to download from ets.org/gre)?

2. What score would you like to get? (I know you said 600, but there's a new scoring range now from 130-170).

You may just need to get a couple of books, and you may also need to work extremely hard and practice for months depending on the answers to the above.

Anecdotes from certain people who aced the GRE without much prep may give you the impression that the test is easy. I can assure you there are lots of people who don't do well even after quite a bit of prep. Not to paint too much of e negative picture - I just see many students take the test too lightly and very few who take it seriously enough.

 

[Eigen]

Anecdotes from certain people who aced the GRE without much prep may give you the impression that the test is easy. I can assure you there are lots of people who don't do well even after quite a bit of prep. Not to paint too much of e negative picture - I just see many students take the test too lightly and very few who take it seriously enough.

 

I wouldn't want you to under-study, but I actually see more doom and gloom about how hard the GRE is. It's anecdote, sure, but I don't have any peers in graduate school that did extensive prep. In fact, I'd say that for your overall application, time is much better spent on things other than the GRE. Spending a ton of time on it rather than readings, working on writing samples, building relationships with PIs is time not spent as well as it could be. GRE scores will sometimes break, but will seldom "make" an application.

I find a lot of prospective graduate students over-emphasize the GRE because it's concrete, and has scores, but it's honestly probably the least important part of your entire application package.

[Vince Kotchian GRE Prep]

In fact, I'd say that for your overall application, time is much better spent on things other than the GRE. Spending a ton of time on it rather than readings, working on writing samples, building relationships with PIs is time not spent as well as it could be. GRE scores will sometimes break, but will seldom "make" an application.

I agree...sometimes. Sometimes it's the exact opposite. I had a conversation with an engineering director at a local university who told me, point blank, that his department "never reads" personal statements for master's students. He urged me to emphasize how important the GRE was to the class I was teaching. 

Of course, there are departments who don't care much about the GRE as long as it's decent. But let's not generalize...it all depends on the student and the situation.

[Eigen]

Let me clarify for PhD programs then.Engineering masters programs are a completely different boat. Most of them are cash cows for the school.

Other than some really low cut-offs, I don't know of any PhD programs that consider the GRE "important". At best, it's a moderately useful ranking. I'm not largely a fan of generalizing, but this is something I feel is pretty consistent.