GRE Verbal Vocab. Preparation VS Actual Test

[Doriss]

Hi 

I'm currently preparing to take my first GRE test, on Jan 25th.  It has been 2 months of 3-4hrs/ a day of studying. But I still don't get an even satisfactory score in the Verbal practice tests.  I can perfectly answer any argument/sentence correction/equivalency without much effort. Also, my AWA is excellent, I took GMAT before and AWA Score were 5.0, 6.0, 6.0 respectively [AWA in both GMAT/GRE is the same]. However, my main weakness is in building enough vocabulary for GRE. I do not know many.  Since I begin studying, I can roughly say that I leaned 150-180 new unusual words to me. It's worth noting that I am a non-English speaker, I have been exposed to English for almost 6 years since 2009.

For studying, I'm using: 

- Magoosh GRE online prep. that comes with 2 practice tests 

- Kaplan GRE Premier 2016 book, comes with 6 practice tests.
 

My questions..

1 - Which one single studying material would you recommend to improve/increase specifically my vocabulary for GRE?

I find relying in too many resources confuses me. I'm kind of extremely organized to an extend that I strictly relied on only two sources. 

2 - Compared to actual test, how similar is the vocabulary you learned from the studying material? For example, have you had many "surprising" new words during the actual test?

3 - Which practice test (i.e Manhattan, EST official, Magoosh) was more accurate indicator of your actual GRE score? 

 

Any input is very much appreciated!

 

Edited January 10, 2016 by Doriss

[DrZoidberg]

Hi, personally I used the Magoosh vocab app on my phone and memorized most of the words a few days before the test. If I had had more time I would definitely have started earlier, and worked my way through them so I was more comfortable with all of them, but even last minute cramming was very useful. I would really recommend using the app, a lot of the words are what they call high-frequency words that GRE loves to use, and I saw a lot of them on the actual test. If I hadn't used the app I would have been pretty clueless, but I felt much better prepared during the test, and I didn't feel like there were any surprises. I am also a non-native English speaker, and before starting using the app I got ~ 156 on my practice tests, and got a 168 on the GRE. I attribute the majority of that leap to using the app. 

There's a whole thread dedicated to your question number three, I am sure you will find some good answers there.