GRE Retake in 2 Weeks - Advice?

[LateAntique]

After my pretty mediocre score, I'm going to retake the GRE in two weeks (Nov 18th). This time I'm doing things a little differently. I'm taking the test in the afternoon/evening (5pm) because I'm nowhere close to being a morning person (the other one was at 8am). Hopefully this time when I show up to the testing center the people will actually be there and I won't have to track down another place. I'm also going to block out an hour or two a day to study hard. I went through the 300 most common words on the GRE and made vocab cards for ones that I did not absolutely know the second I looked at them (about 120 total).

Has anyone been in this situation and done well? What were your tactics for cramming, particularly on the math?

[captiv8ed]

NO advice, but I am in the same boat.

It is so frustrating. I was doing a lot of practice tests from Power Prep. Some of the scores I disregarded because the I got many of the same questions over. But on tests with new material, I was consistently scoring above 1200. So I went in pretty confident. And then got 1010.

It makes it so difficult for me to gauge. Most people find the powerprep to be right on. I actually scored over 100 points lower than I did on my very first power prep, which had been taken before any studying.

So, I have been cramming some with Barron's and the Math Bible. I took a power prep today. I felt like I was doing awful. But I got a 630 V and a 650 Q. Which are high enough for me. But I was scoring like that before, so it is really screwing with my brain.

I am trying to learn math formulas and force feed myself the GRE Math Bible. I need to add some verbal study as well, so that is still sharp. I had almost 2 months between tests, but I couldn't face the books for a long time, so I am on a 2 week study time frame as well.

[LateAntique]

I was pretty slack about preparation before. I didn't do any practice tests. I did everything wrong for test-taking, actually. I didn't get a good night's sleep, I ate a pretty lousy breakfast, and then the whole episode with the testing center. I'm going to try to take a few practice tests before I take this next one to see how I'm doing.

[BlueSwedeShoes]

I was pretty slack about preparation before. I didn't do any practice tests. I did everything wrong for test-taking, actually. I didn't get a good night's sleep, I ate a pretty lousy breakfast, and then the whole episode with the testing center. I'm going to try to take a few practice tests before I take this next one to see how I'm doing.

I did this too. Preparation? Well, apart from spending 4 months learning 1 200 new words from a "2 000 most common words"-list (of which I knew ca 5 words total to start with) and taking the one free practice test, it was all in the last week. Crammed math formulas I hadn't seen since high school and all that. I blame my poor preparation on being busy with actual research and grad school, but whatever reason; little preparation = low score.

Good night sleep? No, had to get up at 0230 to take a night bus to the city where the test was held.

Breakfast? A cup of instant coffee and an dry baguette from the expensive train station café, eaten while walking to the test center.

Do I know what I got? No, I'll get the results at the earliest Nov 23 (if I call and pay extra). Not that it matters, as they only offer the test twice a year here, so I can not do a retest anyway. Oh, and they only give the paper-based test of course. So approx. 2 weeks before most my deadlines I'll know if there's even a point in me applying or if my GRE-scores are way too low...

So I guess my only advice is...don't do what I did. And don't live in a country where you can't take retests.

[LateAntique]

I did this too. Preparation? Well, apart from spending 4 months learning 1 200 new words from a "2 000 most common words"-list (of which I knew ca 5 words total to start with) and taking the one free practice test, it was all in the last week. Crammed math formulas I hadn't seen since high school and all that. I blame my poor preparation on being busy with actual research and grad school, but whatever reason; little preparation = low score.

Good night sleep? No, had to get up at 0230 to take a night bus to the city where the test was held.

Breakfast? A cup of instant coffee and an dry baguette from the expensive train station café, eaten while walking to the test center.

Do I know what I got? No, I'll get the results at the earliest Nov 23 (if I call and pay extra). Not that it matters, as they only offer the test twice a year here, so I can not do a retest anyway. Oh, and they only give the paper-based test of course. So approx. 2 weeks before most my deadlines I'll know if there's even a point in me applying or if my GRE-scores are way too low...

So I guess my only advice is...don't do what I did. And don't live in a country where you can't take retests.

Yikes! I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I never knew how difficult it was for international students to take the GRE until I started visiting the boards. I feel like I have no room to complain, that's for sure. As a side note: if you end up visiting NCSU, I live pretty close and grew up near the university, so I'd be happy to point you to some local places.

[BlueSwedeShoes]

Yikes! I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I never knew how difficult it was for international students to take the GRE until I started visiting the boards. I feel like I have no room to complain, that's for sure. As a side note: if you end up visiting NCSU, I live pretty close and grew up near the university, so I'd be happy to point you to some local places.

Just be happy that you have the opportunity to improve, and make the best you can of that chance!

And if I end up at NCSU I'll gladly take some pointers

Edited November 4, 2009 by waylance

[zilch]

learn the word roots and endings. They'll let you piece together words that you didn't memorize.

regarding math, learn the tricks that ETS uses to try to conceal the answer, practice translating word problems into equations, learn the basic geometry laws. There's not too much to the math section, all of it is middle school/high school level, they just insist on wording things in the most idiotic manner imaginable. That being said, if you find that you're doing a taylor expansion something you're on the wrong track.

[90sNickelodeon]

I take it tomorrow. I'm just gonna do my best. Let the cards fall where they may.

[captiv8ed]

There's not too much to the math section, all of it is middle school/high school level, they just insist on wording things in the most idiotic manner imaginable.

That is the truth! There were one or two problems on the GRE that I couldn't decide on the answer because if I read the question in one way I would get one answer and if I read it another, I would get another answer.

[LateAntique]

I take it tomorrow. I'm just gonna do my best. Let the cards fall where they may.

Good luck to you!

[a fragrant plant]

I'm taking the GRE the second time next Thursday. Over the past two months I've crammed 1500 GRE words. Right now I'm reviewing words that I am not familiar with. I am also doing lots of analogies and antonyms exercises. I found this to be the best way to learn new words in a short time frame.

[LateAntique]

I'm taking the GRE the second time next Thursday. Over the past two months I've crammed 1500 GRE words. Right now I'm reviewing words that I am not familiar with. I am also doing lots of analogies and antonyms exercises. I found this to be the best way to learn new words in a short time frame.

I'm doing the 300 most common ones right now, but I "know" most of the words already, so I may try to cast my net a little more broadly. I got the Princeton Review "Crash Course for the GRE" and I'm working on a section a day there as well as my big Barron's book. Good luck to you on Thursday!

[a fragrant plant]

I'm doing the 300 most common ones right now, but I "know" most of the words already, so I may try to cast my net a little more broadly. I got the Princeton Review "Crash Course for the GRE" and I'm working on a section a day there as well as my big Barron's book. Good luck to you on Thursday!

Thank you. English is not my first language so I have to cram as many words as I can. I don't know how useful that will be, but I'm trying my best to improve my score.

[BlueSwedeShoes]

learn the word roots and endings. They'll let you piece together words that you didn't memorize.

regarding math, learn the tricks that ETS uses to try to conceal the answer, practice translating word problems into equations, learn the basic geometry laws. There's not too much to the math section, all of it is middle school/high school level, they just insist on wording things in the most idiotic manner imaginable. That being said, if you find that you're doing a taylor expansion something you're on the wrong track.

The math is simple, but they do try to trick you. However, as an international student I did actually have problems with a few of the math questions...I remember one where they asked "if person X runs Y feet per second, how many miles an hour does X run?". Simple enough? Yeah, the math is no problem, but...how many feet there is to the mile? I had no clue; we use meters and kilometers! Another one concerned how many fluid ounces there was to a pint or something like that, again something that we with the metric system find very alien. Liters, please. While I looked up the most common measurements and how many there was of one to the other, it bothers me that the math section, which claims to be universal and whatnot because, hey, it's math! It's the same everywhere! Really...if you have those types of questions, it's not culture independent; it favors some specific countries. Another reason why I don't like the GRE...

[ColorlessGreen]

The math is simple, but they do try to trick you. However, as an international student I did actually have problems with a few of the math questions...I remember one where they asked "if person X runs Y feet per second, how many miles an hour does X run?". Simple enough? Yeah, the math is no problem, but...how many feet there is to the mile? I had no clue; we use meters and kilometers! Another one concerned how many fluid ounces there was to a pint or something like that, again something that we with the metric system find very alien. Liters, please. While I looked up the most common measurements and how many there was of one to the other, it bothers me that the math section, which claims to be universal and whatnot because, hey, it's math! It's the same everywhere! Really...if you have those types of questions, it's not culture independent; it favors some specific countries. Another reason why I don't like the GRE...

It's not just you - I'm from the US and I still don't know the conversion systems! Apparently there are 5280 feet to a mile, but if I were guessing, I'd be off by at least 100 feet, which is enough to get me the wrong answer. I don't remember ever being taught that, or pints, or any of our weird units of measurement in school (although I do know how to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, thanks to AP Chem). I was lucky enough to avoid getting many of these questions when I took the GRE, but it's pretty ridiculous that there were any at all.