GRE Prep

[CajunSLP18]

Hello! 

I am a Jr CODI major and getting ready to start "studying" for GRE. I am planning on taking it in December, and wanted some suggestions on where to start. I want to try to take the GRE before I get magoosh/another prep class. What did you do to get ready? Do I just buy a GRE book and start from page 1?

TIA! 

[Jolie717]

Are you applying for grad school this fall?  If so you might want to take it before the fall semester so you can focus on your coursework and your applications.  As for preparing, I recommend taking practice tests so you can identify the areas you need to work on.  There are some free ones online - that said I felt the Princeton ones were too easy.  I used the free Magoosh vocab app on my phone, and I purchased the full Manhattan set which came with six online scored sample exams that were pretty close to the real deal.  (I'm a non-traditional student and hadn't taken math in eons, otherwise I wouldn't have bought them all).  A lot of people recommend Magoosh here also.  When you actually register to take the GRE and pay, you will have access to two online scored ETS exams that are as close to the real exam as you can get.  Good luck!

[CajunSLP18]

1 hour ago, Jolie717 said:

Are you applying for grad school this fall?  If so you might want to take it before the fall semester so you can focus on your coursework and your applications.  As for preparing, I recommend taking practice tests so you can identify the areas you need to work on.  There are some free ones online - that said I felt the Princeton ones were too easy.  I used the free Magoosh vocab app on my phone, and I purchased the full Manhattan set which came with six online scored sample exams that were pretty close to the real deal.  (I'm a non-traditional student and hadn't taken math in eons, otherwise I wouldn't have bought them all).  A lot of people recommend Magoosh here also.  When you actually register to take the GRE and pay, you will have access to two online scored ETS exams that are as close to the real exam as you can get.  Good luck!

Jolie717,

I am actually a non traditional student as well. I graduated high school in 2006! I am set to graduate In May 2018 BUT I could easily graduate Dec 2017 if I take 1-2 classes next summer. I was planning on taking the GRE next summer, but I'm not a good standardized test taker. I'm worried I'll run out of time. I'm also getting married in April of next year. When do you suggest I take it? My advisor isn't the best, so he doesn't always give me good advice. I'm worried because I cannot move from where I live. I have one chance at grad school. My GPA is very high (3.89) and I'm over worried  

[plume]

Hi Cajun,

I have just started this process so I don't have before and after scores, but I have chosen my process based off of advice from others and my own research:

1) Take a practice test. I recommend taking a test on the computer to mimic how you will actually take the test later. I bought ETS's (the company that makes the test) Official Guide, which comes with a CD with two practice tests. This practice test will give you a BASE SCORE, which will help you decide how much you need to study and what you need to study.

2) I chose to buy Magoosh's program. They have many study outline options (and I am altering one of theirs to meet my specific needs.) They also have additional recommended/required material to accompany the program. I bought all required materials, and one recommended for people who need extra help with the quantitative because I know I need this. I spent $250 total.

I like Magoosh because they have day-by-day or weekly plans. If you do not want to buy a program like Magoosh, I would not just jump into chapter 1 of a book - I would start off with that practice test and see from there. Also, If you go with a book and not a program like Magoosh, I know that ETS's books are generally recommended to start with (they have a series of three books.)

Hope this helps!

[Apogeee]

Why don't you use all of the resources on the ETS website before you go and buy anything? And perhaps your local library has a GRE prep book you can borrow. It's not something you need to buy.

[Jolie717]

1 hour ago, Apogeee said:

Why don't you use all of the resources on the ETS website before you go and buy anything? And perhaps your local library has a GRE prep book you can borrow. It's not something you need to buy.

Not sure the library would have the most current info - if they do have recently published guides from reputable sources, great, but if not I'd skip it.  This test is way too important to take it lightly.  

To the OP, as far as speed, you really need to just take as many practice tests as you can so you get into the rhythm.  There is strategy to this exam - it is not simply a test of your knowledge.  Get the free stuff first, take a practice exam to see where you are at, and go from there.  I used my free Magoosh vocab app all the time - when standing in line, when my hubby was driving us somewhere, etc every chance I got.  Do not let your first score psych you out - my first score was a joke and I ran out of time on a few sections.  My final GRE score was 62 points higher than my first practice exam.  ?  Pace yourself and start studying early.  Even if you buy only one of the Manhattan books it comes with the code for all six online scored practice exams.  Also, make sure to practice the essays too - I didn't and wished I had later.  As far as your timeline I think December should work as you aren't applying for grad school then.  Just make sure you have enough time to take it twice in case you aren't happy with your first score, while leaving enough time for the exam to be scored and then reported to your schools with plenty of leeway.

[Crimson Wife]

I bit off rather more than I could chew last fall when studying for the GRE (did it the same semester as I took A&P which was not a wise choice). I made the strategic decision to only prep the verbal because I knew that schools weight it far more heavily. I used the Magoosh free app plus the Manhattan Prep 5 lb. book of practice problems.

I ended up not being able to get my apps together in time for last cycle. So I'm planning on retaking the GRE, this time prepping for the math & AW to increase my chances of scholarships and the most selective of my target schools.

[Apogeee]

8 hours ago, Jolie717 said:

Not sure the library would have the most current info - if they do have recently published guides from reputable sources, great, but if not I'd skip it.  This test is way too important to take it lightly.

Jolie717 makes an important point. Grad school is too important to put all of your time, energy, and cash into test-prep for one test: even the GRE. A great idea is to thoroughly learn the material. Then you not only have it on test day, but forever. The ETS website has exam guides and practice tests. The practice tests at ETS give a good approximation of what you will need to do on test day, which can be grueling. On that day you have to ignore the ick factor of wearing the headphones that have been on countless other heads, and the fact that you are being monitored on a camera. You can't even have your own pencil! After you work with all of that material, if you need something else, go and get books. An experienced, professional tutor is a good investment right from the beginning. Also, don't skimp on writing preparation. One of the major tasks of grad school is professional writing. Try to get that score to at least a 5.

[Crimson Wife]

1 hour ago, Apogeee said:

 Also, don't skimp on writing preparation. One of the major tasks of grad school is professional writing. Try to get that score to at least a 5.

Professional writing as a SLP is *NOTHING* like the stupid standardized test writing tasks. I've always scored very well on my lab assignments and observation reports in my CSD courses (which *ARE* very similar to the reports I've received from my daughter's SLP's over the years). But I am only ok at B.S.ing on some inane topic that ETS has devised and expects me to write on in 30-45 minutes. If you look at the writing topic pool, they are things that people might debate at a bar, not things actually relevant to being a good SLP. "The well-being of a society is enhanced when many of its people question authority." What does my opinion or yours or any other applicant's matter with regards to our capability of writing good speech & language reports?

[Apogeee]

2 hours ago, Crimson Wife said:

But I am only ok at B.S.ing on some inane topic that ETS has devised and expects me to write on in 30-45 minutes.

Exactly right, Crimson Wife! This is an important distinction. If someone can't get at least a 5 on an "inane topic that ETS has devised" how can they possibly engage in effective business writing? The same types of analysis that go into writing on the inane topic will improve the writing on the reports that a professional is expected to produce. Nothing we learn is wasted.

I, too, have seen the writing that some people send out to parents, administrators, and clients. Learning how to write well behooves us all. Thank you for pointing that out.

Edited June 28, 2016 by Apogeee

[thespeechblog.com]

@CajunSLP18 - I´m a fan of Magoosh. It was really helpful for me, and I wrote about it on my blog. If you don´t end up purchasing it, the free vocabulary builder apps from them are fantastic! Unless you have a full 6 months to prep, don´t just start on page 1. I´d recommend starting with a practice test and then analyzing the topics and question types that you performed well or poorly on. Certain topics appear more frequently than others - if you do poorly on an infrequent topic, than I´d spend more time on a topic that appears more frequently. 

[Jolie717]

3 hours ago, Apogeee said:

Exactly right, Crimson Wife! This is an important distinction. If someone can't get at least a 5 on an "inane topic that ETS has devised" how can they possibly engage in effective business writing? The same types of analysis that go into writing on the inane topic will improve the writing on the reports that a professional is expected to produce. Nothing we learn is wasted.

I, too, have seen the writing that some people send out to parents, administrators, and clients. Learning how to write well behooves us all. Thank you for pointing that out.

Ironically, I think you are missing some of our points completely. ? But I get your points too, to an extent.  

[CajunSLP18]

Thank y'all so much. I have about a year to take the GRE and get the score I need. My cumulative GPA is 3.89 and 4.0 in my major. I'm just a horrible standardized test taker. I would hate not to hit that "300" mark that I've been told you need to get in at my school. I downloaded that Magoosh vocabulary app, so I plan on starting to use it soon. Also, after I finish with my summer semester tomorrow, I'm going to try to take a practice test. 

[Tig]

I'm a terrible test taker too, so I hear you.  I got myself a couple of workbooks in the winter, studied them when I had the time, then carved out time during the week to be at the library for a few hours over the summer with the test date in the middle of July.  It ended up being some of my favorite times being on campus- I'd get my coffee and a cookie, then hit the books, time myself and see how I did.  I think I got the Kaplan books.  I had one shot to take the test, I didn't have an extra $200 bucks floating around to take the thing again, and I got scores I was happy with.

But the time by myself, at the library, in the sweet spots overlooking the quad or the mountains or whatever calmed me down quite a bit.  It was a lot of fun.

[Karan Thakkar]

The very first thing you should do is to revise some basic Math formulas and take the practice test by ETS. It is highly likely that you won't complete the entire test and quit after first few sections. But avoid doing that. Giving a practice test will give you a clear picture on where you stand. It will also give you a better idea on which sections you need to study more. Even though this might sound heart breaking but your final GRE day score will be only +- 10 marks around this score and it would take significant amount of efforts and time to improve that.

Don't get demotivated if you score average. If you do really bad (something less than 270 /340), its time to reconsider your career choices or accept the fact that you will have to try getting into an average graduate school.

Read this blog post on Preparing for GRE

To know more on GRE consider reading The GRE FAQ

If you have any more questions regarding graduate school admissions, you can post your questions on Forum

Written Tue

Edited July 1, 2016 by Karan Thakkar

[Jolie717]

10 hours ago, Karan Thakkar said:

The very first thing you should do is to revise some basic Math formulas and take the practice test by ETS. It is highly likely that you won't complete the entire test and quit after first few sections. But avoid doing that. Giving a practice test will give you a clear picture on where you stand. It will also give you a better idea on which sections you need to study more. Even though this might sound heart breaking but your final GRE day score will be only +- 10 marks around this score and it would take significant amount of efforts and time to improve that.

Don't get demotivated if you score average. If you do really bad (something less than 270 /340), its time to reconsider your career choices or accept the fact that you will have to try getting into an average graduate school.

Read this blog post on Preparing for GRE

To know more on GRE consider reading The GRE FAQ

If you have any more questions regarding graduate school admissions, you can post your questions on Forum

Written Tue

270/340???  How does that translate to today's scoring for the GRE?  I don't think it's wise to dispense advice about people "reconsidering career choices" based on a practice test score, or on their first GRE attempt for that matter.  Apparently you didn't read all of the posts above, because as I mentioned in mine, I scored 62 points higher on my GRE exam than I did on my first practice exam.  This isn't that uncommon among those of us who haven't studied math in years.  Where exactly are you getting your data from?  

[Karan Thakkar]

On 7/2/2016 at 0:00 AM, Jolie717 said:

270/340???  How does that translate to today's scoring for the GRE?  I don't think it's wise to dispense advice about people "reconsidering career choices" based on a practice test score, or on their first GRE attempt for that matter.  Apparently you didn't read all of the posts above, because as I mentioned in mine, I scored 62 points higher on my GRE exam than I did on my first practice exam.  This isn't that uncommon among those of us who haven't studied math in years.  Where exactly are you getting your data from?  

Hi, 

you can look through this topic http://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/38585-practice-gre-scores-vs-real-gre-scores/

Most of them would have GRE scores close to what they got in practice tests.

And i stated that significant efforts would be required to improve the score. I am sure you would have worked really hard on math section as you had not studied in years.

[Jolie717]

11 hours ago, Karan Thakkar said:

Hi, 

you can look through this topic http://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/38585-practice-gre-scores-vs-real-gre-scores/

Most of them would have GRE scores close to what they got in practice tests.

And i stated that significant efforts would be required to improve the score. I am sure you would have worked really hard on math section as you had not studied in years.

No, I didn't have to work very hard on the math actually - I did go through the first three Manhattan math books or so.  But I actually learned/reviewed more math from all of the practice tests I took.  I maybe studied for 30-40 hours max for math, and the rest was practice test after practice test.

I looked at the link you mentioned above, and it appears very clearly to not represent the average GRE test taker.  The vast majority of the "before" scores are already well within or above the competitive range.  These individuals are unlikely to show improvement on par with those of us who simply need a refresher plus a lot of "timed test practice" and an understanding of the strategies needed to do well on the GRE.  

I appreciate that you seem to want to help SLP majors (which you are not, I am fairly certain) and give general advice about the GRE, but I feel you are doing so more to promote your own website/forum rather than out of any dedication to or knowledge about our major nor investment in our field.  

[tillersaurus]

Seconding Magoosh here! I find that I am much better at learning from people than books, and I found their math videos SO intuitive - they really teach you how to beat the system. Their verbal section videos are also great. Plus, their practice tests are actually slightly harder than the GRE questions will be, so even just getting to the point where you get comfortable with the questions they give you is more helpful than it seems!

They don't have a huge amount to teach you for the writing - for that, I'd possibly get into the Princeton online practice test system somehow (my friend let me use his account after buying a princeton study book) as they will grade your essays in practice exams. Using just Magoosh (and the princeton essays when I wanted to simulate the full timed exam) got me a fantastic GRE score in the end!