Advice for lifting my GRE verabal and Quant

[Shera]

Hi everyone, I am applying for social psychology PhD programs in US and Canada. And I really need some good advice to lift my GRE score. Currently, I am proceeding with Maghoosh website and it is fine. Is there any suggestion like books or tests that can help me with Verbal and Quant? I got V: 150, Q: 160 and AW: 3 two years ago.

Many thanks,

[St0chastic]

My standard advice is always: Khan Academy (online and free), the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of Practice Problems, ETS' Official Practice Books, and the official online ETS practice tests.  I also used Magoosh as you are and found it very helpful, especially if you complement the videos with all the posts they have on their blog.  

Your quant score is actually pretty decent, so what you might need to focus on is building up your vocabulary, reading comprehension, and test taking skills.  For test taking skills refer to Magoosh.  For vocabulary and reading comprehension, reading a lot should help in this regard, especially GRE-like publications like the New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, edge.org, etc.  I have an extension in Google Chrome that lets me look up the definition of a word just by double clicking on it.  I've been compulsively looking up every word I don't know since early high school, and over time this has let me build up a pretty sizeable vocabulary that was helpful for the GRE.

Another thing that might help is reviewing all of the questions you miss on practice tests.  Think about how your own thinking differed from the test makers' and why you missed the question.  You kind of have to learn to think the way ETS wants you to, and this is something you can do by taking a lot of practice tests and examining the rationale ETS provides for the correct answer.

[St0chastic]

3 hours ago, St0chastic said:

My standard advice is always: Khan Academy (online and free), the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of Practice Problems, ETS' Official Practice Books, and the official online ETS practice tests.  I also used Magoosh as you are and found it very helpful, especially if you complement the videos with all the posts they have on their blog.  

Your quant score is actually pretty decent, so what you might need to focus on is building up your vocabulary, reading comprehension, and test taking skills.  For test taking skills refer to Magoosh.  For vocabulary and reading comprehension, reading a lot should help in this regard, especially GRE-like publications like the New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, edge.org, etc.  I have an extension in Google Chrome that lets me look up the definition of a word just by double clicking on it.  I've been compulsively looking up every word I don't know since early high school, and over time this has let me build up a pretty sizeable vocabulary that was helpful for the GRE.

Another thing that might help is reviewing all of the questions you miss on practice tests.  Think about how your own thinking differed from the test makers' and why you missed the question.  You kind of have to learn to think the way ETS wants you to, and this is something you can do by taking a lot of practice tests and examining the rationale ETS provides for the correct answer.

Just wanted to add some links:

https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/?WT.ac=grehome_greprepare_b_150213

https://amzn.com/1941234518

https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/khan_academy

http://magoosh.com/gre/

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-dictionary-by-goog/mgijmajocgfcbeboacabfgobmjgjcoja?hl=en

For vocab you might want to check out Word Power, Vocabulary.com, Quizlet.com, the Magoosh vocab app, and the Magoosh vocab videos on Youtube.

Best of luck!

Edited September 29, 2016 by St0chastic

[sackofcrap]

I believe I used the Kaplan books or the Princeton Review books to study for it. The verbal section is very specific about the words that they want you to know. It's not about having a large vocabulary, it is about knowing the specific words on the test. I treated it kind of like a typical vocabulary test from elementary school. Every few days study and learn a couple of the words on the vocabulary list. Eventually you will know most of them. I suggest taking the ETS practice test as well.

I wouldn't worry about improving the Q score too much.  However, make sure to just review some of those as well so that you don't forget what you already know. It's always good to keep your mind fresh.