Best way to study for the GRE?

[YankeesfanZF5]

I was just wondering if you should take all of your pre-vet prerequisite classes before you take the GRE? Also what types of classes would be most beneficial? Any study books? Thanks in advance!

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[wheelin2vetmed]

https://gre.magoosh.com/

Worth every penny, in my opinion.

Didn't have time earlier, so I'll edit this now. I had some official books given to me, I didn't use a single page of them.

Magoosh is just phenomenally set up. You get video and text explanation for every single question. There's guides depending on how much time you have to study that give you day-by-day assignments of what to do. It basically takes all the planning out of it. Just do what they tell you to do, study what they tell you to study, and you'll be fine.

My projected scores were 150-155 Q / 152-157 V. I ended up getting 160 Q / 159 V / 4.5 AW. I slacked hard on memorizing vocab. Sure I could've boosted my verbal but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out for my first try.

 

[Devastating]

Personally, I did not pay for anything but a couple of books that can be found on Amazon. For the verbal portion I used a practice book called "5 pound book of problems" or something like that (it's produced by the GRE test company itself, I've heard mixed reviews about the books made by unrelated companies like Kaplan), and for the quantitative I studied a general "math skills review" book that is good for all kinds of tests like GED, SAT, ACT, GRE. The "5-Pound" book does have a math section too but it focuses more on the verbal part and I think it does a great job of explaining the reasoning behind correct/incorrect answers, and strategies for vocabulary. The company itself also has a practice test software you can download from their site called PowerPrep, and that's the best way to simulate taking the test itself with Verbal, Quant and Writing portions.

I honestly should have reviewed my math more, because with a mediocre amount of studying I got a 161 V, 149 Q (I couldn't finish a lot of the math problems in time!) Still decent for a first try, I guess?

 

[WildZoo]

I used the my GRE tutor website, which is free if you just want to use some of the sources but you have to pay to save your progress if I'm remembering correctly. Also used free practice tests available from ETS. It really depends on how much you think you'll actually need to study. I knew I just needed to review the math components because it had been 6 years or so since i had done math of that level, so I didn't spring for any of the more expensive study aids.

As for your first question...the GRE is not really in any way related to most of your pre-reqs, so it doesn't really matter when you take it. Biology, chemistry, math beyond simple trig, etc aren't going to be on there.

 

[Caiter92]

https://gre.magoosh.com/

Worth every penny, in my opinion.

x2

I bought the full plan for $99, and was worried it would be a waste of money, but it was so worth it. I felt the questions where on par with the difficulty of the GRE (some where even harder!), and the video explanations and lessons where awesome.

The only class I found that really helped in any way on the GRE were my QSCI/stats classes, but even then I wouldn't say they were necessary to doing well and I wouldn't take them just for the GRE. I had a QSCI minor, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have taken any of those classes!

 

[Jess Monster]

The best preparation is understanding the format of the test. That is best done by taking a practice test and maybe buying a GRE booklet. If you have a poor vocabulary, you can buy flash cards. Taking an English composition course or a comparative studies writing course might help you with reading comprehension and writing. In regards to math, you've probably taken all the math you need to know for the GRE before college. The wording of the quantitative section questions can be tricky and you're often expected to do multiple calculations to answer one question, so learning shortcuts and other time saving techniques is important.

 

[LadyOtheFarm]

I just went to the library and checked out some of the more current study guides. Several had real old tests in them and worked out the answers in back so you could see the thought process behind them. I like tactile over computer though so that might make a difference for you.