Tips to prepare for the GRE and Gre Subject Test

I wrote the GRE 2 years ago and did quite well despite doing my undergrad at a less reputable university. Here's what I remember:

GRE general:
- buy the 'preparing for the GRE general' book and work on any weak areas
- practice from the word list they provide and make a list of words that you don't know; any time you come accross one, write it down. Use 'cue' cards and try to learn 4 new words each day (well enough that you can use them in a sentence)
- practice the math part (not my strong point either, but the only thing I did was work from the preparation book, which I found very helpful on this section). Pay attention to the time limit. I think I did well on this part because I skipped or guessed at the ones I couldn't solve quickly.
- you can download (not sure if it's from the GRE website or not) practice versions of the test to do on computer. I found these to be VERY helpful, not only to give an idea of what it's like to do the exam on the computer, but also to have an idea of how long the process takes.
- I didn't do anything for the logic/critical thinking/whatever part of the test. You're kind of on your own there.

GRE subject:
- In my fourth year, while I was writing my honors thesis, I took an intro Psyc class (I hadn't taken one before this), which I found to be helpful. Alternatively, you could just review some stuff from the text. Pay attention to the big names & what the gist of their research was. Details details details.

Test day:
- Stay calm and don't worry about what/how others are doing. When I went in, there were four others writing in the same room. I was nervous, until I saw the others in a paranoid stupor; then I laughed at myself for getting as worked up as I was. Don't pay attention to when others are finishing - it has NO relevence on how well you will do. Once the studying is over, just go with the flow and you'll do fine. Oh yeah, don't necessarily think that performance on the practice tests will reflect on how you will do on the actual one. I did 'okay' on the practice tests, yet did quite well on the real thing.

good luck

What I did to prepare was go over the whole Kaplan GRE Psychology book (which goes into quite a bit more depth) and create an outline of important points for each chapter. I reviewed these outlines when I had a chance and supplemented them with vocabularly from my AP psych book and the Cracking the GRE Psychology book, which I went through fairly quickly, jotting down things that hadn't come up in my other books. I took the test after my second semester in college and got an 840, so I don't know that college classes are really a necessity. Like Brad, I didn't do as well on the practice tests. The practice tests in the Cracking book were especially poor as the questions seemed to be too detailed and obscure. The Kaplan tests reflect the actual test fairly accurately, I thought. There's also a practice test on gre.org (this is the same one they mail you when you register).

I used Barron's How to Prepare for the GRE for the general test and supplemented that with the math review on gre.org and additional vocab from the Cracking book. I had quite a long list of words and just went over it and over it. I think it helped, though I still came across foreign words on the test. The computerized practice tests were very helpful (these can also be downloaded from gre.org).

I didn't take the Psychology GRE, but here are some tips for the General one.

1) DON'T study the day before the test. Seriously. When I did that the second time I took the test, my score went down. I think that the reason is because it exhausts your brain and narrows your train of thought, it stresses you out more because you can't think about anything but the upcoming test, and it keeps you from sleeping well (because you're tired and stressed). I did much better the third time that I took the GRE, largely because I felt more confident and rested after having not studied the day before.

2) Don't forget the vocabulary. Yes, studying quantitative stuff is a better investment of your time and preparation, but if you study the vocabulary right, it will greatly improve your score. I used the Princeton Review's Hit Parade, combined with Kaplan's Flip-O-Matic GRE vocabulary flashcards. There's also a Kaplan GRE word I-phone/I-pod application that I downloaded so that I can study at random times at work or elsewhere. Start studying early, and try to categorize as many words as possible that have a similar definition. For example: laconic, terse, pithy, etc. Then go into each category and try to see the different nuances of each word. For example, pithy can mean concise, not just "few words". I think that helped me remember more words because they were grouped together, and analyzing the nuances helped the actual definitions stick. My verbal score went from a 560 to a 700.

Hope this helps!