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PsychGraduate

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In light of all the GRE questions and common threads made to ask questions, address these questions and add commentary I still see a need to provide quality and free tutoring for preparing for the GRE. Thus this thread is born. It will include general overviews based upon my own tutoring experience, links and problems from free access websites with links left at the bottom and some similar problems to those found in GRE prep manuals adapted by me to be atleast somewhat original... I will answer any general and specific questions I can as well. I will also discuss and answer question on the psychology and biology GRE👍. I do this because for now I have the time and money so I can actually give back to others for free. I will leave some good links as well, but you do not find them useful, please let me know. I am not linking paysite links, so relax🙂 Personally I am not happy with Kaplan, (though if you have done well with practice tests and are ready based upon full length simulations, do not change on my account) but I do like Oxford and I love Princeton, but yes, Barrons is acceptable.

The first thing about the GRE to keep in mind is that it is an adaptive test, a computer adaptive test (CAT) to be exact. In August 2011 that format will change somewhat and not every question will be adaptive. Also some the vocabulary section will be changed in favor of becoming more reading comprehension based, but it will still be retrieval and inference based with some adaptive components. In other words the antonyms and analogies will be removed from the vocabulary section. The number of geometry questions will be reduced so more data analysis questions more representative of real world problems will be added. There will also be a new 1 point scoring range. Though not verified as of yet students may also be allowed to use a calculator, but do not hold your breathe. Therefore each section of the GRE will considered from two perspectives: the 2010 held standard and the new August 2011 standard.

First some general advice all of the GRE prep books and free GRE study sites, state in one form or another and which should be somewhat familiar to us all:

1.) Do not rush and answer every question. Questions not answered will be held against you.

2.) Use process of elimination, (POE) which I recall hearing in fourth grade. Look at all of the possible answers after reading the question, story or problem and eliminate the obviously wrong answers and any asnwers that you know cannot be found so easily by just looking at the problem.

3.) Develop a pacing plan and keep track of the time so you fill out all questions with an answer.

4.) Use lots of scratch paper and write as neat and small as you can where you can still read it. Asking for more scratch paper can be time consuming and reduce your chances of answering all the questions or having time to write out potential answers.

5.) Lay off the caffeine unless you know your body does well on caffeine under stress as caffeine can be a serious stressor in many people. Also get plenty of rest the last few days before the test at least.

6.) Always ask yourself what method you should be using to anwer the GRE questions, what are you given and what you are looking for. There are many trap questions on the GRE so be careful not to fall for seemingly obvious answers easily found from just skimming the question; this is usually set up to throw you off. In terms of picking your methodology for solving the question: see if you need to just retrieve information from the problem or if you need to infer relationships. For example in an essay, the question maybe looking for a passage that is stating explicitly a fact, and this is retrieval. In analogies, however, you must infer a relationship between two words, and not just assume that your answer is two words that mean the same thing or different. They may have the same meaning, opposite or a little different so pay attention to the relationships between words.


For example:

Friction: Abrasion

(A) Cleanliness: sloppiness

(B ) rain, dry

(C ) smack, punch

(D ) heat, evaporation

(E) literacy, dumb

First ask yourself what is the relationship here? Is it one of synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, similar, or causal? Well, look at each word and define each word in terms of the other. In this case friction can cause abrasion so it is causal. Therefore the correct answer is D.

How about this one from the top of my head:

Wet, dry.

Immediately it should be obvious that this is an antonym. Antonyms are words that are opposites but on the GRE there may be more than one choice that seems to be a pair of words that have opposite meanings. In these cases you need to analyze what each answer option conveys to find the best answer.

7.) When time is running out and you used POE with looking in context, and still have more than one answer that looks good:
guess!
 
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All I can say is thank you! I have been struggling to prepare for the GRE. Knowing this thread is here does provide some comfort. In particular, thanks for the reminder to write small- excellent point and time-saving tip.
 
* denotes multiplication.

The first few sections are merely review for many of you but not a bad idea to atleast skim it for something you may have missed. In later sections the more advanced freshman highschool topics are discussed and then some recently validated methods, based upon my implementation of them, to help you improve your GRE score. There will be updates daily to each section time permitting so look for future edits. This is all to help those anxious about their first test, their second or their 9th.

Again if this is too simple, let me know what math gets your ANS cranking out epinephrine...

(A) Line segments: a perfectly flat angle that is 180 degrees. Pi denotes the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its diameter.

(B) Four angles form from the intersection of two lines. The two lines are perpendicular to each other and 4, 90 degree angles are formed which when combined forms 360 degrees like that of a circle. 90 degrees is the same as saying a right angle. The circumference formula for a circle is: 2 pi * radius, or simply pi times the diameter. The formula for the area of a circle is pi r^2. (pi can be rounded off to 3.14). The radius extends from the center of a circle to the edge. The diameter is the line that extends from one edge to the other through the circle. Thus the diameter is twice the length of the radius.

(C) The 3 angles of a triangle are equal to 180 degrees. The area formula for a triangle is: 1/2 base * height.

Algebra and other fun stuff:

In Algebra when working with variables, or unknowns represented by letters, the number of unknowns will determine the amount of equations needed. Thus if we have x,y and z variables then we know we need 3 equations to solove for those unknowns. This rule does change in very advanced math but nothing to worry about on the GRE. Remember most of this math is junior high level math dressed up into layers of tricky wording and sometimes irrelevant numbers.

To turn a fraction into a decimal just divide the numerator by the denominator. Another way of stating the same exact calculation is to divide the denominator into the numerator. Here I think all GRE prep books fail when they say memorize fraction conversions to decimals. Yeah it may reduce your time to respond a little but really once you have the method down you do not need to memorize and once you do it enough you will almost accidentally memorize them anyways. Even Princeton does not quite hit the mark in my opinion, but here are some examples so you get the method:

1/2 = 1 ÷ 2 = 0.5. * 100 = 50%. You multiply the decimal quotient you got from the fraction when dividing to get the percentage (%). 1/3
= 1 ÷ 3 = 0.333333, thus this is a rational expression meaning that the digits after the decimal repeat or terminate; in this case they of course repeat. 0.33 * 100 = 33%.
Heres is how we convert decimals into fractions and then to percentages: 0.1 = 10%. 0.1 is the same as saying one tenths 1/10 (1 10nths) or 1 out of 10. 0.3 = 30% or 2/4. 0.4 = 2/5 or 40% and 0.75 = 3/4 or 75%. To illustrate: 0.1 * 0.1/1 = 0.1/1 * 10/10 = 0.1 * 10 = 1/10. Thus: 1/10 = 1 ÷ 10 = 0.1. 0.1 * 100 = 10%.
2/4 = 2 ÷ 4 = 0.3 * 100 = 30%. Try finishing the former problem with the multiplication I used in the 0.1 problem. Hint: look at how many numbers are after the decimal to figure out whether to multiply by 10, 100 or a 1000.

Coverting a fraction to a percent: 4/5 x = 80%. 4/5 * x/100 (cross multiply)= 400/5 = 80%. We divided 400 by 5 which we obtained by multiplying 4 by 100 and 5 by x.

The Coordinate system based upon the Cartesian Plane: Consists of two perpendicular lines which forms 4 right angles and consists of 4 quadrants numbered as: I,II,III,IV and are arranged, beginning with the upper right quadrant, from lowest to highest counter clockwise. The X value is the independent variable and lies always on the horizontal (line) axis and the y value is dependent value and lies on the (vertica)l axis. Simply they can be called the x axis and the y axis, respectively. The slope equation is y= mx + b. x and y are the two points on a line segment, b is the y intercept, and m represents the actual slope. Recall from elementary school that slope is the rise over the run. This means that the vertical change is divided by the horizontal change, and it can look like this: DY/DX, (don;t worry we are not playing with derivatives here) which denotes delta y over delta x. delta is a Greek symbol which means change. In English Slope = rise/run. Another way to represent slope is: y2-y1/x2-x1.
 
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More. More. Give us more... 😀

No, but really this is very helpful. I'm aware of some of the websites but are there some that you could recommend?
 
More. More. Give us more... 😀

No, but really this is very helpful. I'm aware of some of the websites but are there some that you could recommend?

I will give a good list tomorrow but for now I am working on many examples and methods right here. No worries I will cut and paste links tomorrow.
 
Relaxation: Yoga, TM, exercise before and after studying, chamomile tea, stating self affirmations, and visulazing success after studying, which acts as a positive reinforcer. Practice proper breathing to get good 02 circulation and expulsion of C02. Higher C02 levels exacerbates anxiety and since C02 breaks down in fluids to form acid, more buffers are released to mainain the blood ph. Just by breathing correctly you can maintain better blood circulation and reduce anxiety. No need for for dangerous medications whatsoever, unless your licensed medical doctor tells you, you have a medical condition that requires medications.

Skill Building: Practice using mnemonics, learn how to speed read with improved memory recall, use the SQR3 (survey, question, read, recite, and review) method for studying the practical techniques themselves in your GRE prep books and online prep courses. Of course the GRE is a time limited and partially, time dependent score test, so this is more of a skill building exercise to learn the methods to do better on the GRE than for the GRE itself, though, if you can read faster with a higher retention rate this could work well for you too. The key is regularly test yourself.

Study techniques: Do problems and lots of them. Make sure you get the methods you need to use to arrive at a correct answer. Make the study experience somewhat enjoyable without getting sidetracked. The GRE is not fun to prepare for, for most people and taking the actual test can be a source of immense anxiety, however, if you are able to make serious studying more of a game and thus get more enjoyment out of the process while maintaining focus, you will score higher than you otherwise would have all caffeined out and with that shaking left hand.
 
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If, you need a 1400 to be competitive to get in a program even with letters of recommendation and a top GPA and you get say a 1200, are you doomed? No,you are not necessarily destined to never get the 1400 or study for 10 years, to get the score you need. Before I get more into that, however, keep in mind that with personal temperament, environmental factors, family obligations, work, ad infinitum, not everyone will have the focus to get the needed grade. You do not need more than a 100 IQ or so and decent study skills to do real well on the GRE. What you do need is again, focus, good study habits, some time each day, take care of yoursefl physically in preparation for grad sschool, and healthy ways to calm your mind. Sometimes short term CBT can be useful if you can afford it or if you can get a discount somewhere. Other times just talking to the social worker at your college campus can aid in relaxation and focus. Some people perform better when a little nervous which is fine but there is no reason to crank your amygdala into constant overdrive.
 
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This is just a matter of reveiwing what you have forgotten and going over areas you do not know due to not taking that particular psychology class but I do have some study tips for this test as well, just the same. This will be added soon.
 
The GRE is the largest obstacle between me and graduate school. I don't know how I will even break 1200 on this nefarious test!
 
The GRE is the largest obstacle between me and graduate school. I don't know how I will even break 1200 on this nefarious test!

I want to help you 100% for free. I know from my tutoring experience in face to face interactions and through the online medium I can. There are no catches or requirements and since we are anonymous here you can free to stop getting assistance from me at anytime.

I agree that the GRE is nefarious. I had to learn how to learn the study habits and skill sets to do well on the GRE and to actually teach it as well which are related but not the same thing. What sections challenge you the most? What kind of score distribution did you get if you took it. How are your practice tests going? Is it anxiety getting you, the thinking about being timed, issues with geometry, or some other mixture?

I am very glad to have stumbled on SDN. I have really enjoyed the exchanges and lively debate, the ability to help some others and I have also gained knowledge from the site.
 
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