GRE - ETS prep vs. other companies

[LivestockDoc]

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Hey All,

I am doing my final preparations for the GRE which I will take this Thursday morning.

Here's what I'm wondering...

For those of you who took the 2 practice tests on the Powerprep dvd from ETS, did you feel that they were a pretty accurate representation of the actual test that you took? Was your score on the actual test pretty close to your scores on the Powerprep practices?

If you also used other company's prep dvd's, how do you think their tests compared in terms of accurate representation of the actual test, and accurate estimations of your scores?

I am a bit concerned right now because I took a Kaplan test (from their dvd--or is it a cd. I don't know what I'm supposed to call it!) and got a score that was much higher than I expected. Then I took a Powerprep practice test, thinking it would be more accurate since it was from ETS, and I got an even slightly higher score. I don't know whether to think I've actually improved that much, or these tests just aren't reflecting the actual difficulty (or accurate scoring) I will encounter on Thursday.

This is also a concern for me because I took the Princeton Review class, and they said that it was imperative to get the first 10 questions correct if at all possible. Their explanation of why made perfect sense, and I try to do that on every practice. However, on the math section of the ETS test I just took, I missed numbers 2, 3, 5, and 8 (plus a couple others late in the test), and it scored me a 730. Based on what I was told by Princeton Review, it seems like I should have received a much lower score than that.

Any thoughts?

 

[bunnity]

I found the two test CD's that came from ETS to be pretty accurate. I think I did better on the real thing than I ever did on any of the practice tests, but only by 50 points or so. The other CD test I practiced with was Barron's which also was pretty accurate.

I don't think making a mistake early on will kill your scores. From what the Barron's book says, the first question is medium. If you get it right, they give you a harder one. If you get it wrong, they give you an easier one. Same thing for each question. I don't think that means that if you get an early question wrong you're totally screwed though. Either way I think it is best to not sit there worrying about "is this an easy question, am I doing badly?" - the math section you have to move really quickly so just don't try to analyze what's going on and focus on the problems.

 

[LivestockDoc]

Either way I think it is best to not sit there worrying about "is this an easy question, am I doing badly?" - the math section you have to move really quickly so just don't try to analyze what's going on and focus on the problems.

Oh, I agree with you there, bunnity. I was just questioning the accuracy of Princeton Review's advice because it didn't jive with my score.

Glad to hear you think the ETS practice tests are pretty accurate. Makes me feel a whole lot more trusting of my score on them.

 

[Caninerepro]

I thought the stuff from ETS was pretty fair. I bought a book, and studied for a week over a break and did just fine. I do not think the classes or expensive stuff offered would be worth the price. That was my experience, but I only took the test once. I got a 1350 after buying one $20.00 book. I think you will be just fine with what you have. Good luck! 👍

 

[oregonhopeful]

I'm a cheapskate so I didn't buy any prep books for the GREs. I went to the library and checked out about ten of them. The princeton review was my favorite for verbal (contrary to what a lot of other people say generally) and the kaplan was pretty decent for math. (I was very unhappy with my math scores though - don't remember what they were, just didn't like them. I ran out of time and ended up guessing "B" on the last fifteen math questions. I'm TERRIBLE at time management on tests like that)
Really though there's no need to buy a prep book if you can get it at the library. I recommend prepping a model for the essays and doing enough practice tests to get the timing down. Some of the books I checked out came with full length computerized practice tests. I had more than I could have taken.

 

[redsteven]

I liked the Kaplan GRE book.

BTW I did a lot better on the actual test than I did on either the Kaplan practice tests or the ETS practice tests.

 

[kiki1983]

I found the two test CD's that came from ETS to be pretty accurate. I think I did better on the real thing than I ever did on any of the practice tests, but only by 50 points or so.

See, I was the exact opposite...I've taken the GRE 5 times (three times alone last summer)...there were 4 full length practice exams on the CD and I did each one, along with studying the book and doing practice questions.... for the 4 practice tests, my score ranged between 1150 and 1350 (I'd say the avg of the 4 scores was about 1250)... the best score I was able to achieve EVER on the GRE was an 1130 (the 5th time's the charm, hahaha)...I'm one of the lucky few that don't do well on standardized tests I guess, which is funny because it felt the same to me taking a practice test at home on my computer as it did taking the real thing at a test center.... I don't know why I'm not able to get a great score... If I don't go to Western this year (and instead start the MPH-VPH at OSU), then I will probably go buy a couple more GRE books and try to raise my score more this summer!!! Good luck!

 

[Caninerepro]

Isn't an 1130 a pretty average vet school score? Mean for accepted at WI was a 1161, at MN a 1170. Why take it again, the schools can see you have just been score shopping if you do it too much? Sounds to me like a MS program might help your chances if you decide against Western. I will have to say that myself, doing a MS is what got me into vet school, and the admissions committees told me as much. Then again, I still did not get into my home, IS school even with a 4.0 with 20 credits/semester in grad school. 🙁 But I did get a few bites from OOS schools.👍

Oh, I bought the kaplan book BTW

 

[Truth74]

The two times I took it, I used the Kaplan book, Princeton Review, the Princeton Review math refresher, old Kaplan and Princeton Review books form the library, and number2.com.

I recommend number 2.com, if you have time online during the day to run through it. They will remember what words you missed and go over those, if you go to that section. I would also get on a word a day service, if you feel it is your weakness. Mine was lower level math, because I hadn't done it for umpteen million years.

The older Kaplan cd's were more fun, but I agree that the ETS cd has good examples of the test.