GRE Prep

[Pekoe]

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As you can gather from my other posts, I am still fairly new to college after a hiatus of a decade plus a few years. I glanced through a GRE prep book at Barns and Noble and a lot of the questions they had were about topics I'd not read about in years. I am leaning more toward an MSW now that I have been weighing classes needed and time commitment.

Where do you begin studying for your GRE's? Do you take them after getting your BA or before? What study methods do you find most helpful?

 

[socialcog]

I took the Kaplan class because I had been out of school for so long I figured I needed all the help I could get. Kaplan was useful to a degree. I found the classes to not be beneficial, however there were tons of practice modules online. There was more than enough to keep you studying for hours and hours each day.

The best practice for me was doing the CATs (computer adaptive test) online. I did about 5 of them and they allowed me to see where my strengths and weaknesses were. This helped me better strategize my studying. I also made about 1400 vocab flashcards which only marginally helped. The math modules I found wonderful and it showed in the results. Finally, I hired a private tutor for a few sessions to drill me on my really weak areas (in math) and that paid dividends during test time.

good luck

 

[paramour]

Where do you begin studying for your GRE's? Do you take them after getting your BA or before? What study methods do you find most helpful?

Depends upon when you plan on applying for graduate programs. If you wish to enter a program the next academic year (Fall 2008), then you will need to apply this year and you will need to take the GRE this Fall (2007). For many, this means that you take them before you have received your BA. Others, however, take off a year (or two or three) for various reasons before applying, in which case, you could wait to take the GRE until after you receive your BA.

G'luck~

 

[bestknightmare]

anyone can tell me which company's psycholgy book is the best?
kaplan/princeton?

 

[socialcog]

anyone can tell me which company's psycholgy book is the best?
kaplan/princeton?

For the subject test, I bought the princeton, barrons and ARCO. They all overlap to a degree but I am finding the ARCO one to be the most organized and more comprehensive. The problem is that it seems to be out of print. The one I got was used (I got it cheap) from Amazon and about 5 years old. But, nevertheless, very good.

 

[pingouin]

If you're leaning MSW, do some research into the admissions requirements of the schools you're looking at to see if taking the GRE is worth your time. Historically, most programs do not require it. I took the general GRE back in the Dark Ages (1995) and when I applied to schools in 1996, didn't need it at all. Should have saved my money.

 

[michalita]

Whether or not the GRE is required for the MSW really depends on the program. I found during the application process that state schools did require the GRE (and some private schools, too) and then mostly private schools didn't require it or you had the option to use it (if you did well) to boost your GPA if your GPA wasn't fabulous. I don't think they put all that much weight on your GRE -- it's more of a weeding out factor, I think -- and your GPA, social work experiences, personal statement, and recommendations will affect your application more.



I took the GRE after being out of school for several years and found that it was especially important to review the math sections. It was more like 4th grade math without a calculator (except the geometry, of course) so you'll probably feel really rusty and practice (and technique) makes better. The vocab kicked my proverbial arse, so good luck with that, too! 😱

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I took the GRE after being out of school for several years and found that it was especially important to review the math sections. It was more like 4th grade math without a calculator (except the geometry, of course) so you'll probably feel really rusty and practice (and technique) makes better.

That was also my experience. I was never great at the spacial stuff, and there was much more of that on the GRE than the stuff I'm good at (stats, calc, etc). Definitely take the practice exams and zero in on your areas of weakness, and work on those.

-t