GRE preparation thread

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myelin said:
Ok, I just got back from the testing center. I scored 130 points higher than my previous test. I did hit my goal of 600Q, but fell flat on V. The words weren't that difficult and some of them even looked familiar. I used the Princeton Review "hit parade" list only. I feel like the RC got me, as I always have a difficult time with them - mostly because they are very confusing. They will make a very convincing statement for something and half-way down the page say HOWEVER,...pair that with some lame-brain topic about 10th century caveman art in the southeastern part of Abu Dhabi and it just gets worse.

I was hoping to not get an experimental section but I did. It came at the very end when I was ready to go. It didn't say "experiemental section" but you can tell by the types of questions that it's not the scored section. Although, you should still take it seriously as you never know.
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OH MYELIN: How I am happy for you that you scored higher than the previous test, that's a good thing right? Yes. yes. I am relieved that it's over...haha I was actually tense for you, and my mom was even like: SIB, what the heck why are you so uppity ? And I told her, it's cause myelin's writing the GRE, and am stressing...haha
Oh myelin. Are you satisfied with your score?

Can I ask, can I ask -- what helped you most with the math section -- it is the thing that's KILLING ME (~530) :(. What TYPES of math qs did you see most often? what STRATEGY helped you best? (post in the tips and tricks thread so everyone gets helped if you can) :)
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congrats on surviving the gre and raising your Q score by SO much! that's great! you should be really proud of yourself and all of your hard work. it's really hard to raise your verbal score -- especially if you are not a native speaker, but you worked really hard and boosted you score hugely where you could. do you feel relieved?

hopefully the next part of the application process will be a bit more meaningful and reflective of the real you (well, except for the whole arguing with ETS about where your scores are bit!)
 
Got the 1st and 3rd questions right on a second practice test, actually a practice test in which I got the 10th q wrong, the 18th and 19th 20th question wrong, everything right then the 26th question wrong and purposely left the last one blank. The score on there was : 710

Holy heck. Those first 10 questions...er..9 questions...mean so much...I knew that, but ..*dumbfounded*
 
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scienceisbeauty said:
OH MYELIN: How I am happy for you that you scored higher than the previous test, that's a good thing right? Yes. yes. I am relieved that it's over...haha I was actually tense for you, and my mom was even like: SIB, what the heck why are you so uppity ? And I told her, it's cause myelin's writing the GRE, and am stressing...haha
Oh myelin. Are you satisfied with your score?

Can I ask, can I ask -- what helped you most with the math section -- it is the thing that's KILLING ME (~530) :(. What TYPES of math qs did you see most often? what STRATEGY helped you best? (post in the tips and tricks thread so everyone gets helped if you can) :)
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I'm not satisfied with my score. I wish I spent more time studying for the verbal section. However, I am glad that I was able to raise my score a total of 130 points (40 verbal, 90 quant).

For the math section, taking the timed practice sections really helped. I would take the practice test and review what questions I missed and why. Then I'd re-do that problem 3-4 times until I knew the steps. I can't say what kinds of questions I had most, but I will say that it was nothing different than what is taught in the princeton review math section. If you know that section cold, you should be well prepared.

As I stated before, beware of the experiemental sections. They won't tell you which one is experimental (like they used to where they gave you an option if you wanted to take it or not). You may get no experimental section, or a verbal OR quant section. I was ready to go after the verbal section and had to stay another 45 minutes for the experimental quany section. I could tell that something was different with it, but I still tried to take it seriously.
 
I thought that you always get an experimental section?
 
yeah, I'm pretty sure everyone gets an experimental section: it's the "fourth" section that not everyone gets the one they TELL YOU is experimental and if you do it they give you the incentive of winning a prize or cash or something (being put in a draw)
 
Took a Kaplan practice test last night, not a CAT but one from the book. Scored a 1200 cumulative....does anyone know how comparable these are to the real thing? I felt like the verbal was more difficult than Powerprep, but I could be wrong.

18 days until the test...not sure I will hit my goal of 1300 :confused: I hear people many times score higher on the real thing than practice though....eek!!
 
Kaplan always scored me higher, sorry.

Ughhh, I take my test this Wed. I think I'm going to run through the quant section on Power Prep today (I don't do their verbal because they always scored me higher than on the real thing).
 
mplsgirl said:
Took a Kaplan practice test last night, not a CAT but one from the book. Scored a 1200 cumulative....does anyone know how comparable these are to the real thing? I felt like the verbal was more difficult than Powerprep, but I could be wrong.

18 days until the test...not sure I will hit my goal of 1300 :confused: I hear people many times score higher on the real thing than practice though....eek!!
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gah, the day before i was scoring like 350's on the quant and 650's on the verbal via Kaplan CAT and i ended up getting a 640 Q and a 740 V. which was great to do better, but those CATs really got to my confidence! for me the most accurate estimations were the paper ETS practice tests and honestly my SAT score. i worked very hard to improve my math score in the GRE over my SAT one, harder than i did when i took the SAT, and i was able to bump it up 100 or so points, but i did the same amount of practice for the V that i did back then and scored in the same percentile.
 
I just took one yesterday. I want to know how I should feel. .... generally, are they very accurate, how much lwr or higher, did ppl score on the real thing?
 
Guess what! I just took a practice quant test on Power Prep (skipped verbal for the reason I said) and I got a 620! YAY! And that was with completely guessing through the last 8 questions because I ran out of time :D

science: Pretty close. I was scoring mid-500s on Power Prep and got mid-500s on the real thing for quant. Only one off was verbal; I was getting 610 very consistently on Power Prep but got a 570 on the real thing.
 
Just took a practice test from Powerprep--got a 1200 cumulative: 540 V 660 Q. I feel pretty good about the math, I understood what I did wrong- I just have to find a way to bump up my verbal! Oly 18 days until test time....
 
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Hi everyone! I retake the GRE tomorrow morning, so please think of me! Hopefully I will be like Myelin and hit my target quant score!
 
best luck! you have been working so hard!
 
I for sure for sure will think of you, what time are you writing so I can send good vibes haha
 
cara susanna said:
Hi everyone! I retake the GRE tomorrow morning, so please think of me! Hopefully I will be like Myelin and hit my target quant score!
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I hope that you do hit your target score! It sounds like you've studied hard. I wish you the best tomorrow! Let us know how it goes. :luck:
 
I just took my GREs and my scores differed tremendously from my Powerprep scores!:(

My powerprep scores ranged from 650-700 for verbal, and 600-650 for quant. My actual scores are Q:700, V:550!:confused: Now I don't know if I should retake the test or stick with my scores and hope for the best!
 
psychick said:
I just took my GREs and my scores differed tremendously from my Powerprep scores!:(

My powerprep scores ranged from 650-700 for verbal, and 600-650 for quant. My actual scores are Q:700, V:550!:confused: Now I don't know if I should retake the test or stick with my scores and hope for the best!
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That depends on many things. What kinds of programs will you be applying to? IMO, if you have other strong supporting credentials (i.e. research experience, GPA 3.5+, strong LORs, strong and focused PS) a 1250 should be sufficient. Nice score btw. :cool:
 
myelin said:
That depends on many things. What kinds of programs will you be applying to? IMO, if you have other strong supporting credentials (i.e. research experience, GPA 3.5+, strong LORs, strong and focused PS) a 1250 should be sufficient. Nice score btw. :cool:
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Thanks for your reply myelin :) It's just that I've spent the past few months (as most of us here in the forum) focusing on studying for the GREs and I finally memorized those long word lists and then not one word comes out in the actual test! To say that it's frustrating is efinitely an understatement!

I'm interested in balanced PhD programs that offer formal tracks in neuropsychology (my list includes U of Houston, U of Florida, U of Texas Southwestern and U of Kentucky) I'm currently shadowing a clinical neuropsy since I graduated last March (yep, I'm 22 years old!), and have had 2 RA positions, both paid. I graduated with a 3.6 GPA.

(That little comment you made at the end of your reply boosted my spirits!:) )
 
Congrats, psychick! Don't worry about a 550, that's actually above the 50th percentile because most people suck at verbal.

Well, I'm back, obviously! 580Q, 660V. Lower quant than I would have liked, but I did raise both scores from last time (130 point increase overall) and it's overall a 1240, which should make most cutoffs, so I'm pretty happy. I don't think that I'll retake, at least not this round of applications.

I think that the best part is that I raised my verbal 90 points without studying any vocab :D
 
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Congrats CaraSusanna!!

I take the test on Sept. 12...I've been scoring near a 1200 on my practice tests recently, so I'm hoping to reach around a 1300. However, I would be happy with anything above 1200!

How did you raise your verbal score with no studying? That's what I need to raise the most.

Also, you specify whether or not you want to send your scores before you actually see your scores, correct? So, if you opt to do that, and do not like your scores, can you just not send them to any schools?
 
great job! i'm very happy for you!
 
Thanks, guys!

I had to learn certain tricks for verbal. I was very good at sentence completion, but I sucked at analogies until I learned how to make defining sentences and cross out answers with no relationships. Reading comp I had to learn how to not pick an answer unless I could point to a specific area in the passage backing it up. Antonyms I had to learn to choose my own antonym for the word and try to find a synonym amongst the choices.

And you see your raw scores before you have the option of sending them out, which is nice. Last time, when I wasn't happy with my scores, I just sent them to schools I had no intention of applying to. :D
 
Good job Cara!
Did you think of us? haha I was sending good vibes :p

Ok, I have a q -- did you find the words on the verbal to be those of ones you'd seen before? What about the math -- what helped you most?
 
I totally thought of you guys! I couldn't wait to get home so I could post my scores :D

Yes, I'd seen most of them before--a few I used an educated guess for the definition, but most of the time I knew the word.

The ETS prep book helped me the most for quant.
 
Anyway also, I wanted to ask : what TYPES of math questions did you see most?
 
Hard to say, mostly algebra-ish quant comparison stuff.
 
cara susanna said:
Hard to say, mostly algebra-ish quant comparison stuff.
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I was about to say that I almost completely forgot (deliberately erased from memory?) all of the questions I encountered awhile ago. :)

My experimental quant section also had colored diagrams. The triangles were all colored green and the bar graphs were in technicolor. I was hoping to get a verbal 4th section. Getting 2 math sections is just too tiring! :sleep:
 
Because I'm just curious...
Also, it says on that thing that they give you pencils, are they good to write with?
And what color was your scratch paper, did it come in a booklet or was it looseleaf?
I'm trying to make my home like the "test environment"
 
They're okay, just normal no. 2 pencils.

The scratch paper I got was a green booklet.
 
scienceisbeauty said:
Because I'm just curious...
Also, it says on that thing that they give you pencils, are they good to write with?
And what color was your scratch paper, did it come in a booklet or was it looseleaf?
I'm trying to make my home like the "test environment"
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mine was a pink booklet, only 4 pages. I needed to ask for another one mid-test!
 
cara susanna said:
Congrats, psychick! Don't worry about a 550, that's actually above the 50th percentile because most people suck at verbal.

Well, I'm back, obviously! 580Q, 660V. Lower quant than I would have liked, but I did raise both scores from last time (130 point increase overall) and it's overall a 1240, which should make most cutoffs, so I'm pretty happy. I don't think that I'll retake, at least not this round of applications.

I think that the best part is that I raised my verbal 90 points without studying any vocab :D
Click to expand...

Congratulations to you cara susanna! Your hard work paid off!

As for the scratch paper booklet color nuances, mine was yellow...
 
Thanks! I had an experimental section just like you did, but they told me it was research only and I had the option of skipping out of it. I skipped it because what has ETS ever done for me? Haha.

Funny how every testing center has different-colored scratch paper.
 
cara susanna said:
Thanks! I had an experimental section just like you did, but they told me it was research only and I had the option of skipping out of it. I skipped it because what has ETS ever done for me? Haha.

Funny how every testing center has different-colored scratch paper.
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I don't blame you for skipping it.

Today, my advisor suggested that I take the GRE one...more...time before I apply in December. I got a 600Q 450V so I need to get the verbal score up. I think the majority of my problems on the verbal section were with the reading comprehension. Any suggestions for mastering the RC section? Or any other tips to raise my V score about 150 points? I will take it again near the end of October or early November.
 
psychick said:
Thanks for your reply myelin :) It's just that I've spent the past few months (as most of us here in the forum) focusing on studying for the GREs and I finally memorized those long word lists and then not one word comes out in the actual test! To say that it's frustrating is efinitely an understatement!

I'm interested in balanced PhD programs that offer formal tracks in neuropsychology (my list includes U of Houston, U of Florida, U of Texas Southwestern and U of Kentucky) I'm currently shadowing a clinical neuropsy since I graduated last March (yep, I'm 22 years old!), and have had 2 RA positions, both paid. I graduated with a 3.6 GPA.

(That little comment you made at the end of your reply boosted my spirits!:) )
Click to expand...

You listed some pretty competitive programs. I'm applying to Kentucky and UF as well. UF would be really nice for neuropsych. How do you measure up to those programs? It's been a while since I've looked at their applicant data.

I'd imagine it was frustrating to you to study all of those words and not see a single one on there. Are you sure?? My advisor told me to memorize word lists to increase my verbal score, but I just don't know if I have the time to spend on that with 14 graduate hours, thesis, practicum, a 10-hour GA position, and PhD applications coming up. AHhhhhHH!:eek:
 
myelin said:
You listed some pretty competitive programs. I'm applying to Kentucky and UF as well. UF would be really nice for neuropsych. How do you measure up to those programs? It's been a while since I've looked at their applicant data.

I'd imagine it was frustrating to you to study all of those words and not see a single one on there. Are you sure?? My advisor told me to memorize word lists to increase my verbal score, but I just don't know if I have the time to spend on that with 14 graduate hours, thesis, practicum, a 10-hour GA position, and PhD applications coming up. AHhhhhHH!:eek:
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I've generally been able to meet the average quant score, but fall 40-50 pts below the average verbal score, except for UT southwestern, which listed in the Insider's Guide that their combined GRE mean score is 1250 (exactly my score)

I memorized the entire 800 essential words from Barron's and additional ones from Kaplan, around 1000 words in total. I even inputted the words and their meanings in my cellphone so that I can review them right before I go to sleep! Maybe some of them did come out in the choices, but definitely not in the stimulus words. I almost ran out of time (usually have 4-5 minutes to spare in practice CATs) because I just kept staring dumbly at those foreign words! sigh.

Seems like you have a really hectic schedule, maybe flashcards will work well for you as they are easy to travel with and you can just whip them out whenever you have some down time (like when commuting or waiting in lines) I find that associating some of the words with people I know works as a good mnemonic device for me (like I know someone who's really aggressive and loud, so I associate his name with the word fulminate). It might work for you as well! Good luck!
 
Wow, I'm applying to U of Kentucky, too! My quant's low for all but one of my programs, but verbal is higher (in many cases, much higher), so I dunno how that works.

You don't necessarily have to study vocab; if you feel that vocab is not your problem, then you need to strategize another way. For reading comp it's important not to make assumptions. You have to be able to point to a specific sentence or area in the reading that backs up your answer.

You may want to take a practice test and find out where your problem lies. How many questions are you getting right overall? For instance, I was getting the majority right (83%), but I was getting the early questions wrong, so my score was always sunk to about the 500s until I figured out how to solve those pesky analogy and reading comp questions. You should know, and if you don't know, figure out, which areas you need to work on.

This is not to say that you shouldn't study vocab if you feel it's a problem. I'm just saying this because everyone and their cousin told me to study vocab to improve my score, but I felt all along that vocab wasn't my problem, and I was right.
 
Hi everyone. I am a psychology student and an undergrad who is in the process of applying to grad schools and plan to take my GREs next year. However, I am confused at which GRE to take. There is a GRE General Test and a GRE Subject Test. Which one do I take? Please help.:confused:
 
nutcracker said:
Hi everyone. I am a psychology student and an undergrad who is in the process of applying to grad schools and plan to take my GREs next year. However, I am confused at which GRE to take. There is a GRE General Test and a GRE Subject Test. Which one do I take? Please help.:confused:
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The GRE general is required, where the GRE subject test in psychology is optional. Some schools require you to take the GRE subject test, some don't.
 
Just took a Kaplan test (only the verbal section) and got a 630! Woohoo, that's good for me for verbal! I'm averaging a 650 math on almost every test, so I'm not as worried about that. Hopefully I can do well on test day....2 weeks from today....eek!!!
 
Just to warn you, Kaplan always overshot my score. :/
 
Yes, I was just happy because this score is higher than I previously have scored with Kaplan. Also, I believe Psybee posted that she scored way higher on the real thing than on the Kaplan tests the day before. I'm sure everyone has different experiences. I'm happy I'm seeing my score go up, regardless.
 
myelin said:
I don't blame you for skipping it.

Today, my advisor suggested that I take the GRE one...more...time before I apply in December. I got a 600Q 450V so I need to get the verbal score up. I think the majority of my problems on the verbal section were with the reading comprehension. Any suggestions for mastering the RC section? Or any other tips to raise my V score about 150 points? I will take it again near the end of October or early November.
Click to expand...

To add to this: When is the latest one should take the general test so that it arrives on time to the university? How many weeks in advance should one take it?
 
mplsgirl said:
Hopefully I can do well on test day....2 weeks from today....eek!!!
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2 weeks from today for me too for the retake (2nd time). I have a question but it may be to early to ask.. For both math and verbal question, If the time is almost over and I realize that I can't complete all the questions in the remaining time, I have two options:

1) Move on! Blindly guess the questions and move forward until I see the easy one that can be solved quickly. If you have a few minutes left, should I guess them all? In the case of verbal section, not having time to read the passage, I would blindly guess it until I see less time-consuming analogy questions. For math section, randomly choose the answer until seeing very easy math question.

2) Try to work on each problem as thoroughly as I can. Answering correctly is more important than finishing the test.

Which one is recommended? Because it is an adaptive test, I am not sure if not answering the questions correctly would affect my score.

Thanks for advice.
 
Depends on where you are. If you're at, like, mid-to-late 20s, just guess.
 
RNtoPharmD said:
2 weeks from today for me too for the retake (2nd time). I have a question but it may be to early to ask.. For both math and verbal question, If the time is almost over and I realize that I can't complete all the questions in the remaining time, I have two options:

1) Move on! Blindly guess the questions and move forward until I see the easy one that can be solved quickly. If you have a few minutes left, should I guess them all? In the case of verbal section, not having time to read the passage, I would blindly guess it until I see less time-consuming analogy questions. For math section, randomly choose the answer until seeing very easy math question.

2) Try to work on each problem as thoroughly as I can. Answering correctly is more important than finishing the test.

Which one is recommended? Because it is an adaptive test, I am not sure if not answering the questions correctly would affect my score.

Thanks for advice.
Click to expand...

If you are running out of time (e.g. 1 minute remaining, 5 questions left) you should definately guess and finish. The end of the test isn't weighted as heavily and the very beginning (first 10 questions or so) so it won't hurt you that bad to guess wrong on those last questions. It will hurt you more to leave them blank.
 
The powerprep software from ETS gave me a 540-V and 680-Q when i took it the other day and i am taking the test in less than three weeks. I hope to get at least my V up a little before then but my big concern is that i will become stressed out when i am taking the test and be unable to think. I dont want something like this to lower my score. What do you think, smoke a couple of doobies before taking the test? kidding. But maybe breathing excersises and beta-blockers?
 
Breathing exercises, also remind yourself that it's just a test. And a little anxiety is perfectly normal.

I can't talk, though. By the end of both of my testing sessions, I was shaking.
 
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