GRE Verbal Tips

[gailmarie95]

Does any one have any tips for the GRE verbal section? I studied for a few months reading the Kaplan book, doing the practice test, and studying vocab. I did well on the practice test in the verbal section but when I took it I ended up getting a 133 (yes I know that's very bad), I think this is just a fluke number from being nervous but I still want to make sure I do way better next time. I got a 148 on quant and 3.5 on writing so I want to focus majority time on verbal and do a little bit of studying in the math and quant. I plan on taking the GRE at the end of August maybe early September.

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[amlope03]

Idk that's a tough one. It's extremely hard to improve your verbal GRE score, however, with a score as low as yours you may be able to at least get it up to 145. Verbal was also my weakness and I prepared by practicing each type of problem over and over, while also increasing my vocabulary. Just a tip for the actual GRE: you have about 1 minute and 30 seconds per question, so take your time.

 

[drs17]

Does any one have any tips for the GRE verbal section? I studied for a few months reading the Kaplan book, doing the practice test, and studying vocab. I did well on the practice test in the verbal section but when I took it I ended up getting a 133 (yes I know that's very bad), I think this is just a fluke number from being nervous but I still want to make sure I do way better next time. I got a 148 on quant and 3.5 on writing so I want to focus majority time on verbal and do a little bit of studying in the math and quant. I plan on taking the GRE at the end of August maybe early September.

I would recommend magoosh (subscription), reading scholarly articles daily, and magoosh's free vocab flashcards.

 

[Flexion500]

Don't waste your time trying to memorize definitions. The GRE likes to trick students who do that. Instead, read scholarly articles and practice looking for context clues within the sentences. Try to understand the relationship the word has with the sentence.
Also, don't be afraid to skip questions that you straight up don't know. When I took it, I did the sentence equivalence and text completion questions first and then went back to solve the reading questions. That saved me a lot of time.
And don't forget to breathe!

 

[MittenStateNative]

I agree with everything Flexion500 said except for not learning more vocabulary. Michigan State has a GRE verbal section vocabulary list online for free. It was helpful for me, ended up with a 162 on verbal.


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[Flexion500]

Understandable MittenStateNative. I think everybody has a different opinion on flashcards. Personally, I didn't use them due to time constraints. But if you have the time then by all means use them to supplement your gameplan!

 

[ttu_kin]

Does any one have any tips for the GRE verbal section? I studied for a few months reading the Kaplan book, doing the practice test, and studying vocab. I did well on the practice test in the verbal section but when I took it I ended up getting a 133 (yes I know that's very bad), I think this is just a fluke number from being nervous but I still want to make sure I do way better next time. I got a 148 on quant and 3.5 on writing so I want to focus majority time on verbal and do a little bit of studying in the math and quant. I plan on taking the GRE at the end of August maybe early September.

I struggled more with the quantitative material, so I probably didn't focus on the verbal section as much as I should have. I used the Kaplan study guide which I thought was great. What helped me the most was to figure out the types of questions that were being asked and look at the rational behind the different answers. Like Flexion500 said, I didn't spend much time trying to memorize words and definitions. I did spend some time looking at root definitions to help decipher the meanings of words I didn't know, but the majority of my time was spent learning how to answer the different types of questions. Each person approaches studying differently, so what works for some may not work for others. Don't completely ignore any one method, it may be what helps you the most!

 

[Abudara]

I increased my verbal section of the gre by 7 points in just 5 weeks of studying using Magoosh. I didn't use anything else at all. Spent about 2 hours a night for 5 weeks studying

 

[gailmarie95]

I increased my verbal section of the gre by 7 points in just 5 weeks of studying using Magoosh. I didn't use anything else at all. Spent about 2 hours a night for 5 weeks studying

What exactly did you use from magoosh?

 

[drs17]

What exactly did you use from magoosh?

The subscription I'm assuming. That is what I have been using! My first practice exam before magoosh I got a 301, and about 3 months later I have improved my score to a 316 because of it.

 

[drs17]

What exactly did you use from magoosh?

There are videos and TONS of practice problems. They also have free vocabulary cards on the App Store.

 

[Abudara]

There are videos and TONS of practice problems. They also have free vocabulary cards on the App Store.

Yup
Costs about 100 bucks but it's definitely worth it.

Tbh, I barely studied any vocab. All I studied was the 50 most common words given by either ETS or Magoosh, i forgot which.

But I went through dozens of practice lessons and videos and did about 1 full practice test every 4-5 days to gauge how I was doing. Helped a lot

 

[SR_DPT]

I increased my verbal section of the gre by 7 points in just 5 weeks of studying using Magoosh. I didn't use anything else at all. Spent about 2 hours a night for 5 weeks studying

What was your overall score for the GRE? If you don't mind me asking.

 

[Abudara]

What was your overall score for the GRE? If you don't mind me asking.

151 verbal and 156 quantitative

I did an ETS practice test before any studying at all and scored 144 verbal and 149 quantitative.

This was my first time taking it. To be honest, I think if I have myself about 2 months to study I would've done better on both sections. But for 5 weeks of studying I was satisfied with my score.

 

[Smash Atoms]

I used magoosh. V - 161 Q - 158 AW - 5.0

I studied the vocab flash cards app randomly for about 6 months, ran through all of their sample problems for vocab and created a quizlet set with random words that were either used differently than I was used to or that I just didnt know
(GRE Vocabulary Flashcards | Quizlet)

I also read a lot over the year before I took it, not only for classes but leisure as well. Heady literature like "How Proust Can Change Your Life", and a lot of the economist.

The last 3 weeks prior to taking the GRE I buckled down and studied for about 4 hours per day, 5 days a week.

For AWA I just read through several sample essays at various scores and watched both Kaplan and Magoosh's videos/written pieces.

Good luck!

 

[hawkesome]

What helped me the most was memorizing as many Magoosh verbal flash cards as possible. I also did a ton a of practice tests


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[Ember1211]

I found it very difficult and annoying to study the vocab words, so I skipped it and still finished with a pretty good score. My advice is to learn how to eliminate answers and then once you are left with two choices, then just guess. It worked for me.