Nervous About the GRE

[russellang]

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I am taking the GRE for the third time in about 10 days. The first two times I took it I used the kaplan/princeton review books and the best score I got was 1100. I have been currently enrolled in the kaplan online course and have been working on that for about 6 weeks now.

I have been taking practice exams throughout that time and yesterday I took the exam and my score dropped significantly. I started out at 1280 and yesterday my score when down to 1140, just a little higher than before taking this course. Now I do not have any huge goals with my score, I would like to get 1200 or higher. My confidence is at a low now because I know alot of schools have a cut off and if you dont meet it (1200) it does not matter what the rest of your file contains.

I think my biggest weakness is the time constraint. I have the exams with explanations and basically I make stupid mistakes, I found about 5 questions on the last exam that were simple mistakes. I think with the time clock I start to rush and I my score drops. My other weakness is reading comprehension. No matter how much I read the passage etc, I get about 1/3-1/2 of the questions correct.

Lastly, I am a bit overwelmed by the vocabulary. The first few times I took the gre I studied using the kaplan gre box and found that out of the 500 or so words that about half a dozen showed up. In the course I am in now they recommend using word groups and opposite drills first before going to the gre vocab box, they have given off the impression that the box is not necessary. I have found that many of the words they have in the word groups/opposite drills are not exact definitions (understandably). However, there have been several times where their definition in the word groups in different enough that on the practice exam even if the same word shows up I get it wrong as the definitions are different. They also have a word root section but I have also found that many roots are decieving and do not mean what the root tells you. I have not gone to the gre box due to their recommendation to focus on groups etc.

I was wondering if you guys had any advice for me. I am scheduled for another exam in july so I have one more shot after this upcoming one but would really like to be done with the gre this month.

Lastly, is there a website other than kaplan, princeton review, ets, that offers full length gre cat exams? Also are there any additional books that you recommend, I thought I got them covered by taking this course but I might be wrong. I take the exam a week from thurday and I only have to work tommorow and friday before the exam so I can devote that time to gre.

Thank you so much

 

[squirrelsrule]

Not saying this will work for everyone and might not work for you, but here's what I did. I got a GRE practice game from the library made by Kaplan. It was old, but I don't think the test changes too much. I played that for the math review since I have been out of school for 5 years and had forgotten some of the quick tricks to solving the problems, so that really cut the time it took me for the math questions. The game also had practice tests you could take and then it would score them and show which ones you missed. There were 3 full tests and 8 verbal and math individual tests. Really helped me focus on one thing at a time. It had lessons and everything, it was great and it was free 🙂.

After taking the full test, I realized that my vocab was gonna need some major help. I only knew a couple of the words 🙁. My first overall test on the game was only a 990 👎.

So, I listened to the math lessons for the word problems and stuff and then decided to stop with the verbal practice and lessons because they were all over reading comprehension, which I got.

The thing I found most helpful for the verbal was to go online and search for common vocab words on the GRE. You'll get hundreds of words! I made flashcards (the stack was so big I had to make it into 2 stacks to even be able to carry it) and memorized those at my desk at work 🙂. I memorized probably 1000 + words! My vocab was HORRIBLE though, so I needed that. After that I was pretty much sick of flashcards, but still had a week before the test, so I got a book on tape called vocabulary builder or something like that from the library (again why not go for something free 🙂 ) and downloaded it to my MP3 player to listen to at work. Not sure how much of it I remembered but there was a ton of vocab on there too and the guy that did the tape made it pretty funny by using different voices for the different words to give the general feel of the word before giving the definition.

When I took the GRE I got a 1280, which might not be awesome, but I was super pleased because all my practice tests were around a 950-1050. I found that the vocab was super helpful because even though there were still tons of words I didn't know, there were a lot from the lists I had memorized that showed up in the choices and even if they weren't the right answer, I knew what they meant so I knew they weren't right and didn't choose them. So, the vocab words were super helpful to know.

Keep studying and good luck! A 1100 isn't that bad, I would have been OK with that if that was what I gotten.

 

[HelloNello]

Have you tried learning word roots? If you are struggling with the verbal portion and the vocab box isn't cutting it then make some flashcards with roots. Memorize those.

As for passages, I'd say practice, practice, practice. I struggle with them too, but I am trying to do as many as possible until I feel comfortable with Kaplan's method.

Goodluck!

 

[jrwinsto]

I too am taking the GRE for the 3rd time in about a week and I am super nervous! I just completed a Kaplan class as well. The verbal section is by far my stronger section, so I am much more nervous about math. I recommend grouping words with similar meanings together. I think this was an exercise through Kaplan. That way, you do not necessarily have to memorize the exact definition. You can just recognize the general meanings. Knowing the word "charges" can also help too if you are unsure of an exact definition.
I would not be so upset with an 1100! That is right around my average and I know it is not stellar, but it's not terrible!
Good luck!!

 

[Bismarck]

I scored a 1040 when I took my first practice test cold. About 10 days before my exam last month I used a study regimen with a vocab list (similar to the one the OP mentioned) and drilled the math especially as I had a 490 on that first practice. Two days before the exam I was scoring 1140-1310 on the practice tests I took. Power Prep exercises were helpful in getting me used to to computer testing format.

I took my test and ended up with a 660V/770Q (I thought I might score ~1200) so try and let your excitement work for you. I suggest sitting down at your testing station, gingerly reading the instructions on how to use the mouse and talk the time to acclimate to the room. Once you relax a bit the test itself goes pretty quick. I also recommend not trying to figure out how you are doing as it can lead to some poor guesses (i.e. this answer is too "easy" or a trap if you think you're kicking ass or vice versa). Just answer the questions to the best of your ability and remember that the GRE is a test you can study for an improve upon with practice.

 

[2CatMatt]

My confidence is at a low now because I know alot of schools have a cut off and if you dont meet it (1200) it does not matter what the rest of your file contains.

Really? I didn't think any of the schools had a cutoff for GRE scores, do they?

In fact, I don't think 1100 is that bad either, especially if you have a good GPA.

 

[russellang]

I applied last cycle and got a few letters from schools saying I did not meet the GPA/GRE cutoff, my GPA is well above average so I knew it was the GRE score.

 

[StartingoverVet]

3 points:

1) 500 words is not enough. 1 did somewhere between 1000-1500 and a ton of words showed up on the test. It made a HUGE difference.

2) Don't sweat the practice scores too much. They aren't that accurate. My wife did over 300 points better on the real exam and she is not a strong standardized test-taker (results may vary indeed).

and I like Bismarck's advice. Getting acclimated is a good idea, and don't worry if you feel rushed. I ACED the exam and ran out of time on almost every section.

brings me to 3) remember Princeton's advice... the beginning sections are way more important in determining your score than the last few questions. If you feel rushed at the end, so what.

Edit: for those of you taking the test for the first time... the practice computer tests can be very misleading about the exam. I found the practice tests started easy and increased in difficulty the better you did. The actual exam was not like this at all. I found the questions started HARD and stayed HARD. I guess they would have gotten easier if I screwed up more, so don't be expectiing the first questions to be basic what is 2x2 etc.

 

[russellang]

Alright so I have been studying some more this week and took a kaplan practice exam and got a 1310. Today I took the free princeton review cat and scored an 1120. The odd thing was though that when I looked at more score, I got 75-80% of the questions correct and I got on each section the first 6-10 questions correct and on the verbal (490) I got the last 12 questions correct. So I am a bit confused as I could see maybe if I got the first four questions wrong on each section so I dont know.

 

[LetItSnow]

So I am a bit confused as I could see maybe if I got the first four questions wrong on each section so I dont know.

What part are you confused about? Your overall scoring % is not reflective of your final score because the test is adaptive. As you start it, the computer modifies the questions you are given based on your initial accuracy: that's why it's important to do well early on in the test at the (potential expense) of missing questions later. (The first few questions have, essentially, more weight.)

... I don't, however, know if practice tests are administered the same way.