Testmagic Forum

Cooldude001 (1600)

How To score 1600 in the GRE General Test

1) Have time on ur side (1 - 2 years):

- develop a healthy reading habit. Read voraciously & intelligently. A wide

repertoire of books I had read = single most important factor contributing to my
success.

P G Wodehouse, Alistair Maclean & J K Rowling – best to inculcate reading

habits: interesting  tough putting it down.

- develop a good online habit  help u wade through Reading Comprehension

passages on computer-based test.

Good websites are New York Times, Washington Post, & the Hindu.

- subscribe to Word of the Day by YourDictionary.com .

2) Get a date with GRE.

- stop procrastinating & start preparing.

- 2-2.5 months / 1-1.5 hours per day should be more than enough.

- ideal if there are 2-3 friends preparing with u for the GRE together.

3) How to seriously prepare?

* Verbal section – Learn Barron's wordlists

- Even those words are not enough if u want to score 700+

- Learning them is not as difficult as it seems.

- Get a notebook & a pen with u every time u pick up Barron's.

- Read ACTIVELY, not passively. Make connections in ur mind about as many

words as possible. In ur notebook, write down together the groups of words u
find similar.

- Write down together the antonyms u might find.

- Make connections in ur brain  remember + not easily skip over the words.

- Spend at least half an hour on each word list: Mark or highlight the words
which u did not know. Use two kinds of highlighters: one for totally new
words & slightly familiar, but were not sure of  helpful later on when revising.

- Give special attention to the unknown secondary or tertiary meanings of the

words u know, as these are the words u are most likely to skip & get wrong.

- Don't worry: the whole process is not as difficult as it sounds. Once u start doing it,
u will work out several useful methods of ur own.

- What matters the most is: get down to actually doing it.

* U have gone through the Barron's once & have 20 more days to go.

- Take a Powerprep practice test right away. It never hurts to get a dose of reality.

 give u an idea of where u stand in the quantitative section & might jog u out of
complacency.

- Don't worry if u have got low scores: at this stage, it is possible to effect a
dramatic improvement in scores in just 20 days & taking this test should make
u more serious towards that end.

* Most crucial stage of ur preparation.

- Two fronts: take as many timed tests as possible, even as u revise those word
lists periodically. A judicious, two-pronged approach can be worked out only by you.

- I took abt 10-15 practise tests - from a variety of Software: Kaplan, Princeton, etc.
My score range from 1240 - 1560. In Powerprep tests, I scored 1540 & 1560

- Consolidate ur strengths is always a better idea than invading new frontiers.

- During the course of ur tests, u will come across several new, unfamiliar words:
important  write it down.

- Take care that the notebook does not remain merely a Write-Only Memory

* Practice writing out a few sample essays on both issues & arguments.

- write out a minimum of 3-4 essays each on both the sections, around at least 2
weeks before the exam.

- Brainstorm with ur friends for ideas on general topics.

- Use TestMagic extensively. Its an amazing source of preparation, motivation

and a great place for making new friends

- Use humanities texts in college + daily newspapers as raw material.

- All the essays I ever wrote for GRE prep are available on Testmagic

4) Useful resources for practice: Kaplan's software, Cambridge & Princeton.

Big Book. TestMagic & Number2.com. It is not important to go through all of
them. Aim at honing ur skills & gaining new ones.

5) Get a good night's sleep the night before the exam & stop studying around
10-12 hours before the exam.

Go to the center with a relaxed attitude & give it ur best shot. May the Force be
with you
==

Peter (1600)

Material used for preparation:

* GRE Powerprep (best: spent weekend "immersing" into it). Leave GRE
Powerprep for last to get into test mentality just before u take it
* GRE Book (not "Big Book" - the 10th edition). Did most of it. Not bad, but tests are a
tad old & some questions are too easy if u go for top grades
* Kaplan GRE Verbal Workbook: Good one.
* Kaplan's CD - fun games & exercises helping on vocab.
* Kaplan GMAT & GRE: Did half of it - got bored after a while (being a Math
undergrad may explain that)
* "Words" book (see Erin's list): single best source for building ur GRE vocab.

Publications to read for Verbal:

* The New Yorker
* Scientific American

WSJ, NY Times, the Economist, etc. but I liked the aforementioned magazines more =
better match style & context of passages in Verbal (geology, biology, astronomy, fine
arts, literature).

Finally,
* New Oxford English Dictionary
* Roget's Thesaurus (red & black one: edited by Kipfer (?))
* Fowler's usage of modern English

* read a lot in various subjects: Mathematics, Computer Science/Software

Engineering  what I do for a living, Philosophy (e.g. Nietsche, Marx, Aristotle,
Darwin, Russell), Business, Economics, lots of stuff.

* quality is better than quantity. Read some good philosophy (of whatever ur liking or
even better eclectic). Philosophy & Mathematics are considered to be "queens" of
sciences & PhD stands for Doctor of Philosophy...

• knowledge of French, Latin (or a close substitute, like Italian) & Greek (in that
order) - immensely helpful. Portuguese
 can do reasoning such as: "maladroit” (French: mal + droit : mal = bad,
droit = right) but adexios (a-dexios = not-right) means clumsy in
 Greek, so maladroit must mean clumsy).
 familiar with words like ascetic, bucolic, laconic, anomalous,
asymptotic, cacophonous, euphoria, etc. (they're Greek to me!).
• Most difficult I have found Latin-based words (the most prevalent group!):
tumultuous, turpitude, pulchtritude, obstreperous, and the like...
• speak intermediate German  help with a handful of words directly (gestalt,
weltanschaung, ersatz, kitsch, wanderlust) & in a deep Germanic level indirectly:
ken (kennen means 'know sb, be acquainted' in German)  have sth to do with
knowledge in English
• spirit of test very close to Powerprep software
• study Kaplan & Barron's (with emphasis on Kaplan)
• spend last 2-3 days immersing in Powerprep software.
• Math was a little more difficult than prep CATs (ETS, Kaplan)
• Time: during prep tests, seemed "infinite" to me for math. During test: hard
pressed for time.
• standard deviation and/or probability questions - part of test objectives  all
grad applicants get tested for rudimentary familiarity/ prob & stat
• "harmonic progression" - sequence - core in Math.
• GRE is a politically-correct test. Try 10 CATs in Powerprep  one of three RC
passages dealing with a topic on women or minorities (African American,
Hispanic, First Nations).
• Science passages from fields of Geology, Biology & Astronomy

How to improve & get AWA score near to 6 ?

• All possible topics for AWA are well-known  Download them from ETS
• Go through ALL the topics. Even pondering for a minute or so on each.
• When taking Powerprep free exams  actually write essays presented to u:
don't just skip them to do verbal & quant parts.
• Do as much practice writing as time permits (u won't have much time - I
maybe wrote 4 AWAs during preparation max)
• Must read: Jaffe's pragmatic advice in Barron's GMAT Guide.
• good to read essays.

• Recommended publications:
Periodicals:
- Foreign Affairs
- Scientific American
- BusinessWeek
- Economist
- New Yorker

Papers (emphasis should be in editiorals/Op-Ed/letters):

 - WSJ
- Financial Times
• read good non-fiction. There is a continuum, with rationalistic at one end &
spiritualistic one at the other.
• some of authors I've been reading the year before GMAT (not necessarily in
preparation for exam)

Aristotle
Machiavelli
Nietzsche
Marx
Darwin
Klausewitz
Bertrand Russell
Drucker

Kierkegaard
Thomas Aquinas
Adam Smith

[2] How to improve verbal score ?

• need breadth & depth in vocab. Word list in Barron's GRE Guide
• when I read a book or magazine in English at home, I always have Oxford
New American Dictionary by my side. Find an unknown word, or "sort-of"
know  look it up... twice! (Etymology & everything). Oxford dictionary
has excellent sidebars with commonly confused words (e.g flaunt & flout).
• prefer American rather than British dictionaries in context of preparing for
GMAT
• Barron's GMAT Guide has a nice discussion of Sentence Correction
inchoate", but in the New Yorker...

[3] How did you manage to get high quant score

• Pure Math is abstract thinking  little to do with Grade 9 number-crunching

in the GMAT quant section
• revert to Grade 9/10 mindset (Barron' Guide is helpful in that respect +
Math Review by ETS even more).
• work fast in exam, lest you run out of time
=
Biswonath (1600)

1. 10th edition GRE practice book

- make sure u can finish both verbals & quantitative on time. I finished Q sections
within 25 minutes at home. I had about 5 minutes left in the real GRE.
2. GRE Powerprep
- 2 'real' tests really helpful.
- 750V, 780Q 1st test: realise that I needed to solve the questions faster & if
unable to do real quick, should just move on. Next test, I scored 800 both.

3. have a very good vocabulary  never really prepared for vocabulary.

- some words have multiple, sometimes seemingly contradictory meanings 
where foreign students tend to have trouble (sanguine, cleave …).

- Antonym section tend to feature words: beard, stomach … used as verbs.

- dictionary.com, but not sure if it helped me. I think dictionary.com is the best
source to check meanings of words.

4. You don't really need to prepare for AWA if u are good at writing.

- make sure to leave some time to check for grammar mistakes.

- spelling mistakes are inevitable for most of the foreigners.

5. NEVER GET PANICKED while taking test.

- There was a time when I was taking the test that I really wanted to leave the exam
center

- I kept on saying myself, just get over it

==
800q/750v
(after 2 months: 15 hours/week studying, %70: verbal, %20: quant and %10: writing)

• Read Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis: various roots  guess
• Vocabulary: built over a period of time
• Try Barron's 3500 word list: go through & mark every word u can't give a
definition for off top of ur head  learn them all
• After knowing them all  take old paper tests: ETS publications
• Go back & find out what ETS is looking for & how that differs from what
u're answering
• When u're ready  try powerprep CATests out & see how you do

==
Pomegranatesrgood 1560 (760V, 800Q)
Kaplan
Barron
REA
800score.com
catprep.com
princeton online
petersons online

1. Algebra word problems:

- glance over the problem & start translating the words to algebra RIGHT AWAY. If
they start giving u stuff like "Abe was twice as old as Sarah was 5 years ago", u know it's
algebra. Waste no time trying to figure out anything in ur head first. Just translate it into
algebra immediately (A-5 = 2(S-5)) & go from there.

- Double check at the end to make sure u solved for what they asked. E.g, sometimes I
found myself solving for "x" & answering, when they asked for "x+y". Barron's book
helps a lot with translation from words to math.

2. Geometry word problems:

- Same as above.
- As soon as u see that the problem is geometry, like "If a building has a width of ...",
immediately draw a diagram. Convert all the words into a diagram & go from there.
Trying to solve and manipulate things in ur head first will waste time.

3. Keep scratch paper work neat:

- Critical: I'm a very messy person & initially in my practice tests, I wrote all over the
place & usually in chicken scratch  when I needed to go back a step, I couldn't find
or read it. I had to often start all over from the beginning.

- Better to write quickly but neatly & keep the scratch work for a problem together in
one place. I'd start from the top left of blank paper, do my scratch work downwards,
then draw a line after it's done to separate it from the next problem. Then when I reach
the bottom, I'd draw a big vertical line  my scratch work eventually looked like
columns of a newspaper  save time & headache.

4. Relaxation:
- test day is usually nerve racking  learn relaxation exercises such as deep breathing
& PMR. I had a mini panic attack during math when I got stuck on a problem for 4
minutes & almost couldn't breathe.

- If I hadn't learned the relaxation techniques to calm myself, I think I wouldn't have been
able to finish
=
Shrugginatlas (1500: 700V, 800M)

Pacing is really key.

Verbal:
- what kind of question is hardest for u & dedicate all ur time those
questions. For me, Ana + SC: quite easily; but sloppy in RC. I tend to think
errors in RC = result of carelessness & hurriedness.

- don't be careless & don't hurry!

- u can study all flash cards & still not know the words on Ant. It's just a
crapshoot

- Learn skills, not words! better off gaining skills for Ana. & RC  can apply
to a lot of questions.

- focus on RC. 10 mins/question not help u know more vocabulary on Ant.

- fastest way for SC: put ur own answers in blanks before looking at choices
 look for synonyms & not be distracted by trap answers.

- Reading:

+ 1st time: didn't spend a lot of time on RC. easily distracted & skimmed over
the passage  hastily moving on to questions. THIS STRATEGY WILL NOT
WORK!

+ When u read the passage, give yourself time to pause after every
paragraph. Think about what the PURPOSE of that paragraph was.

+ ETS takes away a lot of fluff from passages  every clause, every
sentence, every paragraph has a distinct function. E.g: a paragraph may
elaborate upon a prior point, offer a counterpoint, or give historical background.

+ When u get to questions, DO NOT READ THE ANSWER OPTIONS UNTIL

YOU'VE MADE UP AN ANSWER IN YOUR OWN WORDS! E.g: u might think
paragraph 3 describes an accepted theoretical model & a new reply to that
model. 1 answer may be "Offer insight about an accepted way of thinking while
noting the existence of other methods."  u don't fall for trap answers!

+ There is no way to quickly answer all RC questions.

+ Save time on Ant. & Ana.

+ For me, I spend 5 seconds/question on Ant; 10 seconds/question on Ana;

10 seconds/question on SC  lots of time for RC + 10 minutes to spare. I’m a
very fast test taker (which, of course, makes me prone to careless mistakes)

+ prepare as much as u can for the exam without overtaxing urself

+ let urself take the exam in the only way: relaxed, confident, instinctive
& very, very fast
 + Don’t overanalyze the passage.

+ u don't have to know every single detail of what the author means. U just
have to know how the author executes the writing. U need to observe like a
critic, not like a literature buff

+ I spend between 1 & 2.5 minutes/reading a passage, 10 seconds/each

question.

+ "Gut feeling" - instinctive answer - is usually the right one

+ Harvey: rather than focus too much on mechanics & details of golf, he
taught his pupils common sense & general principles. His advice: “If I tell you
to take an aspirin, don't take the whole bottle”  u can't take any one method &
beat it to death.

+ Being a good GRE taker  flexibility & versatility. U're doing well to
focus on learning different techniques. Keep them all in ur toolbox, because
u never know what kind of problems u'll encounter on test day

Quantitative,
- don't be afraid to take some time on the first five questions.
 most bearing on ur score.

- Give enough time to apply negative integers, negative fractions,

positive integers, numbers between 0 & 1, & the like to ur variables.
Once 2 kinds fit  click D!

- learning principles instead of specific examples is the difference.

- Think of urself as a problem-solver, not a mathematician. U're not

being asked math questions. U're being shown a problem. Solve it.

- u have more time than u think. Pacing = not a perfectionist on every single
problem.

- When u "feel" two values are identical or the answer can't be determined 
Let ur intuition guide u.

- There is a simple way to answer just about every problem. U don't get
extra points for doings things in complicated way  apply basic principles
of algebra & geometry to problems.

- work as quickly as possible on early questions  more time on more difficult

problems toward the end.
 - some ways to be more efficient on early problems:

+ have a routine for plugging values into variables on quantitative

completions. Always try negative integers, negative fractions, zero,
positive fractions & positive integers in some standard order  all part of
a routine for u.

+ Do some work on standard right triangles & basic geometry  no time

to work through all basic rules.

==
Part time, weekends & when not busy with other stuff. Most: memorizing vocabulary

Verbal:
• knew Barrons 3500 word list over 95% before test
• RCs: really tough.
• Most time-consuming --> made me frantically hurry
• Not more difficult than in Big Book & Barrons, but pressure during exam
 affected concentration
• not extremely long, I don't even remember what they were about. 1 art, 1
biology. None: 100+ lines
• Ana, anto & sencom: not too bad. Vocab: not challenging

Math: easy, but I felt a big time crunch

• Only 1 or 2 hard questions
• Rest: pretty straight-forward
• Hard question: before taking GRE  consider a shape with 3 or 4 sides.
Imagine 1 side (for 3-sided figure) or 2 sides (for 4-sided figure) was cut from
the piece, & I told u ratio of widths of the piece cut from original figure 
asked u to calculate percent area of the chunk cut off from original piece.
Consider how many squares from 0 - n have 2 as the units digit (I saw this
question on testmagic & remembered the answer before my test. 4,4,16 vs.
5,5,25 - which has larger standard deviation)
• only 1 simple combo permutation question: very easy, solved by 1
multiplication

What went wrong?

• Wasted too much time on data interpretation questions  panic on harder 3

or 4 sided shape question & felt I was running low on time  made a hasty
guess for that question, ended up finishing last question with a minute to spare
• Too hasty & my pacing was off
• Too cautious in the beginning problems. I was told to go slow for first few & I
think this is good advice...
 Advice
• To get 800 Math: use constant pacing: don't worry *too much* about first few
problems. Become confident of ur answer, but don't waste too much time.
• Be more efficient with data interpretation question, or calm enough to analyse
numbers before plunging in.
• Quants sections: some people say ignore Big Book. I would say look over the
data interpretation questions. 2 of 4 data interpretation questions, I was given a
pie chart + total number of people related to each section of the pie. I was then
asked to find a % increase or decrease in total number of people
• Think about best method to use  proceed
• In the exam I started via brute force method and began multiplying two sets of
numbers, then subtracting one number from the other, then dividing the
subtracted piece over the total to find percent decrease...this is the best method
to use...if you have a calculator or unlimited time.

Analytical Writing

• Confident: I felt like I was able to write well on issue + argument questions.
• Argument question that I got: really easy and packed full of fallacies.

Study materials
• Big Book: valuable for quant data interpretation and verbal
• Princeton Verbal Workbook and Kaplan Verbal Workbook
• Princeton Review 2005: Practice tests on CD-ROM: worth taking, but too
easy. (I had 2 1600s). Actually, quant is accurate, but verbal is a bit
different.
• Kaplan 2004 edition - Pretty good.
• Barrons & GRE Nova - Best overall GRE prep materials.
• 800score verbal and quant - hard, but still good prep.
• Test magic forum - an essential resource & big help
• Prosigner Vocabulary Wizard 6.7 - essential until new GRE comes: do well
on verbal + a solid vocab

Advice for those who have not taken GRE

• It is a hard test.
• Math:
• all Barrons, Power-prep and old Big Book level. Learn to pace yourself and
how to solve all those barrons, princeton, and power-prep questions
efficiently.
• If you have a math / engineering background  cover Barrons, ETS GRE
overview, PowerPrep & maybe GRE Nova for additional practice. Math
questions are not hard, but if you don't know how to solve them efficiently 
run out of time
 • GRE recycles lots of math problems, most: very predictable
• If u end up getting asked how many prime numbers there are between 1 &
5767, just guess & move on.
• Unless it is one of first ten questions, u can just skip it & move on
• Focus on mastering predictable material

About my test performance:

• Even after a year of studying, failed to get perfect score or do well as I
hoped. But I came pretty close & could have done worse
• Confident after AWA, but the rest: warp speed. By the end, I did not think I
did as well as I did in both quant & verbal. I hoped that "I guessed correct" &
my quant- 800 & verbal above 600
• Math section: not that bad
• Two weeks before my test, I became paranoid & went through first 40
pages of posts under GRE math section of this forum -> how to solve as
many of those posted problems as I could.
• To some extent, this is a good practice. All problems on test with exception of
shape / ratio problem, I had seen a similar problem
• In hindsight, I would not bother trying to understand all those problems on
this forum that only Manwithamission is able to solve
• Verbal.
• Beef vocabulary up --> greatest increase in your score. If u are rich: look
into hypnosis or subliminal technologies to memorize words while sleeping,
or vocabulary builder software for RAZR cellphone (have not used)
• RCs: not long but hard to understand, not language, but intentionally made
as confusing as possible. I felt like the author too three paragraphs, deleted
the middle paragraph & then came up with questions asking about stuff
explained in the middle paragraph. RCs are supposed to be examples of
excellent communication, I feel that ETS has instead embraced examples of
obfuscated communication. You can study the 3000 RC, requiring a lot of
time & I am not sure how overall beneficial that exercise was...
• In summary, GRE is a beatable test, but also an utter waste of time.
• I started memorizing vocabulary to boost my verbal score. Then one thing
lead to another & soon my GRE prep turned into a year-long effort
• Don't do this to urself. It is a stupid test & not worth this much of ur time.
Absolutely nothing that I learned has helped me in any way outside of test.
High school level math? Vocab that no one uses? Horribly written
compositions about poetic criticism & racial equality? AWA - perfecting art of
bullshit?
• Damn, I wasted too much time. It is not worth it. For scientists & engineers,
just focus on math & maybe memorize high frequency words, just enough to
boost ur verbal score a bit. I don't think ENGR colleges even look at verbal
scores. It's just the math that counts. However, I spent probably 4x as much
 time studying verbal as math –
• Keep focus on ur priorities. Instead of going overkill studying for GRE,
invest ur time in something that will actually pay off
• Take a class in the field u are interested in or get involved in research.
Focus on rest of ur app, this will pay off much more

Us-guide
I. Sách nên học.

- Cracking GRE
- Kaplan Verbal Workbook
- Bigbook
- Barron GRE (đặc biệt phần Wordlist rất tốt)
- Nova (phần toán rất chi tiết, Wordlist 400 từ good)

II. Ôn luyện

a. Quantitative

Phải thật chắc chắn phần toán - thế mạnh của SVVN và hầu hết đạt 800 nếu
ôn luyện đúng cách & ko chủ quan
Math trong Cracking GRE + Nova  làm đề thi thật (Big book) Mỗi tối trước
khi đi ngủ lấy Math Review của ETS làm
Đề thi toán hơi khó hơn so với Bigbook
Khi làm đề, đặt giờ 25 phút (thi thật 30 phút) Quan trọng nhất là Math
Review của ETS, phải đọc kĩ & hiểu thấu đáo tất cả các vấn đề, câu hỏi khó
cũng không nằm ngoài Math Review này.
Khi làm đề, câu sai thì note lại, lúc gần thi ôn lại rất tiện

b. Verbal.

Học từ mới
Dần dần, 20 từ/ngày hơn là nhồi nhét
Bắt đầu với Wordlist nhỏ, Cracking GRE (200 words)
Sau đó, Kaplan Verbal Workbook (300 words)
Làm Flashcard. Hôm sau ôn từ của hôm trước, cuối tuần: ôn lại, không học
thêm từ mới.
Bỏ riêng từ chưa thuộc hoặc khó nhớ ra một tệp. Học được 500 từ thông
dụng nhất thì dừng lại, chỉ ôn luyện thật kĩ những từ đã biết, sau đó mới mở
rộng thêm.

Làm đề
Sau khi tích luỹ được vốn từ nhất định  làm đề. Đừng đợi học hết từ mới bắt
đầu làm đề, vì từ GRE rất dễ quên, mà có biết nghĩa từ mà không có kinh
nghiệm làm đề & đoán thì vẫn tích sai. Làm đề của Bigbook, gặp từ nào mới
thì đoán, sau đó tra & học luôn.
Xem Taisha Wordlist có phần Analogy rất hay.

Barron Wordlist & dethi.com

Khi đã tàm tạm về Verbal (khoảng 400)  học Wordlist Barron (3500 từ) &
19 đề GRE của www.dethi.com

c. Writing.
Rất khó --> đọc tài liệu của ETS.

III. Đi thi
- Writing trước. Viết liền 2 bài. Nghỉ 10 phút  2 phần sau.
- 2 section Verbal và 2 section math sẽ thi xen kẽ và liên tục trong 2 tiếng 
khá căng thẳng
cần chuẩn bị sức khỏe & tâm lý thật tốt
Khi làm Verbal, làm Reading sau cùng vì đây là phần khó, tốn thời gian
Math hơi khó hơn Bigbook, nhưng hầu hết đều làm tốt  yên tâm!!!
GRE Strategy: Overview
Familiarize yourself with test format + get general idea of what to expect  reduce
anxiety & avoid surprises on test day.

Reviewing vocabulary + perusing ur old algebra 2 textbook might help

There is no substitute for taking a practice test.

Verbal Section – 30 mins

One strategy common: Never make a selection until u have read all of the choices

Analogies

• Create a sentence using two words presented.  clue as to nature of words'

relationship to each other.
• Challenge yourself to find the most distinctive relationship between words. At first
blush, two or more answers may be analogous & thus, correct. However, only one
choice is correct; ur sentence may need to be more specific  distinctions.

Antonyms

Know general definition of a word + identify slightly different meanings between

words that have similar definitions.

• Choose the most exact opposite, not the exact opposite. The true exact opposite may
not even be a choice. Rather, choose word or concept that is most nearly opposite.
• Challenge yourself to find distinct definitions: Use the words in a sentence 
most precise meaning of the word.
• Split the word into prefix, suffix and/or root.  some clue as to its meaning.
• Do not select a synonym. A common mental mistake.

Sentence Completions

Identifying cues in syntax & grammar = central elements.

• Pay attention to meaning + ideas the sentence expresses, even with those key
words missing  decipher about overall tone
• Fill in blanks with words u think would make most sense in completing it, before
reading answers. Any choice match ur best educated guess?
 • Two blanks: reread the sentence  verify that both choices make sense. Entire
sentence must make logical & syntactical sense
• Once u've made ur selection, read the sentence again to verify that u've made the
most logical, best-fitting choice. Precision matters.

Reading Comprehension

Identify information, assumptions & explanations for purposes of writing an essay

 apply them to another author's work.

Six types of questions in this section:

1. Main idea
2. Explicitly presented information
3. Implied information
4. Application to other ideas/situations
5. Logic & reasoning sound
6. Tone

Strategies:

• Don't concern urself about expanding ur knowledge of academic subjects prior to

the test. Anything u need to know about topic to answer questions (including facts
& evidence) is present in passage. Don’t rely on outside knowledge when
making ur choice.

• In order to best analyze the passage closely & carefully

o Identify main idea from supporting ideas

o Examine logical connections & judge whether they make sense

o Separate opinions & assumptions from evidence & fact

o Define nature of relationship of different sections or ideas.

• Select the choice that fits best, not just the one that is technically correct.
Choose the best answer that most precisely fits the question

Quantitative Section – 45 mins

Four basic areas:

1. Arithmetic: Basic operations, properties of integers, absolute value, etc.

2. Algebra: Exponents, algebraic equations, functions, linear and quadratic equations,
equations and inequalities, etc.
3. Geometry: Properties & calculations involving circles, triangles, rectangles & parallel lines,
Pythagorean theorem, angle measurements in degrees, etc.
4. Data analysis: Statistics, graphs, tables, probability, etc.

Two types of questions:

 Quantitative comparison: accurately assess relative sizes of two quantities.

Problem solving: Use four basic skills listed above to solve mathematical problem
presented = one or two computations or series of mathematical tasks.

Quantitative Comparison

• Save time by avoiding unnecessary calculations. You may have to run through some
calculations, but only do so until you can identify which item is of greater relative value,
make your selection and then move forward.
• Consider many different possible numbers before you make your final selection. If
you're trying to establish which quantity is greater by substituting numbers for variables, be
sure to use a range of numbers (including zero and negative numbers). If you find a
disparity then the correct response may be that there's not enough information.
• Geometric figures are not always drawn to scale. Instead of the eyeball test, rely on
ur knowledge of mathematics to make your decision.
• There are only ever four choices for this section, so do not mark "E."

Problem Solving

• Read the question carefully to determine what is being asked. Check specifically for
key quantitative phrases, such as "how much…", "what is the total…" or "what is the
average…"
• Before starting on a calculation, scan the answers to determine the format expected.
For example, you might waste time looking for a number expressed as a decimal, when
the answer expected is a fraction.
• Use quick computational shortcuts wherever possible. For example, if a problem refers
to something with a value of 34.7%, understand that this is equal to about 1/3. Such
mathematical shortcuts can save you valuable time by not having to stumble through
arduous (and unnecessary) calculations.
• Read the question before analyzing the data on charts or graphs. Also, make any
conclusion about a chart or graph based only on the data given. Do not extrapolate or
theorize beyond what is presented in the question

Analytical Writing Section

Issue Task
considerable latitude in the way u respond to the claim made about a given issue.

Practice writing responses on several of the topics, keeping to the 45-minute time limit.

Try asking these questions when reviewing the list of Issue topics.

• What does the statement mean? imply? What, precisely, is the central issue?
• Do I agree with all or with any part of the statement? Why or why not?
• Is the statement valid only in certain circumstances?
 • Do I need to explain how I interpret certain terms or concepts used in the
statement?
• If I take a certain position on the issue, what reasons support my position?
• What examples — either hypothetical or drawn from my readings or direct
experiences — could I use to illustrate those reasons and advance my point of
view? Which examples are most compelling?
• What reasons might someone use to refute or undermine my position? How
should I acknowledge or defend against those views?

Argument Task
Because the Argument task is constrained by the line of reasoning in the argument
presented to you, read and analyze the argument carefully.

Practice writing responses to several of the topics within the 30-minute time limit.

Try asking these when reviewing list of published Argument topics.

• What claims, conclusions & underlying assumptions does the argument make?
• What alternative explanations & counterexamples can I think of?
• What additional evidence might weaken or strengthen the claims?
• What changes in the argument would make the reasoning more sound?

Verbal and Quantitative Sections

• Leave no questions unanswered. Nothing is subtracted.
• Work as rapidly as you can with carefulness  check frequently ur answer
sheet.
• Don't waste time pondering individual questions u find extremely difficult or
unfamiliar. No question carries greater weight than any other. Work through
rapidly: First answer only questions about which u feel confident  go back &
answer questions that require more thought  conclude with most difficult
questions if there is time.
• Feel free to change ur answers = Erasing it completely & filling in.
• Work only on the section the test center supervisor designates & only for the
time allowed. U may not go back or u’d be dismissed.
• Record all ur answers on ur answer sheet. Avoid waiting until last five minutes
to record ur answers on ur answer sheet.
• Mark ur answers in correct response positions.

Pace yourself throughout the test – You want to finish!

 • Use resources available for test practicing to become familiar with test &
instructions before u get to test center.
• Read directions carefully before u begin.
• Budget enough time for each question to be able to complete the test without
having to rush at the end. Keep in mind the average amount of time to spend
per question.
• Check the time periodically to monitor ur progress every 5 minutes.
• Use ur time wisely. Read each question carefully to determine exactly what is
being asked. Eliminate wrong answers & select best choice. Don't get stuck on
a tough question & lose time. Keep moving through the test & try to finish each
section.

Don't panic if you don't know an answer.

• Don't spend too much time on any one question. If, after a reasonable amount
of thought, u don't know the answer, eliminate as many answer choices as
possible & then select & confirm the best answer. Keep going & aim to complete
the test.
• If u are running out of time at the end, make every effort to complete the test.
Most test takers get higher scores if they finish the test.  answer all of the
questions. The best strategy: pace urself  have time to consider each test
question & no guess.

Reading
• Develop a habit of reading actively: integrate & synthesize the passage as u go through
it. U can't be passive: don’t just let ur eyes move from word to word. Think about what
you read
• Absorb the text as u make ur way through it: stop after each paragraph & ask what the
point of that paragraph was. Stopping & synthesizing will help u see the text as a
whole
• every paragraph has a purpose and function in the whole.*

Main point: Think like an investigative journalist. Keeping four of the five W's in mind:

Who (or what) is this passage treating? What's the dominant theme?
What problem is presented in the passage? What solutions are given for it?
Where do we see specific examples of the problem? What kind of details does the author
offer to illustrate her point?
When is the author making this point?

• One other sure way: re-read the first & last sentences of each paragraph.

Specifics or detailed-oriented questions

Once u've read the question,

1. Scan through the passage & locate the area where this particular topic is discussed.
Then re-read the pertinent part, keeping the specifics of the question in mind.
2. Always be sure that the answer u've chosen appears in the text. Don't be fooled by
appearance of widely held opinions or commonly held beliefs

• A major thing to watch out for: make sure particulars are explicitly stated in the
passage, & not just well-known facts or widely-held opinions

Make inferences

• based on information given  take that information & go beyond what the text states
overtly.
• look at what the passage doesn't say. Answer drawn directly from the passage 
wrong.
• U need to infer - to draw a conclusion about the facts that are given, not just restate
them.
• knock out choices that are stated in the question
• strike out any answers that contradict the information given in the passage.
Something against what the passage says  cannot be logically inferred.
• If u're asked to think about something outside the passage  consider whether the
logic is the same in both cases. If sth in the passage is said to work or succeed  a
very similar application or use of it would work or succeed in a different setting.
• If question turns on an argument, rather than on a practical application  think in these
terms. Could u take this argument & apply it elsewhere? To answer this, u'll need to
think about how the argument itself works. What is the author advocating? What
does she shoot down? Why is she making the claims?
• hardest questions: take time & considerable amount of thought  practice & leave until
last

Author's own attitude/tone

• As with the inference questions, this type requires that u understand subtleties of the
text

Stylistic devices

• most straightforward & if u're pressed for time - u might be able to answer without reading
the whole passage.
• Examples: anecdotes, rhetorical questions, similes, metaphors, generalizations &
hyperboles. Or the question might ask u to determine meaning of a word based on
context.
• Be cautious. Sometimes a familiar word might be used in an unfamiliar way. Always
consider the information surrounding the specific word. A definition from context
question may be phrased in a number of ways
• If u're running out of time, remember questions pointing to specific words or phrases
can sometimes be answered without reading the entire passage. Answer them early
 save time for later questions.
• This doesn't mean skipping the reading altogether, though.
• It's not enough to see the word and say "I know what that means." Ultimately u need to
be able to say "I know what that means HERE”.

More tips on Reading

• about half GRE verbal questions are reading related. You cannot do well and not do
reading.
• leave time for reading passages. There's no point reading the passage at a speed that
only allows you to understand half of it
• Read, read, read: Read everyday. Read the right kind of reading to get u in gear for
GRE
• The more u read, the better & faster - u'll get at it.
• Reading actively  train rself to synthesize & integrate what u're reading.
• Strategies that can help your reading. We've outlined a few of them on the coming
screens
• When u get to the reading passage, always read italicized portion at the top  orient
u to the text  what the text is about (apart from the first few sentences) where it
came from.
• As you read, pay close attention to beginning & ending sentences of each
paragraph  clues as to the main ideas expressed in the passage & how the logic of
the passage flows.
• Stay with the text: With the 4 Ws.
• Find it interesting - at least for 12 or 15 minutes.
• Tough. Stay focussed. The test will be over faster than u know - u'll have all afternoon &
the rest of weekend to let ur mind wander over more interesting topics
• After getting through the passage = still only partway there. Now tackle the answers.
• Have a general sense of how the questions work.
• Practice making up ur own reading comprehension questions. Find urself a passage &
think of some questions about main idea, specifics, tone, vocabulary or inferences. Do
with a friend or study partner: u can bounce questions & answers - off each other  u'll
get a feel for how the questions themselves work
• When faced with question, beware of distractors among answers. Distractors =
answers true about life, but not true about the text  Be sure the text says it + it
answers the question This is one of the most common ways students get these
questions wrong. They read the answer & say "Oh, that's true." They forget that they
have to think in the text.
• Many answers that seem right. We can fight amongst ourselves for hours about which
is the right one.
• Really controversial questions happen but they are rare.
• This is a multiple choice test - they're looking for the most obvious answer  rein in an
urge to read too deeply & go instead with most straightforward interpretation.
• answer that is better than the others for a very good reason.
• practice can get you quite far with these questions. The more u read & the more
questions u answer, the better at it u'll become