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Table of Contents
Part I : Introduction 1. GRE Introduction ....4 2. GRE Test Dates and Registration 5 3. GRE Mindset and Timing strategies 6 4. The Pyramid of success on GRE ....7 5. Visualizing Success 8 Part-II : Format of the Exam 1. Analytical Writing Assessment ..10 2. Verbal Reasoning ..13 3. Quantitative Reasoning ..17 Part-III : Debunking some myths ...18 Part-IV: What happens on the Test Day 1. What to DO during/before the exam ....20 2. What to AVOID during/before the exam . ...21 Part-V: Study Plan The 3-month Study Plan ........22
Part-I: INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the journey to your dream graduate program! As you set your first step in the direction of your success, let us give you good news first - there are thousands of universities in the US which offer Masters Degrees in a variety of fields, so you have a plethora of options to choose from. However the bad news is that only a small fraction of these universities offer cutting edge education and consequently the competition to get through to these schools is fierce. Talk about any top 100 school and the common denominator youll see among all these schools is that they Did you know ? have low acceptance rates i.e. they admit only a small The GRE is taken by an percentage of applicants. The admission committees at schools evaluate the candidates on primarily five different astounding 700,000 candidates parameters- a) undergraduate GPA and institution b) the annually! quality of research/project work c) Statement of Purposes/Essays d) Letters of recommendations e) the GRE score. Each candidates application is first evaluated holistically and then vis--vis the other applicants. The schools look for candidates who are competent enough to not only survive through the graduate program but who will also be able to perform consistently well. Obviously the GRE is one of the best ways for the schools to evaluate whether the candidate possesses the requisite aptitude. All of the top schools ask for a GRE score. In fact, if a particular school does not, then you have a good reason to doubt whether the program is worth attending. While the average GRE score which youd require for your target schools will vary depending on the program you apply for, what remains constant is that the higher a program is ranked, the higher will be the average GRE score for that program and the lower you come down the rankings, the lower would be the average GRE score. And it makes sense too, doesnt it ? Who doesnt dream about getting through to the Ivy League and other top universities? All the applicants do (even those who end up going to lower rung schools) and the most competitive candidates from across the world invariably apply to the top schools, making the competition fierce. Since these candidates are highly motivated to get through to the top schools, they ensure that they dont leave any stone unturned to do well on the GRE as well. This is not to say that a high GRE score will necessarily get a candidate admitted into a top school, for there are many other areas that we mentioned above, which taken as a whole determine ones chances of success, but the bottom line is that a majority of candidates in a particular program will have GRE scores around the average score at that program. Of course there will be a few candidates whose GRE scores will be significantly lower than the average GRE scores of the class, but these candidates would have compensated for their low GRE scores by displaying exceptional ability in other areas In the subsequent pages of this guide, well take you through a systematic journey to prepare for the GRE. Youll start from scratch and will learn all the preliminary details such as test registration, availability, what you need to do succeed on the GRE, the format of the exam and the strategies needed to ace the same. Well also debunk some popular myths and then at the end well give you an actionable 3-month study plan that you can use to start off with your preparation. So lets get going!
Your GRE score is valid for 5 years so even if you plan to work for 1-2 years after college and then go to a graduate school, you may want to take the exam while youre still in college because once you start doing a full-time job, youll find it very difficult to manage your preparation given the fact that the time spent in commuting and in office will eat away around 10-12 hours, if not more, of your daily time and youll be hardly left with energy to sit and prepare for the exam. In college, the best time to prepare for the GRE is during the 5th or the 6th Semester (junior year) when the course load is not much. The senior year in college is a very time consuming period to be in internships and placements will eat away a lot of time and after that youll start your application process which in itself requires a lot of time. So you want to ensure that you dont overload your already packed schedule in the 7th semester by preparing for the GRE. Should I study first for the GRE and then book the date or vice-versa? Ideally, you should firstly study for the GRE for a couple of weeks and maybe then decide when to book your test date. A lot of candidates book their GRE appointments before starting their preparation, but then at a later stage when they realize that they are not sufficiently prepared, they end up rescheduling their dates, causing panic and leading to a waste of money. There are some others who think that theyll prepare first and then will book their date a week or two before the exam. The problem with this approach is that without having your exam looming over you, you might not be able to maintain the required discipline and motivation to do well on the test
The top three countries in terms of number of candidates taking the GRE annually are the US, China & India
6 So what is the best time to book a GRE appointment? The best time to book your GRE date is when youre in the middle of your preparation. If you follow the 3-month plan given at the end of this guide, you should book your GRE date by the 6th week of your preparation.
Fun fact #1 A growing number of business schools ,including HBS & Stanford GSB, have started accepting the GRE
Then why do people find the GRE tough?
Simply because preparing for the exam requires discipline, a quality which most people lack, and even if you are sufficiently prepared, what matters most is how you handle your emotions on the test day when the pressure is too high. Athletes who condition themselves for long marathons, intense tennis matches, or any activity that requires strong mental toughness know what were talking about. Every athlete knows what it takes to become the winner but how many of them actually do precisely what is needed to become a winner? Not many! Preparing for the GRE is no different; it is rigorous. Do you have the determination and discipline to stick to your study plan? Do you have the right attitude towards learning that will keep you motivated? Are you looking for new ways to make learning more interesting? Are you ready to work on your weaknesses? Lets face it: everyone knows what it takes to succeed-its the same old mix of hard work, determination and commitment, but how many of us are ready to tread this path to success? How many of us know how to prioritize things? Not many! As youll now glance through the 3-month Study plan recommended at the end of this document, most of you will think Whoa! This is something great. Im going to follow this schedule, but how many of you will actually stick to it? Very few. And no wonder these few candidates end up making to the top schools while the rest of the candidates fill the seats at the lower rung schools spread across the US. Why do people find managing time difficult on the GRE? As explained earlier, the GRE is as much a test of your test taking skills as it is of your command over the subject matter. The GRE will be a big day for you; after all that is the day for which you would have prepared for 3-4 months and that is the exam which will decide your future, to some extent. The realization of the importance of the exam is bound to make you anxious during the exam as those thoughts will invariably crop up in your mind. Youll think that since Ive prepared a lot, Ive to get every question correct and as a result youll end up clinging to questions i.e. instead of spending say a minute on a question, you might end up spending 3 minutes because your ego will not let you skip the
8 question or get it wrong. Even if you get the answer to such a question correct, you would have done yourself a disservice because now you have less time available for the rest of the questions. The less the time available, the more the anxiety level, as a result, the more the time taken in otherwise doable questions.
Motivation
Hardwork
Consistency
Relaxation
This is what we call The Pyramid of success on the GRE. To succeed on the GRE, you have to ensure that theres a good mix of all the four components above. Even if one component goes amiss, it will negatively affect the other components in the pyramid, making you fall short of your goal. For example, if you lack motivation, you wont be able to work hard and be consistent. Or if you lack consistency, then even if you work hard towards the end of your preparation, youll not be able to gain as much as you could have, had you been consistent. Did you notice an interesting building block of this pyramid-Relaxation. Taking breaks during your preparation is as important as studying. Since your childhood, you would have heard everyone, from your teachers to your parents, telling you to study more and more. On the GRE, even if they tell you to do so, just ignore their advice. For the GRE, studying in the old ways is not going to be of much help. You need to take time off from your preparation on a consistent basis and have to ensure that you do not overstudy. To see why, go to Debunking the Myths section in this document.
Did you know ? So why land up in such a situation when you could avoid the same by getting real now. Start believing that youre going You can the retake the GRE only to see a great GRE score flashing on your screen. After all, after 31 calendar days of your we all want to be happy and happiness tastes all the more sweet when we have worked hard for it. Imagine yourself previous attempt coming out of the test centre-floating in seventh heaven and telling your parents that you have made them proud. Not to mention the kind of adoration youll get from others around you. Theyll almost start revering you for they know that you are already on your path of distinguishing yourself from the rest of them. You would know that you have the ability to overcome any difficult situation and that you are made to win!
Bad thoughts: 1. I suck at Maths 2. I am a non-native speaker of English, so it seems like an impossible task for me to crack Verbal. 3. Im not fast enough and dont think that Id be able to do the questions within the stipulated time Good thoughts Yes, I accept that Maths is not my strong point but it isnt rocket science either. I havent studied Maths for the last 4-5 years but I did study Maths in High school and thats the type of Maths which I will be tested on and I sure can master it. Sure, I do get questions wrong in Maths but looking back at them, I realize that they are actually easy. I just need to become familiar with the different ways in which the GRE can test me on these relatively simple concepts in high school. Im not an idiot that I wouldnt be able to understand anything; Im smart enough to learn from my mistakes so that I dont repeat them . I just need to come up with the right thought process and get
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10 enough practice so that I have the confidence to know when I am positively sure about a question. By being super confident in answering a question in as little time as possible, I know that Ill be able to nail most of the questions within less than a minute because the more confident I am, the less the time I spend in double checking the answers I have marked. The attitude of a winner : Im going to kick ass on the GRE! Sure, I have done the college and failed tons of exams but it is just high school material repackaged in fancy, awkward questions. My goal is just to follow the study plan. Ill stick to it and prepare the right way!. My goal now is to learn from the questions which I practice; then my goal will be to attempt those questions in as less time as possible. Once Im done with that, Ill be brimming over with confidence. After that any question that the GRE throws at me will be answered correctly and tossed away as I wait for the next one. Bring it on!
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GRE: an Overview
Scoring
Both the Verbal and the Quant sections on the GRE will be scored on a scale of 130-170 and the scores will increase in measures of 1. The GRE is a multi-stage test (MST) and is sectionally adaptive .For instance, the difficulty level of the second Quant section you get will be determined by your performance on the first Quant section. Similarly, the difficulty level of the second Verbal section will be determined by your performance on the first Verbal section. Since more difficult questions have more weightage, youll be able to take your score higher even if you get a fewer number of questions correct in a difficult section than by getting more number of questions of a relatively easy section correct. There is also a percentile score corresponding to a scaled score. For more details regarding the scaled score to percentile conversion for the Verbal and the Quant section, download The GRE scaled score Conversion Matrix from the Free Resources section of our website
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13 Analysis of an Argument In Analysis of an argument, youre given an argument which has a set of premises and a conclusion. Analysis of an Argument question stems will ask you to evaluate the logical soundness of the proffered argument. Remember youre not being asked to provide your opinion about the subject being discussed nor are you being asked to agree or disagree with the position stated. Your purpose is to simply deconstruct the argument and bring forth the authors claims, underlying assumptions and discuss the quality of the authors reasoning. Think of as many alternative explanations and counterexamples as you can. You also have to think about what additional piece of information the author could have provided to strengthen or weaken the conclusion.
Scoring
The AWA essays are scored on a scale of 0-6. Weve given below a table showing the characteristics of the essays which get different grades Position, Examples Organization Language(grammar, usage, diction, syntactic variety) Superior, few errors
Clear, insightful
Tightly knit, cogently developed Mostly strong Satisfactorily develops ideas Poorly developed
5 4 3
Strong, few errors Adequate, few errors Occasional major or frequent minor errors Errors in grammar, usage or mechanics
Disorganized, illogical
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Verbal Reasoning
The two Verbal sections on the GRE will have 20 questions each and youll get 30 minutes per section. In other words, you will have an average of 1.5 minutes per question. Since the GRE is a standardized test, the types of questions remain the same for all candidates. On Verbal, youll be tested on three different types of questions- Text Completion, Sentence Equivalence, and Reading Comprehension. These different types of questions can appear in any order (though the questions associated with a Reading Comprehension passage will always be grouped together). Out of the total of 40 questions across two Verbal sections, you are likely to see 18-20 questions based on Reading Comprehension passages, 10-12 Text Completion questions, and 8-10 Sentence Equivalence questions. In contrast to Quant, in which youll have a definite answer, on the Verbal section youre asked to find the best possible answer. In other words, for Verbal questions, the right answer is better than each of the other options. Because of this, process of elimination is crucial to a strong performance on the Verbal section. The correct answer may not be what you would have thought of on your own, but it will be better than the other four choices. Did you know? Text Completion
Essentially, a text completion question is something like fill in the blank type of questions you would have done in school. However, the difference here is that the text completion questions tested on the GRE are much more complex and require you to apply your logical skill to answer them correctly. You also need to have a good command over Vocabulary to be able to tackle these questions effectively.
Reading the editorials which appear in newspapers is the best way to get started for the Verbal section.
There are three types of text completion questions youll be tested on- One blank, two blank and three blank text completion questions. For one blank text completion questions, youll get 5 options and for two and three blank sentences, youll be provided three options for each blank and youll have to select the best possible option for each blank
Sentence Equivalence In sentence equivalence questions, youll get a sentence with one blank and six options for that blank. Youll have to select two options which, when put in the sentence separately, will give sentences with similar meaning.
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15 Reading Comprehension In reading comprehension, youre tested on your ability to comprehend a passage and then answer questions based on the passage. Why does the GRE do that? Simply because in your graduate studies, irrespective of the field you choose, youll have to read a lot of reports, papers, thesis, etc. and the GRE test makers want to ensure that you can comprehend complex information and can logically answer questions based on the same. Youll be presented with complicated and fairly dense paragraphs of information about some topic and then youll have to answer one or more questions on the passage. You do not need to know specific facts or information about any topic for the reading comprehension portion of the test beyond the text in the passage. The length of the passages can vary from one paragraph to five paragraphs. Accordingly, the number of questions on a passage varies from 1 to 5. When a passage appears on the left hand side of the computer screen, your first task is to read and understand the passage. On the right hand side of the screen, the questions will appear one by one. Here is a table which will give you an idea about what type of questions are tested on the GRE. Type Description The general idea that the author is trying to convey; typically can be summarized in one sentence Your task is to look for specific details in the passage. You do not have to go beyond what is already written Youll be given some information, usually a paragraph. You have to find an answer which MUST be true based on the information. Example What is the primary purpose of the passage?
Specific : Look up
Draw a conclusion
Argument: John is a part of the basketball team. The tennis team competes during the same season as the basketball team , and students are only permitted to be on one team per season Conclusion: John is not on the tennis team
The correct answer will consist of a new piece of information that makes it at least somewhat more likely that the authors conclusion is valid; the correct answer does not need to make the conclusion a certainty
Argument: In an attempt to increase sales, company Y implemented a new customer service policy that required all sales representatives to address all prospective clients by name. Within six months, sales had risen 15%. The new policy was therefore a success. Strengthener: Company Y did
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16 not initiate any other program in the last 6 months which might have increased the sales. The correct answer will consist of a new piece of information that makes it at least somewhat less likely that the authors conclusion is valid; the correct answer does not need to negate the conclusion Weaken the Argument Argument: In an attempt to increase sales, Company Y implemented a new customer service policy that required all sales representatives to address all prospective clients by name. Within six months, sales had risen 15%. The new policy was therefore a success. Weakener: Company Y doubled its advertising budget in the last 6 years which resulted in more customers walking into the companys stores
An assumption is something the author assumes. In other words, its something that the author takes for granted, something that MUST be true in order to draw a certain conclusion. Note that the assumption does not need to be true in the real world; it merely needs to be something that the author must believe in drawing the given conclusion Youll be asked for the meaning of a particular sentence or word in the passage One or two sentences will be highlighted and youll have to determine what roles these highlighted sentences play. Some of these roles which a sentence can play are: conclusion, counter conclusion, evidence supporting conclusion,
Argument: John is less than six feet tall. Therefore, he will not be chosen for the basketball team. Assumption : One must be at least six feet tall in order to be chosen for the basketball team
Meaning of a word/sentence
Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the word critical used in the first sentence of paragraph 2? What roles do the two bolded statements play in the passage?
Bolded Statement
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Quantitative Reasoning
On the GRE, questions in the Maths section will appear in four different formats 1. Multiple choice-Select One 2. Multiple Choice-Select one or more 3. Quantitative Comparison 4. Numeric Entry. Here is a table highlighting all the topics tested on the Maths section of the GRE.
Did you know? The GRE tests you on high school Maths concepts only
Arithmetic
Divisibility Odds & Evens Roots Exponents Consecutive Numbers Fractions Percents Ratios
Algebra
Basic Equations Quadratic Equations Exponential Equations Inequalities Forumlas,sequence s and Patterns Coordinate Geometry
Geometry
Polygons Triangles & Diagonals Circles and cylinders Pythagoream Theorem Parallel & Perpendicular lines Perimeter, volume,area
Data Analysis
Mean,Median,Mode Standard Deviation Interquartile range Quartiles & Percentile Graphs-line,bar ,circle graphs Scatterplots & Frequency distributions Elementary probability Probability Permutations &Combinations Venn diagrams
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#1 Taking the GRE more than once is going to hamper my admission chances Nothing could be farther from the truth. Taking the GRE twice isnt going to have any negative effect on your application. The Admission committees at graduate schools understand that you might not be well prepared to take the GRE on your first attempt, that you might have taken the GRE hastily or because of some other reason you could not do well, so they are not going to hold it against you that you have taken it twice. In fact, they wont be much bothered even if you take it thrice. Beyond that, they will be definitely concerned that why you had to take it so many times and may view multiple attempts negatively unless you can provide a strong reason to justify your case. #2 The schools give equal importance to both Quantitative and Verbal scores Depending on the type of graduate program you wish to pursue, the schools usually give more weightage to either Verbal or Quant score. This means that if you apply to a program such as MS in Financial Engineering, your performance on the Quant section is going to matter much more Fun fact#3 than on the Verbal section. Similarly, if you want to go for your You dont need to burn the graduate studies in any of the subjects in the liberal arts stream, then Admission committees will be more concerned about your midnight oil to do well on the GRE. Verbal score than your quant score. However, this doesnt mean 1-2 hours/day on the weekdays that the Admission committees will ignore your score on the and 4-5 hours on the weekends is less important section. Your performance on the less important section is also important, if not very important, and your overall the way to go! GRE score matters a lot to the schools #3 If I get a great GRE score, then my admission to the top schools is guaranteed. This is the biggest myth floating around! The GRE is just one component of your application and isnt the sole determiner of your admission chances. The other parts of your application, such as your undergraduate GPA, SOP, LORs, the quality of research you have done in your undergraduate program, etc. are important determiners of the success of your application. So it is entirely possible that a school might take a candidate who has a low GRE score but has had a couple of research paper publications in journal of international repute and may reject a candidate with a stellar GRE score but with an otherwise below average profile #4 I need to burn the midnight oil and study 8-10 hours per day to succeed on the GRE. The good news is that the GRE is unlike the exams youve given in your college in which you wont be able to write anything in the exam until and unless you dont study it. The GRE essentially tests you on high school maths and on your ability to read, process, and comprehend professionally written English at a rather fast pace. So even if you dont study anything for it, you may probably get a good score if your maths skills are good and you are good at Verbal too. What is more important for the GRE is that you prepare in a systematic way. Since your preparation will be spread over 2-3 months, you need to ensure that you dont overstudy . The best study schedule is 2-3 hours on weekdays and 4-5 hours on weekends over a 3 month period. Also remember that you set a day aside during the week in which you would take a complete rest from your prep. www.aristotleprep.com
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#5 I should be able to quote the likes of Shakespeare & Milton to do well on the Verbal section Ever paid attention to the fact that the GRE has Verbal Reasoning and not English literature as the name of the Verbal section? We bet, you would have! The name itself- verbal reasoning- makes it clear what the GRE verbal section is about. Its not about silly grammatical rules. They will not ask you to critique the works of poets and authors. They want to test your ability to think, to reason out. They want to see whether you can do well when you are pressed for time. There are good chances that an English Literature graduate will not get a perfect score on the Verbal section because the GRE Verbal section tests you on reasoning, something which you are not taught much in English literature classes. Secondly, one has to learn how to effectively tackle each type of question and employ techniques to be able to eliminate options in the shortest possible time. These are attributes which you sharpen with practice. #6 Reading comprehension cannot be improved because it is function of how well read you are and it is impossible to improve within 2-3 months. This is a common belief harboured by candidates from engineering backgrounds. While it does help if you have been a voracious reader, but even if you havent you simply cant get away with the excuse that since you are an engineering student, you wont be able to improve on reading comprehension. You can improve by practising. However, you must do some preliminary work if you think that you havent read many articles/books in the last couple of years. You should get into the habit of reading magazines/newspapers with quality articles. Additionally, you can get your hands on some books with high quality English. Doing all this before you actually start preparing for the GRE will go a long way in reducing the burden on you during the 3 months of your preparation. #7 I have a full-time job and think that it is difficult to manage time Yes, it is difficult but people do manage to prepare for the GRE while doing a full time job. Its going to be a little difficult juggling work, studies, household chores, and what not but in the end if you really want to pursue a graduate program, youll have to do this! No excuses, because if you make excuses, you should be happy doing your job. Graduate study is very taxing and hectic and thats why its better to inculcate discipline now. In the end, its all about organizing yourself and your day better. If you plan your schedule wisely without stressing yourself too much, you should be able to crack the exam comfortably #8 I know that I need to become better at Quant or Verbal, so is studying definitely going to help me ? Yes and no. Depends on how you study. There are people who study for more than 6 months and yet see no improvement in their scores and there are people who improve substantially by studying for 2 months only. So studying haphazardly isnt going to get you there; studying the right way will lead you to your goal. Remember that the GRE test makers have an unlimited imagination while making questions and in all probability the questions youre going to see on the GRE are going to be new to you even if you have done 2000 practice questions. However, the GRE test makers have a finite number of concepts which theyre going to test you on and those concepts will be tested in different questions. So you should be able to identify the strategies required for different types of questions and use them effectively to ace the test.
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5 THINGS YOU MUST AVOID DURING/BEFORE YOUR GRE Burning yourself out Dont over-train yourself in the days leading to the exam. This can include: taking a practice test within three days of the exam; studying for more than 2 hours on the day before the exam; reviewing your notes for more than 30 minutes on the test day; studying for more than 4 hours in the last few days leading to the exam. Dont go telling everyone you meet that you have your GRE coming up! The more people you tell, the more pressure youll feel which will, in effect, shoot up your anxiety level. Dont change your schedule. Sleep at the usual time you sleep and get up at the usual time you do. The idea is to keep your body and mind as much in your natural schedule as possible Focus on the problem on the screen in front of you; dont think about the questions which have come and gone. Your mind will try to think about past problems and whether you attempted the previous question correctly. If you find yourself doing that, tell yourself I can think about all that later when I review the questions; right now I have to focus on the question on the screen. Dont even think about doing this! Trying to figure out your score is going to increase your anxiety level about how youre performing and this is going to put even more pressure on you. Remember, during the exam, even a 99th percentile expert cannot guess his score so dont fret about score.
Telling everyone that you are taking the GRE Changing your schedule
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MONTH 1: Target Quant As youd have read earlier in this document, the GRE tests you on high school Maths only. You will not be tested on advanced topics such as calculus, Trigonometry, etc. The GRE Maths maybe a little more intimidating for you if you have not studied Maths in high school. Though the engineering students may not find Maths tested on the GRE to be very challenging, they will see that they have forgotten quite a few concepts and that they may know how to solve a question but they may not know how best to solve a question
Start going through the Maths concepts from the Official Guide and simultaneously start with the Quant concepts and formulae document in our Free Resources section to get familiar with what you are up against. Go through the topics one by one and do a sufficient number of questions from each topic so that you understand not only the concepts but also their application Start taking maths tests in our online test centre and do a thorough analysis of the questions. Write down the learning or the takeaway from each question so that you can revise the takeaways easily Refer to the error log and see if youre consistently getting the questions of a particular type wrong. Once youve identified the weak areas, patch up those areas by going through the topics again and spending sometime on them. By the end of one month, you should be prepared enough for Maths and you should be ready to move on to the next challenge-Verbal . However,
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24 if you think that you still dont feel confident that youre prepared enough to achieve your target Quant score, you may want to prepare for one more week. Immerse yourself in the GRE Quant Forum. Not only will you learn from others but you will also learn when you try to explain something to others. At the same time, start reading the editorials of English newspapers daily. You may want to subscribe to two newspapers, if possible, or you may start reading the newspapers online. You should spend around 45 minute to 1 hour doing so. Make a mini dictionary for yourself, label it Xs Dictionary where X is your name. Start writing down the words you come across in the newspaper or anywhere else in this dictionary
MONTH 2: Focus on Verbal If you would have been reading editorials daily as suggested above, by the second month, your comprehension skills would have improved quite a lot and you should be able to read and understand complex passages. As you prepare for Verbal in the second month, remember that you do not stop studying Maths altogether. A good idea is to do 5 Maths questions everyday so that you feel that you are in touch with maths. For Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion, youll have to primarily improve your Vocabulary, so in the first week, try learning root words. This will make learning words a much more logical process and will give you a good foundation to learn words. Use the Root Words Flashcards available in the Free Resources section of our website to do this. Also finish learning the 200 High Frequency words which we have given. Doing this will ensure that you are on a solid ground to tackle more words. When you learn words, do not simply cram them up. The GRE is not going to ask you the meaning of these words. Youll be tested on the contextual meaning of the words, something which you wont be able to learn by cramming. Download the dictionary.com app on your smartphone so that you can utilize the time while youre travelling or waiting for someone. Book your GRE date in the second week (overall the 6th week of your prep). Only if youre not confident should you postpone booking a slot for the first week of the third month. In the second week, practice Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions from the Official Guide. If you have gone as per the suggested plan, you shouldnt face much difficulty in doing these questions. Do not freak out learning very difficult words. Thats one of the disadvantages of using certain books such as Kaplan Premier Program. It has too many over-thetop difficult words which will most likely never be tested on the GRE. Start with the Reading Comprehension part in the third week of this month. Go through the Types of questions tested on the RC section in this document to get an idea of what all types of questions youre likely to see. Learn the strategies for tackling each type of question. For example, the strategy for tackling an inference question is different from that used for tackling detail questions. You need to know what these strategies are. Get involved in the GRE Verbal forum. Seek help with questions you have difficulty in because at the end, what is going to matter is not whether you got a question right or wrong, but whether you did the question the right way and what was the learning from the question which you can apply to similar questions ahead.
MONTH 3: Practice and Review This month should be spent taking full length tests, reviewing them, and addressing your test taking weaknesses. We suggest that you buy a book from Manhattan GRE as it will give you free access to 6 full length tests. Else if you have Kaplan premier, youll be able to use the two free full length tests that come along with the book.
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25 Take two full length tests in the first week of this month. Take these practice tests preferably at the same time of the day for which you have booked your slot. This will help your body get used to the timing. In the first week, book your GRE date, if you havent already done so. In some testing centres, the GRE dates may not be easily available, all the more so during the peak test taking season so its best to book in the second month itself. Take two full length test in the second week. Spend the same amount of time in the analysis of a test which you spend in taking the test. Analysis is what will make you better In the third week, take two more full length tests. Save one for the last week In the last week, take only one test. Make sure that you take this test at least 3 days before the day of the actual test. Sleep well during the last few days before the test. Do not study anything new in the last few days, rather focus on revising what you have done so far. Relax completely on the last day before the exam Take the GRE and blow it away!
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