GRE advice

[colonel panic]

I'm going to need to take the GRE. I don't even know where to begin to study for this. Any advice from a FOT who's taken it? I guess I'm looking for resources.

My Math skills are sick (like "not well").

[todd]

One piece of general advice: go through some of the Princeton Review's books on the GRE. There are lots of good exercises and warm-ups on a CD you get with the book.

Princeton Review is better than Kaplan's software, because I think Kaplan is actually the company that puts the test out, if I remember correctly. So its less likely to teach you the little "tricks" to solving questions quickly and with as little thought as possible.

[colonel panic]

Thanks Todd-

It's nice to have a place to start!

[Scot]

i'm not sure how up-to-date the study guides are - i just checked amazon and saw that the princeton guide was just updated and republished in june. the reason i bring this up is because the format of the test has changed and you need to make sure you get a book that reflects the changes.

also, at www.ets.org, there are practice tests available.

and anywho, i feel your pain. i returned to grad school 8 years after finished undergraduate, and 11 years after doing ANY math. it was a sad reeducation. i checked out algebra and geometry textbooks from the library and learned some stuff and as soon as the test was over, i forgot it all. fuck you, math!

do you have to take the GRE, or is the MAT an option?

[Andy]

go buy a book, sit down and go through all the courses, take a couple of practice tests.  you know most of the shit on the test, you just need a refresher.

GRE is easy shit, so don't worry about it too much.  In my experience, they always make the practice tests that come with the book a little tougher than the real tests so that you think you're not as good as you are and you keep studying.

[colonel panic]

do you have to take the GRE, or is the MAT an option?

Have to take GRE.

I'm feeling pumped for this now! I'm going to do it. Thanks.

[ericluxury]

Kaplan doesn't put out the tests. But its a company that studies tests and teaches exclusively to the test. All the teaching they do is like tips in order to score a higher score on the test. Mostly its memory tests and all teaching all the ways that the test tries to trip up your thinking.
I only know this because I had to get Kaplan certification recently.

I've never used Princeton Review.

[Ramsobot]

I swore by the CD when I took it. As an English major, I was also in a similar boat regarding the math and ended up scoring higher on it than the verbal. I would imagine that even older books with this portion of the test may be helpful.

My clearest memory of the test is how long the written section felt and that it felt slightly daunting to have to do it first.

[Fido]

I took a Princeton Review course for the GMAT and took the GRE at just about the same time, killing two birds with one stone. As easy as the GRE actually is, I considered it money well spent. The fact that it's easy means you should do really well with smart preparation for the exam. Don't panic over the math -- it's not difficult. Doing practice exams is fantastic preparation in itself.

I picked up a book of tough vocabulary words, using the exam as an excuse to learn as many new words as possible. If the GRE relies as heavily on vocabulary as it once did, this might actually be a sensible way to prepare, but it is quite time-consuming. I saw many words on the exam that I had learned in my review, making me glad I had gone to the trouble. I don't think it's bragging to say that I rocked on both the GRE and GMAT, since I really think it was due to the preparation I did.

I have since forgotten many of those words. Yeah, my vocabulary has actually shrunk considerably.

[Gilly]

How hard is it to pass the GED's? What a bunch of Philladummies.

[Emily]

Flash cards helped me with the vocab words. I think mine came with the book, but you can probably buy them separately.

And I took a class to help me review math. I somehow managed to do fine on the math part & I'm terrible w/ math.

You'll do fine. Good luck!

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

I read an out-of-date phone book thing (Kaplan or Princeton, I don't remember) and did the CD-ROM practice tests, and they helped a lot.  I still did a pretty mediocre job on the math section (it had literally been 14 or 15 years since I had studied any of it) but I did really well on the logic part (which might not even exist anymore).  Anyway, I didn't take it that seriously because only my 3rd grad school choice required it, but I do think it's worth it to prepare a little.

[Fido]

It's still kind of appalling that grad schools rely on these things at all, but what can you do?

[Emily]

you can become a wet nurse. (probably no gre req there)

[njkaters]

I would second the previous statement about studying vocabulary words. I spent a lot of time studying vocabulary words that were out of my depth and I did pretty well on the GRE. My experience with the GRE (a lot of stress before, consternation afterward about how little it meant to my acceptance to grad school) is probably common but it is a necessary evil. Good luck, by the way.