GRE tips?!? Holy hell

I just purchased a GRE book full of practice problems. Chapter 1 is fill in the blank questions. But the words to choose from are way over my head. I've never heard anyone use these words. I know most of the GRE is about elimination, but I can't eliminate words that I don't know the meaning of. Ohhh..and I can't wait for the math section, that'll really be great (sarcasm). I've been out of school 22 years, I had confidence in myself until purchasing this book. Now I'm :-(

I taught standardized testing for years and your attitude about elimination is not really the way to go about things -- you still need to have knowledge. Practice doesn't help without any information. First, does your GRE book have a vocab section? If not, go ahead and find one of the MANY phone apps for the test -- one that emphasizes vocab. They usually have a flashcard section where you can practice and learn new words regularly and then apply them to questions once you have worked through them. For math, there should be a remedial instruction section in your book -- if not, pick up a remedial book or find something online. You can't fake your way through the math if you don't remember any of it -- but keep in mind it really only goes through 9th grade geometry -- not into stuff like Algebra II and pre calc -- so not super difficult stuff, you just need to review. Before you start worrying about approach and method for the test, you have to go back and learn material. Also, reading for these tests is a little different than your usual reading -- make sure you go through the instructional section on that in your book.

I'll be purchasing flash cards tomorrow. I am normally a fast learner, butt even if I learn 1000 new words before taking the exam, I could get tested on words that I don't have any understanding of. As for the math, if it's try up to 9th grade level, I should do "ok" once I brush up.

When I took the GRE, I had been out of school for 6 or 7 years and was like oh sh*t when I took the practice exam. I didn't remember anything. I ended up taking the Kaplan classes for the GRE. They had a money back guarantee if your final score didn't improve x number of points over your baseline test. But you had to do all of the homework or the deal was null and void. The tests were online, so they could see your progress. And I think there were deadlines for each assignment, because I remember going to sleep at midnight and waking up at 5 AM every day because things were really hectic at work and I still had to complete all of the homework. I even found a library when I visited my dad for the weekend so that I could get access to the internet (they were "computer free").

This was 11-12 years ago, so things may have changed. But I did find the classes very helpful.

I'll probably need to take a course. How did you end up doing on the exam? How long did you prep for it?

You seem to think that you could just open the dictionary and all the words in their could be on the test -- that is not how it works. There is a pool of words that have been used over and over that makes up more than 80 percent of the vocabulary on the test. That is why using a GRE-specific book or program is useful. Taking a class is a GREAT idea, just make sure you get a lot of support materials and it is a reputable company.

I'll probably need to take a course. How did you end up doing on the exam? How long did you prep for it?

It was 11 years ago, but I did well enough to get into graduate school. I prepped for it as long as the class lasted, and then I tested soon after the completion of the class. I think that timing was actually part of their strategy.

You know, I really don't remember how long it was. It may have actually been a couple of times a week. But it didn't take a YEAR or anything. A couple months max.

I certainly don't think I can pick up a Webster's dictionary, memorize it, and then I'll pass. Lol. As stated, I'm going to buy flashcards tomorrow, as in, GRE flashcards. I'll start there, sign up for a class and complete the coursework/tests for it, and then I'll take more test from the book I bought today. And then take it. I'll give myself until July or August.

I think that's a reasonable time frame.

Taking the class is a great idea.

In terms of vocabulary, you also might focus on the most common word roots, suffixes and prefixes, and their meanings. That opens a lot of doors- if you don't know a word, you can guess at the meaning if you know what the word parts mean.

In terms of math- that should be covered by the course, if you take one. However, there are some great math help websites available: Khan Academy, Hands on Math (Borenson.com), IXL, Learnzillion, etc.

Hey there,

When I took the SAT's and GRE's, I started out with so-so grades and got better by using a study manual. A few tips:

1. On reading comprehension questions (assuming they still have those): As you read them, circle every time you see the word "but" or "however". They like to ask questions about sentences with those words, hoping you missed the word "but" and didn't notice the change in attitude.

2. In a section that contains 10 vocabulary questions, the first few questions are easy, the last few questions are hard. On easy questions, the answer you think is right IS right. On hard questions, the answer you think is right IS NOT right.

3. For vocabulary, I recommend making your own flashcards and studying those. You can base them off published flashcards, but you'll have an easier time understanding the definitions if YOU write the definition than if a dictionary writes the definition. Here's what I mean. The word is PARSIMONIOUS. The dictionary (or flashcard) says: "marked by frugality; sparing; restrained in spending money." This is wordy and hard to remember. Write your own flashcard and put the definition "HATES SPENDING MONEY". Something meaningful to you personally.

4. If the definition on the flashcard isn't clear, go to Google and search for sentences using the word parsimonious They'll give a few examples. Use those to help you write the definition in your own words.

Arjumand's comment above was spot-on: They test the same particular "Favorite" vocabulary words over and over. I never use the word "Parsimonious" because it's an old-fashioned word that no one uses in real life anymore, but I still remember it from 20 years ago because it was on about half the sample SAT and GRE exams that I took. A list of a few hundred commonly tested words will help you a lot. Again, learn the definition then REWRITE the definition using your own wording, then memorize that. I think there were about 5 words that all meant "generous". You can combine those into one flashcard.

It'll become clearer and more concrete to you when you get a study book or course that explains what you need to think about. Best of luck!

P.S. I don't think there will be time to learn roots, prefixes, and suffixes by July or August. The Latin and Greek roots are valuable things to know about but I think we're looking at memorization here. The roots might help you go "oh, I see why it could mean this", but knowing them almost never allows you to guess the meaning of an unknown word from scratch. You'll be able to tell it has something to do with "water" but you won't know what.

Taking the class is a great idea.

 

In terms of vocabulary, you also might focus on the most common word roots, suffixes and prefixes, and their meanings. That opens a lot of doors- if you don't know a word, you can guess at the meaning if you know what the word parts mean.

 

In terms of math- that should be covered by the course, if you take one. However, there are some great math help websites available: Khan Academy, Hands on Math (Borenson.com), IXL, Learnzillion, etc.

Yes, getting a list of greek and latin words for the GRE would be helpful because you can figure out the meaning from the root words. Even if you learn 50-100 words from each language, it's really going to help you a lot.

There's also a book of mnemonics to help you remember the meanings of vocabulary words. I forgot the title. But for example, "Attenuate" means "to get thinner" and their mnemonic was "I worried you'd attenuate, but then you ate". Corny (and really it refers to things like streams and airflow, not people), but I still remember the mnemonic years later. You could probably google vocabulary mnemonics for more examples. Even if you only have mnemonics for 20 particular words, that helps. It's 20 more than you had before.

Good luck!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post. I'm actually feeling much better about it now. I purchased a box with 500 commonly used GRE vocabulary words. I've gotten through maybe 1/4 of them and so far I'm nailing them. I will continue to do this everyday. Oh yeah, for the tricky ones, I will follow the advice about writing them downn with my own meaning and example. Love that idea, thank you! I haven't reviewed any math yet, I'm still intimidated by it. But I am going to take the Kaplan prep first. It's definitely expensive, but I think a good investment towards my future. Once that is over, I'll study for a couple more weeks, take more practice exams, and then I'll take the GRE.

I will know that day how I scored, correct?