Talk to me about the GRE

[skysprite 0]

My GRE is scheduled for this Friday. In true skysprite fashion, I haven't studied a damn thing for it yet.

I'm told that as of this fall, the test was changed and made more difficult. Others say they only added new types of questions, whatever that means, and that's the only change. I can confirm the "new types of questions" but am mostly concerned over whether they made the quantative reasoning section more difficult.

Has anyone taken them recently and can tell me more? I'm taking the general test, by the way.

~skysprite

[NWFlyer 2]

I last took in in 1992 ... given that you were in what, kindergarten? back then, my experience might not be that relevant.

That said ... at the very least, learn the question types and strategy for doing them. As someone who took GRE, LSAT, and GMAT (so I was a little unsure of what grad program I wanted to do!), the biggest thing that helped was practicing strategies for question types that were different than SAT type questions.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[skysprite 0]

Quote

I last took in in 1992 ... given that you were in what, kindergarten? back then, my experience might not be that relevant.

That said ... at the very least, learn the question types and strategy for doing them. As someone who took GRE, LSAT, and GMAT (so I was a little unsure of what grad program I wanted to do!), the biggest thing that helped was practicing strategies for question types that were different than SAT type questions.

Hey! I was in 2nd grade in '92!

That's the other thing - I never took the ACTs or SATs so this is my first "big test" that I can't find a loophole to get out of! I suppose it's karma that I have to take this now.

~skysprite

[Squeak 17]

The Pink GRE are gonna make you Sweat

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[grannyinthesky 0]

Difficult is really relative. It wouldn't be just you having a more challenging test; everyone would. My GRE's were a loooong time ago, but what helped me more than any classes I took, was doing as many practice tests as I could find. The more you know about the kinds of questions and the kinds of answers they are looking for the better. Also, keep in mind, you can take the test more than once.

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[psipike02 0]

Quote

My GRE is scheduled for this Friday. In true skysprite fashion, I haven't studied a damn thing for it yet.

I'm told that as of this fall, the test was changed and made more difficult. Others say they only added new types of questions, whatever that means, and that's the only change. I can confirm the "new types of questions" but am mostly concerned over whether they made the quantative reasoning section more difficult.

Has anyone taken them recently and can tell me more? I'm taking the general test, by the way.

Don't worry, they actually didn't make the changes. I'm studying for it as well and they decided not to go through with the changes, so no worries there.

http://media.www.paisano-online.com/media/storage/paper975/news/2007/04/24/News/Gre-Cancels.Changes-2877468.shtml

They did say they are adding ONE new question to verbal and quantitative for each student, so thats all you should see.

As for the test itself:
Verbal Reasoning — The skills measured include the test taker's ability to

* analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it
* analyze relationships among component parts of sentences
* recognize relationships between words and concepts

Quantitative Reasoning — The skills measured include the test taker's ability to

* understand basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis
* reason quantitatively
* solve problems in a quantitative setting

Analytical Writing — The skills measured include the test taker's ability to write essays basically. There will be one argumentative essay and one general essay where you will have to talk about your opinion but not agree or disagree with it.

Your score starts out average (at 500). Each question you get right, your score goes up and the questions get harder. Each question you get wrong, the question goes back down and gets easier, but your score falls as well.

The questions are usually broken into thirds (score-wise), the first third of the questions in each section are worth more than the second 1/3 and so on for the third part as well.

Obviously keep scratch paper and use it. There are no calculators or anything, so bring lots of it. Make sure you spell check your essay and that it makes sense.

Hopefully that wasn't too much info...if you have more questions, just PM me.

GOOD LUCK!!! I haven't taken it officially but have taken practice tests. Its WAY easier than the SAT, but they ask questions in a fucked up way....be careful, go slow (but not too slow), and double check everything...

Puttin' some stank on it.

----Hellfish #707----

[BIGUN 1,042]

Hope these help...

http://www.princetonreview.com/testprep/testprep.asp?TPRPAGE=264&type=GRE-LEARN

http://www.princetonreview.com/testprep/testprep.asp?TPRPAGE=80&TYPE=GRE-PRACTICE-TEST

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[MrFreefall383 0]

Took it a little over a year ago, just before graduating with my BA. It wasn't all that difficult. It was just like the SAT, just a little tougher, and as such I got almost exactly the same score on the GRE as I did on my SAT. Study a little, better safe than sorry, but don't worry too much.

"If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

[karenmeal 0]

I took it about a year ago and did pretty well.

My advice (considering the fact that you have limited time):

-Study for the math portion. I feel that it is easier to cram and boost your score here than in the verbal section. Memorize some formulas, find a book with a quick review section for crammers like yourself. (I liked the complete idiot's guide to the GRE.)

-Review the roots and prefixes/suffixes of words. When you get totally stumped, revert to your knowledge of the building blocks of words.

-Review a book's coaching on the analogy portion. There should be good tips about recognizing verbs, nouns and what not. I encountered a few verbal questions where I had never seen the word in my life, but I was able to fall back on basic knowledge of recognizing nouns and verbs.

-The GRE folks have a list of prompts online. Review those and have a basic idea of what to expect. Study books will give you a guide for answering questions. I came prepared to the test with a formula that I would use including an intro and concluding sentence where I could plug things in, as well as a really good idea of the structure that I would use to write with. (Five paragraphs, first sentence of each paragraph is xxx....) (And I got a 5.5 on this part.)

here is a link to topics: http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid=6a9ca76d0edd5010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&vgnextchannel=06c7e3b5f64f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD

I would browse the ETS website for good info.

Umm... that is it! Good luck. It'll be done quickly once you get in there. As with a lot of stuff, the build-up prior to the actual event is the hardest part.

-Karen

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[AllisonH 0]

I would suggest doing a practice test, briefly reviewing any topics you didn't do well on, and taking another practice test. I didn't do much in the way of "studying" but my score went up a good bit between my 2 practice tests, and I think even a little more when I took the real thing. For me it was more about being comfortable with the format and getting my mind back into the standardized "test taking mode" than about reviewing much content.

[Icon134 0]

I don't believe the Quantitative and Verbal sections have changed since about 1999 (I took the test in 1999 and 2004) the analytical question portion changed to an analytical writing section a couple of years ago... (and I didn't like the change... )

Good luck... btw... in the Quantative section if you get the early questions right the computer will provide you with more difficult questions later but you'll get a better score (i.e. take the time to answers the early questions correctly and your score in Quantative should be better...) at least that's how I've understood it in the past...

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[JeffD 0]

Exactly what Icon134 said. I took it 1.5years ago and yeah you know your doing good if you start getting really difficult/indepth questions as the test basically takes a question as if you would get a 600, get it right and it goes up to a tougher question, 625 or whatever until you start missing questions and it goes back down again. So for the math portion if you start seeing complex trig expansions I think your doing well. And if you see [SKY : blue] in the verbal its time to study again