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Yeh I have no idea, speaking of which... another random thing that maybe others will find helpful... I've looked at a variety of GRE practice books and such
McPeterson's (practice exams)
Bigbook (verbal practice)
McGraw Hill (practice exams)
Princeton Review
Kaplan
I've found that the Princeton Review & Kaplan are more difficult than the actual GRE, especially Princeton review. The vocab they test in their practice problems and exams are much more advanced than anything I encountered on the actual exam (the hardest word I got on the real GRE was supercilious) ...
The real GRE tends to like to test words that you may be familiar with, but can't precisely define (from my experience), while Princeton review just likes to throw out hardass words.
The "Bigbook" verbal sections were the most comparable to the actual GRE, and McPeterson's was pretty good as well (but slightly more difficult). McGraw Hill's exams seem to be a bit easier than the real GRE.
Another tip/thing ... if you have a book with a bunch of practice exams, I've noticed that they make the last practice exam the easiest, which is a clever strategy so you end up getting a higher score than you did on the first one (which was more difficult) and feel as if the book actually helped (which it may or may not have).
So if you're planning on getting those books with like 4-6 practice exams, I'd work backwards and do the last test first...
That's all I got now, time for moar study
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On December 28 2010 06:02 Z3kk wrote:
How does the SAT compare to the GRE? I just finished taking the SAT, and I don't want to restress about the GRE when I'm in college.
College sounds scary ;;
Edit: well, obviously I'm going to HAVE to restress about the GRE because I have to take it :'<
I did the same on them with approximately the same amount of studying averaging around 1350-1400 usually getting 750-800 math, and 600-650 verbal.
Most grad programs you only need 1200 or better to be fine. they just want to know if you're above like 550 or 600 on each or whatever 80 or 90th percentile is. It's no big deal IMO which is why I didn't put a lot of time into it when applying for grad program I'm in.
Again, grades, rec letters, essays, and interviews are waaaaaaay more important as long as you get average or above average for GRE that they put on the website as the average to get into the program.
However, on the flipside a good GRE can help make up for deficiencies elsewhere, but don't expect it to be a world beater. For example, comparable to like 38+ MCAT when average to get in for med school is 31, but that won't make up for < 3.00 GPA
Now, if you did crappy on SAT then you better start putting in a lot more time....
The writing is a big thing thing you need to game but youc an structure the essay much like the normal 5 paragraph essay they told you to write in high school with the intro + 2-3 body paragraphs + conclusion.
Xeris,
if you're getting 1320 just focus on maxing out the math and not making silly mistakes and 1400 should be fairly easy to get (as long as you're not already getting like 800/520 or something like that.... much easier if it's like 700/620 just max out the math portion). That's the biggest thing. Also, for the words just learn more prefixes and suffixes like the other dude said... you can generally guess your way to a better score if you're a bit lucky but getting words you know is a big thing.
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ETS (the company that administrates the GRE) has an exclusive set of study materials available here: http://www.ets.org/gre/general/prepare. The GRE was harder than the SAT in terms of math or verbal; of course, it's tailored for graduate-seeking students, not undergraduates. However, the crutch with the test isn't so much the problems, as is the stress of the individual.
The highest challenge is overcoming your personal anxiety. For example, the verbal section routinely tests on your pre-existing knowledge, meaning you will have a hard time "ramping" up your proficiency for the test. The math portion entirely consists of a MA153/154 class in college, without the advanced graphing or any parts that especially need a calculator (since you can only use pencil and paper).
For math I would study a few things:
All algebraic properties
Properties of fractions, ratios, powers, roots and square roots
Geometrical equations for triangles, circles, rectangles and other stuff like three-dimensional objects
Decimals
Quantities, less or more than, types of numbers (irrational, rational etc)
Negative numbers: add, subtract, multiply, divide, etc.
Basic (y=mx+b) line equations
Properties of perpendicular lines
Percentages
For verbal:
All you can study is *approved* GRE vocabulary lists
Make sure you know how to write a solid argumentative essay, where you either agree, disagree or do both with contemporary issues... (Group A wants to build a building, but Group B disagrees, here are some facts... make a case on why or why not you would agree to build there or not) or (Why do you think it's important to conserve energy and tighten down on resources? Why is it important to be a hero?) Usually they like to insert some silly little generalized statement like the ones above and have you write about it as persuasively as you can (yeah I know).
GRE vocab use in reading comprehension, antonyms, synonyms and analogies
That's all I have of which I can remember.
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btw, what program are you applying to?
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My top choice is Georgetown MSFS , secondary would be SAIS , third would be McGill , fourth Tufts MALD, then either American / George Washington .
I really want to go to DC (because its my favorite city, since I worked at a think tank there last year I have wanted to move back... my gf also lives in DC), but I also love Montreal (<3 TT1 and Sami) and McGill is a great school. Also, my favorite scholar (my academic idol I guess you could say) is a professor at Tufts, and after meeting him and chatting with him last year I've wanted to go to Tufts (Vali Nasr is his name).
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Just took a practice test , 1450 (but I really feel like the McGraw Hill tests are too easy, but maybe I'm just paranoid?). Here's an example of silly mistakes that I make ...
There were 2 graphs and I had to calculate percent increase from 1 to the other... Numbers were
7% of 135 (year A), and ... 13% of 210 (year B)
so I calculated, got 9.45 for year A , year B should have been.. 27.3 , but I made a dumb arithmetic mistake, and ended up with 23.3 (forgot that 3x2 = 6 , and I wrote down a 3, gg) ... so I ended up with the wrong % and picked the wrong answer.
GRAHHH! I missed 3 math ones on this, and all 3 of my wrong answers were equally careless.
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Braavos36362 Posts
Georgetown MSFS looks pretty good for you, 1300-1350 GRE and 25% admission rate is all very doable. If you get 1400 you should be pretty easily in if you had good GPA from undergrad or w/e.
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That's what I'm hoping.. I got a 3.7 at UCSD and I had a 3.4 at CC (I spent 1 year at CC and transferred to UCSD). I'm just hoping to get 1400 or slightly higher to solidify my chances because that's where I really want to go.
SAIS and McGill are probably a bit of a reach, but AU and GWU are probably sure bets.
I'm gonna take 1 more practice test tonight and 1 in the mornning (test at 4pm tomorrow) @_@!
rahhhhhhhhh
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I feel if you study that much you should be able to get 800 on Q pretty easily, but I think V is a pretty big crapshoot with a ton of variance. I just took the GRE for the second time like 3 weeks ago or so. First time got 1290 (780Q 510V). Second time I got 1410 (800Q 610V), I don't think my vocab improved at all, I'm pretty sure I just got really lucky.
gl
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just got 1320 on princeton review practice exam (590Q 730V) ~_~
lul , I SEEM TO HAVE THE OPPOSITE PROBLEMMM T__T ;; stupid math mistakes.
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On December 28 2010 09:42 Xeris wrote:
My top choice is Georgetown MSFS , secondary would be SAIS , third would be McGill , fourth Tufts MALD, then either American / George Washington .
I really want to go to DC (because its my favorite city, since I worked at a think tank there last year I have wanted to move back... my gf also lives in DC), but I also love Montreal (<3 TT1 and Sami) and McGill is a great school. Also, my favorite scholar (my academic idol I guess you could say) is a professor at Tufts, and after meeting him and chatting with him last year I've wanted to go to Tufts (Vali Nasr is his name).
McGill? I am pretty sure they don't care about your GRE score.
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Make sure to pace yourself during the exam, if it takes you a little longer on 1 problem it's probably fine because you'll probably plow through 5-6 of the early ones in no time
For each of my sections I finished more than 20 minutes early, didn't end up mattering for math but I probably should have spent more time on the verbal section lol
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Yeh timing isn't a huge problem for me lately... I usually find myself with 8-10 minutes left. If I don't make silly errors I'll be a baller, if not... mediocrity in standardized testing awaits.
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Wooo ~~~
GRE in 1 hour, lets dooo it!!!
Hoping for 1400+ , I'll prolly just do the same lul, BUT HERE GOES NOTHIN~
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United States2095 Posts
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Hahahah I actually did worse! So kool :D
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Man, I put like 0 effort into GRE the first time, and quite a bit this time and did worse. Conclusion ... never study? Either that or I'm just bad at standardized tests, period. ! oh well, I'm done!
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On December 29 2010 12:43 Xeris wrote:
Man, I put like 0 effort into GRE the first time, and quite a bit this time and did worse. Conclusion ... never study? Either that or I'm just bad at standardized tests, period. ! oh well, I'm done!
These tests are designed such that studying actually shouldn't make a damn bit of difference. I didn't study for the SAT and I'm not going to for the GRE.
In fact in general, I've found very little correlation between how much I study for something and how well I do. My last final this past semester I got an A on, but it was the final I did the least preparation for of my engineering finals.
I wouldn't worry about GREs too much anyways. Standardized testing means very little in the end since small mistakes lead to huge variance.
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EPT
