So, you’ve decided to go to grad school?
Maybe you’re a confident test-taker and you can’t wait to prove yourself. Or, maybe you still have recurring nightmares about showing up late to your final college exam with neither pencil nor pants. Either way, a sound GRE test prep strategy is a worthwhile investment. It won’t just yield a good score; it will also sharpen the very skills you need in grad school!
Before you begin studying, decide what scores you’re aiming for. (Hint: don’t assume that a history program will ignore your quantitative score or that a physics program will ignore your verbal score. Each school has its own expectations.) Set your goal, and these three tips will help you reach it.
1. Learn the lay of the land.
Know the test. When you drive around your hometown, you know the backroads and the traffic patterns. You know how early to leave so that you get to work on time and you can name all the major landmarks along the way. The GRE is your new hometown, so study the map.
Research the format of the test: how many sections there are, what kind of questions you can be asked, and the standard answer choices. The ETS webite offers a comprehensive overview of each section, including sample questions and detailed explanations of the answers.
Additionally, learn how each section is scored. The GRE is section-level adaptive, meaning that how you perform on your first quantitative section will determine the difficulty of the next quantitative section you receive (and the same applies to verbal sections.) You need a hard second section to achieve a top score, so answer as many questions as you can and work quickly.
Finally, you have limited time to finish, so make sure you spend it most efficiently. One strategy is the “guess and flag-for-later,” which has you making quick educated guesses and moving on. You have the option to re-visit questions you were uncertain about if there’s time at the end.
2. Don’t leave productivity up to chance.
Know yourself. Do you get real work done at your favorite coffee shop or do you get caught up in sipping your Americano and answering texts? The road to your goal includes serious plans and deadlines.
If you haven’t seen a math problem since high school, you’ll need several weeks or months to get up to speed. The GRE only covers the equivalent of high school Algebra and Geometry, so you don’t have to solve the "Hadwiger Conjecture" or even know who Hadwiger is.
Used high school textbooks can be cheap or free and Algebra for Dummies goes for about $10. Make sure you actually do practice problems. You won’t retain anything if you passively read through examples.
On the flip side, if you can’t read a few pages of Charles Dickens without a dictionary, start making vocabulary flashcards. A schedule is crucial — most people can’t cram 1000 new words overnight. Work a few words into each day and try to use them fluently in your conversations. Feel nerdy? Good: Welcome to grad school.
Lastly, make sure you practice taking the test under realistic conditions. Time yourself. Don’t take bathroom breaks. If you can’t achieve your ideal score on a timed practice test, why would the real GRE be any different? Kaplan, ETS, and The Princeton Review all offer free practice tests (and Manhattan Prep has 6 for $30 with extremely detailed feedback).
3. Read like a grown-up.
Know the English language. Though the quantitative sections cover high school math, the verbal section is not for the faint of heart. You’ll need to quickly absorb information on the Reading Comprehension section of the GRE, and the best way to read faster is to read more often. Reading is a skill and you get better at it by practicing.
Consider discussing your recent reading with friends. If you can effectively summarize what you read, that’s a good start. If you can respond to it with your own opinions, you’re really internalizing it.
The verbal section can throw many different topics at you, so acquaint yourself with writing from diverse fields. Start reading a variety of academic sources and get through an article a day.
This could be anything from The Economist to National Geographic to Science News to The New Yorker. It could even be a novel, though be sure to choose from a list of worthy books; The Hunger Games won’t cut it.
As you consume excellent writing in different fields, you’ll broaden your vocabulary in context and thus prepare yourself for the Text Completion section of the test. You’ll also pick up logic and style for your own prose-writing, which will prove invaluable on the Analytical Writing section and when your grad school career culminates in a masterfully written thesis!
Now, practically speaking
The worst diets are the ones that start tomorrow. Don’t delay! Take a practice test today (or tomorrow, if you must) and discover just how much work you’ll need to put in. You can’t make the GRE any easier, but you can make yourself prepared.
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