COMPREHENSIVE GRE PREP GUIDE TO REACH YOUR DREAM SCORE

Greetings to you. Thanks for coming in. I know the lockdown can be quite frustrating to many of you but these are the times that can be used to explore your interests, build a new skill, spend some quality time with your loved ones etc. So, how about planning and preparing for the GRE? Thinking about it? You have come to the right place for answers.

I am not going to explain you what is GRE, the pattern, the duration of the exam and other monotonous information. Just google search and you will find information related to all of them. But, as an individual who has taken the GRE and has secured his dream admit and, through the experiences I have had and the lessons I have learnt while preparing for the GRE, I will be providing you the most important information which will give you much needed optimism and a clear sense of direction. For those of you who didn’t get a chance to look at my previous article on the factors that helped me secure my dream admit, kindly give it a read. It would be extremely insightful.

In my previous article, I would have briefly mentioned about the GRE and the role it plays in your decisions. I will start this article by reiterating the same points to make you feel good. GRE exam in general can be quite new to us especially the verbal part. Sometimes, we get really intimidated by it, give unwanted importance to it especially after having seen the advertisements of the coaching institutes that show he/she scored a 335/340 or a perfect 340/340, start making unwanted comparisons with your peers, feel depressed for no reason and thus end up putting undue pressure on ourselves. You might have heard many people say that a 330 or above GRE can guarantee you an admit into say Stanford, Columbia, Dartmouth, Carneige Mellon and other reputed institutions. It’s an absolute myth. GRE is primarily used as a filtering parameter which means, say a university receives 1000 applications, they might not have time to review all of them, so based on your GRE score, they might filter it to say 500. After which, your GRE is thrown to the bin. Some universities might have 310 GRE as a filtering score, some might have as low as 300, at max, I feel it will not be more than 320. A 310+ is good enough for most of the universities. If you are aiming for the top five, safer side would be to score a 315 to 320 and you are good to go. The reason why GRE is of less importance to universities is because GRE is just an aptitude test and it has got little to no relevance to the course (which is in most cases purely technical) you are applying to. They just want to know through your GRE whether you are smart enough or not. So, a person who scored a 315+ in comparison to someone who scored a 330+ will be given the same preference and the final result will depend on the rest of your profile. Feeling better now? I am sure you would.

Now, keep in mind that you do need to work hard for the GRE as well. If you are a novice when it comes to the GRE, keep aside 3 to 4 months of continuous preparation wherein you spend 2 to 3 hours on a daily basis. However, this is not a rule and it depends upon person to person. Say one or two months into your preparation, if you are scoring a 320 on your mock tests on a consistent basis, book your GRE exam immediately. Don’t delay further. Because it’s important to go into the actual GRE exam with the same momentum and positive energy. But most importantly, plan well and make sure you maintain the continuity in your preparation. Preparing for a month, giving it a break and then starting all over again isn’t going to do any help to you. GRE prep is all about maintaining your focus, discipline and staying motivated since it’s a very intense and stressful exam.

Regarding whether you need coaching or not, it’s you who needs to decide on that. It’s just my personal opinion that you don’t need coaching for GRE. If you feel you need someone to mentor you and support you throughout your journey of taking the GRE, enrol in the coaching classes. Else, if you feel you are good at self-learning and at preparing your own plans and following them, follow the materials which I will suggest you in a few moments. Ultimately, GRE is not Rocket Science. You just need to refresh basic math concepts, improve your vocabulary, learn time saving strategies and most importantly practice extensively. Irrespective of whether you follow the materials given by the coaching centres or the materials I recommend you to use, the important tips I provide regarding how to structure and go about your preparation applies to everybody.

PREP MATERIALS TO USE

1.      Manhattan Prep 8 strategy guides

2.      Manhattan Prep GRE 5lb book

3.      ETS official guide for GRE

4.      ETS verbal reasoning guide for GRE

5.      ETS quantitative reasoning guide for GRE

6.      Kaplan GRE Prep Plus

7.      Magoosh GRE Vocab Builder App (Free)

8.      Mnemonic Dictionary.com (Free)

9.      Two free official ETS practice tests online (Powerprep Online)

10.  Three paid official ETS practice tests online (Powerprep Plus Online) – this is optional since it costs a lot but any official ETS material is considered as gold and is most reflective of the actual exam.

There is a whole lot of content available in the above mentioned resources and now I will be explaining how you need to use them in the most effective manner.

3 IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF YOUR PREPERATION

1.      Building the foundation

2.      Applying the concepts and strategies by practicing extensively

3.      Taking mock tests

The 2nd and 3rd point should be followed in conjunction with each other

BUILDING THE FOUNDATION

Let’s take a sport for instance Cricket. Would anyone go and play a professional match on day 1? Absolutely not. They would learn about the game, practice different shots and gradually develop their techniques and skillsets over a period of time. This is true for any other profession as well be it Engineering, Medicine, Law etc. The same way it is of utmost importance to build your basics in the GRE and then start to apply these principles into the questions and mock tests you solve.

So, start off with the Manhattan Prep 8 strategy guides. These are fantastic set of books to build your basic math and verbal concepts and to understand the way you need to approach different question types. Don’t just read but take notes of them. Maintain a separate notebook for Quants and Verbal and note down each and every point from the strategy guides you are not aware of irrespective of how simple it might seem while reading. For instance, it can be a simple math formula like area of a rhombus which you might not be aware of or the process and basic approach of finding the main idea in a Reading Comprehension (RC) passage. Only when you note down, you get the confidence that you have registered that particular concept completely into your mind. Of course, this approach will take more time but trust me, it’s will help you boost your GRE score tremendously. Hard work never goes waste – it is the law of nature.

There is another myth concerning the GRE that the more words you learn, the more you score in your verbal section. This is absolutely not the case. The actual GRE is challenging not because of the complexity of the words but the way the sentences are structured. Thus, while it’s important to learn meanings of the words, you also need to learn how you need to use those words in various contexts. The Magoosh GRE vocab app has some fantastic set of words most of which you will find in the actual exam as well and to top it it’s free. So, start off by learning those 1200 words. The same way, maintain a separate note for GRE Vocab. Write down the meanings of each and every word you are not familiar with be it from the app or while solving questions and write a sentence of your own using that word. Again, please don’t hesitate writing down – you know the reason and I know the importance of it! There is another very important aspect to make your vocab preparation much easier, fun and engaging – mnemonics. Remembering more than 1000 words can be exhausting and it’s important to find an easy way to memorize them which is what mnemonic means. Use mnemonic dictionary.com – an amazing resource to find mnemonics for various words. For instance, the word capricious means changeable/variable. The mnemonic is car prices (which also keep changing on regular intervals right?). So, see how it makes your job much easier. Make a note of the mnemonics as well.

Also revise the notes you have taken on a regular basis (probably once a week) to keep track of what you have learnt and to not forget them.

APPLYING THE CONCEPTS AND STRATEGIES BY PRACTICING EXTENSIVELY

Solving the questions from the get-go without building a solid base will do a lot of harm to you. Because, you need to make sure you apply the right kind of strategies and concepts while solving problems to be able to save time and thus increase your score. But the tough part is not learning and being aware of these tactics but mastering the art of being able to apply these in different situations. But don’t worry. The more you practice, the more you understand the patterns of questions and the better you get at applying the concepts you have learnt from the strategy guides. But practicing the “right” way is what makes you perfect and I will explain you in detail about this. The materials needed are Manhattan Prep GRE 5lb book, ETS GRE official guide, ETS verbal reasoning guide, ETS quantitative reasoning guide and Kaplan GRE prep plus. Solve all the problems in these books.

For most people especially Engineers, Quants is way easier compared to Verbal. This doesn’t mean, focus more on verbal less on quants. Spend the same amount of time if not 60 percent on Verbal and 40 percent on quants. Because a higher score in quants can compensate a slightly lower score on verbal. A golden rule while practising quant problems is time yourself. The only difficult part about quants is being able to complete the section in the given time without making any silly mistakes. The concepts are not that hard – it’s just basic math what we would have learnt in 8th grade. The actual exam consists of 20 questions per section for which 35 minutes is given and thus make sure you practice the same way. Take 20 questions and also mix it up from different chapters, say for example, 6 from Algebra, 7 from Geometry, 3 from Arithmetic and 4 from Data Interpretation and give yourself 35 minutes to solve. After solving, spend double the time reviewing the questions in which you not only went wrong but also the questions wherein you consumed a lot of time in spite of getting it right. This step is very important. Understand why you went wrong or why you consumed a lot of time – was it a conceptual misunderstanding or was it a silly mistake or did you miss out on applying a certain strategy. Go through the solutions given by the text book as well if you need help. Then, make a note of them and revise them on a constant basis. Over a period of time, if you see a particular pattern in your mistakes, for instance, if you are weak in Geometry, spend majority of your time working on it. Continue this cycle and this way, you will easily be able to score 160+ and crack quants. Please go back and read the above mentioned points again to be able to comprehend them in a better way.

Once we hear the phrase Verbal section, it might sound like a simple test of English. But unfortunately, that’s what you can expect in a TOEFL exam but not in a verbal section on the GRE. For instance, we would have solved a whole lot of Reading comprehension (RC) passages at school. They would give a passage and ask direct fact based questions like what’s his/her name, which year was he/she born etc. But a RC passage in the GRE is completely different wherein questions will be asked related to why it was written rather than what was written - questions like what is the main idea of the passage, what is the specific purpose of this particular line in the passage etc. Also, Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions is not a test of your knowledge on synonyms and antonyms (which we would have learnt in school as well) but a test of how you are able to apply them in different sentence structures. All this is quite new to us and thus verbal section can be quite horrifying. But don’t worry. We need to get trained in a slow and steady manner. Thus, initially for verbal, during practice, don’t time yourself. Just focus on accuracy. Take 10 minutes to solve a problem. It’s completely fine. But make sure you follow each and every point mentioned in the strategy guides while solving the problems and get it right. As you get more and more questions right, your confidence builds which is very important for your verbal preparation and eventually your speed improves drastically. The most important part is be patient, keep on persevering, practice a lot and you will surely see the result you were looking for. In terms of reviewing the verbal problems you solved, follow the same tips I mentioned for quants.

TAKING MOCK TESTS

Taking a lot of mocks is a significant part of your preparation. As mentioned before, this should be done along with your practice sessions. Take a mock once in 4 days. Practice for 3 days, take a mock on the 4th day and continue this cycle. The reason why mock tests are important is because more than being able to identify your strengths and weaknesses (which is also very important), it helps you build your stamina. GRE is a 4+ hour exam and since it consumes a lot of your mental energy, you need to train yourself and get used to it. In total, there are around 15 mocks in the materials which I recommended. While taking your mocks, simulate the actual testing conditions. Don’t skip the AWA (Analytical Writing Assessment), don’t take breaks other than the 10 minute break provided by default, take timed tests etc. Initially, it’s going to be extremely difficult to follow all this but it’s just a mock and what you ultimately want is a good score in your final exam.

Take the mock probably from 10.00 in the morning to 2.00 in the afternoon. Then, Relax and sleep for a couple of hours. Wake up in the evening and review your test with a fresh mind. Again, keep a separate note for your mocks and maintain an error log. Note down your mistakes, why you went wrong, why you consumed a lot of time in a particular question etc. Don’t decide on your weaknesses just in a single test. If you are repeatedly finding a certain area difficult, then spend a little bit of time working on it for the next 3 days.

In the Quants section, we tend to make a lot of silly mistakes. Thus, try to finish all the questions in 25 to 30 minutes and spend the remaining 5 to 10 minutes rechecking your answers. When it comes to the Verbal section, time management is a major issue for most of us. We unnecessarily hang on to a particular question and end up wasting a lot of precious time Thus to avoid that, do all the easy questions first. If you feel a particular question is time consuming or if you are taking more than 2 minutes to solve a question, take an instant decision by skipping it and coming back to it later. Let go of that ego – we as human beings cannot accept the phrase “I don’t know” but if you act that way, GRE verbal will absolutely punish you. So, be smart! This way you make sure you first don’t miss out on the questions you very well know and then with that momentum, give it your best shot with the remaining ones. Many might advise you to do the Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions first and then go with the RCs. But it’s up to you and do what works best for you. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the GRE.

One last piece of advice regarding taking mocks – book the slot for your GRE based on what you score on the official ETS mock tests since they are going to be most reflective of your actual score. So, it can be a good idea to save the ETS mock tests for the last and thus, first solve the Manhattan Prep and Kaplan tests.

ANALYTICAL WRITING ASSESSMENT (AWA)

The AWA section is not as important as the Quant and Verbal sections in terms of the score. Having said that make sure you get at least a 3.5. Make notes of the tips given in the Manhattan prep strategy guide for AWA. But more importantly, read a lot of sample essays from the ETS guides, Manhattan 5lb book etc. This way you understand what kind of essay prompts you get, how you need to structure your essay and the kind of examples you can give in your essay to support your argument. Read at least 2 to 3 sample essays per week and you are good to go. And finally, as mentioned before, please don’t make the mistake of skipping the AWA section while taking your mocks. By the time you go into your quant and verbal sections which is in itself 3+ hours long, you need to spend 1 hour on your AWA section which will kind of drain your mind. So, get used to these intense testing conditions.

FINAL TEST

You have finished all your preparation, worked extremely hard, started getting your desired score on your practice tests and the D-Day is approaching. The final score now depends on how you perform that particular day. For which, you need to keep your mind fresh. Literally don’t do anything starting from 1 day before the test day. Enjoy that day, watch your favourite movie/TV series, listen to music, play your favourite games etc. Just relieve the stress. Sleep for 10 to 12 hours the night before the exam. A fresh mind is half the battle won in the GRE. Most importantly, go into the exam with a positive attitude. Don’t focus on the result. Focus on the process and stay in the present. I know being like this is tough but train yourself accordingly. Just constantly keep saying to yourself before the exam, “I am going to do a great job” …………. Lastly, eat well and make sure you consume a lot of sugary foods like Chocolates, Sweets, Biscuits and carbohydrates like Rice, Potato etc. A fresh and energetic mind with positive energy trust me is going to do wonders for you.

So, that’s it. Thanks for coming in and I hope you gained a lot of insights. Please read this article again and again and absorb each and every detail. Some points might sound inconsequential but not to boast about me, this is coming from a person who has been through the whole process and thus I know what it takes to succeed in the GRE. Finally, always stay positive and never ever give up. Throughout your journey of preparing for the GRE, promise yourself that you are just going to focus on what you need to do. Never ever worry if you are not able to increase or improve your score. Just keep doing your duty and a positive result will eventually come running behind you. But as mentioned before, GRE plays a very minor role in your admission decisions. So, for those of you worrying about the GRE, cheer yourself up. My best wishes to all of you!