GRE prep

[ByTmE]

:: ah. Anyone going to take the GRE or has already taken it? What books were most helpful in preparing for the exam? I've got 'bout 50 more days. I figure a lifetime of reading might help me out some, but I'm still apprehensive. I'm worried about Math. That's my worse subject. If there were 32 students in the class, without exception I'd be ranked 32nd.

Suggestions, comments, and prayers are all welcome.

TIA

[pemberly]

i like the princeton review books. they're a little cheesy, but I think they're pretty effective. i've only used it for GMAT, though. i think there's an official GRE book as well, with real past tests.

[remember_Cedric]

ByTme, I have neither comments nor suggestion but I could help with a prayer. I'll do that. Take a break from SPCNET, it can be distracting.

BTW, I don't like Maths so much too. Probability is not bad when it comes to casino but the rest gives me major head. If a question does not provide the necessary integers, I'll just skip it..... especially algebra.

[xJadedx]

I took the GRE recently and scored fairly well. What score range are you aiming for?

I'll copy and paste my FB post on it here:

Materials I used:
I bought a lot of prep material, because I wanted to be as prepared as possible and more importantly, because I wanted access to practice tests. Here's how useful I found them:
- Barron's GRE Book: Very useful for both verbal and quantitative. It had the 3500 word list for verbal, and tons of detailed math concepts and questions for quantitative (it's really helpful if you stopped doing math since high school and need to review some basic concepts). Not that great for analytical writing and only has pen-and-paper practice tests. I highly recommend this one.
- Kaplan's GRE Book: I like Kaplan. It had a lot of questions. The practice tests were online and computer-adaptive. It also had a great analytical writing section. It's decent, but I didn't find it to be necessary.
- Princeton Review: I found this to be the most useless. I only bought it so I could use the online tests. The material this book covers is very superficial and the book's style treats you like a five-year-old. If you're tight for time/money, don't buy this.
- POWERPREP software from ETS: Everyone writing the GRE should download this software (it's free on the GRE website). It has some very nice practice sets, and great practice tests. The tests you do here really correlate with your actual scores.
- Make sure you do practice tests, especially the computer adaptive ones. They give you a good feel for the real GRE itself. This especially goes for the POWERPREP ones, because to be honest, the GRE software is pretty rudimentary, so for those very into technologically advanced things, its simplicity may need some adjustment.

Verbal:
- The best way to ensure a good score on verbal is to study vocabulary. As much as you can. I recommend the Barron's 3500 word list. I made stashes of cue cards on words I didn't know or was uncertain of from this list. I personally felt that it really improved my vocabulary in general, helped with my analytical writing, and definitely made my verbal score go up.
- If you don't have time for studying all these words, try to study as much as you can, and focus on words that the GRE likes to use (these are usually highlighted in the books).
- Read newspapers, books, do crosswords, watch TV - these will all help you with vocabulary. These media also use the words in proper context, so you'll remember better. Personally, I really liked seeing GRE words used on shows - it really gives these words perspective.
- There are root lists and strategies that the books teach you, but I personally didn't use them as much.
- Work on things you aren't as good at.
- Pace yourself. 30 minutes is more than enough to do all the verbal questions. Don't rush, especially the first 10, 15 or so, since these count more towards your score. If anything, spend more time on these.

Quantitative:
- This is just math until grade 11, plus some random standard deviation, permutation, and combination thrown in. Make sure you remember the basic math concepts - for example, 0 is neither positive nor negative; 1 is NOT a prime.
- GRE math is pretty easy if you know what they ask for and if you avoid the tricks they pull. For instance, on the GRE, unless a triangle has the 90 degree square in it, don't assume it's a right angle triangle even though it looks like one.
- Sometimes it is better to use the strategies the books teach you, even if it looks incredibly ridiculous and "not mathematically advanced." I used to ignore the technique of substuting numbers and would derive equations, because well, I was being a mathematics elitist (and because my Asian-ness made me feel bad about doing things non-mathematically :P). Don't do that! Substituting numbers (or whatever technique) may be faster.
- Sometimes though, deriving things mathematically is faster. So just judge each question as you go. This is where practicing comes in handy.
- Again, pace yourself! Make sure to get the first 10, 15 or so questions.

Analytical Writing:
- I didn't really practice much for this section. I wrote about 5 essays for each category when I had time, usually when I thought the topic was interesting. It was really so I could get used to the pacing of the essays rather than the content. Seriously, if you've been to university and have taken essay courses, you know how to write. One of the essays is arguing a point, the other is criticizing a paragraph.
- One thing that I liked was typing my notes/thoughts directly onto the computer, instead of writing them down on paper (like some books will tell you to). It's just faster to type, and you can just rephrase your notes into the essay. This especially helps if you somehow run out of time - having some notes is better than nothing.
- For the one where you analyze a paragraph, just be as critical as you can. Find all the bad sampling, specious reasoning, instances stating correlation as causation, etc. Then argue those points.

Other:
- Don't over study. It will just overwhelm you. When you feel like you're ready and if you're getting some decent scores on the practice tests (emphasis on the tests provided by POWERPREP), just relax.
- The day before the GRE, don't study or take a practice test. Relax.
- On the day, remember to pace yourself for each section. Oh yah, the GRE people may give you experimental sections during your test, and these may or may not be identified. So budget that into your time for the test. I was lucky and was done in about 3 hours, but it may take longer than that.

[ByTmE]

xJadedx: wOaH! Good lord, and thanks. I don't know what score range I'm aiming for. I'd be fairly happy with fair range above average.

Thanks y'all for prayers and advice thus far.

[xJadedx]

What programs are you applying for?
I know that the past year was fairly competitive due to the economy, so people were aiming as high as they can. Make sure to at least get above the programs' cut-offs.

[ByTmE]

I'm considereing...
U of Maryland's International Education program, both Peace Education and Policy are interesting to me. This is also my Alma Mater.
George Washington University's International and Comparative Education program.
Boston University also has a neat program in International Educational Development...but it's cold up there and I'm used to more tropical climates.

So I'm also considering down South where it's warmer like..
Florida State University in there Sociocultural and International Development Education Studies program.
Florida International Uni also offers a Master of Science in International and Intercultural Education program.

Those are the five programs I'm considering. They all want GRE scores in the 70th percentile. I'll also bet on high analytical scores. All on the East Coast since I don't want to be so far from home. Was it really so bad last year? Was everyone trying to put off joining the job market so decided to go to school? Last year, I was teaching and volunteering in Cambodia, so I'm unfortunately not so up to date. Is it still considerably harder to get into grad school even now since we're still facing a recession?

Oh yea, what's your field and which schools did you have in mind?

[pemberly]

I'm considereing...
U of Maryland's International Education program, both Peace Education and Policy are interesting to me. This is also my Alma Mater.
George Washington University's International and Comparative Education program.
Boston University also has a neat program in International Educational Development...but it's cold up there and I'm used to more tropical climates.

So I'm also considering down South where it's warmer like..
Florida State University in there Sociocultural and International Development Education Studies program.
Florida International Uni also offers a Master of Science in International and Intercultural Education program.

my friend started a phd at george washington, but ended up with a masters. in english. i think she would recommend it, but she couldn't really find a job afterward. that might be more a reflection on the uselessness of majoring in english lit than the school though.

ah, BU...... avoid!!!!!! overpriced and the school really doesn't give a damn about you. though, i will say, if you're looking for diversity, it's as diverse as it gets. about the cold weather, i once had to walk through knee high snow with my books in a shoulder bag and a guitar strapped to my back. that was more a freak storm. normally, the streets are cleared pretty fast, and spring and fall in new england are beautiful.

[ByTmE]

@ Pemberly: LoL! Thanks for the heads up! BU is actually my last choice to apply. For some reason, I don't really want to be up there but didn't want to overlook it. Just in case. The program at BU is more about applied studies in education while I'm more of an academic [read: nerd].

that might be more a reflection on the uselessness of majoring in english lit than the school though.

HaHaHaHaHa! golly, sure hope the English Lit majors don't take offense to this, but ppl on this board generally have a good sense of humor; however, this observation is true and true for many fields.

Diversity? Eh, I'm from the DC suburbs, not the nice part either, the gHeTTo part. If I want diversity, it's just a matter of sitting at the bus stop and watching diversity pass me by.

[pemberly]

Diversity? Eh, I'm from the DC suburbs, not the nice part either, the gHeTTo part. If I want diversity, it's just a matter of sitting at the bus stop and watching diversity pass me by.

well, i meant diversity as in BU has students from literally all over the world. i know students from there from the usuals (china, japan, korea) to the way out there (azerbaijan (sp?)). also, there are a lot of students from south america and western europe. all of them are rich though. i knew a guy who was the heir to the bacardi fortune, another guy whose grandfather was the president of haiti, and another who writes songs in the korean k-pop industry (like songs i've actually heard of).

[ByTmE]

gOOd Lord! Well, since I don't plan on marrying rich, that's not really important to me. Though that is a really really cool class profile.

Would you happen to know how Boston College is compared to Boston Univ? I've heard the rent in the uni areas are ridiculously high.

One of my advisors told me not to overlook the Ivies LoL. It's not that I want to overlook them, it's just I'm pretty sure they might pass me over! UPenn, Columbia and Harvard all have very prestigious programs too. What's the average number of grad schools that one should apply to? I've seen some ppl apply to just two, while others apply to ten. That could get really expensive! Harvard's application fee is like $125! No school I looked at had fees below $50.

[pemberly]

gOOd Lord! Well, since I don't plan on marrying rich, that's not really important to me. Though that is a really really cool class profile.

Would you happen to know how Boston College is compared to Boston Univ? I've heard the rent in the uni areas are ridiculously high.

One of my advisors told me not to overlook the Ivies LoL. It's not that I want to overlook them, it's just I'm pretty sure they might pass me over! UPenn, Columbia and Harvard all have very prestigious programs too. What's the average number of grad schools that one should apply to? I've seen some ppl apply to just two, while others apply to ten. That could get really expensive! Harvard's application fee is like $125! No school I looked at had fees below $50.

BC people are less rich....but more douchey if possible? they are nowhere near as diverse ---- > read 75% white, 20% asian, 5% other. the area most people rent is right between BU and BC, and that's already an incredibly wealthy neighborhood to begin with. i know houses are 800K to 1.5 mill, but not sure about the rent though. BU has the most expensive dorm in the world though. it's a high rise, and the corner apt overlooking the charles river, if it were sold as a condo, was estimated at 1.3 mill a few years ago. it's probably around 1.7 mill now.

but the thing about BU and BC is that a subway runs through both, so if you don't mind commuting every day, you could rent a place somewhere a lot cheaper.

about the ivies, harvard ppl are incredibly stuck up, and there are a lot of bums in harvard sq. columbia ppl are extremely competitive, and upenn people are just weird and overachievers. they go out of their way to remind ppl they are an ivy, bc ppl usually forget them.

most of my observations are of business school people, though. and your app fees are actually pretty low. business school app fees avg $250 each.

[xJadedx]

Because of the economic situation last year, a lot of schools had reduced funding, but also a huge surge in applicants, making it a very competitive time for graduate admissions.

That said, it still depends on the departments and their requirements to see how comptitive you will be. I'm not sure how things will be this year, but the best bet is just to make sure you have your best application possible.

For GREs, a lot of people had over 1300-1400s last year and still didn't get in, so I'd aim for as high as you can. The analytical writing section wasn't that important at least for my department, but it's still good to get at least a 4.5.

As for which programs and how many to apply to - that's entirely up to you. You should find programs that have the best matches for your academic interests, as that will make sure you enjoy your graduate years. Simply going for prestige of the school may cost you a lot in the end. I would recommend applying broadly, so you're not just applying to the competitive programs and have some "safety" schools too. But in that respect, also make sure that each of the shcools you apply to are places you'd actually want to go.

My field is psychology, and I applied to nine schools last year, some being Ivies. I made sure that I had good matches with supervisors for the schools, so it's not just because it's an Ivy League. Though I guess the only reason I applied to UPenn was because it was in a large city (in retrospect, I would not have applied there as there weren't anyone I really wanted to work with).

[darkcser]

BC people are less rich....but more douchey if possible?

I take it that you went to BU?

To ByTme

My advice for picking schools is to visit them on your own while school is in session. See the department, waylay some professors, check out their activities and organizations, eat at the student center, and soak in the atmosphere.

A Craigslist search of nearby rentals should give you a good idea of what housing prices will be like. Renting a room in a 2-3 br apartment will probably cost you at least $500-$700 a month in the Allston-Brighton area, and potentially some annoying roommates.

[pemberly]

I take it that you went to BU?

i can neither confirm nor deny.

[ByTmE]

Thanks guys! ::snappies:: go around for everyone from me to y'all.

I'm trying to put my best foot forward in studying. I've been out of school close to four years now, so it's taking some time to adjust. I'm thinking I've lost some ability to think at a critical level in English LoL.