GRE Test Prep

[soonerhubs]

Okay fellow soonerfans. I need some help finding the best online GRE prep course. My school cancelled the prep course so I need to find one online. I'd like to keep it between 4 and 500 dollars, but I'll stretch it a little if I need to.

But for those who have taken the exam what courses were taken?
WHat advice would you give?
What Online Courses are available that you've used?
Thanks in advance.

[soonerhubs]

...

[Mjcpr]

Sorry, the only one I found was for $3.50.

[soonerhubs]

Sorry, the only one I found was for $3.50.
Wow! GRE preparation H?

[IronSooner]

I bought the Princeton Review book and worked through that. That's it.

For English, study vocab. 90% of it is just vocab. Essay writing is pretty standard essay writing. One you make your own argument for something. One you critique someone else's argument. Always say their argument sucks, but explain why in a clear manner.

The hardest part for me was the mental aspect of it - after a few hours I just got tired of taking a test. Be prepared for a long day of question answering. Take snacks to eat on breaks.

[GottaHavePride]

Yeah, if the GRE is anything like the SAT and ACT, just buy a couple of study guides (Princeton Review and Barron's come to mind) and work through those - you'll make a huge improvement in your score just by familiarizing yourself with the format of the test.

Seriously, all I studied for the SAT/ACT was vocabulary and test format and my SAT score went from a 1380 first time around (8th grade) to a 1600 by my senior year of high school.

[soonerbrat]

barnes & noble has a whole section full of test prep stuff..i got my biology gre test prep there..it had a CDROM with practice tests

[Sooner Among The Pack]

Because the GRE is now computerized, the changes to the way the test is administered can alter your score. Here's a few helpful pointers:

(1) The test penalizes you for NOT answering every question of a section MORE than answering ALL the questions and getting some wrong. Funky huh? If you start to run out of time, it's best to go through and alternate (b)/(c) for questions as the clock ticks down, rather than read them and try to answer.

(2) When taking the test, you might notice that the questions are getting MUCH harder. That's a good sign! The test is adaptive now, and will up the difficulty of the questions as you answer them. The little books and such will explain this, but it's kind of a weird feeling to have that happen taking the tests. You feel dumb, and think you are doing poorly.

(3) At the end, you will have the option to cancel your score before seeing it. If you do, it won't go on your record. If you view your score, it's etched forever. Because the test is adapative, I had a friend who NEARLY cancelled a 1480 score BECAUSE he felt DUMB and that he had done poorly. But, the reason this happenned is because of the adaptivity.

Hope these help!

[GDC]

http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60499&highlight=gre+prep

[Sooner Among The Pack]

Oh, and one more thing. I'm not sure exactly how valuable one of these prep courses are. For me, I spent about a month reviewing one of the $30-$50 manuals you can get at Barnes and Noble. They usually come with an interactive CD which allows you to take practice tests. Since I am a meteorologist and have taken WAY too much math, the math section didn't bother me. I spent most of my time on the vocab.

Another thing to remember is that your GRE score isn't ALWAYS the most valuable piece of your grad application. In alot of instances, the GRE scores are used a sorter to try and rank candidates who are even. Your GPA and letters of recommendation do carry a lot of weight, so don't stress too much about the GRE. :)

[Vaevictis]

For me, I grabbed one of those test prep books for $50 at a local bookstore, and ran through it the day of the test so that I was comfortable with the format. Scored decently (720 verbal/680 math/5.5 writing).

The questions on the math side are pretty simple, no higher than the upper tiers of high school algebra. Your main sticking point is likely to be speed at which you can solve the problems, not their difficulty. If you need a good score, practice doing the mid-level problems faster as opposed to focusing on higher maths. The hardest problems on there were some trig, and 2-3 variable multi-equation problems, but those were *rare*.

For verbal, be prepared for analogies. The test books have some pretty good strategies on how to approach them.

IMHO, unless you are desperate for a rediculously high score, just grab a workbook and work through it. Take as many practice tests as you can get your hands on. It's hardly worth $400-500 for a prep course.

[GDC]

I have the PowerPrep, Barron's, and Kaplan's GRE books and disks if anyone wants them, they're yours, gratis. PM me.

[Ike]

Because the GRE is now computerized, the changes to the way the test is administered can alter your score. Here's a few helpful pointers:

(1) The test penalizes you for NOT answering every question of a section MORE than answering ALL the questions and getting some wrong. Funky huh? If you start to run out of time, it's best to go through and alternate (b)/(c) for questions as the clock ticks down, rather than read them and try to answer.

(2) When taking the test, you might notice that the questions are getting MUCH harder. That's a good sign! The test is adaptive now, and will up the difficulty of the questions as you answer them. The little books and such will explain this, but it's kind of a weird feeling to have that happen taking the tests. You feel dumb, and think you are doing poorly.

(3) At the end, you will have the option to cancel your score before seeing it. If you do, it won't go on your record. If you view your score, it's etched forever. Because the test is adapative, I had a friend who NEARLY cancelled a 1480 score BECAUSE he felt DUMB and that he had done poorly. But, the reason this happenned is because of the adaptivity.

Hope these help!


what he said. although, I should add that at least when I took it, the general exam punished you for not answering more than it punished you for answering incorrectly, but the reverse was true of the field-specific exam (physics in my case). In the physics exam you recieved no points for an unanswered question and -1/4 of a point for an incorrectly answered question.


But as for studying, my best advice is don't do it. for the most part, the general exam tests things that you most likely already have a good grasp of. Studying isn't going to improve your score by much at all. You'll get better results from knowing the format of the test and how you earn points.

But thats just me. I didn't study for either the general or the physics exam, and it worked out just fine for me.

[IronSooner]

I didn't study much the 1st time I took it, then studied a fair amount the 2nd time. My score went up 10, maybe 20 points. I took the 2nd score and ran with it.

The most important thing is to know the format and have your strategy in place as far as time to spend on questions, how to figure out what they're really asking, etc. The book helped me a bit with those sorts of things, but somehow I doubt you'd get your $500 worth out of a class. At least I wouldn't.

[Sooner Among The Pack]

but the reverse was true of the field-specific exam (physics in my case). In the physics exam you recieved no points for an unanswered question and -1/4 of a point for an incorrectly answered question.


See, personally, I think that makes more sense. I didn't take a field-specific GRE test, just the general one. But I know I lost some points on the first vocab section because I didn't finish it, and waited too late to breeze through going (b)/(c). Stupid standardized tests! :mad:

[GDC]

soonerhubler check your peems