Graduate Record Exams

Since I'm applying to graduate programs this year, I had to write the dreaded GRE. Well, I've actually written it once already last year, but that was before the revised version came out and I didn't exactly spend a lot of time studying... So this year, I spent a year with the vocabulary and tried my best to do math without pulling out my calculator. Then big serious study sessions and doing actual practice problems from May until October. Being a Teaching Assistant for a writing intensive course really helped because I basically teach my students and grade them on things that I need to know for the Analytical Writing component. Around September, I realized that I actually have a lot of GRE books... It turns out I have the ETS, Princeton, and Barrons study guides (all which I purchased at a bookstore's closing out sale in Seattle) and then I purchased the Kaplan this year to get more info on the revised version. Anyways, I got sick a week before my exam and unfortunately had to write my exam sick. I did pretty good on the Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing, but unfortunately my Quantitative Reasoning took a hit because my head was feeling all stuffed up. Oh well, I guess I'm going to go in for a rewrite so that I don't have to worry about my Quant score being a weak spot on my application.

I think my biggest advice to people studying for the GRE Quant section would be to review the math material (I recommend Kaplan's math review section in the back of the book, AND/OR Barron's math review), take a look at some of the tips and tricks you can use to cut down on time and work spent on each question (I personally loved using the Princeton study guide for this), and then before you go drilling practice questions do one of the free Princeton FREE practice exam (timed) at http://www.princetonreview.com/grad/free-gre-practice-test.aspx this practice exam helped me figure out what kinds of questions I was having the most trouble with, provided answers, and showed me how I was distributing my time among questions. The Analytical Writing section of this practice exam also gets graded and you get feedback from people about your writing which is GREAT! Then, drill the math like no tomorrow (work do the questions throughout the study guides, at the back of the book) and don't forget to go back and try the questions you didn't get the first time again after you check the answer, do another practice test on the Princeton website to see if you're doing better. Then keep practicing the questions (you can start easing off) and do the practice tests that ETS provides (http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/powerprep2). Taking the practice exams really helped me focus and feel more relaxed (Turns out that I knew way more than I thought I did for the quant section).

When you go into the exam, just breathe, relax, and treat it like you're just doing another practice exam. I think I wore the same sweater as I did while I was doing practice exams (My moisturizer leaves this really nice smell on the sweaters I wear at home so that helped me relax a lot). I got super comfortable in my seat (curled up on the chair like I would at home) so while my mind just focused on the exam, I actually felt like I was writing the exam at my kitchen table.

I think I felt more nervous walking out than walking in because I had no idea if my score were good enough... felt like they were but turns out that I could've done a bit better on Quant. Damn headache! Oh well, learn from my mistakes... (take care of my body first before trying to power through everything) and I guess I'll do better next time. Third time's the charm!

K.