How I Prepared for GRE Exam (3 Steps)

3 Step GRE Exam study plan – Written by Sameer

1. Raw Skills : Know Where do you stand?
2. GRE Exam Preparation
3. GRE Sample – Practice, Practice and More Practice

Raw Skills – Know Where do you stand?

It is important to clear the misconception from within. You should have been exposed to English thats good but may not be enough to crack the GRE test. You must know what your current level of skills (Verbal, quantitative and Analytical writing).

You need to find where you stand and prepare your GRE Exam study plan accordingly. Hence, give Practice test. Infact there are Diagnostic Mock GRE tests on websites like Kaplan. Get registered for free and attempt Diagnostic test nnd Diagnose your performance.

Actual – GRE Exam Preparation

Get your resources from 2-3 different good resources. Joining an Coaching center is ok, but not compulsory. There are good resources online. Some of them are below at the end of this writeup.

GRE Practice Exams and Practice

Taking GRE Exam practice tests is the most important step in preparation. Practice and Diagnosis go hand in hand [ How to Improve GRE Exam Score] . Just writing series of mock exams won’t help unless you sit after each exam and diagnose how did you get a question wrong.

You must know your own pitfalls and avoid them in exam. There could be some sections that you do well. You need not worry much about them. Also, there could be questions you think you did well but you get them wrong. This is the point of contemplation. How you fell into the trap for a question? answer yourself.

Day before the Exam

Please note this,  Prior to Exam Day:

1. Prepare well in advance to select your Graduate schools. Remember the correct Details of University,School,Department and Course names.
2. When you are finished with your exam, GRE test sofware prompts you to select the University, Name, School names (in some cases), Department name and Course name the test centre.

Useful GRE Exam Preparation sites

• number2.com – create an account and do practice (only meanings Q’s are unlimited and other Q’s are limited- good to bulid ur vocab and test ur vocab )
• gre-verbal.blogspot.com : has a good collection of gre words aggregated monthly..they say these are Q’s from exam for that month… I have not verified the claim. they are pretty useful
• visualthesaurus.com : its the website . Its gives a good visual experience relating a jargon of words differentiating its shades.. you got to register here to use it fully, although a trail is available for limited use.
• dictionary.reference.com : this was my dark horse. I used this for looking up every new word along with synonyms and antonyms..It also gives the words usage and history.
• syvum.com/gre : instant test and results on set of 10 Q’s
• 800score.com/gre-index.html : i dont remeber if this was a paid site..just explore this as well.
• freshersworld.com : it has GRE preparations material
• koolkareers.com/gre : it also has GRE preparation material

If you have any comments and questions, leave a comment to this article. Sameer is going to write series of articles about this experience.

If you like the article, Re-Tweet this article by clicking on the Green Re-Tweet button on the right side.

Guest Article By – Sameer, I’m doing Master’s student in Cleveland state univ. I have completed Bachelors in Computers from Osmania and  3 years with Infosys. Back then, when i was applying to schools I found the blog very informative and I would like to share my experience to other Happy Schools Blog Readers

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GRE Range

Three scores are reported on the General Test:

• Verbal Reasoning GRE Range score reported on a 200-800 score scale, in 10-point increments
• Quantitative Reasoning score reported on a 200-800 score scale, in 10-point increments
• an Analytical Writing score reported on a 0-6 score scale, in half-point increments

GRE Range – Admission

Graduate Schools will have Minimum GRE Score requirements to consider an application for admission. Some Universities are bit relaxed on this rule, but some are not. For instance, University of South Florida is strict on Minimum GRE Score requirements.

Some universities will consider higher TOEFL and Academic percentages to offset lower GRE Range.  Universities usually specify the minimum GRE Score required for admission, rather GRE Range. So, while searching for Universities, look for

• “Average GRE Scores“
• “Minimum GRE Scores Required”
• “Average GRE for Graduate Programs“

Don’t spend time searching for GRE Range for a particular university for admission. Search for above terms within University website to find more accurate details. Usually Universities will not publish the GRE Score Range of admitted students.

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Start – GRE Analytical Writing Essay

For most of us, change is disorienting, creating within us an anxiety. We become numb afraid. With an established routine, we don’t have to think much; life just goes on…but when something upsets it, we have choices to make.

Learning to make the right choices leads to growth and maturity. Looking at change in a negative way destroys us and those around us. Coping with change follows the same steps as the grieving process after loss. The first steps are shock and denial; then anger; then despair and a longing for the old ways; finally acceptance of the change. Most of us respond to change by burying our heads in the sand and pretending that it did not happen; or we fight it with every source of energy we have. Our first reaction is to avoid change if we can. Even worse is to fight it. Both these reactions come with limitations. There is another, better option that can help us overcome the fears, uncertainties and frustrations that come with change — look at change differently.

Instead of thinking of the change in your life as the worst thing that could happen to you, think of it as a detour to achieving your goals. Change can be the means to your goals, and a better future, not a barrier to them.An old proverb says, “Every change brings an opportunity.” A change in our external circumstances often provides us with an opportunity to grow as human beings. It may teach you leadership skills, or patience. It may bring new people into your life whom you might not have met otherwise, or present a new career or lifestyle.If we can embrace change in our lives with a positive attitude, we will find the period of change exciting, stretching our minds and hearts and bringing new hope.

< End  GRE Essay>

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