GRE Test. Tips?

vuze · 5/31/11

Prashant.Kumar said:
He has to go again? Have I underestimated the importance of the 800Q score? Now I'm nervous

800Q is a must for MFE. 790Q might do as well but is not recommended

Prashant.Kumar · 5/31/11

Curses! Thanks for the heads up vuze

KadeerQ · 5/31/11

groy said:
What was your secret to the verbal? When you get to the long reading passages how do you approach them?

No secret I guess. I got an idea of the question types and looked out for them. I skim read the passage because I feel, reading it deliberately causes loss of concentration because the stuff isnt easy to read. Skim read the passages, and know the question types cold. I.e. descriptive, tone, application. Helped me so much

Essay went well as well. Perhaps I should have been am English major!

KadeerQ · 5/31/11

vuze said:
800Q is a must for MFE. 790Q might do as well but is not recommended

Yeah, thanks for the confirmation. I was hoping that maybe my background in Math when I was doing Engineering might help (got some courses in Calculus etc) offset a bad mark. I'm just not that good at standardized tests I guess.

A top program like Columbia, Berkeley, CMU wont look at my app will they? Andy, you seem in the know..

Anbu · 5/31/11

Your verbal score is insane. I got an 800 Q, 370 V, 4.0 W on my first time. I'm not a native speaker, so I'm wondering whether to repeat it again since I kind of ignored the verbal.. I scored 113/120 on the Toefl back in 07, but that expired so I had to repeat it a few days ago. Grades are yet to be known. Anyways good job on the verbal, repeat it and try to get higher.

KadeerQ · 5/31/11

vuze said:
You definitely have to go again. Practice the math from the Barron's book and do all problems from the official guide if you have not already.

I have the Barrons 18th Edition. is this the one you mean?

veggieBird · 5/31/11

I can give some tips on GRE test...if you do first and second question right in Math, then your score will not be too low...specially when you find the question is getting harder and harder that means the questions you just did is correct....just my 2 cents

KadeerQ · 5/31/11

Anbu said:
Your verbal score is insane. I got an 800 Q, 370 V, 4.0 W on my first time. I'm not a native speaker, so I'm wondering whether to repeat it again since I kind of ignored the verbal.. I scored 113/120 on the Toefl back in 07, but that expired so I had to repeat it a few days ago. Grades are yet to be known. Anyways good job on the verbal, repeat it and try to get higher.

Thanks. It really bothers me I cant get a better Quant. I just can't see what I'm doing wrong. I guess more and more practice. Any specific sites or books that have good practice papers?

KadeerQ · 5/31/11

veggieBird said:
I can give some tips on GRE test...if you do first and second question right in Math, then your score will not be too low...specially when you find the question is getting harder and harder that means the questions you just did is correct....just my 2 cents

Thanks. Yeah, I read about that. First 5 questions are really important. I felt I concentrated on them well and guessed, if I didnt know, intelligently but not enough I guess.

darth · 5/31/11

Just to get some perspective...What percentile is an 800 and 790 in quant in GRE general test?

Prashant.Kumar · 5/31/11

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_Record_Examinations#Scaled_score_percentiles
Here I was about to cite the mean and standard deviation and calculate Z-scores, etc, but a table works just as well

vuze · 5/31/11

KadeerQ said:
I have the Barrons 18th Edition. is this the one you mean?

Yes I used 18th edition (I don't know whether it would be good for the new format after August). I went through the math lessons not because I had something to learn in Math but just to see how they solve the problems - what strategies for simplification they give, tips to look for familiar patterns, etc. It is like 250-300 pages but you can cover it in no more than 2 days. As for practice, although I never practiced the math, you can look at the official guide (10th edition I guess). Also take a look at the counting & probability lesson in the official guide and practice to pace yourself correctly so that you are comfortable on the exam. If, however, you plan to take the revised GRE in August just disregard this post and see if ETS will introduce something new in the Math section.

vuze · 5/31/11

darth said:
Just to get some perspective...What percentile is an 800 and 790 in quant in GRE general test?

800Q is ~94th
790Q is ~91st
800V/790V - 99th
4.5 A ~ 67th

Anbu · 5/31/11

See kadeer? I told you your verbal score is insane lol

As for practice, there's plenty of material out there(google), that's not the main problem. The main problem is to pinpoint what type of problems you are having trouble with and why. What line of thought is causing you to make mistakes on those problems, and how to make sure you don't repeat that faulty reasoning on the test.

KadeerQ · 5/31/11

vuze said:
Yes I used 18th edition (I don't know whether it would be good for the new format after August). I went through the math lessons not because I had something to learn in Math but just to see how they solve the problems - what strategies for simplification they give, tips to look for familiar patterns, etc. It is like 250-300 pages but you can cover it in no more than 2 days. As for practice, although I never practiced the math, you can look at the official guide (10th edition I guess). Also take a look at the counting & probability lesson in the official guide and practice to pace yourself correctly so that you are comfortable on the exam. If, however, you plan to take the revised GRE in August just disregard this post and see if ETS will introduce something new in the Math section.

Think it makes sense to take the exam sooner then that as I am acclimated to the format and dont really want to be one of the first people taking the new exam.

Thanks for the tips.

Tom Maloney · 5/31/11

I have some 2011 PR and Kaplan GRE books and flashcards lying around that I'd like to sell. PM me for my info.

KadeerQ · 5/31/11

Tom Maloney said:
I have some 2011 PR and Kaplan GRE books and flashcards lying around that I'd like to sell. PM me for my info.

Would have been good but the logistics, with me in London might be tough. I doubt I'd get them in time as I'm taking the exam on Tuesday again. New month so worked out well for me. Thanks a lot though

KadeerQ · 5/31/11

Just to gain some perspective of my own, how common is it for someone with under 800Q to get into the top schools?

Secondly, how many have the score on this board?!

Prashant.Kumar · 5/31/11

If you peruse through the tracker, you'll find a heavy number of "800Q" in the notes of the admit as well as the reject.

Devdeep · 5/31/11

KadeerQ said:
Thanks everyone for the help. Just got back. Got a 65oQ 770V. Good not great. Probably need to do it again for MFE apps I guess. Got dragged down by a really messed up problem in data but algebra went surprisingly well.

You are the first person I know who has got 770 in V... seriously insane as others have mentioned...

For Q practice... get all possible GRE Q books... Princeton Review a must... there should be other great practice books as well...

If needed... you can even take the classes that are offered... just 1 month's of classes should be helpful I guess... then take the test again in July maybe...