Jul
09
2009
4

Should I Invest in a GRE Prep Course?

Taking a prep course is really an ideal first step for most students.  If you’ve never built a house before, it would NOT be smart to go out and start pouring concrete and putting up boards on your own for a couple of months, and only then go talk to an architect/builder to find out exactly how to do things.

You normally start by getting with an architect to plan the building and by talking to a builder who knows something about exactly how to procede with each step of the process.  Taking a prep course is like talking to an experienced builder and architect first.  Although their services can come at a premium, they can help you make sure that none of your time and effort is wasted.  In fact, they will more than pay for themselves!

A GRE prep course can raise a student’s combined score an average of (more…)

Written by sharpbean in: GRE | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Jul
06
2009
0

FREE GRE Practice Tests

I came across these free GRE practice tests online. They are pretty old, though, and include the old logic sections which are no longer in use (so skip that part). Still great practice though.

Written by sharpbean in: GRE | Tags: , ,
Dec
23
2008
0

The GRE; An Overview

The GRE, officially known as The Graduate Record Examination General Test, is supposed to test verbal, mathematical and writing skills learned by students during college. Most graduate programs require GRE scores to consider students for admission.

Key Facts:
  • In the US, the GRE is given as a Computer Adaptive Test, or CAT. In other countries, the GRE may be paper-based.
  • You’ll take the test on a computer at special testing centers located throughout the U.S. and around the world.
  • The computer-based GRE entails about 2 hours of multiple-choice testing combined with 75 minutes of essay writing.
  • You can’t go back to previous questions. Once you give an answer and confirm it the question is GONE. You will never see it again.
  • On the quantitative section, you cannot use a calculator. So dust of the old times tables. You’ll need them.

Scoring

The GRE is scored on a scale of 200-800 for the verbal and quantitative sections. The writing section is scored on a 0 to 6 point scale in half-point increments.  You will also be given a percentile ranking for your score.  If you scored in the 50th percentile, it would mean that half the test takers did better than you in that section, and half did worse.

GRE Structure:

  • Verbal Section: 30 questions/30 minutes
    • Antonym Questions
    • Analogy Questions
    • Sentence Completion Questions
    • Reading Comprehension Questions
    • 470 is an approximate 50th percentile score
  • Quantitative (Math) Section: 28 questions/45 minutes
    • Quantitative Comparison Questions
    • Problem Solving Questions
    • 610 is an approximate 50th percentile score
    • No calculators
  • Writing Assessments: 2 essays in 75 minutes
    • Analysis of an Argument (30 minutes)
    • Analysis of an Issue (45 minutes)
    • 4.5 is an approximate 50th percentile score
  • General Structure
    • Essays always come first, followed by a ten-minute break
    • Verbal and Quantitative come in random order, with a one-minute break between sections
    • You will have either two verbal or two quantitative sections, because one of those will be an experimental section used to test out new questions.  You will not know which section is experimental (don’t waste time trying to identify it), and it won’t count towards your score.
  • Key Contacts
    • For the latest information and news and to sign up for the actual GRE test go to gre.org.
    • To sign up for a weekend GRE prep class at Texas A&M University in College Station OR to sign up for a live class, taught online anywhere in the world, go here.
Written by sharpbean in: GRE | Tags: , , ,

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