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I'm going to take the GRE this fall *EEP* and am trying to load up on all the prep work I can to make sure I get a decent score the first time round. Anyone got any advice on online, bookstore, or (especially) local ways to help boost that all important number?

maigen,

I have to admit that I don't know what *eep* means (sorry!) but when I took the GRE, one thing that was incredibly helpful was to purchase the study guide and practice tests put out by the people who actually write/administer the GRE. (I think it's ETS.) I'd tried the Kaplan and other guides and found mistakes!! I also saw that the question styles and difficulty levels were not always accurate reflections of the actual GRE. I didn't take a prep course, so I don't know much about them, but definitely, if you buy a book, buy the one the test people put out.

Also, the way I "studied" for the exam was to take a practice exam untimed, just to get used to the style of the reading and logic stuff, and to see how well I could do with a first-run effort. Then I did another one, still untimed, but raelly paying attention and trying to get 100%. And then finally, I did one that I timed, sitting in the library without household distractions. (These were all on different days, of course!) I'm not particularly disciplined for doing much more than that as far as studying goes, but the three different approaches definitely helped me understand what the exam was like and what I'd need to do come test day.

Good luck! I hope this was helpful.

I'm glad to hear someone say a course isn't the key. I got the Kaplan book and think its okay. I've also been doing the online stuff. I'll go this weekend and get the book you suggested. I've got terrible mommie brain lately so forcing myself to prep has been tough.

Thanks!


P.S. *Eep* is an emote. For instance if you felt something on your arm then looked down and saw a large hairy spider on it you might exclaim *EEP* Then whack it with your other hand. While I stray from the acros I do love to emote.

I did exactly what BG did when I studied for the GRE. Lots and lots of practice tests!
I also took it electronically and by hand and got a better score on the good old fashioned by hand way.
Taking it while a timer was ticking in front of my face (the computer way) unnerved me!
Good luck!!

The best thing you can do is go somewhere with very little or no distractions. It is also helpful to use a variety of books to study from. One suggestion I have is to go to the book store and pull several books off of the shelf...then go through and answer the questions, after you are done put the books up. It is a great way and cheap way to study, and you limit distractions and get to have coffee all at the same time.

maigen,

Glad my two cents was helpful. After I wrote that, I kept thinking about the courses, and though I don't have experience with them (so I don't know if they are similar), I do have experience with SAT-prep classes. Many, if not most, of the SAT-prep courses teach "strategy" -- and sometimes, their advice makes you second-guess yourself.

For example, on the PSAT/SAT, the questions tend to get harder in each particular section, so by the time you get to the last question, it's considered "difficult." I have actually seen SAT-prep guides say that, given that fact, if you come up with an answer right away on a question towards the end, you're probably wrong. Probably wrong?! I can understand saying to double-check/double-think your work if the answer feels too obvious, but (and I used to teach high school) I have had students come to me saying that they changed what they later found out was the right answer because they felt it came too easily. That kind of thing. Another big one the courses push is that statistically, if you can narrow down your choices, you'll do better than if you blindly guess -- but that's on average, not for an individual person. It is possible for an individual person to be able to narrow their choices and make educated guesses and still guess wrong on every question. So, depending on how confident you really are, sometimes it is, indeed, truly better to leave it blank than to risk losing the fraction of the point.

So -- for what that is worth, and if GRE courses mimic SAT courses in terms of being heavy on strategy, I'd suggest a course if you either 1) need someone forcing your hand to actually practice, or 2) need some refreshers in test-taking strategy. But otherwise, you can get the same results just working on your own with a good, reliable set of practice tests!

Oh -- and thank you for telling me what EEP means!