I took the computer-based Revised General GRE, so that I can apply to graduate school. I studied for 2 months. Most of the study time was just practice tests and review. I did not get any study guides that had a lot of teaching or tips and techniques or, in some cases, even explanations of answers or how to solve problems.
Except for the first Barron's practice test, all of the practice scores were similar to the real test. For some reason, I thought a new score of 160 (out of 170) was similar to an old score of 700. I should have looked more closely at the percentiles. I believe I achieved the scores I needed, but personally, I would have liked a score above 165, so my percentile would have been in the 90+% range. I hope my scores will still show my strengths as a student for graduate school. 163 Math, 162 Verbal, 4.5 essays
For the essays, writing is not my favorite thing to do, and I have never had to take timed essays before. I was very happy that the page was not blank, but I could have used just a few more minutes for editing and revising. It helped me to think of the first essay as a pros and cons list, and the second essay as taking apart each point made.
I had enough time for the verbal sections. I was relieved that the reading passages were not long. My strategy was to do the two vocab sections quickly and then work through the two reading sections with most of the time left.
I did not struggle with time for the practice tests, but I could have used a few more minutes to double-check some of the math problems on the real exam. This was the section that I needed to excel on for graduate school in biostatistics.
I know this is not a very popular test on this forum. I learned that this exam does not need to be avoided, since it can open more graduate school opportunities. It still has similarities to SATs, despite the revisions. All previous testing experiences are helpful for this exam, too. There are tons of resources available for this test. Here are the ones I used:
Barron's 6 GRE Practice Tests - I chose this because I wanted a bunch of written (not computer-based) practice tests. A good tip was to write down all of the math problems (during the test) and not try to do all of the work in my head, since they are usually multi-step problems.
Barron's 6 GRE Practice Tests: Vince Kotchian, David Freeling: 9781438001005: Amazon.com: Books
Painless GRE App - 4000 Barron's Vocab words - This had easy to use games/flashcards, a good set of words, very few typos, and nice features. I would have liked a few more features to make it easier to narrow down the words to the ones I wanted to focus on or just review a little. I may have been better to use my marked-up list from Barron's for SATs for more focused review.
GRE revised General Test: Prepare for the Test
The ETS website has a paper-based (pdf) practice test with sample scored essays, math review and math conventions (pdfs), and Power Prep software practice tests. (Note: Some of the same questions are in the pdf practice test.)
GRE Revised General Test: Analytical Writing
The ETS site also has lists of the real essay topics. I did not get to try the ScoreItNow that is offered for this.
Also parts of the Online Writing Lab may be helpful. - Excelsior College Online Writing Lab - excelsior.edu
Also see this thread: http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...urses.html
I hope this helps someone who wants to go for it!!!
Except for the first Barron's practice test, all of the practice scores were similar to the real test. For some reason, I thought a new score of 160 (out of 170) was similar to an old score of 700. I should have looked more closely at the percentiles. I believe I achieved the scores I needed, but personally, I would have liked a score above 165, so my percentile would have been in the 90+% range. I hope my scores will still show my strengths as a student for graduate school. 163 Math, 162 Verbal, 4.5 essays
For the essays, writing is not my favorite thing to do, and I have never had to take timed essays before. I was very happy that the page was not blank, but I could have used just a few more minutes for editing and revising. It helped me to think of the first essay as a pros and cons list, and the second essay as taking apart each point made.
I had enough time for the verbal sections. I was relieved that the reading passages were not long. My strategy was to do the two vocab sections quickly and then work through the two reading sections with most of the time left.
I did not struggle with time for the practice tests, but I could have used a few more minutes to double-check some of the math problems on the real exam. This was the section that I needed to excel on for graduate school in biostatistics.
I know this is not a very popular test on this forum. I learned that this exam does not need to be avoided, since it can open more graduate school opportunities. It still has similarities to SATs, despite the revisions. All previous testing experiences are helpful for this exam, too. There are tons of resources available for this test. Here are the ones I used:
Barron's 6 GRE Practice Tests - I chose this because I wanted a bunch of written (not computer-based) practice tests. A good tip was to write down all of the math problems (during the test) and not try to do all of the work in my head, since they are usually multi-step problems.
Barron's 6 GRE Practice Tests: Vince Kotchian, David Freeling: 9781438001005: Amazon.com: Books
Painless GRE App - 4000 Barron's Vocab words - This had easy to use games/flashcards, a good set of words, very few typos, and nice features. I would have liked a few more features to make it easier to narrow down the words to the ones I wanted to focus on or just review a little. I may have been better to use my marked-up list from Barron's for SATs for more focused review.
GRE revised General Test: Prepare for the Test
The ETS website has a paper-based (pdf) practice test with sample scored essays, math review and math conventions (pdfs), and Power Prep software practice tests. (Note: Some of the same questions are in the pdf practice test.)
GRE Revised General Test: Analytical Writing
The ETS site also has lists of the real essay topics. I did not get to try the ScoreItNow that is offered for this.
Also parts of the Online Writing Lab may be helpful. - Excelsior College Online Writing Lab - excelsior.edu
Also see this thread: http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...urses.html
I hope this helps someone who wants to go for it!!!
AS in 2010 and BS in 2013 at Excelsior College - Transcripts and Costs
MS Biostatistics in 2019 at Texas A&M University - Graduate School
Sharing Credit-by-Exam*
Resources Used - 20+ Exams Passed & General GRE
Practice Tests - Available for CLEP and DSST
* Link posted with permission from forum admin; thank you!
MS Biostatistics in 2019 at Texas A&M University - Graduate School
Sharing Credit-by-Exam*
Resources Used - 20+ Exams Passed & General GRE
Practice Tests - Available for CLEP and DSST
* Link posted with permission from forum admin; thank you!
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