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The GRE is an important part of your application to graduate
school. Here is a bit of advice on how to prepare more
efficiently:
What's the ideal timing?
You'll probably send in your application form between January and
March of the year you want to begin your graduate degree. Ideally,
you'll take the GRE around September in the previous year so that
you can take it again if you feel that you haven't done as well as
you could have. If you plan on three months of preparation as
being about right, you should get down to work in June of the year
preceding your potential admission date.
What books and other materials should you use?
Preparation books do the job, but the official exams from ETS are
only published after they're given. It's this one that you need
more than any other. To supplement it you can use others, which
may offer good advice and questions that are close to the real
thing, but concentrate first and foremost on past exam questions.
How should you organize yourself?
You're going to have to be strict with yourself. Here's a
recommended plan of action:
- Start by doing a mock GRE, putting yourself in exam mode
(get up early, no long breaks between sections, silence, etc.).
- Depending on your first score, decide on the amount of work
you're going to have to do. If you think you'll need to work a
lot, set aside weekly blocks of time.
- Go over word list for the vocabulary questions. Get into the
habit of reading as much as possible - magazines and also have
the benefit of improving your awareness of current affairs.
- At the same time, keep testing yourself with questions from
past exams.
- Half-way through, do another practice GRE test under exam
conditions so you can check on your progress. Depending on the
results, you can turn your undivided attention to the questions
types that still cause problems. Learn to recognize such
questions, so that you do not waste an inordinate amount of time
on these weakness during the real test.
- Lastly, finish your preparation with one or two practice
GREs under exam conditions. The last one should be close to your
set target.
During the test
Throughout the GRE exam period, time and stress management are as
important as the material covered. Stay calm during the exam (it
really is of the utmost importance!), do breathing relaxation
exercises during the short pauses between sections, and eat well
before the test.
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