I've studied quite a bit, yet I still don't feel very confident. Any last words or suggestions?
I've studied quite a bit, yet I still don't feel very confident. Any last words or suggestions?
Just know that it really doesn't matter what you get in a lot of cases, and you only know what you know. You won't know all of the answers...accept it.
Don't be an idiot. That's all.
you are going to fail.
in life.
Understand that being nervous will help you perform better, and is not necessarily a bad thing. (Remember the line from Cliche 101 in coaches' school: "The only time to worry is when you stop getting nervous before a contest.")
In the last half-hour or so before the test, take ten minutes and write down your state of mind. Doesn't particularly matter what it is, just write it down. That way you'll clear some "disk space" that you can use for the test itself.
Remember that "the perfect is the enemy of the good." Don't obsess about getting every question right. Don't triple- or fourple-check every answer before moving on (assuming you'll be taking the test on a machine)--too time consuming.
Your studying is done. Watch a show or something tonight, maybe a funny movie. Go to bed when you're sleepy--not extra early.
During the test itself, if you get break periods (I don't remember how they do it now), go up and down a few flights of stairs if they're available. Raises the blood-sugar level, so you'll think better.
Bump this thread when you get your results.
Thank you!
The second time I took the GRE, I remember being nervous when I couldn't figure out the first question on the math section. I wasted like 5 minutes on the question. I didn't even finish the math section. But I somehow got 30 or 40 points more on the math section the second time around.
mars wrote:
Thank you!
Ah, you're welcome. I used to teach GRE for Kaplan.
Read the answers first before attempting to answer the question
Been more than 15 years since I took them, but I found that the sample tests on the Kaplan CD I studied with were an accurate predictor of my score. If you've been studying and taking tests, you already know your score. There won't be any surprises. Same boring sections, and the same uninspiring questions as you've been studying. You're ready.
You've probably already figured this out from your studying, but just remember that NO math question on the test is going to require a ton of computation. If the "obvious" way to solve a problem would require half a page of algebra or a whole bunch of time consuming steps, slow down and look for the easy way to solve the thing. Because there IS an easy way to solve the thing (or at least a computationally simple way to solve it).
They like to give scary looking equations with 3 different variables going out to the 4th power and parentheses within parentheses. Then when you cancel a few terms, the whole mess of an equation boils down to Y=2X or something like that. Said boiling down usually doesn't take many steps at all if you can figure out how to manipulate the equation to solve the problem most easily.
I guess my real advice is this: take the time to figure out the best approach for the problem. It will save you time in the long run and it will help you to avoid the simple arithmetic mistakes that go along with computation-heavy solutions.
Take an occasional gander at your neighbor's test to gauge your progress.
little help wrote:
Take an occasional gander at your neighbor's test to gauge your progress.
I don't get it. How would this help?
Don't forget to take a good pre-test dump!!
or
Take one during your break.
Well, I took the GRE today. I worked too slow at times and felt rushes at the end of nearly every section. I realized I probably should've put a bit more effort into studying, however. I ended up with 160 verbal, 156 quantitative. The analytical writing score won't be determined for a while. Based on the percentiles those scores put me in, I'm pretty happy. Brain is fried. Thanks for the well wishes.
That was my issue as well. I ran out of time on several sections, particularly on the essays and math sections. Writing/verbal is my strength, so that was frustrating. I still did well on the Verbal, but tanked the Quantitative. Next time I'm going to study haha
Glad it went well for you! I hadn't realized that the scoring had changed, so the numbers don't say much to me, but if you're satisfied, that's what counts!
As you probably know the GRE is an adaptive test meaning that it gives you harder or easier questions based on your previous answers. This makes the questions at the beginning far more important than questions towards the end (in each section of course). So the best thing you can do is focus on the first few questions ~10 on each section and make sure you get them correct which will put you in a high bracket and give you a much better over all score. Also sign up for another test in say 2 months and study for it by taking practice tests (adaptive ones, trust me the money for online ones is worth it) so you can get your method down. Taking a second time should dramatically improve your score if you are honest with your self about what you did poorly on on the first one and learn from it for the second.
You'll score in approximately the same percentile as your other standardized tests you've taken.
Take like 50 dumps