Preparing for your GRE Test
The Graduate Records Examination is a standardized aptitude test that most universities require as part of their admissions process in North America. The general GRE test consists of an Analytical Writing, Quantitative Analysis (Quant) and a Verbal Reasoning test.
The Quantitative Analysis test as the name suggests tests your skills in Mathematics and complexity of questions is Grade 8-12 level Mathematics.
Verbal Reasoning test is a mix of English comprehension and vocabulary test. Your total score is out of 340 (170 Quant and 170 Verbal Reasoning). Analytical writing consists of two essays that are graded by both e-rater (ETS' scoring engine) and humans. The average of the essay scores (out of 6 points) become your final score.
Note: If you have an impressive Math background (excellent undergraduate records in advanced Math courses) and English as the primary language of instruction during undergraduate studies and/or high school, you can reach out to the university you are applying to for a GRE waiver. It is recommended that you do this only if you have outstanding academic records. The GRE scores may play a critical role in cases where universities have to decide between candidates with very similar academic records and work experience.
How to prepare for the GRE exams?
- Give a diagnostic test aka sample GRE test online or a paper based test. You can use the official resources found here. This test will help broadly determine where you need to focus your attention on.
- Dedicate 3-4 months worth of time to prepare for the test. Your aim should be to score as high as possible on the test. A general rule of thumb is that getting a score of 160 and above in both Quant and Verbal sections and a score of 4 and above on essays is an above average score. Spend the first month preparing and studying for the various sections within Quants and Verbal Reasoning. The next 2-3 months should be dedicated to practice tests and improving on weak areas.
- Spend 2-3 weeks on analytical writing. Practice writing essays and develop a template. Read more here. The rubric for this test is how concisely do you analyze a problem/situation and articulate your thoughts. Your essays in general should have an easy to follow flow of writing with a clear introduction, rationale and conclusion.
- Verbal Reasoning: Spend a dedicated amount of time for each of the sections within verbal reasoning:
- Reading Comprehension
- Text Completion
- Sentence Equivalence
Read more often! Revise the set of frequent vocabulary words in the test preparation materials. Spend one week on each section. Spend more time on sections that you are weak in. The only way to improve your scores from your diagnostic test is to focus on the key rubrics of the sections of your weak areas and familiarize yourself with the test. Try and recognize patterns within each section and practice accordingly. You have around 90 seconds to solve each question on average! - Quantitative Analysis:
Divide 1 to 1.5 months among these sections:
- Arithmetic
- Geometry
- Data Analysis
- Algebra
Based on your diagnostic score test, focus on your weak areas first! If you are a Math whiz and do not really have weak areas, try and solve as many practice tests as possible. The only constraint that you need to work against is time. You have around 1 min and 45 seconds on average to solve a question! Some questions such as statistics related problems may have a verbose problem statement so you should try and solve the easy-to-read questions as soon as possible so that you have ample time to solve the denser questions. - Practice is key! Developing a knack for solving problems within a given amount of time only comes with practice. Solve as many practice tests as possible and try and beat your previous scores.
- Time your Tests! Do not fall into the habit of exceeding your time limits!