We all realize the value of scoring high on the GRE exam in determining grad school admissions and, ultimately, the consequences of each test-takers life. The following ten rules, based on the experiences of thousands of previous students have been established to be helpful in laying the foundation for GRE test preparation and improved test scores in a short period of time.
1. Relax: The journey to the GRE can be stressful. It is valuable to focus on the task immediately at hand rather than the entire list of everything you have to do. Students who approach GRE test preparation on a step-by-step basis, day-by-day, and take breaks when their body signals a need, will be able to focus on GRE studies much more efficiently.
2. Pre-GRE Diagnostic Assessment Test: Lay the foundation for GRE test prep with a practice test to establish what youre good at, and more to the point, what youre less good at. Grade the completed practice test and review the questions you missed. What kind of questions were they? Mostly quantitative or mostly verbal? What was your score on analytical writing? Might you have not understood a number of analogies but scored well on reading comprehension? With this analysis, youll be able to focus GRE test prep efforts on your areas of weakness.
3. GRE Study Plan: With your GRE soft spots identified, lay out a very specific study plan. Make an agenda and schedule for what, how, and when you are going to study each area in the GRE. Paste up your study plan somewhere in plain view, and make sure you adhere to your plan. Make the preparation work less routine by planning to study different things in different ways. For example, you might use flash cards to drill GRE vocabulary one day, move to a list the next day, and then review words in context on a third day.
4. GRE Vocabulary: The single-most efficient way to improve GRE verbal scores is to concentrate on expanding your vocabulary. Begin focusing on GRE vocabulary immediately. Study a word list, use flash cards, download some vocabulary software, and review words in context by reading publications like The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Wherever your attention goes, do everything possible to learn new words. Improving your vocabulary skills will bring a significant improvement in GRE score.
5. Proactive Reading: Read more every day, but do not do it the way youd go through a favorite book. Read actively. Ask yourself, "What is the main theme?", "Is this a report or opinion?", and "What is the authors {theme|underlying message|purpose}?" These are the kinds of challenges that will be on the GRE, so you should be preparing the mental analysis and developing conclusions and answers. It is also helpful to use GRE-level material, such as The Wall Street Journal, to practice reading analysis and comprehension. The articles may not be about subjects youd typically be interested in, but neither is it likely youd pick the passages that wind up on the GRE for light reading either. So get used to it.
6. Math Language: Getting acclimated to GRE math is like learning a new language. The key to increasing your GRE quantitative score is practice, and the more you practice the more understanding you will become in GRE math language. Without practice, improvement will never happen. So you will need to practice as many quantitative problems as you can, being sure to check and learn from your mistakes. When examining your wrong answers, dont move on to the next question until you grasp the current one. The underlying strategy behind math practice is to learn from mistakes during practice and not on the real GRE.
7. Essay: Building the right structure is essential to a successful essay. Inculcate a habit of writing an outline before you actually start drafting an essay. It will both save time and help you double-check youre covering the entire subject matter if you have an essay plan in outline form. Your thinking will flow better, youll be able to track your writing time as needed, and that will produce a higher score on the GRE analytical writing section.
8. GRE Practice Tests: Practice tests are one of the most useful tools in GRE test prep. They will be excellent measures of progress and areas where more work is needed. Do GRE practice tests every couple of weeks to identify your shaky areas, and focus your GRE study plan on those things. Also, remember to highlight and learn from your mistakes on each practice test.
9. Dont Limit Your Upside: Start preparing for the GRE today so youll be able to cover all the studying needed in just an hour or so per day. If you dont make your commitment now, you will end up later with the same amount of material to cover, but less time to get it done. This will generate unnecessary stress and become an exhausting exercise that is needlessly self-defeating. Cramming for the GRE doesnt work, so dont wait. This bears repeating: if you want to improve your GRE score, do not procrastinate.
10. Prepare Mentally: Get a feel for the scope of the test and the speed at which you need to be moving through it by timing yourself during GRE practice tests. Think of each practice test as if it were the real GRE. The most detrimental surprise on test day would be to hit the wall and exhaust your mental stamina only half-way through the exam.
The GRE preparation bottom line is that the only way to improve your GRE score is to practice every day. Sticking with these rules will define the studying and preparation to be done. But even more crucial is to do it every day.
More information on GRE preparation strategies and methods is available at http://www.TopGREPrep.com.
