Hello all,

After preparing for a long long time, here I am with Q167 V161. And to be honest, it was a hard ride, indeed.

I gave my test online but I would strongly suggest that you give it to the center. My exam was supposed to start at 8:50 am and due to some technical error, I started my exam at 12:10 pm. Add to that I got the order VQVQV, which I didn't like. So not a good experience but the people at the ProctorU are nice and the score turned out good.

Coming to my preparation phase:

I studied from this forum only. It has everything that is needed for even 340. The questions on the quant are awesome. Here it has all the official questions. Make good use of it. It is all in the line GRE will ask especially in Verbal.

Quant:

Coming from an engineering background, it was slightly easier for me. But I suggest that go through this GRE MATH Book and start solving questions topic by topic from this forum. Your quant will be improved. And trust me when I say this, getting Q165 is too easy after just referring to this math book and solving the questions from this forum.

Verbal:

Oh, it was the worst section for me. I used to get wrongs just like that. Here and there all wrong. What I suggest is this: Practice reading from a good source, Do vocabs daily and Official materials only.

RC is the most important part and can give you a high score if you nail it. ETS RCs are a game of context. Once you understand it, it will be much easier to do all those questions. The key is to read and grasp. Also, do it fast as the speed matters. Do only official passages for the test. They are the most closely related to the ones in the actual test. Try understanding the funda about the kind of questions that are asked. Avoid extreme choices as in most cases, they will not be an answer. Keep practicing questions from here and post doubts and solutions as well. You will be amazed to know different perspectives on answers.

For TC & SE - Know our vocabs and read very carefully. It is possible to nail these just by reading and knowing the context. Remember, in TC for a blank when two same meaning words are given, immediately select the third one and move on. ETS will never put similar words for the same blank.

Practice Tests:

Do the official ones. The power prep plus 3 closely resembles the actual GRE. I used to divide the 30 min in verbal as 8 (TC & SE) +18 (RC) + 4 (Marked ones if any) and in quant, I used to do all the questions in one go and then revise again. But the key is to go fast and be focused.

My musings:

GRE is just a stupid test but not a parameter of your personality or your ability.
You have what it takes but it will take everything you've all got.
Don't take the low score to the heart but laugh it out. There is always another retake. Keep your mind fresh, do exercise and see friends often.


Carcass - You are the man. Thank you so much for pushing me towards V160+. I am grateful to you. Your solutions were to the point and rock solid. I am glad that finally, it was 161. (Your desired verbal score )

bb - Thank you for this amazing forum. I have made such good friends and am immensely happy to be a part of this club.

Thank you Ks1859 for being the constant companion.


To all, please do not hesitate to ask any doubts. Let me know. Would love to help.

Regards,
R