This is my very first post on the GrePrepClub, although I am a pretty active member at sister site of GmatClub.

I took the GRE general test for the second time on 9/17/2022 in a Prometric Testing center and scored V170 Q170 and AWA4.5. I attempted GRE for the first time in 2019, before the pandemic and Home Test, when I scored V168 Q169 and AWA4.5.

In either case, I took a GMAT before GRE. While my two GMAT scores remain the same at 760 (Q50 V42), I am pleased that the GRE score reflects my continued improvement during the pandemic.

In both of my GRE tests, I have VQVQV sections.

Quant (from 169 to 170): I work on my Quant while preparing for GMAT. The quant section in GRE is generally more straightforward and thus easier than that in GMAT. Still, one has to be extremely careful not to make silly mistakes. GRE has plenty of questions on percentage change calculations, so be sure to be super clear on the concept and computation. By focusing on the topics discussed in Math Review from ETS, test takers won't be surprised by any GRE questions. It is possible that, when QVQVQ sections are presented, one of the Quant sections is way more difficult than other two. The hardest section is experimental and won't affect the final score. For the scored sections, I do not feel the difficulty level changes between two tests separated by a transformative pandemic. (I got two questions wrong, including one that I changed to be incorrect at the last moment, in 2019. Two weeks ago, I still got one question wrong. On GMAT, getting one question wrong can indeed mean 50 rather than 51.)

Verbal (from 168 to 170): In my first GRE test, five of my incorrect answers are either text completion or sentence equivalence. I made a point to keep improving my vocabulary by creating vocabulary lists at vocabulary dot. COM (I am not allowed to post a URL as a newbie.) Over the past few years, I spent over 1600 hours working (and having fun) on that site. (It also offers an App, which I use occasionally while outside. ) I highly recommend that GRE test takers incorporate vocabulary study in their preparations. Thanks to the improved vocabulary (and to continued strength in reading), I was able to answer all "fill-in-the-blank" questions correctly. (Yet I got two RC questions wrong.) One can get V170 with 3 incorrect answers.

AWA (stubbornly at 4.5): I cannot say that I was adequately prepared for AWA. In 2019, I attempted all official practice tests from ETS, so I practiced quite a few essays. For the 2nd attempt, I did not practice but spent two days going through all the topics in the Issue Pool (now in PDF file). During the test center, I felt that I performed to the best of my ability...but that is not enough to boost my score 0.5 point higher. If you aim for 5.0+, some targeted practice may be needed. For me, well, it is what it is. (I scored two 6's on GMAT tests.)

There is noticeable score inflation attributable to the pandemic, as attested by revised GRE score percentile. For example, AWA 4.5 used to be at 81 percentile; it is now at 79 percentile. For Q168, its percentile used to be 95 before the pandemic, but now stands at 93. Current percentile table was based on three years' data from 7/1/2018 to 6/30/2021. We can only expect further score inflation when the three-year range switch to subsume even more pandemic-fueled scores. To maintain the same percentile, one has to aim higher.

Let me know if you have any questions! Good luck to all!