Graduate school aspirants often wonder what their chances are of getting into their dream school. What criteria do schools use to assess applications? While no school would officially publish the inner workings of its admissions committee, we do know that your GPA, GRE score, personal statements, and research or work experience play a significant role in the process.
Kaplan is one of those companies that keep popping up whenever you look up GRE. It is no secret that Kaplan is one of the leading test-prep companies in the industry. Kaplan has made quite the name for itself; from GRE prep books to a wide selection of online courses, their catalog is extensive.
GRE is the standardized gateway test to get into grad school, especially if you want to pursue a STEM program. Depending on the program and the school you are applying to, you’d need a competitive score to set you apart from the competition. IVY league schools that sit at the very top of global rankings often require near-perfect scores. However, the good news is that with a stellar prep regiment and the right prep material, you can hit that 95th percentile mark which is considered the sweet spot in grad school circles.
The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is the required standardized test for admissions to grad schools. Whether it’s a STEM program or a humanities program, the chances are that you will have to take GRE to get in. Most students starting their GRE pre opt for self-study via prep-books. This seems to be the medium of choice for many people since most online courses are expensive.
Anyone who has studied for a standardized test knows how crucial practice material is for a decent score. Learning the concepts is the easy part for most people. It’s the strenuous practice that takes most of the time. GRE, like any other test, is all about the practice questions and full-length mock tests. This is why you hear so much about high-quality practice tests and questions. Traditionally, it is believed that the company responsible for a particular test has the most credible practice material. This is also true for GRE as ETS, the makers of GRE, are known for their official practice tests.
The verbal section of the GRE is designed to measure your ability to analyze and evaluate written material. Since the test’s purpose is to determine your readiness for graduate school, the passages and vocabulary you will encounter in GRE would be academic. This means you will have to memorize hundreds of new words and read up credible news journals to get familiar with the sort of language tested on GRE.
GRE Verbal constitutes three question types. One of these is reading comprehension, and the other two are text completion and sentence equivalence. The objective of GRE verbal as a whole is to gauge your aptitude for grad school. Hence, the test contents are designed to test out how well you can understand and interpret complex passages. These passages are dense with high-level vocabulary, linking words and phrases, and complicated sentence structures.
If you have been around the internet searching for GRE courses, the chances are that you have run into Magoosh at least once. Magoosh is one of the most prominent companies in test-prep circles, mainly due to its quality at an affordable price. The Manhattans and Kaplans of the test-prep industry, while premium-quality, the exorbitant cost puts them out of an average student’s reach.
The AWA section of the GRE has to do with essay writing. This is the only section of the test that doesn’t have MCQ-type questions. Instead, you have to write two essays. In one, you have to analyze an issue, whereas you have to analyze an argument in the other one. You receive 30 minutes per essay, and your performance is scored on a 0-6 point scale in half-point increments.
GRE online courses generally offer a much more versatile prep experience than books. This is why many students opt for these courses since they provide a customized learning experience. Two of the biggest names in online prep are Magoosh and Kaplan. Both companies are sought-after choices amongst test-takers and offer quality content. However, it is essential to know what each course offers to make an informed decision.