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.
GRE has a reputation for being a tough test, and in some aspects, this is true. However, many factors make the GRE easier than what is commonly believed. Some of these factors are also lesser-known ones that people don’t talk about. Sure, you have to memorize a barrage of words and relearn mathematical concepts, but it’s all high school-level stuff. Moreover, even if you aren’t an avid reader or skillful at math, you can learn everything from the ground up. Ultimately, GRE is a standardized test, and like any standardized test, you can prepare for it and ace it.
GRE is the required standardized test that students have to take to get into grad school. It is often a daunting prospect for many to take GRE because of its reputation as a complicated exam. Most beginners think that they need to know advanced math to ace the test when all math topics on GRE are high-school level. However, this is not to say that the test itself is not difficult because the contents pertain to a high-school curriculum. A test can be challenging due to many other reasons, such as the time duration.
The Graduate Record Examination is the go-to standardized test concerning admissions to grad-school in the U.S. and the worldover. GRE tests your abilities to reason both verbally and mathematically. The core purpose of the test is to determine your readiness for graduate-level studies. Hence, test-takers need to be able to show their logical and critical thinking abilities to score well on the test.