tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85339628171501827752024-03-13T03:14:44.658-07:00Doing well on the GREThis blog contains some helpful pointers for you to give the GRE your best shot. Use it with a pinch of salt and a lot of your own strategy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8533962817150182775.post-55950547623818915602011-09-16T18:12:00.000-07:002011-09-16T18:34:16.193-07:00Review of Kaplan New GRE 2011-2012 Premier with CD ROM<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Kaplan New GRE 2011-2012 Premier
with CD-ROM is another resource you can consider using during
preparation for the new GRE. Kaplan is a name well established in the
GRE prep scene and is one of the top five GRE preparation books that are in popular
use today. First off,
lets start with reviewing the pluses about this book,</div>
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Why you should <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1607148498/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=am2&camp=217145&creative=399377&creativeASIN=1607148498">buy the Kaplan New GRE 2011-2012 Premier with CD-ROM</a>:</div>
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First off, it should be said that the
Kaplan book is not good at everything it tries to do. But there are
some things that it does quite well so it should be judged on those
merits. Also, once you read the good things about the book, you can
check out what isn't so good in this book so that you can make a
better decision whether to invest in it or not.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Lots of Practice:</span> It is important to identify
weaknesses before you start preparation. The paper based practise
tests included in the book do a good job of identifying your
weaknesses in the run up to the GRE.</div>
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<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Lots of Tips:</span> Kaplan provides strategies on how
to tackle the exam in general as well as example problems that
clarify each concept in the quantitative section.
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Lots of study tips and advice on
taking the test.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">More Practice Tests with an Online Component:</span> Real time practise is vital to
doing well on the GRE. Kaplan provides buyers of its prep book with
a registration no that gives you access to 5 tests online and the
paper based test too. Once you have brushed up your math skills and
become familiar with the types of problems that may be asked, you
can go ahead and try one or two practise tests online using their
code. You will then be able to know for yourself how good you are at
this and prepare accordingly from then on.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Helpful CD-ROM:</span> The Kaplan GRE book provides you
with a companion CD that gives you access to ten practise tests for
verbal and quantitative each and practise material for trying out
analytical writing five times.</div>
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Answers to all questions are given
in the Kaplan book.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Good Online Component:</span> The online system available to
those who buy the book has got good reviews from those who have used
it. However, some users say that there is the need for more
full-length tests rather than sections that test only one section of
the GRE. ie: Verbal/ quantitative.</div>
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In a nutshell <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1607148498/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=am2&camp=217145&creative=399377&creativeASIN=1607148498">the Kaplan GRE 2011-2012 prep book</a> includes:</div>
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Detailed information about the
GRE.</div>
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Lots of practice questions.</div>
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5 full online practice tests
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1 full paper test.</div>
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Plus, there is a CD-ROM with
additional practice questions.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1607148498/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=am2&camp=217145&creative=399377&creativeASIN=1607148498">Buy the Kaplan New GRE 2011-2012 Premier with CD ROM</a></div>
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Now that you know the positives of
getting this book, take a look at the negatives before you decide if
you really want to get it.</div>
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Why you should <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">NOT</span> buy the Kaplan GRE
book:</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Not Very Suited for Learning Math Basics from</span>: The section that reviews the Math
section (quantitative) is mediocre at best. Those who are poor in
their math fundamentals would do well to get the<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375428186/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399377&creativeASIN=0375428186"> Princeton Review book for GRE</a> (<a href="http://gretopscorer.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-princeton-reviews-cracking.html">My Review of Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE 2012</a>) which has much better material to study from for the
Math and verbal section too. The Kaplan is better for practice
questions than teaching you the fundamentals. Other great books that
teach you the fundamentals of the Math section are the CliffNotes
Math Review which has extensive coverage on all the type of math
questions that would be asked on the GRE.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Less Examples:</span> Only one example per concept in
the math reference section.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">In the Practice Tests Verbal & Quantitative sections have to be Attempted Separately:</span> The practise tests are not full
length like the real GRE. Instead, there are 5 sections on the
verbal and quantitative section which you can attempt individually
but not back-to-back like you would have to do on the exam day.
However, this isn't a huge problem since the main thing is that you
need to have ample practise questions and the Kaplan gives you more
than enough of that.
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<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There seems to be a few errors in
the quantitative section so you need to watch out for those.
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On the whole, the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1607148498/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=am2&camp=217145&creative=399377&creativeASIN=1607148498">Kaplan GRE 2011-2012 book with CD-ROM</a> is a good buy for its range of practice questions
that do a great job of familiarizing the test-taker with a lot of
questions to try out. But if you have a weak math background then you
should take a look at the reviews I have posted for the GRE Barrons
2012 book which has a much more comprehensive math review section as
well as a whole lot of useful tips for the verbal section. Another
great book for brushing up your math from the basics is the
CliffNotes Math Review which does a great job too. Check out the
review for the CliffNotes Math Review book.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8533962817150182775.post-5862628474503125922011-07-04T22:54:00.000-07:002011-09-16T18:44:54.474-07:00New GRE: Changes in the GRE 2011 and What they mean for Test-takers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The only thing permanent in life is change. There's no reason to be intimidated or fear the unknown when it comes to the new GRE 2011 pattern. Instead of giving in to fear, stay cool. Once you go through this post you will come to realize that this new GRE 2011 pattern being adopted can be a blessing in disguise to you. How? This is because the revised GRE is only restructured in a way to help students perform better.</span></span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> <span class="apple-style-span">In this post, rather than offering you a copy-paste job of what the ETS site says, I will focus on what the changes actually mean for you the test-taker. </span><span class="apple-converted-space"></span></span></span></span></div>
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<li><span class="apple-style-span">Multi Stage Test Design: This new way of testing will enable you to answer only those questions you are confident about and come back later to attempt the harder questions or those you aren't too sure about. Thus it gives the test taker more chances to score better. That said however, it is always better to answer as many questions as possible correctly to get the highest score. To do this, you need to know the key concepts of every topic that is likely to be touched upon in the GRE. Only then can you be confident that an unknown concept would not be tested. For this reason it is better a good deal of time revising high school math concepts if you are hazy. Those who aren't too comfortable with complex worded passages should prepare well in advance for the verbal section. </span></li>
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<li>New GRE Scoring Scale: The 9 points increments will be compressed into 1 point increments. This means that your result will be mapped between 130 and170 instead of the conventional 200-800 scale. Don’t let these figures confuse you as it is in no way going to affect your chances of getting the answers right in the test. ETS is only using a smaller scale to represent your score.</li>
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9pt;">No more analogy and antonyms!! This will come as a relief to those of you who dread the ultra long hours of memorizing that would otherwise be needed to complete these arduous tasks. That means no more flash cards to memorize the extensive 3500 words list from the Barron’s. However, this does not mean that things are going to be easy for the test taker. It is still strongly advisable to be proficient in knowing all the connotations of as many important words as possible. The importance of reading comprehension has increased and there is a sentence </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">equivalence</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9pt;"> section wherein you must be extra careful about choosing the best suited pair of words that convey the same meaning when replaced in the respective sentences. Preparation can be aided with the use of books that focus on the verbal section of the GRE better. </span></span></span></span></li>
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<li><span class="apple-style-span">May I help you? Don't worry, I'm not offering to help you cheat. This is just the online calculator you will have with you while answering the maths section. This may be devised by ETS because more often, due to pressure,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">students are prone to arriving at the wrong answers in an examination even if they had devised the right method to solve the problem. With the new pattern you are at lesser risk of arriving at the wrong answers. Here again the student is benefited because of the new system. </span></li>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9pt;">Thus you can now see that the new GRE isn't some monster waiting to swallow you up, but has been designed to more accurately test students thinking skills as naturally as possible. To perform well in the GRE, first understand the test methodology adopted and then practice more in the areas where you notice you are weak. You can do this by getting the best GRE study guides like the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375428186/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399377&creativeASIN=0375428186">"Cracking the New GRE 2012" by Princeton Review</a> and<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1607148498/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=am2&camp=217145&creative=399377&creativeASIN=1607148498"> Kaplan's New GRE 2011-2012 Premier Book with CD-ROM</a></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9pt;">Here is the <a href="http://gretopscorer.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-princeton-reviews-cracking.html">review of Cracking the New GRE 2012 by Princeton Review</a> and the <a href="http://gretopscorer.blogspot.com/2011/09/review-of-kaplan-new-gre-2011-2012.html">Review of Kaplan's New GRE 2011-2012 Premier Book with CD-ROM</a>.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9pt;">Summing up, the new GRE's verbal section demands quite a bit of reading and understanding of nuances and the quantitative section now </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">focuses</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9pt;"> more on logic and data interpretation than mere number crunching at high speeds. </span></span></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8533962817150182775.post-41232848526930804392011-06-30T15:26:00.000-07:002011-09-16T18:56:37.103-07:00Review of Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE:<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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"Cracking the GRE" from Princeton Review is noted for its good coverage of all the key concepts in both the verbal and quantitative section. There are many question types in the GRE math and verbal section and if you are the type of learner who demands lucid explanations of every question type with examples and abundant practise questions, then this is the right book for you. These explanations are accompanied by numerous practise questions that test your understanding of that question type. This further helps the student to absorb and comprehend key concepts faster. Most of the quantitative questions are fully worked out with satisfactory and complete answers that help even those who are not very clear in math concepts get better through practise. However, if your math level is very low then here are some other books to help you get up to speed.</div>
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Finally, in short, the positives and negatives of the Princeton GRE prep book are,</div>
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<b>Pluses: </b> </div>
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Clear, solid Explanations of almost all question types. </div>
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Informal and friendly tone used in the text. This helps keep things interesting. </div>
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Many (about 10) practise problems after clear explanations help to understand each question type better.</div>
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<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Short but useful list of words with their meanings. Although not as humungous as Barron's 3500 word list, this list at least gets you started rather than paralize you in fear. </div>
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Princeton Review has a feature where you can prepare better for the Analytical Writing section by getting your essays graded online for $5.99 each. This is a very useful add-on since it is always better to have someone else critique your essay rather than you doing it yourself.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375429786/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0375429786">Get the "Cracking the GRE with DVD 2011 Edition" by Princeton Review<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=doweonyogr-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0375429786&camp=217145&creative=399369" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></a></div>
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<b>Minuses:</b></div>
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The section on Reading comprehension could be much better especially since every thing else is very well explained. RC's are one of the most important sections on the GRE and will gain more importance in the revised GRE. Thus, it is not safe at all to neglect them. Other than this section, the Princeton book does very well as a GRE prep book you can “learn” from. But Practise is another story. Kaplan does a better job of making you practise more questions but their explanations are not as good as Princeton's. </div>
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The practise questions are not arranged in mixed difficulty. Rather they are sorted according to easy, medium and hard levels. It would be more beneficial if the practise questions were jumbled just like they would be on the real test. </div>
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Compared to the Kaplan GRE prep book, the overall number of practise tests that are available are not even close. Kaplan does a much better job of providing many more problems to practise on. Read on to know more about how Kaplan fills in the gaps of the other GRE prep books.</div>
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Overall, the Princeton Book is a very good buy. It does what a good prep book should do handsomely. As mentioned above, only the Reading Comprehension section needs a bit of improvement. Everything else is thoroughly explained. This book would be the better bet when compared to the Kaplan book if you are buying only one gre prep book. If you can afford both, then the Kaplan book can help to get you a lot of practice questions.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375429786/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0375429786">Get the "Cracking the GRE with DVD 2011 Edition" by Princeton Review<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-color: initial !important; border-width: initial !important;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=doweonyogr-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0375429786&camp=217145&creative=399369" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8533962817150182775.post-72566186485438447782011-06-30T00:58:00.000-07:002011-09-16T18:51:16.047-07:00GRE Study Material: Reviews of the Best GRE Prep books<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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"Which is the best GRE book to prepare from?,” “Which GRE prep book is more suited towards those who have lost touch with Math like me?,” “Which is the most effective GRE book for increasing my overall score?” and “Which is the most comprehensive GRE study guide to buy?” are some of the most commonly asked questions by students searching for the most suitable GRE study guide. They reflect the different needs faced by various students who have varied expectations from the guide they buy.</div>
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<b>Choose the GRE prep book that suits you best: Know its Pluses & Minuses</b></div>
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We understand that you want the best GRE study guides on your shelf before you embark on preparing your hardest. What is well-suited for one student as a study aid may not be such a good choice for another. You need to go through the list of GRE prep books below and read through the positives and negatives of each book before you make a decision to buy the most suited book or books. Having attempted the GRE myself, I am aware of the positive difference good GRE preparation materials along with hard work make towards the outcome.</div>
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<b>The Major GRE Prep Book Publishers:</b></div>
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Over the years, the students who have attempted the GRE have relied on three to four major publishers who are very widely referred to even today. These books are the Princeton Review's “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375429786/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0375429786">Cracking the GRE </a>” series, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764195948/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0764195948">the Barron's GRE 2011 book</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=doweonyogr-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0764195948&camp=217145&creative=399369" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1607148498/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doweonyogr-20&linkCode=am2&camp=217145&creative=399377&creativeASIN=1607148498">Kaplan GRE prep book</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=doweonyogr-20&l=as2&o=1&a=141954991X&camp=217145&creative=399369" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br />
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A word of advice before you read the reviews.</div>
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<b>Make Sure that the GRE Prep Book you choose strengthens your Weak Spots:</b></div>
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My personal recommendation before choosing GRE prep books is that you need to be aware of how strong you are inherently in a particular section. If you are a very logical person or did well in high school math, then GRE Math would be easier for you. And if you are a regular reader of classic novels and can easily glean the intent and tone of complex, verbose passages then the verbal section wouldn't be much of a bother for you. Only you know your strengths. You should accordingly choose the gre prep book that strengthens your weak areas better. In many cases you might have to invest in two or more books to get the best exposure to sample questions and explanatory material. <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><a href="http://gretopscorer.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-princeton-reviews-cracking.html">Review of Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE</a> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><a href="http://gretopscorer.blogspot.com/2011/09/review-of-kaplan-new-gre-2011-2012.html">Review of Kaplan's New GRE 2011-2012 Premier with CD-ROM</a></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8533962817150182775.post-31953718716147210092010-04-12T08:54:00.000-07:002010-04-12T09:00:28.149-07:00How to write high scoring Issue essays in AWA<p class="MsoNormal">In spite of ETS pre-disclosing most of the essay questions, most of the students feel harried by the GRE writing task. It is true that composing an essay calls for more activity than answering a multiple choice question. But its certainly not beyond your reach. By navigating towards this page, you have taken the first step to overcoming your essay-phobia.</p><p class="MsoNormal">You will have Issue 1 and Issue 2 before you. Read the statements carefully with an eye for its possible pros and cons. Breakdown the claim into two or three parts, analyze it, and take a tentative position. Brainstorm for examples from present and past that will lend support to your claim. You will now have one of the issue topics to be more convincing to write than the other. Go for it!</p><p class="MsoNormal">The second step is to get hold of your scratch paper. Jot down any idea that comes to you. Don’t filter them, don’t worry about the order, just write them as they come to you. Even if it seems clichéd, far-fetched, or unconvincing at the moment, do not bother, jot them down. Next, classify your points as, ‘for’ and ‘against’ the statement’s position. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">My small piece of advice to you: take a neutral stand in the essay.</i> Taking the neutral position will enable you to elaborate the pros and cons of the statement. Remember, ETS does not have any “correct” answer on an issue. In other words, what’s important to ETS is how you analytically structure your essay with relevant examples, and not whether you are for or against the issue.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> Compose the essay in not more than five paragraphs, the first and last dealing with the introduction and conclusion respectively. The first sentence of every paragraph conveys to the reader the essence of the paragraph. Make sure you get them right. You can use anything like facts, quotes and general statements to catch the reader’s attention. Arrange your paragraphs such that your essay flows logically and persuasively from one point to the other. In the conclusion paragraph, phrases like “to conclude”, “in sum” can be used. Make sure your introductory and concluding paragraphs are consistent with each other.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> You can find sample Issue essays here: <a href="http://www.ets.org/gre/general/scores/how/issue/index.html">http://www.ets.org/gre/general/scores/how/issue/index.html</a></o:p></p>miitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215688082074012875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8533962817150182775.post-13820575957176773652010-03-14T01:39:00.000-08:002010-03-30T01:05:23.055-07:00How much time is needed to Study for the GRE?This is a very common doubt but unfortunately there is no fixed answer for it. If you want to find how long you need to study for GRE then you should do the following. Take one of the two <a href="https://onyx.ets.org/423powerprepTestTakers.htm">GRE Powerprep downloadable test</a>(you need to fill up the form before you download it) which are available in the official site or you should try out one of the full length practice tests which are given in the GRE Barrons book.The time needed to study for GRE will depend on what marks you get in the practice test and how easily you can improve if needed. Just take one powerprep test now, you should take the second one right before the actual exam.<br />
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Depending on the score you get on this practice test you should decide how long you will need to practise to get your score as score to 800 in each section as possible. You should analyze the score section wise and then based on how fast you can improve you should give yourselves time accordingly.<br />
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Finding your weak areas in GRE: <br />
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Ideally you should take this weakness identifying test about five months before the date. Once you take the first test to assess yourself make a note of what kind of problems you are good at and which ones you got wrong. If you are weak in geometry questions then you should spend more time reviewing geometry problems.<br />
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The next section will focus on how to study for your weaker section. It could be either quantitative or verbal. Depending on the major you want to study in you should focus more on the section whose scores are important to you during the admission process. For engineering students quantitative scores are given more importance whereas language majors would do well to perform well in the verbal section. Concentrate more on the section that is given weightage for admissions to your particular course..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8533962817150182775.post-29362974958620053702010-02-27T07:45:00.000-08:002011-09-16T18:25:25.326-07:00How to crack the revised GRE 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Note: If you have arrived here wanting to read the review of the GRE Prep Book that goes by the same title then go here: <a href="http://gretopscorer.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-princeton-reviews-cracking.html">Review of Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE</a><br />
</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><br />Read the <a href="http://gretopscorer.blogspot.com/2011/09/review-of-kaplan-new-gre-2011-2012.html">review of Kaplan's New GRE 2011-2012 with CD-ROM </a><br />
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</span></span>If you want to read about the changes made in the new version of the GRE and what it means for the test taker then go here: </span></span><br />
<a href="http://gretopscorer.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-gre-changes-in-gre-2011-and-what.html">http://gretopscorer.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-gre-changes-in-gre-2011-and-what.html</a></div>
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miitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215688082074012875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8533962817150182775.post-2721780287278248892010-02-27T02:52:00.000-08:002010-02-27T03:42:32.750-08:00Understanding the GRE scoring systemThe first step to increasing your GRE score is to understand the scoring system adopted by the GRE. There are a variety of wrong ideas about how this happens when it really is a simple system to understand.<br /><br />The GRE is a Computer Adaptive Test or CAT!<br /><br />So what if it is computer adaptive you may ask. Well, this makes all the difference. In the CAT version of the GRE, the saying "first impression makes the best impression" really holds true. This is because in any computer based test which "adapts", the main objective of the computer is to increase the level of difficulty of the questions until it reaches a level which you find challenging. <br /><br />So what does this mean for you?<br /><br />This means that you will only have one attempt to answer a question and then you move on. Unlike a paper based test where you can recheck your answers, in the CAT system your response on the current question will be used to determine the difficulty level of the next and so there is no chance for you to go back and correct your answers. This means you should take utmost care while marking the first few questions.<br /><br /><br />Let me explain more in depth:<br /><br />In general the first question in any section is one of medium difficulty. By "medium difficulty" I mean that of any 100 people who attempt this question, fifty would get it right and the other fifty would typically get it wrong.<br /><br />This means that you will be able to move on to a higher performance level if you get the first question right. In the GRE each question comes from a database of questions. The questions in this database are categorized depending on the percentage of people who get them right on first try. Marks allotment for getting each question right is also predecided by the computer based on the difficulty level of the particular question. If the question you get is considered to be hard then you will be given more marks for getting it right than for getting an easier question right. What this means is that a person who gets his first few questions wrong and then get many questions right (since the difficulty level and hence the marks decrease once you make an initial mistake.) will score much lesser than the person who has answered the first ten odd questions right and then makes a silly mistake. If he has performed well on the first ten to fifteen questions then if he makes a mistake later on the computer will be more forgiving on him and assume that he has made a silly mistake and thus reduce lesser marks for a wrong answer.<br /><br />This type of question pattern can be plotted on a graph where the curve of the graph needs to be increased from the beginning itself. If this is not done then even if all the remaining questions are answered perfectly you will not be able to score in the high 700's.<br /><br />Practice is key to making sure you get the first few questions right. Your time management will be tested here since you will have to ensure the correctness of the answers right in the beginning and you shouldn't mess it up. As mentioned earlier I used the Barron's math review chapter to make sure I was up to date with the concepts tested. I found it to be more than enough for my preparation. You will find all the concepts tested in the exam explained in simple language with many sample questions to practice these concepts on. <br /><br /><br />Making the effort to understand the GRE scoring system perfectly will ensure that you will be able to manipulate it to your advantage and be well on your way to a perfect score.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8533962817150182775.post-39652929978135416162009-10-31T01:09:00.000-07:002010-03-09T02:39:31.253-08:00So How do I improve my performance on the GRE? Read on..<div style="text-align: justify;">the "hows" is what this blog will deal with.<br />
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Improving your performance on the GRE is not a question of mindless hours of preparation. To significantly improve your score you will need strategy as well as knowledge of the inner workings of this important test. I will be totally frank with you regarding the preparation and if my suggestions are followed appropriately it would definitely lead to an increase from your current GRE practice tests score (If it needs any improvement that is..) That being said lets begin in earnest.<br />
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<span style="color: #993300; font-style: italic;">STAGES OF PREPARATION:</span><br />
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I would classify the preparation stage into three distinct stages<br />
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1. Evaluation<br />
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2. Practicing<br />
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3. Optimizing<br />
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Even though I did not follow such a rigid set of rules during my preparation time, I realized later on that even though my preparation wasn't formal, it followed the sequence given above naturally without me being aware of it. Hence I would advice you to take a note of this structure.<br />
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Before You Begin:<br />
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1. Make sure you are in a quiet place where you can work undisturbed like the terrace or your room.<br />
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2. Get the latest edition of the Barrons GRE book. I found this book to be comprehensive and did not need the use of any other aid to supplement me although my friends did recommend Princeton review, Kaplan and Novapress GRE books to me. Since the GRE mainly tests concepts its essential that you are clear on that and Barron's does a good job in this aspect by having a through math review as well as its renowned 3500 word list which scares most GRE prep'ers away from this book! This word list should definitely be given importance since it seems to have many words commonly scattered around in the examination. However it is also likely that words which do not appear in this list can appear. So a well rounded preparation will help the most imho. Some <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/doweonyogr-20">useful GRE resources</a> can also be accessed.<br />
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3. Get a pencil.<br />
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4. A stopwatch to time yourself if you have one.<br />
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5. A bottle of water.<br />
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6. Avoid studying in groups since you will only end up getting disturbed. However you can use the internet and the variety of GRE prep sites and forums to interact with fellow testers to get motivation and to gain more resources to aid you.</div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden" /><input id="jsProxy" onclick="jsCall();" type="hidden" /><br />
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