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Words, words and more words

It is no secret that to excel in the GRE, one needs to develop a high level of vocabulary. One good way to get word savvy is of course, to start paying attention to all those bombastic words which you encounter while reading or watching television. It is totally senseless to attempt to cramp hundreds of words into your head as the test date draws close. Paying attention does not merely mean taking note of them, but more importantly looking their meanings up in the dictionary and coming up with flash cards or something along those lines.

By far, the best approach is to learn through practicing various GRE questions. Through this, you not only memorize the words but also familiarize yourself with different types of questions and potential traps among answer choices.

Use every available source of word-enrichment, such as signing up for Dictionary.com’s “Word Of The Day.” One thing is for certain: your patience and hard work will eventually pay off and will continue benefit you even after your test.

Read, period

You cannot expect to learn to be a good reader right before your test when it isn’t already a habit of yours. Start now and make it a point to finish up to at least 5 articles on a variety of topics, and not just those which interest you. They can be anything from The Economist to The American Scientist. Go easy on yourself, relax and enjoy taking in whatever information you are reading about.

It is crucial to approach each article with an open mind, knowing that you do not have to fully understand every tiny detail or specific term. Even the most avid of readers experience a sort of psychological barrier when it comes to the comprehension of unfamiliar topics. Hence, do not pressure yourself so much that you lose focus on the main objective at hand, which is to answer the questions based on whatever passage is provided.

Just a tip: by reading newspapers or magazines on a daily-basis, you will not only manage to overcome the hurdle of reading unfamiliar material, but also come across as more intellectually competent when writing your essay. As a bonus, a well-equipped vocabulary gives you more ammunition for argumentative writing.

Study smart

Many students complain that before they take their tests, they went through an extensive number of questions from all available sources and yet, they do not produce a score that is reflective of their so-called efforts. Well, you can go through hundreds of questions but if you do not understand why your answers were right or wrong, you are wasting your time.
This is simply because if you do not learn from your mistakes, you will repeat them over and over again. Pay special attention to the ones which you have a tendency to get wrong and get to the core of the problem. Profit from your mistakes early in your preparation process by pin-pointing your trouble spots before they manifest themselves during the actual test and prove detrimental to your overall score.

Out of touch doesn't mean out of reach

There is not need to fret if you have forgotten your secondary school math. In such a situation, it seems time is your worst enemy. In fact, it will take a short while to memorize the relevant formulas so that you will spend the rest of your preparation period learning, or for some of you, re-learning to apply them. Once you have built up your database of math formulas at your fingertips, you should start pacing yourself while going through practices.

Make sure you expose yourself to as many types of math problems you can get your hands on. This will exercise your mental flexibility when you approach any given question, even if it is one which you have never encountered before.

Do not overlook solutions although you got these math questions right. Solutions are useful in helping you assess and sometimes reinforcing your understanding of such problems. Also, you may find a shortcut that is extremely useful, considering the time-pressure factor.