Did You Know these Facts about GRE Math?

 

~ By our Quantitative Reasoning Faculty

 

April is almost over and the countdown to the exam has already begun. You want a good overall score and if you’re an engineer, you are most probably thinking that getting 165 on Quant shouldn’t be too much of a problem (the typical engineer approaches maths questions with a raw “Just bring ‘em on” kind of arrogance and usually gets most questions right). But here’s the problem: sometimes even those with a strong background in maths may not cross the 160 mark – and when that happens, dreams of a score in the 325+ range come crashing down. To prevent that unhappy outcome, here are some basic insights about the way the math works on GRE.

One fundamental reason why some students don’t get the scores they should, is that they simply don’t understand the way the exam ‘TALKS’ maths. What this means is that the GRE test has its own way of defining mathematical terms. If you don’t understand the definitions used in the GRE exam, then time and time again you are going to end up making errors on questions you should have got right – and you are likely to end up feeling frustrated and demoralized. So, let’s have a look at a few basic differences between Indian maths and American math.

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GRE Prep – Preliminary Reading

One of the most important aspects of preparing for reading comprehension in the GRE is preliminary reading – that is, reading to be done before you start tackling GRE RC passages in order to prepare you for the challenges that those passages will throw up.

One challenge that you will face on Reading Comprehension passages is that they tend to be about unfamiliar topics and concepts; and talk about unfamiliar terms and fields. They use difficult phrasing and vocabulary, and complicated sentence structure. The only way to get used to the level of complexity you will find in GRE passages is to read widely.

Another challenge is the fact that reading passages on screen means that you may not be able to see the whole passage at a time, and may have to scroll up and down to read the rest of the passage. This is very different from reading on paper, where you can usually see the whole passage on screen at a glance. The fact that, when reading longer passages onscreen, you will not be able to see the whole of the passage at once makes comprehending the passage much more difficult.

Reading widely both on paper and onscreen will help you build up the skills that you need to meet the challenges presented by reading comprehension passages in the GRE. The reading material suggested here is arranged, and should be read, in the following order:

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GRE Prep for Oak’s Students: Plan for Taking Practice Computer-Based Tests

CBT – Practice on the Computer-Based Tests (1 month before GRE test)

The final stage of your GRE prep is taking practice GRE computer-based tests. If you are a student at Dilip Oak’s Academy, here is the plan – if you’re not, you are missing out!

  • Start doing the Computer-based tests 3 weeks-1 month before the GRE.
  • There are 10 Oaks tests (5 to be taken in the lab and 5 online) and two PowerPrep tests from the ETS, making a total of 12.
  • Going through all of them, at the rate of one every 2-3 days will take about a month.

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Cracking the GRE Test – Debanjana Nayak (GRE Score 330/340) – Tips for Quantitative,Verbal and Analytical Writing

Tips

Here’s the next part of Debanjana’s tips – this time with lots of specifics for each section of the test!

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Before starting with this set of tips specifically for the Quantitative, Verbal and AW sections, I must mention that I took classes from Dilip Oak’s Academy and I will be talking a lot about the Academy’s classes and materials because I found them extremely useful in preparing for these sections. In giving these tips, I am also assuming that you too are a student of Dilip Oak’s Academy. Of course, you will have your own experience and perspective, but here’s what I would suggest.

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Cracking the GRE Test – a Working Student’s Experience – Debanjana Nayak (GRE Score 330/340)

Trophy GRE ScoreThis week’s blog is by another of our high scorers, Debanjana Nayak who got a a really great score of 330/340. What makes this score a special one is that Debanjana is working.

So, this post is especially for all the working folks: if you are in a job and feel it might be difficult for you to prepare, here’s some inspiration! (By the way this post is just the first part. More to follow!)

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Before, I start with my tips, here is a bit on my background. I graduated with an Electronics and Communication Engineering degree from WBUT in 2010 and soon after joined Tech Mahindra as a Technical Associate. I have been working there for almost 2 years now.

After having worked in the company for about 1 year, I decided to pursue higher studies in the US (targeting fall 2013). Since I intended to keep my job and prepare for the exams (GRE & TOEFL) side-by-side, I started preparation early, around October, 2011, almost 7 months in advance. I finally gave my GRE on 25th April, 2012. My scores are as follows:

  • Quantitative – 166/170
  • Verbal – 164/170
  • AWM – 4/6

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Cracking the GRE: Tips from Tanmay – GRE Score 335

 

Here are some more hot tips from one of our students who is a star performer on the GRE. This time it’s Tanmay Gurjar. As you can see, his performance has won him another of our ‘gold medals’! First here is a brief ‘bio’.

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Name: Tanmay Gurjar
Stream/College: Bachelor’s, Mechanical Engineering, COEP (currently in final year)
GRE Score: 335
Break up – Quant – 169, Verbal – 166

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GRE Score – 337/340: Ashwin’s Tips for Cracking the GRE (Part 2)

TrophyThis week we bring you the second part of a really trophy-winning article: Ashwin’s tips for cracking the GRE.

In this part he gets even more specific, with tips for the Practice Tests and each of the sections – Analytical Writing, Quantitative Reasoning and the super-hard Verbal Reasoning section. Read on. There are literally dozens of pointers that you can really benefit from.

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Tips for the Practice Tests

1) If you haven’t given exams like Pravinya, MTS, NTS etc. the GRE exam may be a new experience. If that is so, I would advise you to give one of the mock tests within a week of finishing classes just in order to know where you stand (editor’s note: you can use the Oak’s free test for this purpose).

2) Practice, practice, practice. The more preparation you do the better you will score. It just works that way. There are studies that show if you prepare just one hour beyond the point where you feel you know everything, you can increase your marks by up to 5% (which is significant in an exam like this one).

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The GRE Test – Registering, Rescheduling and Canceling: Find Out All the Important Details Here!

REGISTERING FOR THE GRE TEST

Registration for the GRE Test

There are four ways you can register for the computer-based General Test.

1. Online Registration
The easiest and fastest way to register is online. Test takers with credit cards can register online at:

www.gre.org

  • American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, and VISA are accepted.
  • Registration is open 24 hours a day.

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ETS’s ScoreSelect Option: Now You Can Decide Which GRE Scores You Want Universities to See

Select GRE Test ScoresFor students who have given the GRE several times, the worry has always been that the universities they are sending the scores to will see their bad scores along with their good ones. Now, however that is going to change.

The ETS has introduced a feature which it calls the ScoreSelectSM Option which allows you to select which GRE scores you want to send to the universities and colleges you are applying to. Here are the details according to ETS :

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GRE Test Prep: Reading Comprehension and Discrete Questions: Challenges & Tips

So, you are preparing for the GRE test. You know that the Verbal section is going to be demanding. What are the big challenges in the Verbal section of the Revised General GRE?

Challenge #1: Reading Comprehension Passages

Screenshot of a Reading Comprehension question in the Revised General GRE
Reading Comprehension Question

First, a bit of good bit of news: the Reading Comprehension passages on the Revised GRE test are short. A Verbal section generally contains 5 Reading Comprehension passages, most which are 20-25 lines long; and one of them may be as short as 3-5 lines. The longest passages are of about 40 lines or so. (See ETS’s introduction to reading comprehension, sample questions and tips)

But Reading Comprehension is never very easy. Firstly, the passages cover a wide variety of topics, most of which are very unfamiliar. Here are some topics that have appeared in the past:

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The Revised GRE Test

Online Revised GRE Test Screenshot
Revised Online GRE Test (Screenshot of Dilip Oak’s Academy Online Test)

The GRE test, conducted by ETS, is one of the world’s most widely used tests for admission to universities both in America and worldwide. On 1 August 2011, the ETS introduced the Revised GRE test. This exam lasts for about 4 hours and consists of 3 major of section types:

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