The GRE Spot

I knew this would happen. Today I looked at my blog and I saw that my last post was on March 12th. That was two weeks ago. I’d love to say that the reason for my posting failure is that I’ve been crazy busy studying for multiple hours every day, and I haven’t had any time whatsoever for the interwebz. Saying this would be a lie.

The truth is that I’ve been so distracted and stressed out that I haven’t made time to study, and a lack of study sessions leads to a lack of blog posts about studying. Go figure. Read the rest of this entry »

You know how when you were a kid and some bully called you a bad name, you’d save face by loudly proclaiming, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!”? *

Well, you were wrong. GRE words can kill. It’s not that any one word is too difficult to learn — it’s just that there are literally thousands of the darned buggers. And many of them (like propitiation) make absolutely no sense. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty. I’ve been studying a lot, and I really should have something to show for it at this point…something beyond ramblings and study theories.

First off, I’ll let you know that I did in fact study some vocab just before falling asleep last night. And no, I cannot for the life of me remember if I had dreams about GRE vocabulary. I quizzed myself on a short stack of flash cards as soon as I woke up this morning, and I was pleased to find that I remembered most of last night’s vocab, despite attempting to quiz myself while trudging through the foggy haze that is 8:30am. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been doing a lot of studying in bed lately. It has its pros and cons. Clearly, comfort is a benefit. I can crank the electric blanket, snuggle with the cat, grab some snacks for the bedside table, and curl up with my GRE study book. Then again, it’s always tempting to just fall asleep. Luckily, I’m still in the beginning phase where I’m psyched about studying, and I would actually rather study than take naps. Scientists agree that sleep is critical for memory retention, and I personally believe that studying just before hitting the hay helps me to remember my 2,000 word vocab list. Read the rest of this entry »

Standardized tests have evolved considerably since the traditional paper-and-pencil versions of yore. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) is the governing body behind the GRE, and they determine your final test score. Over the years, the ETS has devoted a tremendous amount of time and research into developing a schmancy computer algorithm to calculate test scores with the highest degree of accuracy. Test-takers no longer complete a static list of questions of varying difficulty. The questions on the computerized test actually change based upon your previous response; each question is customized to reflect your unique knowledge and capabilities.

The automated process of determining GRE test scores is called Computer Adaptive Testing, or CAT. At the beginning of a multiple choice section, CAT assumes that you are an average test-taker with an average score of about 620 for math and 460 for verbal. (Let’s assume you’re working on the verbal section). CAT starts the test by giving you a question that roughly 50% of test takers answer correctly. If you answer the first one incorrectly, CAT will assume that your final score will fall between 200 and 460. It will then ask a new question that, say, 75% of test takers answered correctly. If you get that one wrong, CAT will ask a new question that 90% of test takers answered correctly. And so on. Read the rest of this entry »