<p>I'm an Art History major preparing to apply to graduate school for Fall 2009, taking the GRE in August of 2008. I have a great major GPA, experience in graduate level courses, professors I trust to write me recommendations, yet the GRE is killing me. I've taken practice exams and consistently score around 700 on the math section (I was a science/math major for 2 years so to me GRE math is nothing...), BUT I've been getting really horrific scores on the verbal section, which is obviously the most important thing for me. </p>
<p>What sorts of things did you all do to prepare? I'm very confident in my writing skills, but it's the vocab and whatnot that kills me. Any good vocab sites/books out there? </p>
<p>Everyone has recommended the Barron's book for the vocab list. I also liked the Word Smart books by Princeton Review. There are tons of vocab sites out there - if you google "GRE vocab" you should get plenty of information. There's also the number2.com site - free, decent practice, but percentiles don't coordinate well with the test. There's freerice.com, which is extremely addictive. I assume you have also used the PowerPrep available from the ETS site. If not, definitely use that.</p>
<p>Examine why you're getting poor scores. If you don't know the words, then simple memorization should bring up your scores. Also study roots, prefixes, suffixes. If you're struggling with a certain section of the test - say analogies, for example - then study strategies specific to that section. You can examine your past GRE in detail if you log onto the site - you can look at the questions you got wrong and see the type of question and the difficulty.</p>
<p>There's always UCLAri's advice, as well, to read a lot of scholarly journals, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, etc. If you do this while you are studying words, you will likely come across at least a few of your GRE words in your readings. This will reinforce your memorization.</p>
<p>Finally, are there any acceptable schools that do not require the GRE in art history? You may try an application there as well.</p>
<p>Also, bad faux-artsy romance novels of the Anne Rice variety are goldmines, but not really worth enduring.</p>
<p>You still need Barron's, but the trick to let the wordlists and the reading materials echo and reinforce each-other, as DespSeekPhd noted.</p>
<p>If all of that sounds like too much hassle, at least replace whatever you're reading now with Tom Jones. It <em>really</em> kick-starts one's English vocab.</p>
<p>How far in advance do you all recommend starting to study the verbal section- especially for somebody who tends to be much stronger in the math/science depts.?</p>
<p>Kaplan's Word Power seems to be pretty good. It has word-lists (a total of about 750 words) divided into three different sections - easy, difficult and really difficult. I only went through the "difficult" section. I did relatively well on the verbal section but I know a friend of mine who went through the whole book and scored pretty well. We're non-native speakers. </p>
<p>Also, PRACTICE A LOT OF QUESTIONS! From wherever you can find them - Number2.com</a> :: Free Online Test Prep, MyGRETutor</a> :: GRE practice tests, practice questions, tutorials and vocabulary, and whatever prep-book you have with you. Do one of the ETS tests at the beginning of your preparation. Then do the other before a week or two of the actual test. Do the ETS tests a couple of times so that you get accustomed to the actual test settings and the types of questions that you will see on the real test.</p>
<p>also, are there any other fictional/nonfictional books (that are interesting to read!) which contains a lot of GRE words? i guess im a kind of person who'd not be too thrilled to read Eugene Onegin</p>
<p>ps: i've found that GRE 'was' going to change in sept. 2007 but ETS cancelled the change. Important</a> GRE Update GRE</a> format change scheduled for September 2007 cancelled - City News
but it sounds like ETS will still change its contents after 2007-2008 school year. for me i can't take GRE til 2008-2009 school year. i feel i should be worried. any suggestion? or is there any thread on this??</p>
<p>Every single one of your posts links to your own Adsense coated site. This violates the service terms you agreed to, and it's an abuse of the community. Please stop.</p>