How can I increase my GRE score?

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I took the practice Powerprep GRE (Practice GRE). I got an 800 on the quantitative and 320 on the verbal. How can I increase my verbal gre to the 500-600 range. I know I need to study many vocab words (I have like 200+ words memorized on the kaplan book). However, how can I increase my gre verbal score without memorizing words. Is there a trick/s that I can do when taking the test.</p>

<p>Also, is there anyone who got a 500 - 600 on the verbal. If so, how did you study for the verbal section? Did you study many words? If so, how did you study the words (did you study roots, words with similar definitions, etc.)</p>

<p>I am aiming for MIT grad school. My GPA, letters of recommendations, research, etc. are awesome, I just need a good gre score.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>It’s downright trivial besides the killer vocab (antonyms, analogies, sentence completion sections). All that’s left is the reading comprehension section. Being a speaker of English for a few years is sufficient here. Anyone that can’t do that section is hopeless for a PhD in an English-speaking country. It’s reading comprehension… lol. I don’t think there are any “tricks” - it’s all about understanding, which comes from sustained use of the language.</p>

<p>I hate to say it but studying words is one of the best ways to increase your score. I got a 580 and studied the barron’s 3000 word list. It’s insane to think that only a couple of those words are actually on the test; however, that’s really the only way to increase your score on the antonyms and analogies. </p>

<p>Like the other poster said reading comprehension is reading comprehension. Practice reading long-winded boring passages can help. Time management is also key.</p>

<p>How long do you have to prepare? If you have a while, it would be a good idea to read books are articles that use GRE words. For example, I read the Tale of Two Cities a while back which has plenty of such vocab although it is a bit long. You’ll find relevant vocab in more scholarly newspapers such as The New Yorker, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, and National Review. If you come across words in your reading that you don’t know, obviously write them down and commit them to memory via flash cards or whatever mechanism you like to use for this purpose.</p>

<p>As for strategies, I consulted the Princeton Review GRE book for some basic strategies. I don’t follow their strategies to a T but they do have some good advice like putting words on a analogy question into a sentence. For example, if you have the base pair SAW : TOOL then “a SAW is a type of TOOL”. Now you just use the words “is a type of” to connect each of the options you are given, crossing out all the options that don’t work. You are left with the correct answer (hopefully) and you enter it and move on. </p>

<p>There are little tips like that that will help you move faster and more accurately that you’ll find in most GRE prep books. Besides that I don’t have any huge revelations for you. I scored a 660 Verbal on powerprep but I’ve been working on my vocab bit by bit for months now because I knew that would be an issue. Good luck.</p>

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<p>I am an international student and I got 560 on V. One advice if you don’t wanna memorize words: Do gazillions of previous tests, to be found in big book of GRE. After a few tests you will be able to predict the twist in reading questions. ETS is famous for keeping the same trend in questions.</p>

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<p>Make sure GRE matters for MIT. In my major, EECS, GRE is not even required by MIT!</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice everyone.</p>

<p>If you’re in the 500-600 range, your score could be severely affected by luck, as well. Depending if you happen to know the very specific words in the first few questions you could end up with a 450 or even a 600, so you could get unlucky and need to retake it. As for advice, I think Kaplan has a 500 word flashcard thing, and there are some slightly more ambitious study tools as well. I think Baron’s 3000 would take way more time/dedication than it’s worth. If you’re going into engineering/science/math, then I’d say really the GRE isn’t that important, just get 500-600 on verbal, 4-5 on writing, and 800 on math.</p>

<p>I didn’t really study for the GRE more than a couple hours the day before and it went fine. I would recommend putting some more time in maybe, but I wasn’t about to waste my semester studying for the GRE instead of for my classes.</p>

<p>Here’s my take (I got a 790 verbal, and I used to tutor the SAT, which is similar). I think part of the GRE is memorizing the vocabulary words and beyond that point, the strategies are what gets you there. If you have a 320, IMO you are probably missing both parts. Yes, there are strategies - any $30 strategy guide will tell you that (e.g. fill in the blanks in your head before looking at the answer choices for sentence completions; read the questions first for reading comprehension; make a sentence for the antonyms and analogies). BUT the strategies will not get you very far on their own; you have to know the vocabulary otherwise you will have a really hard time eliminating answer choices or filling in those blanks.</p>

<p>Personal opinion: I don’t like Kaplan’s flash cards. The words are far too elementary for the GRE. I prefer Barron’s 3500 word list. You don’t need to memorize all of them; of course, the more you know the better, but if you only have time to memorize some that’s better than none.</p>

<p>Read, read, read–a long form of anti-studying. How about just being well read in the language you wish to study in? You can’t get in if you can’t pass TA level proficiency</p>

<p>Jr Hi level books:</p>

<p>The Catcher in the Rye
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Chocolate Wars
Pearl Buck - The Good Earth</p>

<p>Be well read in works of High School literary books. Reading and such is about doing, not tricks.</p>

<p>Shakespeare
Henry James
Edith Wharton
Kurt Vonnegut</p>

<p>and on, and on</p>

<p>^^^ Scoring high on the verbal will require more than high school reading. Yes, you should read – a lot – but your selections should require a higher level of vocabulary and concentration than reading Salinger or Vonnegut. Henry James and Edith Wharton – yes. Pearl Buck, Salinger, Vonnegut – for fun and edification only, not for improving reading comprehension or vocabulary.</p>

<p>I recommend reading a wide variety of challenging literature: scholarly articles and classic literature. If your sole goal is to improve your score on the verbal GRE, avoid articles targeted to a broad, layman, or popular readership. Try to read both in your field and outside of it, to expose yourself to vocabulary you might not otherwise encounter. Context can teach you the nuances of certain words, something that memorization cannot always accomplish.</p>