<p>For those of you who have taken the GRE and did well, how early did you start studying for it? 6 months, or more?</p>
<p>6 months is overkill</p>
<p>Most of my studying if not all was spent learning vocab for the verbal section. Basically, a month and a half of wordlists pushed my verbal score from a 560 in powerprep to a final 690. I didn't prep for the quant as I started out with 790-800 and ended up taking a 790.</p>
<p>a month.</p>
<p>question: how important IS the GRE in biomedical sciences?</p>
<p>important but considered in collection with research experience and ability to articulate fit with graduate program and career goals.</p>
<p>I would say you should give yourself 3 months to study for the GRE. This will give you more-than-adequate preparation. One month is not enough if you're not a good test taker.</p>
<p>Thanks, I think I'll go with 2 or 3 months. I'm not sure when most application systems open, but I assume the earlier you apply the better. Since most deadlines (for biomedical sciences anyway) are around december, do most people take the GRE in June or July?</p>
<p>Most people take the GRE the summer before December/January admissions deadline. The fall test dates are last-minute or second chance opportunities if you want to improve your scores.</p>
<p>For the general test I studied on and off for about a month and a half (had to work on my master's thesis and work part time somewhere else at the same time) and got decent scores (V: 670 (95%), Q: 800 (94%), A: 5.5 (90%))</p>
<p>For the biochem subject test I took the Nov. 8th test right after my general test so I only had about 3 weeks to study and tried to cram all my studying into nights and weekend (again I had lab and a part-time job that took up most of my daytime hours) and scored a 690 overall score (95%)</p>
<p>For the general test I just read through the Kaplan and Princeton Review books and used the Barron's book for the math section. You can also find a GRE word list as audio files online (I can find the link if you need it). I found it most convenient listening to the word lists and definitions during the day while I was at work or lab.</p>
<p>For the biochem test I studied alot of my old notes from my cell bio/mol bio/genetics classes and also reviewed biochem and genetics using the CliffNotes books.</p>
<p>I can give you the exact books I used if you want.</p>
<p>Hope this helps and good luck!</p>
<p>This advice may sound obvious, but still. It depends on your starting score and your goal score. </p>
<p>I'd say that you should take a practice GRE (a paper one, maybe, to save the computerized ones for later in the game) a good six months before you need to take the real test, just to see where you stand and let you plan your preparation. That way, you can decide whether you want to spend two weeks or three months getting ready. Nearly the only people who need to spend more than 3 months getting ready are internationals who need to invest a lot of time in getting the Verbal score up: if English is your second language, it can take a longer time to raise that score.</p>
<p>Most people see a big jump at the beginning of their prep work, as they get used to the test format and question types, and then a slow but steady increase brought about by things like vocabulary memorization. I honestly believe that there's hardly any limit to how much you can raise a GRE score, if you're willing to invest the time, but you definitely start to see diminishing returns on the time that you're investing. Still, if you discover that your practice test score is a good 300 points lower than the average of accepted students at your top choice schools, or something, you might want to think about making the test a priority.</p>
<p>The important thing, I think, is usually to bring your scores into the average range of students accepted by your top choice schools. Do a little research to figure out that range, and then plan accordingly.</p>
<p>I took the test this August. I spent about 2 months studying, doing paper exams from the ETS book and near the end the computer practice tests. Most of my study time was spent on vocab memorization and brainstorming about the essay topics. I'm a quantitative person so I didn't spend much time on the math, though I did find that section to be a little hard than expected. Start practicing earlier to get a feel for pacing.</p>