<p>Regulator, I’m from the US. Attended college here and then went to work for ten years. So I haven’t been in school since 1999 (13 years… wow). I am studying 30 minutes to an hour every day, mainly vocabulary, reading tips on how to write the essay (because it’s different than the professional writing I’m used to), and making sure I’m familiar with the question formats.</p>
<p>I think the key to getting a high score if you’re fresh out of college is to be familiar with the question types. The Princeton Review has a FREE online test, and you can pay something like $5 US to get your essays graded on top of that. You can see how hard it is for you.</p>
<p>Also, check to see whether British spelling will count against you in the essay portion, and make sure you’re familiar with the American five-paragraph essay. It’s a very simple formula but I wrote an expository essay on my sample test instead and I think I got graded down for that because they are really looking for that five-paragraph essay format.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>