<p>I just gave the first powerprep GRE test and did really bad. I'm planning to take the GRE around September. Do you guys think an increase in verbal of about 200 to 250 points possible with some intense vocabulary prep? How much preparation is usually needed? Out of the 10 questions that I got wrong 8 of them were antonyms/analogies and two of them CR. So I guess vocab is my main problem.</p>
<p>I have the Princeton Review book with me right now. I plan to get Barron's for their word-list.</p>
<p>Use the Barron's list, go through and mark all the words you don't know immediately. Then go through and write sentences using the words you checked. Make sure they are in a good context though, (i.e. "Even though Jane had a lot of money, she was still quite penurious"). Then review your list of sentences; its much easier to remember your own thoughts.
Reading comp is probably the hardest thing to practice, but it helps.</p>
<p>How much did you get??? I am also giving the GRE in September. in my first GRE powerprep test (which i gave without any preperation btw)... i got 700 Quant/ 510 Verbal......Which is quiet low to my liking.
i have started reading the PrincetonReview Book and hope to increase my score to about 780/640...</p>
<p>The barron's word list is good....and since you have the time you may as well learn it....
What are you applying for???</p>
<p>thanks for the replies guys. my verbal score is lower than yours, abso, and it's quite ironic since i remember giving the powerprep gre right after high-school, just as a practice for the SAT's, and had a higher score than what i have now. i guess i had more practice giving standardized tests then.</p>
<p>i'm applying to chemistry PhD programs. It seems the GRE is the only thing that is on my way of getting to a good graduate school, as my other "stats" are pretty good. Hopefully I'll be able to pull off a relatively good score.</p>
<p>no worries everyone. I'm in the same situation...took the powerprep verbal, and got a 530. I'm hoping to at least get 600 when I take it in August. I've heard the practice tests were harder than the real thing anyways. </p>
<p>And that's a great advice urrjun...it's all about memorizing and understanding those annoying words we never really use. I heard Barrons is the best out there, any opinions on princetonreview?</p>
<p>Definitely possible. I took the Barron's diagnostic as my first test. I got about a 400 on the verbal, I was pretty appalled (especially as an English major). A lot of it was due to the fact that I hadn't taken a standardized test (or any type of test really!) in such a long time. I took the powerprep last night, and got a 610 on the verbal (I'm aiming for a 700). And I took the diagnostic at maybe at the beginning of this month. If the main problem is vocab, which was partially where I was somewhat weak, then it should be very easy to study for. Pair that off with good literature and it should help significantly.</p>
<p>oh wow, you got the exact same score SlantNGo. Im afraid of taking the powerprep tests, Im almost afraid to know what my score will be like. I just realized that this post was from a year ago. I did a search and just replied :p</p>