<p>So I took the GRE general test a year ago twice, and scored a 490 and 410 on the verbal. I'm seriously considering taking it a 3RD time.</p>
<p>But I took two practice tests a few days ago from Powerprep, and got in the mid 500s! When I took the practice tests in the past, my scores varied wildly, from low 400s to low 500s. And I have since forgot hundreds of the words I had memorized. Maybe I just got test anxiety? I guess having read alot more since then could also have helped the reading comp section</p>
<p>However, I then took two practice paper tests from Barron's GRE test prep, and both times I scored in the low 400s for the verbal!</p>
<p>I heard that the Powerprep is a good predictor for a score. But what about the Barrons practice test? Is the big difference in my scores troubling? Or should I just ignore the Barron's score?</p>
<p>In my experience, none of them are good predictors. When I did ETS GRE sample paper test that’s available online, I got a 740 or 750 on V. When I did the Barron’s practice paper tests, I was typically around 700. When I did the PowerPrep tests, I was at 690 and 650 I think. On the actual test, I got a 620. Now, I felt the actual test was harder than any of those I had practiced so I knew my score would be lower than I had hoped. Also, I took the test only once (perfect scores on the other two sections which were much more important than the verbal and I didn’t want to waste the time, money, and chance that I’d mess up) so I don’t have a large sample size. However, if all of your scores are in the low 400 to low 500 range, there’s a pretty good chance that’s where you’ll end up on the real thing.</p>
<p>Anyways, I’ve already learned the test-taking strategies for the Antonym, analogies, etc. But how much does memorizing THOUSANDS of words help? i memorized the high-frequency word list in the past, and memorized hundreds, if not thousands, of words from Barrons, but it must not have helped</p>
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<p>I don’t think it helps at all really. The most important thing is to memorize the ones that are most likely to be the tests – words like parsimonious, lassitude, facile, etc. The Kaplan flash card set with 500 cards is amazing for that ([Amazon.com:</a> Kaplan GRE Exam Vocabulary in a Box (9781607140528): Kaplan: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-GRE-Exam-Vocabulary-Box/dp/1607140527]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-GRE-Exam-Vocabulary-Box/dp/1607140527)).</p>
<p>Also, I can’t comment on Barron’s, but using PowerPrep I got a 650 on the verbal and then on the actual test I got a 630.</p>