<p>I'm studying vocab from Barron's now (went through the 800-word book and am now going through 3500 more words in a bigger book by them). However, I keep on hearing Kaplan as the name to use for studying vocab, but I was just wondering why people are so certain that their words tend to appear more frequently than the words by any other publisher. I was wondering where they got their evidence or anecdotes from. Should I scrap Barron's and just use Kaplan's?</p>
<p>Unfortunately you cant study for the verbal section (the exception is by reading tons for years before the test). I memorized Kaplan’s words, and I only saw like 1-2 on the test. Studying for that section is pointless. Just review your math and take it. Dont waste your time studying for the verbal.</p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>Movewest’s post is TOTALLY WRONG!!! TOTALLY WRONG!!!</p>
<p>Frankly, it is rather disconcerting that someone would be giving such poor advice.</p>
<p>You can study for the verbal. Frankly, you would be a moron not to. </p>
<p>Almost ALL of the 500 words in the Kaplan book show up in the 3500word list by Barrons. Prob is the Barrons list has a lot of words you will never see.</p>
<p>I didn’t read a single book for leisure since highschool. But I did read over the economist, a few newspapers, and science papers now and again.</p>
<p>However, when I first wrote the verbal practice CAT, I scored a 500V. My first actual test was 640V and my second go at the actual test got me a 670V—both very high scores. Obviously I was doing something to improve my score! It sure as hell wasn’t fluke for me to jump from 60th percentile on my 1st practice test to well over 90th percentile on my actual tests.</p>
<p>The GRE uses a bank of words. Some words are used more often than others. Most prep word lists the most freqently covered words. Some word lists are overkill–like the Barrons word list.</p>
<p>So if you could memorize 500words that constitute ~60-70% of the words that you will see or 3500 words that cover 85% of the words that show up, which list would you memorize? Obviously the 500word list.</p>
<p>It is a case of diminishing gains. Once you memorize the 500 or so frequently seen words, every word after that shows up less frequently. So you need to maximize your gains in the shortest time possible.</p>
<p>I don’t know where people get the evidence for this. However, my friend suggested I do this and I did. It worked fabulously. I have since recommended it to 3 other people, all of whom have written the test and have scored over 600V. Once a whole series of anecdotes match the observed phenomenom, then there is something there.</p>
<p>Don’t bother asking why it works. it JUST DOES. Stop asking questions and memorize the damned 500word list already.</p>
<p>I agree that it is difficult to study for the verbal section. I just had this conversation with a bunch of people that have taken. We all pretty much agreed that the book helped with 1-3 questions. The important thing to do is get familiar with the question types. Memorizing the book will get you a couple questions, but I too suggest that you not go overboard with the vocab.</p>
<p>I know people that spent a year or more studying vocab for that thing, and they still claim that it helped them with only a few questions. If you really need to work on it they got vocab from the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, etc.</p>
<p>Kaplan vs Barron’s: Kaplan has a smaller list of words that shows up more frequently so I would focus on that. If you want to learn more words, then start studying Barrons, but again make sure you know Kaplan’s inside out.</p>
<p>It helped me on more than 1-3 questions…for just about every practice CAT, including powerprep. It also held true for the actual test. I would guess ~4-6 questions.</p>
<p>4-6 questions out of the 30 can make a big difference.</p>
<p>The key think to remember is to cover the BigBook tests. That is KEY!</p>
<p>You can totally study for the vocab section - I learned all of:
-Kaplan’s ‘GRE in a Box’ 500 words,
-kaplans ‘top 200’ words in the back of the book,
-kaplans ‘word lists’ in the back of the book,
-kaplans 400 word work out (from the website),
-and barrons 3500 list (I studied kaplans first, then went through the whole barrons list, writing down all the words I didn’t know already, which was about 300 words).
That sounds like a lot but a lot of kaplans stuff overlaps (the same words in the box, lists, etc). Actually, Dan Browns new book (as bad as it was) had lot of the kaplans gre words in it! Reading helps reinforce the words you just learned now that your mind is attuned for them (you start seeing them everywhere). I got a 700 on the test and a ton of the words I studied showed up on the test. You can completely master the V section if you put in the effort. (Now, I disagree that you can master the Q section in this same manner, but that’s another story…)</p>
<p>MasterMoe, I’m going to be taking the GRE pretty soon–where do I find these “500 words” to study, is the Kaplan study guide that you are referring to?? Any info would be greatly appreciated! Also, do you know what kind of math topics/areas I should be prepared to see on the GRE? Thanks! " :)</p>
<p>Look up some of my other posts in the GRE subforum. Kaplan has a book of ~500 words and a 500word flashcard vocab guide. Either is fine.</p>
<p>Just use Amazon or Kaplan’s website. Should be absurdly easy to find.</p>
<p>i gave a gre verbal test just for kicks yesterday, without any prior prep and any real frame of mind too. i got 650 in the verbal test, which i believe is considered pretty good. the only explanation i have is that i have been reading as a leisure activity books ever since i was in pre-first grade. reading seems to have helped my vocab tremendously. memorizing words seems like a very stupid idea to me. what is the use of memorizing words if you dont know how to use them in context?</p>
<p>Well you are simply one person arronnie and you definitely do not represent the typical test-taker.</p>
<p>I will try and explain why your comments regarding memorizing words are totally absurd.</p>
<p>Many of us don’t read for leisure and even if we do, we don’t read the kind of material that contains GRE words. I will read the economist and a few other news websites and papers now and again but I don’t read novels for leisure. The last time I read one was back in grade 12 and that was for an english class. </p>
<p>I typically read molecular biology research papers and these papers usually do not contain the type of words found in the GRE.</p>
<p>And trust me when I say I am not the odd one out–there are a lot of people taking the GRE who will find themselves in the same position.</p>
<p>Although I initially scored a 520 on my first Powerpoint practice test prior to any form of study, I still feel my reading comprehension was top notch. I wrote the test twice and scored a 640Verbal and 670Verbal after some very focused studying that involved a lot of past tests and memorizing ~500 words. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, reading to improve one’s vocab is a gradual process and is an endeavor that will take months or years before one sees dramatic improvements. However, by memorizing words and running through many practice problems and past verbal tests, a test taker can make these same gains in the span of weeks.</p>
<p>Studying for the GRE more than a month or two is excessive and spectacular gains can be had if the test-taker follows a predetermined course of action that has proven successful for other test takers.</p>
<p>Surely memorizing 3500 word lists is insane. To all those who did memorize the Barron’s word list— you totally wasted your time. However, memorizing a condensed word list of the most frequently tested words has proven successful for countless test takers and is the best option for those who want a quick means of increasing their verbal score dramatically. </p>
<p>My point is although it isn’t everything that is needed, memorizing word lists (which often do have sentences that show the word used in context) can be and often is the main factor that allows many test takers to score high on the GRE verbal.</p>
<p>How else do you explain the countless international students from India and China who score 600+ on the verbal and admittedly don’t have a college level grasp of the English language?</p>
<p>Do you think they started reading novels? </p>
<p>No. They memorized word lists among other things and saw immediate results.</p>
<p>I’m from India too, and I know lots of people who do that. A lot of people in the second or third year of my college can be seen with flash cards in their hands :)</p>
<p>I’m not saying it’s a bad practice per se, all I am saying is - it gives rather short term gains, and merely stated an opinion. If people find it effective, it’s good for them. I find it a bit silly personally.</p>
<p>No offense meant though.</p>