When and How To Start Studying for the GRE

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm a university student in Canada, looking to go to a good American school for a Masters in Applied Science in the field of Civil (Structural) Engineering. I'll be graduating in April 2011. I'm not sure when I should start studying for the GRE, and I can't figure out when I should even take it. My school does a work-experience term every four months, so I will be working from January to April 2010, in school taking classes from May to August 2010, and working again in September to December 2010, then completing my final courses from January to April 2011. I figure studying for the GRE will be hard to do while taking classes, so I'd like to start studying for it January to April 2010 while I'm working, though I'm not sure if I can take the test at the end of April - it'll be a year in advance of when I graduate, which seems awfully premature.</p>

<p>Finally, I'm not sure what book to study from. My vocabulary will need TONS of work. Any suggestions of what my time line should be for studying, taking the test, and what I should use to study especially if my vocabulary SUCKS?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Nova press was a good tool to study. Also <a href=“http://www.mygremathtutor.com%5B/url%5D”>www.mygremathtutor.com</a> and [Math</a> tutor in Miami for people that hate math, GRE/SAT/CPT test preparation services](<a href=“http://www.i-hate-math.com%5DMath”>http://www.i-hate-math.com) were helpful. For the English area I found [url=<a href=“http://www.supervocabulary.com%5Dsupervocabulary.com%5B/url”>http://www.supervocabulary.com]supervocabulary.com[/url</a>]</p>

<p>sorry i meant [supervocab.com:</a> your vocabulary builder site](<a href=“http://supervocab.com/index.php]supervocab.com:”>http://supervocab.com/index.php)</p>

<p>I would say go for official gre guide by ETS or use Barrons for vocabulary and quantitative. Also Kaplan is very good for verbal section.</p>

<p>Go through Barron’s entirely. Then take a Powerprep exam (Barron’s is going to give you a lower score than Powerprep, so don’t worry about that). If you’re not satisfied you’ll know what to work on. If you really need to work on vocab, try finding the Big Book exams online or just work through a vocab list like Barron’s or Princeton Review’s. There are some online things for vocab that are easy to find with google. Also look into Anki or Mnemosyne for computer-based learning tools for vocab.</p>

<p>Take the exam whenever you feel prepared (make sure you give yourself plenty of time, though, in case of unforeseen complications). I graduate when you do and I took it in January just to get it over with so it’s one less thing to worry about.</p>