out as many obviously incorrect choices as possible, and guess from the remaining choices.
Write down the question number or mark it for review, so you can return to it before time runs out on that section.
Finish the section, even if you must throw lots of mental darts (in other words, take lots of guesses) near the end. Wrong answers count the same as not answering a question, so guessing on questions that you would otherwise have left blank can only help your score, not hurt it.
Seeing or canceling your scores
Immediately after finishing the GRE, you have the option of either seeing or canceling your Verbal and Math scores. Unfortunately, you don’t get to see your scores first. If you think you had a bad day, you can cancel, and your scores are neither reported to the schools nor shown to you. However, the schools are notified that you canceled your test. If you choose to see your score, you see it — minus the essay scores — right away.
Taking advantage of the ScoreSelect option
At the end of the test, you have the option of choosing which test scores to send to your target schools, assuming that you’ve taken the GRE more than once. You can send the most recent scores, scores from the past (within five years), or all your test scores. However, you can’t pick and choose sections from different testing dates. For example, if today’s Verbal score rocked but last fall’s Math score was outstanding, you can’t select only those sections — you have to select the scores from one entire test. Choose to send the scores from today’s test, last fall’s test, or all your tests.
Your GRE score is good for five years after your testing date, so if you use ScoreSelect, you’re limited to exams within the past five years.
Catching Your Mental Breath: The GRE Intermissions
The GRE provides an optional ten-minute break after the third section of the exam. However, don’t expect to have this entire time to yourself: Part of that time is for checking in and out while the proctors go through their security procedures to ensure that you’re not bringing in any materials to cheat with. The ten-minute intermission is timed by the computer, which resumes the test whether you’re seated or not. You probably have five minutes to do your business, which leaves little time to grab a bite if you’re hungry. Plan accordingly by bringing snacks and water to leave in your locker, so that during your actual five minutes, you can refresh yourself without having to scramble.
Between other sections of the test, you get a one-minute break — just enough time to stand up and stretch a bit. You don’t have time to leave your seat and come back before the test resumes. If you absolutely, positively must use the restroom and leave the computer during the test, just remember that the clock keeps ticking.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TEST PREP
Stories abound about how someone’s friend’s cousin’s roommate took the GRE cold (with no preparation) and aced it. This story may be true on a very rare occasion, but you hear only the success stories. Those test-takers who went cold and bombed it don’t brag about the outcome. As an instructor, however, I hear those other stories all the time.
The GRE doesn’t test your intelligence: It tests how well you’ve prepared for the test. I’d put my money on a prepared dunce over an unprepared genius every single time. Dramatically raising a test-taker’s score, say from the 30th to the 90th percentile ranking, is something I do every day before breakfast, and it’s what I do for you in this book. Being prepared means knowing what to expect and how to answer the questions, which means that the first time you calculate a fraction of a circle had better not be on the actual GRE. Make your mistakes here, in practice, not on the test.
Chapter 2
Owning the GRE: Strategies for Success
IN THIS CHAPTER
The GRE isn’t an IQ test. Nor is it a measure of your worth as a human being or a predictor of your ultimate success in life. The GRE is designed to assess your ability to excel in grad school by sizing you up in three areas:
Work ethic: How hard you’re willing and able to work to achieve an elusive academic goal — in this case, performing well on the GRE — reflects (to them) your work ethic. Graduate schools consider this to be a measure of how hard you’ll work in their programs.
Study skills: To do well on the GRE, you must master some basic study skills and be able to process and retain new information.
Test-taking ability: This is your ability to perform well on a test, under pressure, which is a separate ability from being able to answer the questions. Exams are an essential part of grad school, so you need to prove that you can take a test without folding under pressure.
This book can’t help you in the first area: That’s all you. As a study guide, however, this book shapes you up in the second and third areas, enabling you to study more effectively and efficiently and improve your overall test-taking skills. By knowing the material and taking the practice tests, you establish a foundation for doing well on the GRE. And usually, if you know what to do and how to do it, you might find yourself working a little bit harder. In this way, this book can help you in that first area.
This chapter is designed to take your study skills and test-taking ability to the next level. To beat the GRE at its game, you need to maximize the use of your time, focus on key areas, and apply strategies to answer the questions quickly and correctly.
