increases your overall health and circulation.
Eating well
Certain foods and beverages affect your cognitive ability, so avoid highly processed foods and foods high in sugar, starch, or fat. These foods tend to make you feel sluggish or result in bursts of energy followed by prolonged crashes. Lean more toward veggies — especially green, leafy veggies — and foods that are high in protein. When it comes to carbohydrates, go for complex over simple. Complex carbohydrates are typically in fresh fruits, veggies, and whole-grain products. Simple carbohydrates (to be avoided) are in candy, soda, anything made from white flour, and most junk foods, including chips. And forget those energy drinks that combine huge amounts of caffeine and sugar to get you to a state of heightened tension.
Relaxing
Relaxation comes in different forms for different people. Some folks are relaxed with friends; some read books and play music; and some do yoga, meditate, or paint. The only requirement when choosing how to relax is making sure your brain isn’t running 100 miles an hour. The whole purpose of relaxation is to give your brain a rest. So find a relaxing activity you enjoy, thank your brain by telling it to take some time off, and recharge.
Mastering the Computer Part
Sure, you know computers, but do you know this particular app — the GRE? Probably not, but it’s easy to learn. Just make sure that you learn the ins and outs before taking the actual exam. Don’t risk making a mistake that kills your score, such as getting stuck on a question because you forgot that you can skip it and go back.
To gain experience with the computerized GRE, take it for a test drive using the free practice exams from ETS. At the time of this writing, the practice exam package is web-based and features two actual GRE computer-based practice exams for you to become accustomed to the format of the real thing. Find it at www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/powerprep/.
The ETS practice exams look and feel exactly like the real thing, except that they don’t hold your life in the balance. Most of the buttons are self-explanatory, but these deserve special attention:
Mark: Mark enables you to flag the question for review, and when you click it, a small checkmark appears on the button. Click it again to remove the checkmark. That’s all it does. When you mark a question for review, if you haven’t answered the question, be sure to guess an answer! That way, if you run out of time, you at least have a shot at guessing it correctly. (See Chapter 2 for more info.)
Review: Review takes you to the Review Screen, which shows a list of questions in the section along with which ones have been answered and which ones have been flagged for review using the Mark button. Select any question from the list, click the Go To button (which is only on that screen), and you’re back at that question. You can then review the question and change your answer if desired. A common trap is marking every question that you have the slightest doubt on, intending to go back to it later. Problem is, when you’ve reached the end of the section, you have 16 questions marked and only four minutes to work them! Be sure to prioritize what you truly want to go back to.
Exit Section: This button ends the section and saves your essay or answers so you can proceed to the next section. After you click this button, you can’t go back to change answers or return to unanswered questions in the section.
Quit Test: This button ends the exam and cancels your scores. Don’t use this one.
Take the computerized sample test not only to get a feel for the content and format of the questions but also to become accustomed to selecting answers and using the buttons to navigate. A day or two prior to the actual test, take the computerized practice test again to reorient yourself with the buttons.
For additional practice, head online as described in the book’s Introduction, where you can access computer-based practice exams, albeit in a slightly different format. And for even more practice, check out 1,001 GRE Practice Questions For Dummies (Wiley).
Bringing the GRE into Your Comfort Zone
Panicking about the GRE is counterproductive. You want to enter the testing center feeling confident and relaxed, which means bringing the GRE into your comfort zone. Working through this book and taking the practice tests can bring you very close to that goal, but having the right mindset is also useful. The following sections put the GRE in the proper perspective and serve to remind you of just how prepared you really are.
Getting familiar with what’s on the exam
The GRE focuses on a specific range of core concepts and presents questions in a fairly predictable format. Surprises are unlikely, especially if you’re prepared and know what to expect. After you’ve successfully completed this book, you’ll have the knowledge and experience needed to do great on the exam. You gain even more familiarity with the test questions and format by taking the computerized GRE sample tests.
Understanding the other admissions requirements
Although your performance on the GRE is important for admission, it’s not the only thing that admissions departments look at. Your work experience, GPA, extracurricular activities (including volunteer work), and other factors that define you are also important parts of your application. Of course, you should do your very best on the exam, but this isn’t a do-or-die situation. Worst case: Retake the exam. I’ve had plenty of students forget key points from class and make mistakes on the day of the test. Next time around, they aced it!
Part 2
