332 GRE | 330+ in GRE | 170 Quants, 162 Verbal | Tips, Tricks and Strategy | Study Plan & Resources

Summary

In this episode of the Dialogue Project, the host interviews a Columbia University electrical engineering student who scored a 332 on the GRE. The discussion covers the GRE exam pattern, including the analytical writing, quantitative, and verbal reasoning sections, and the adaptive nature of the test. The student shares her preparation strategy, which involved attending coaching classes, using various GRE prep books, and taking 13 mock tests. She emphasizes the importance of vocabulary building, focusing on weak areas, and continuous revision. Additionally, she provides tips on maintaining focus during the exam, utilizing free resources for essay grading, and the value of a light study day before the test to ensure freshness and good sleep.

Takeaways

• 📚 The GRE exam consists of three types of questions: Analytical Writing, Quantitative Reasoning, and Verbal Reasoning, with each section containing 20 questions and an unscored experimental section.
• 🕒 The GRE is a section-adaptive exam, with the difficulty of subsequent sections depending on the performance in the initial sections, and the entire exam lasts about four hours.
• 📈 The speaker prepared for the GRE for approximately five months, starting in mid-March and taking the exam in August 2020.
• 🏫 The speaker attended coaching classes at Inspiras, which helped in understanding the exam pattern and question level.
• 📝 The speaker took 13 mock tests from various sources, with an average score of 327, and found the PowerPrep tests to be the most accurate in reflecting the actual exam.
• 📚 The Manhattan GRE Prep book was a primary resource, with a focus on learning vocabulary and practicing problem-solving.
• 📝 The speaker emphasized the importance of identifying strengths and weaknesses and preparing accordingly, especially for areas of weakness like Reading Comprehension.
• 📱 The Magoosh app was used for vocabulary building, focusing on common and basic words, and noting down unfamiliar words with example sentences for better retention.
• 📅 A consistent study plan was followed, including daily word learning, weekly mock tests, and regular revisions of learned material.
• ✍️ The speaker regrets not practicing the Analytical Writing section enough and recommends using resources like Princeton's autograder for feedback.
• 🛌 For the day before the GRE, the speaker advises reviewing vocabulary and weak points, avoiding full-length mock tests to prevent exhaustion, and ensuring a good night's sleep.

Q & A

What is the GRE exam pattern and what sections does it include?

The GRE exam consists of three types of questions: Analytical Writing, Quantitative Reasoning, and Verbal Reasoning. Analytical Writing has two essays of 30 minutes each. There are two sections each for Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning, with each section containing 20 questions and lasting 35 minutes for Quantitative and 30 minutes for Verbal. Additionally, there is an unscored experimental section that could be either verbal or quantitative, and its identity is unknown to the test taker.

How does the GRE scoring system work for the adaptive sections?

The GRE is a section-adaptive exam. The difficulty of the second Quantitative and Verbal sections depends on the performance in the first sections of their respective types. The first section in each type is of average difficulty, and based on the score, the following section may be easier or harder.

When did the interviewee take the GRE and how long did they prepare for it?

The interviewee took the GRE in August 2020 and started preparing in mid-March 2020, which indicates a preparation period of about five months.

Did the interviewee enroll in any coaching classes for GRE preparation?

Yes, the interviewee enrolled in Inspira's coaching classes, which were conveniently located near their college in Andheri.

How did the interviewee find the difficulty level of the questions in the coaching class compared to the actual GRE exam?

The interviewee found the difficulty level of the questions in the coaching class to be very similar to those in the actual GRE exam, as the GRE is a popular exam with many questions available online and in classes.

How many mock tests did the interviewee take and what was their average score?

The interviewee took 13 mock tests, starting in June, and their average score was 327. Their actual GRE score of 332 was their all-time high.

What was the interviewee's experience with different mock test providers?

The interviewee used mock tests from Manhattan, Princeton, Kaplan, and the official GRE PowerPrep. They found Manhattan's Quantitative section to be the toughest, while the PowerPrep tests were the most accurate representation of the actual exam, especially for the Verbal section.

Which books and authors did the interviewee refer to for GRE preparation?

The interviewee primarily used the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems and also referred to Kaplan's online question banks for additional practice.

What strategies did the interviewee use to improve their Reading Comprehension skills?

The interviewee focused on doing a lot of Reading Comprehension practice through Kaplan question banks to identify and improve their weaknesses in this area.

What word list did the interviewee use to build their vocabulary for the GRE Verbal section?

The interviewee used the Magoosh app for GRE vocabulary, focusing on the common and basic words, and also used the vocabulary list at the end of the Manhattan GRE prep book.

What advice does the interviewee have for test takers regarding the GRE Analytical Writing section?

The interviewee recommends making use of Princeton's autograder for the Analytical Writing section, as it provides a free and valuable tool for practicing and improving essay writing skills.

What is the interviewee's suggestion for GRE aspirants one day before the exam?

The interviewee suggests revising all learned words and reviewing common mistake areas, avoiding taking a mock test to prevent exhaustion, and ensuring a good night's sleep.

Outlines

00:00

📚 GRE Exam Overview and Preparation Strategy

The speaker provides an overview of the GRE exam structure, including the types of questions, the time allocated for each section, and the adaptive nature of the test. She shares her personal GRE preparation timeline, starting in mid-March and culminating in her August 2020 exam. She also discusses enrolling in Inspiras coaching classes and the similarity between the coaching materials and the actual GRE questions. Additionally, she mentions the importance of the experimental section, even though it is unscored, and the section-adaptive feature of the GRE.

05:01

📈 Mock Test Experience and Study Materials

The speaker details her experience with mock tests, having taken 13 in total with varying difficulty levels from different vendors. She found the PowerPrep official GRE mock tests to be the most accurate in reflecting the actual exam. She also discusses the books she used for preparation, emphasizing the Manhattan GRE Prep book and the importance of vocabulary building with the help of the Magoosh app and Manhattan's vocabulary list. The speaker further explains her method of identifying strengths and weaknesses and focusing on areas of improvement, such as reading comprehension.

10:03

🔍 Insights on GRE Quantitative and Verbal Sections

The speaker offers insights into the GRE's quantitative and verbal sections, suggesting that for those with an engineering background, the quantitative section may not be overly difficult conceptually but requires careful attention to avoid tricky questions. She shares her study plan for the five months leading up to the GRE, which included learning new vocabulary words daily, revising them weekly and monthly, and focusing on problem areas. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of continuous revision to retain the large number of vocabulary words required for the GRE verbal section.

15:03

✍️ Exam Day Strategies and Recommendations

The speaker provides exam day strategies, recommending against doing a mock test the day before the exam to avoid exhaustion. She suggests revising all learned words and reviewing common mistake areas instead. The speaker also highlights the importance of getting a good night's sleep before the exam. Additionally, she advises on the use of Princeton's autograder for Analytical Writing practice and recommends the GREgmat YouTube channel for essay structuring and other GRE preparation tips.

🗓️ Pre-Exam Preparation and Final Thoughts

The speaker concludes with advice for aspirants on what to do one day before the GRE exam, reiterating the importance of revision and avoiding a full-length mock test to ensure freshness and focus on the exam day. She expresses hope that her shared tactics and strategies will be helpful for viewers and wishes them well in their GRE preparation. The host thanks the speaker for her insights and invites viewers to like, share, and subscribe to their YouTube channel for more content.

Keywords

💡GRE

GRE stands for Graduate Record Examinations, which is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in the United States and other English-speaking countries. In the video, the guest discusses her experience and strategies for scoring a high GRE score, making it a central theme of the content.

💡Analytical Writing

Analytical Writing is the first section of the GRE that assesses the candidate's ability to articulate and support complex ideas, examine claims and evidence, and control the elements of standard written English. The video mentions this section as part of the GRE exam pattern and the importance of not skipping it during practice.

💡Quantitative Reasoning

Quantitative Reasoning is one of the scored sections of the GRE that measures problem-solving skills using mathematical models and arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. The script refers to it as one of the two main scored sections, each containing 20 questions and lasting 35 minutes.

💡Verbal Reasoning

Verbal Reasoning is another scored section of the GRE designed to measure the ability to analyze and understand complex reading passages, and to analyze the meaning of words, sentences, and entire texts. The video script discusses the importance of vocabulary and reading comprehension within this section.

💡Experimental Section

The Experimental Section is an unscored part of the GRE that does not contribute to the final score but is used by test makers for future test development. The video emphasizes that candidates do not know which section is experimental and should treat all sections with equal importance.

💡Section Adaptive

Section Adaptive refers to the GRE's scoring mechanism where the difficulty of subsequent sections is adjusted based on the performance in the initial sections. The script explains that the first section is of average difficulty, and the difficulty level of subsequent sections is determined by the candidate's performance.

💡Mock Tests

Mock Tests are practice exams that simulate the actual GRE test environment and are used for preparation. The video script mentions that the guest took 13 mock tests, which helped her gauge her performance and prepare for the actual GRE.

💡Vocabulary

Vocabulary is a critical component of the GRE Verbal Reasoning section, and the script discusses the importance of building a strong vocabulary to succeed in the GRE. The guest mentions learning 20 new words every day and using various resources to enhance her vocabulary.

💡Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension is a part of the Verbal Reasoning section where candidates must read and understand complex texts, then answer questions about them. The script highlights the guest's struggle with this part and her efforts to improve her skills in this area.

💡Magoosh

Magoosh is an online test preparation platform that offers GRE study materials, including vocabulary apps and practice questions. The video script mentions the Magoosh app for vocabulary as one of the resources the guest used for GRE preparation.

💡Manhattan Prep

Manhattan Prep is an educational company known for its test preparation materials, including GRE prep books. The script refers to the Manhattan GRE prep book as a standard resource that the guest used extensively for her preparation.

💡Kaplan

Kaplan is an educational company that provides test preparation services and materials, including for the GRE. The video mentions Kaplan question banks as a resource the guest used to improve her Reading Comprehension skills.

💡Exam Strategies

Exam Strategies refer to the tactics and approaches used to maximize performance on a test. The script discusses various strategies such as not skipping sections, maintaining focus throughout the test, and the importance of practice and revision.

💡AWA

AWA stands for Analytical Writing Assessment, which is the section of the GRE that measures analytical writing skills. The video script mentions the importance of practicing AWA and using resources like Princeton's autograder for feedback.

💡Greg Matt

Greg Matt is a YouTube channel mentioned in the script that provides GRE preparation tips, particularly for the Analytical Writing Assessment. The guest recommends watching Greg Matt's videos for essay structuring and writing techniques.

Highlights

Introduction of the GRE exam pattern, including the types of questions and marking scheme.

Explanation of the GRE's section adaptive nature and how performance in the first sections influences the difficulty of subsequent sections.

Duration of the GRE exam, including the experimental section which is not scored.

The speaker's personal GRE preparation timeline, starting in mid-March and ending in August 2020.

Enrollment in coaching classes and the similarity of the coaching class questions to the actual GRE exam.

The speaker's experience with mock tests and their performance compared to the actual GRE.

Comparison of different GRE mock test providers and their difficulty levels.

Importance of the PowerPrep official GRE mock tests for their accuracy in reflecting the actual exam.

Recommendation of the Manhattan GRE prep book and the speaker's approach to learning vocabulary.

Use of the Magoosh app for GRE vocabulary and the speaker's strategy for learning and revising words.

Identification of personal strengths and weaknesses and targeted practice for improvement.

The speaker's study plan for the five months leading up to the GRE exam, including daily word learning and weekly mock tests.

Importance of continuous revision of learned words to prevent forgetting.

Strategies for dealing with the GRE's analytical writing section and the use of auto-grading software.

Recommendation of the GREgmat YouTube channel for AWA preparation and essay structuring.

Advice for the day before the GRE exam, emphasizing rest and revision rather than taking a mock test.

Closing remarks encouraging aspirants to utilize the shared strategies for better GRE preparation.

Transcripts

hey everyone welcome to the fifth

episode of the dialogue project we have

with us

who's pursuing ms in electrical

engineering at columbia university she

is here to discuss how she scored a 332

in gre

so welcome

hi thank you for having me

thank you so much uh let's start get

started with the questions uh over to

you akash

uh thank you azithya and uh thank you

for joining us today

uh so let's start with uh your plan of

action and

everything for gre so the first question

from our side is what like

what exactly is the exam pattern

for the gre and the

kind of sections they have and the

marking scheme

okay so the gre has three types of

questions the first part is the

analytical writing so analytical writing

has two essays which are 30 minutes each

and then it is followed by quantitative

reasoning and verbal reasoning so you

have two quantitative reasoning sections

and two verbal reasoning sections each

one section is of 35 minutes and

consists of 20 questions and each verbal

section is of 30 minutes and also

consists of 20 questions however there

is one more section called the

experimental section which could be

either verbal or cons you do not know

that in advance so which is the fifth

section and all of these five sections

could be in any order so you don't know

it could be quants or will points will

be considered it could be in any order

so you don't know that

and that's the pattern so the exam lasts

for about four hours including the

experimental section

so this section which you mentioned

right now is not scored right

no it is not scored the experimental

section is not scored but like i said

you do not know which is your experiment

which is your experimental section so

you should give each section with equal

importance and the gre is a section

adaptive exam which means that depending

on your performance in the first quarter

and the first verbal section the

difficulty of the sections after that is

decided so the first section is always

of average difficulty and depending on

how you score in in that section the

section after that would be probably of

higher difficulty or lower difficulty

okay okay i understood

and uh so when did you take the gre and

how long uh before taking the exam you

actually start

kind of preparing for it

okay so i took my gre in august 2020 and

i started preparing for it uh around

mid-march 2020 yeah mid-march so i think

i prepared for about five months

okay

and or did you also enroll for any

coaching classes you know i went to

inspiras uh so a lot of students from my

college went to that class so i also

enrolled for that it was an andheri near

my college so i used to go the classes

after

my classes at college

okay i understood

so what were the level of questions in

the coaching class as compared to that

in the exam

uh so the level of questions was uh very

similar since the gre is a very popular

exam so you'll find a lot of questions

available online and in classes so all

all of the questions are

very similar to the ones that ones that

appear in the actual exam

okay

so how many mobs did you give and like

what was your performance in them as

compared to the actual example

okay so i gave uh 13 mocks and i started

giving my marks in

june so i think i gave mocks for two

months so around i used to give two

marks every week somewhere about that

sometimes one once per week or twice per

week and my performance in the mocks was

uh it was okay so i my average score was

327 for all of my mock tests

but so i never really crossed 313 any of

my marks so my score in my actual gre

was my all-time high t32

but

the mocks that i gave from different uh

different

uh vendors if you will so i gave

manhattan i gave princeton then i gave

the powerprep so every every vendor had

different difficulty levels so manhattan

was a really tough box i gave i i bought

the six mock test kit from manhattan and

i felt that the quant section of

manhattan was tougher than the actual

exam

but

princeton was okay kaplan was okay and

the power prep that is the official gre

mock test so the gre gives you two

official mock tests to prepare for and

both of them actually match the actual

exam in the most accurate way possible

especially for the verbal section and uh

but i felt that the cons on the

powerprep was a little easier than the

con section of my actual exam

okay that's what it is

level right so the pop-up proper plus is

a paid mock testing the just power prep

is a free thing so i didn't try pogba i

already gave 13 bucks so i thought it

was fine but

yes i bought that proper plus is better

and i think it gives you a better

analysis of your

um answers as well

okay okay

so which books did you refer to and if

you could please mention the names of

the authors and the publications that

you referred

okay

so i think the book that i did

uh book that i used the most was the

manhattan five pounds gre prep book i

think that's a pretty standard book

everyone does that so i so how i started

was i started with the points section of

that book first and i tried doing the

verbal section but i realized that in

gre verbal is largely based on

vocabulary and i did not have that

strong of a vocabulary so i thought that

first i should try and learn as many

words as possible and then i i would get

into solving because otherwise it

wouldn't make sense uh i wouldn't i just

wouldn't know the words enough to

actually try and answer the questions so

i started doing points and i would

prepare i would learn

20 words every day

and after i acquired a certain number of

after i learned a certain number of

words then i started solving the verbal

section so i finished pawns and then i

finished all the words and then i did

verbal for five pounds and after that i

did uh kaplan question marks which are

available online so i did that and i

think what is important is that while

solving all of these topics you you

often realize that uh what are your

strengths and weaknesses and i realized

that for me it was reading comprehension

i used to struggle a lot in reading

comprehension so then i went like i said

i went ahead and did kaplan question

banks and i did a lot of reading

comprehensions through that to improve

my rc skills

so it it really depends from depends on

you and your plus and minuses to

actually decide and go ahead and do

extra prep for the areas that you're

weaker in

okay true

and i had one question about word lists

actually so which word list did you

refer to like okay so for for the word

list i there's a there's a magoosh app

for vocab for gre so i started with that

and i think it has three levels basic uh

intermediate and advanced so i did all

the

oh it's common basic and advanced so i

did all the common and basic words i did

not do the advanced words because i

heard that a lot of advanced words are

not asked in the exam so i did all the

common and basic words and then i went

and did uh so manhattan also has this

vocab list at the end of the book so i

did all of those words as well

and i think

yeah i think that was pretty much it and

then the words that i found while doing

all the questions the rc's and all the

uh questions in verbal section i should

just note on all of those words i think

this is really important like when even

when you do all the magoosh words or the

manhattan words you often come come

across words that you have never seen

before so it's important to write those

down in a book and

more importantly it's important to also

write an example of the usage of that

word to remember it better because i i

realize that you you tend to remember it

better when you can actually use that

word in a sentence so it's really

important to actually try and think

of how you can use that word in the

situation that you are familiar with

that really helps in grasping the

meaning uh quickly

got it

uh moving on along the same lines uh

what was your uh like what was your

study plan for the five months that you

prepared for the gre

okay okay so like i said i started with

uh doing the magoosh word lists and

manhattan points and then i moved on to

manhattan

and after that i did whatever i felt

like i was weak in which was mostly the

verbal section and then in june i really

started with the mock tests and uh with

the mock test i used to do like two mock

tests every week and i was also in

college at that time so i had classes

and projects of college so i couldn't

really uh

uh continuously prepare for gre as much

as i wanted to but i think being in

lockdown helped with that because i was

at home all the time so i saved time i

saved the commute time to and for

college

and uh after the walks i think i think

yeah i think just

it's important to continuously revise

all the words so even when you learn you

words so like i said i should try and do

20 new words every day but then every

sunday i used to

sit and revise all of the new words that

i had learned throughout the week and

then

so that was that week and then once in a

month i would revise all the words that

are done that month and it's really

important to continuously keep providing

revising the words because you tend to

forget the words and since that i i

think they're like a thousand words in

gi i don't remember maybe thousand if

not more so it's a lot of words to learn

in the in a short amount of time so it's

really important to keep revising the

words

and as for points i would say you you go

over all the problems that you

uh find difficult or that you tend to do

mistakes so i think for gre cons is not

that difficult if you have done

engineering especially if you have done

engineering maths so it's not difficult

concept wise but gre quants tends to be

tricky at times so it's really important

to be attentive and be careful and not

make silly mistakes so it's important to

list down uh the areas that you usually

end up freaking over so

i think that's it

got it perfect uh

then uh could you uh let us in on some

of your exam taking tips and strategies

okay so

i think

strategy

i think strategy would be

one thing that i felt i should have done

was

uh

i should have read more so gre verbal

gre verbals all of the texts in the

reading comprehensions are academic

texts in gre because their intention is

to prepare you for graduate school so

it's expected that you are able to

read and comprehend text from actual

from an act from an actual academic

setting and that that takes a lot of

effort like what what i realized was i

was i used to lose focus by

reading some of the bigger reading

comprehensions so if if i had a habit if

i had a reading habit then

that would have made me much more

equipped to deal with the reading

comprehension and one more thing is so

what is the

uh what what the difficult part about it

was sitting at one place for four hours

so i don't think we are just used to

sitting at one place or for us giving a

four hour long exam continuously is

really mentally taxing and while doing

all the mocks so like i mentioned before

we had the analytical writing section

and i would just skip over that section

i would think okay i'll just do it later

so i'll just skip over that and

jump right into the quants and the

verbal part and then that would make

that exam just three hours and that was

okay but in the in the actual exam it's

four hours so to stay focused till the

end is really difficult and like i said

in the actual exam there's an

experimental section and you don't know

which section it is so you can't afford

to lose focus by like the fourth section

and not be attended for the last section

right so i think it's important not to

skip over any section while giving the

morphs

and one more thing is uh so the

analytical writing section that is that

is one more thing that i regret so i

scored a four out of six in the

aws section and princeton has mock tests

which actually grade your aws so

they have this auto grading software so

you write the sc and i think they are

graded in in a few hours and it's really

good like it's decent it's good enough

to prepare you and i i because i skipped

almost this most of the essays i

couldn't really prepare that well but i

would say make the most of those free

mock tests and the essay grading part

because no other

test provider has a auto grader for

analytical writing so you should make

the most of

the princeton

uh autograder

it's also completely free right or this

yeah it's all free it's also you have

four mock tests and

it's free i think ets also uh

has a service where you pay around

twenty dollars to get your

uh essays graded for the awa section

okay

okay maybe i think i've heard about it

but i'm not sure i i didn't use it so

also one more thing there's a youtube

channel called greg matt and uh he's

really good with awa i did not know this

at the time of my preparation i found

out about this after but he's really

good and i i would recommend that you

watch those videos because he actually

teaches you how to structure and write

that essay and once you know how to do

that it's just easy it's like it's like

math you know the structures you just

have to fill in

fill in the bits depending on what the

problem statement is so i would

recommend that channel as well not just

for awa even for other other gre prep

things

got it

ah whereas we come to our last question

uh what would you suggest aspirants do

one day before the gre exam

okay i think that's a good question

um

i think one day before the exam i would

just

suggest everyone to revise all the words

and go over all the

places and points where you usually make

a mistake and i think that's it it's

really important to not do a mock test

one day before because doing a four hour

mock test really exhausts you and you do

not want to be exhausted one day before

the exam you have to be fresh and you

have to

sleep early and get good sleep getting

good sleep is is really important i

understand that people feel nervous and

they might be unable to sleep but it's

just really important to try and get a

good sleep and not do a mock this

because i think a lot of people feel

that you should do a mock test just

before the exams that you are perfectly

prepared but i don't know i disagree i

feel like if you do a mock test one day

before the exam you'll be too exhausted

to do one more

full length exam the day after so

yeah

keep have a light day if possible

thank you

for enlightening other viewers and us

with the ins and outs of gre your

tactics and

strategies on how you took the gre exam

um

thank you for your time

and all the best for having me i really

hope whatever i said was helpful and if

someone could have a better score i

would be really happy

thank you so much thank you thank you

thank you

i surely be helpful to our aspirants

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