GRE Prep Advice and Overview

General Tips:

• To maximize your score, leave the questions you don’t like for last
• Use the “mark” button for tricky problems
• Skip around questions
• Always guess rather than leave something blank
• Use POE rather than trying to find the “correct” answer
• For math - they try to trick you into doing more math than needed
• Re-read all directions and double-check answers
• Accuracy over speed

Geography of the Verbal Section:

• 3 sections - Text Completions, Sentence Equivalence, Reading Comp
• Performance on first verbal section determines difficult of second section
• Text Completion → Reading Comp → Sentence Equiv → Reading Comp
• Be skeptical of recycled language
• Remember the scope of the question
• Work your strengths first
• Sort key terms into 3 categories
  • Words Known, Sort of Know, Do Not Know
• Make a vocab list

Text Completion:

1. Find clues/transition words
2. Come up w/own answers
3. Check each answer choice

• Assumptions and extrapolations are dangerous
• Pay attention to directional transitional words
• Just bc you know what a word means does NOT mean it is the correct answer
• A correct answer choice may sound awkward to the ear
• Divide answers into positive and negative connotations as a last resort
• Start w/the easiest blank

Geography of the Math Section:

• Only about 20 math concepts being tested
• Covers arithmetic, basic algebra, basic geometry, stats
• If a quant comp ? is only #s, answer can’t be D (not enough info)
• Try to compare answers prior to doing the work of calculating → only do as much as neccessary
• Treat quant comps as 2 sides of an equation
• Use “ballparking” to eliminate illogical answers
• If a problem seems too easy, double check
• Always use common sense

Sentence Equivalence:

• Correct choices for sentence equiv questions do not need to be exact synonyms
  • Both words should correspond to the clues and overall sentence

1. Find clues/transition words
2. Come up w/own word/phrase for blank
3. Check each answer choice

• Root words are your friend
• If you don’t know a word, admit it and move on
• Identify positive and negative connotations
• Look for synonyms or lack thereof

Reading Comprehension:

• Remember the correct answer can always be found in the text

Basic Approach -

1. Work the passage - have a plan and read actively
2. Understand the question - break it down
3. Find info from the passage - support your ideas
4. Use POE - look out for trap answers

Detailed Steps -

1. Work the Passage

   1. Follow the author’s argument - separate claims from facts/other evidence

   2. Employ active reading

      1. Asking questions, claims vs. evidence, identify structure of the passage
      2. Determine the author’s main idea

   3. Employ mapping the passage

      1. Separate each sentence into claim/evidence/background
      2. Write a short summary of each sentence
      3. Does the sentence show an author believes a claim?

2. Understand the Question

   1. Identify the subject - helps locate what you need to find and read

   2. Identify the task of the question - what do you need to do with the subject?

      1. Primary Purpose - why the author wrote the passage
      2. Main Idea - what does the author want you to believe?
      3. Structure - about the general flow of the passage
      4. Tone - evaluate the author’s feelings about the sub of the q
      5. Vocabulary - what does the author mean by a certain word/phrase?
      6. Retrieval - find info in the passage (typically a paraphrase)
      7. Inference - “what must be true” - also a paraphrase of info
      8. Specific Purpose - why would the author include the sub?
      9. Weaken - identify the answer that makes claim less believable
      10. Strengthen - identify answer that makes claim more believable

3. Find Info from the Passage

   1. Read a few lines before/after sub appears
   2. Keep task in back of your mind while looking for info

4. POE

   1. Trap Answers

      1. Recycled Language - repeating direct quotes → most correct answers will be paraphrased
      2. Extreme Language - never, always, none, not, no, must, prove, defend, attack, denounce, contradict, failure
      3. No Such Comparisons - be suspicious of “better, more than, less than”
      4. Reversals - stating some sort of contradictory detail
      5. Outside Knowledge - ONLY rely on info from the passage
      6. Emotional Appeals - state positions that might be believe but are not discussed in the passage

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