Please don't take my advice as the
final word on everything, because the GRE exam is as much a matter of doing well
on that particular day as anything else, and because I certainly am not an
authority on the subject.
It feels strange for me to give advice about studying to someone else, but I
do hope that I am able to help you. You probably know the parts of the GRE exam
by now..and you probably know your problem points too. Try to identify those and
concentrate on them. Following is a list of all the resources I used for
studying the different sections:
1) Verbal :
A. Word list (For antonyms and analogies) -
Learning the word list in Barron's is an absolute MUST. However there is a
*much* shorter word list in Kaplan that I think you should also study. All the antonyms
and analogies (except 1/2) that I had in my actual test were included in the Kaplan list and as I said
before, its very small and doesn't take much time to do after you have completed
the Barron's list. Also the "hit list" in Princeton is quite good.
(see
below)
B. Reading comprehension - Read the
guidelines about how to go about reading passages from Kaplan. There is a definite
method in reading passages. However, In my exam I had two very long passages
(>150 lines each ! - don't worry: I myself don't believe it) and probably
lost a lot of marks in this section.
2) Quantitative: (most easy section)
Most of the theories in Quantitative have been covered in the 10th and 11th stds.
Read the Math summary in BOTH Barons and Kaplan. In addition , also read the
following topics from the standard college textbooks (don't read too much in
detail... the problems on these topics are usually simple :
* Combinations (very imp),
* Permutations,
* Probability,
* Sequences,
* areas of various geometrical figures (also
given in the summaries of the GRE books),
* Indices and the co-ordinate system (imp.. esp.
read the formula for slope of any line.. all my friends and me got 1/2 questions
based on that formula) .
Note that I had got Q from the above topics in my exam. However they were
usually simple E.g.. In how many ways can 3 coins be chosen among 10 coins and
so on... But you do need to revise these topics superficially in order to answer
the questions. In Quantitative and Logic games (next section ), the more you
practice on the actual questions the better.
3) Analytical :
A.
Logic games : Read about the method of solving logic games from
Kaplan. Do NOT read from Barron's. Many of the examples given in Barron's are
WRONG. (especially in the Practice question sets). This is not only my
observation but of all my friends as well. Its best if you don't touch the
Analytical section in Barron's at all. Anyway, if you buy all the things i
suggest below, you will have so much material that you won't even find time to
solve the Barron's papers.
IN THIS SUBSECTION THERE IS ONLY ONE PRINCIPLE : PRACTICE , PRACTICE AND
PRACTICE.
B. Logical reasoning - This is the section that gives many people
the most trouble. In this case to DO NOT *DO NOT* read the explanations from Barron's.
Read about the method of solving them from Kaplan and study the practice
examples given there. Also, in the CDs that I mention, there are two programs
from ETS (Powerprep version 1 and version 2) . Study deeply the examples given
in that too. Even after you solve the full tests in ETS, read the correct
answers for the logical reasoning questions, even if you dont read anything
else.
For Practice of all the Sections:
1) Kaplan :
Questions given in the book and ALL the exercises given in the CD .
2) PowerPrep (version 1 and 2) :
Along with Kaplan, This is the MOST essential software for the GRE. BE sure to
solve *ALL* the examples and full exams . Also be sure to study as much of the
answers as you can, especially of the logical reasoning questions, in both
Kaplan and powerprep.
3) Barron's :
Solve the math section from the book. Solve the verbal section too if you find
the time. But DO NOT solve the analytical section. Please take my advice on this
: do not touch the analytical section in Barron's.
4) Arco :
Solve all the sections and exams in the book (very good, but they are a bit
simpler than the actual questions on the exam : keep that in mind)
5) Princeton :
Very good software. Almost as good as Kaplan . Solve the practice
questions as well as the full exams. Also have a look at the "Hit
list" in the verbal section. I thought it was quite good.
Other
software :
1) Peterson :
very good, But questions are given in the old paper and pencil
format with very little time. But the quality of the questions itself is very
good and its very good practice for all the 3 sections to try and solve them a
bit ahead of time.
2) Barrons :
The questions are ALL repeated from the book. DO NOT use this software. Repeat
the Questions in Kaplan and ETS instead.
3) 800 score.com :
This is a little known software that I bought over the net. The quality of the
Questions is VERY good .The questions are a bit harder than the actual exam
questions. But it is VERY VERY good practice. Download and install the free
trial version from www.800score.com You can buy the software if you like the
trial version. In my opinion, buying the software is worth it.
Things
to get:
Books :
1) Kaplan ( approx Rs 650): most
important ..read from first page to last.
2 ) Barrons (approx Rs.300): for the
word list and math summary.
3) Arco (approx Rs 300): practice
questions . The guidelines for solving Logic games is also good. But its not
essential to read that if you have already read Kaplan.
4) Big book ( I don't know the price, but it should
be around Rs.1800 : Try to get it xeroxed from someone) : I have
not seen this book. It is published by ETS and contains the questions of a lot
of the previous exams. Although I think it must be a good book , many persons
who have read/solved it say that the difficulty of questions in the computer
based test is more than those in the pencil and paper based one (whose questions
the big book contains...). I really can't comment about this book.But i think
you SHOULD buy it and solve the examples if you have the time. It might be
useful especially for the logical reasoning questions and the Logic games.
Software :
1) Kaplan (most imp, very
representative of actual exam)
2) Powerprep (version 1 and 2) ( this
software is made by ETS, the private company which holds the GRE itself. So it
is very representative of the difficulty of questions and scoring)
3) Princeton ( good for practice
in addition to above two)
4) Peterson (same as
above)
5) Arco : good software, but as
i said, the questions are a bit simpler than the actual exam. But worth solving
anyway.
6) Barron's : NOT
required.
7) 800 score : very good
software with tough questions