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Top 5 tips for multiple choice success on the GRE

By posted May 17, 2012

Looking to apply to graduate school and get your masters degree to further your career?  An important piece of your application is your score on the GRE test.  Practicing for tests should always involve learning strategies to approach that specific test with.  The new GRE has some new twists to the multiple choice section that you should be aware of as you study and take the GRE test.

1. Notice which type of multiple choice question you are dealing with.

The GRE has some typical multiple-choice questions with five answer choices and one correct answer.  However, there will also be questions with more than one right answer.  The quickest way to distinguish between these two question types is to look at the letters of the answer choices.  If they are inside a circle, there is one correct answer.  If they are inside a square, there could be more than one correct answer choice.  However, still pay attention to the directions because sentence equivalence questions have exactly 2 right answers, while other squared answer choice questions could have 1 correct answer choice or up to several correct choices.  Familiarity with the different question types and directions through lots of practice is the sure-fire way to avoid missing questions because of marking the wrong number of answer choices.

Test your GRE skills with this GRE reading comprehension detail practice question.  Read more »

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GRE Text Completion: Consistent Ideas

By posted May 15, 2012

When choosing the vocabulary words or phrases to fill in a sentence or paragraph in the text completion section of the GRE, note the relationships between the clauses within a sentence and between the sentences themselves.  Often there will be a direction change signaled by a contrast word such as “but” or “yet.” Another common relationship is consistent ideas.  Some words that show consistent ideas are:

both

and

in addition

additionally

then

too

also

nor

moreover

etc.

If your blanks represent consistent ideas signaled by your key word (such as “and”), the correct choices will be similar in tone (both positive or both negative) and/or meaning.  However, be aware that while you may have consistent ideas, a negative in one clause such as “not” means your correct choices should actually be opposites.

For example:

My aunt suffered from _______ migraines, and sometimes the pain was not _________.

Because of the negative clue “suffered” in the first clause, you can predict that the first blank will be some kind of negative word such as “terrible.”  The “and” signals that the second clause will contain a similar idea as the first, but that does not mean that the second blank will also be negative since we have the word “not.”  Because of “not,” we actually want a word that means the opposite of “terrible,” so a positive word such as “bearable” would be the best choice for the second blank.

As with any text completion question, remember that there could be multiple relationships within the text.  Maybe there are consistent ideas in the first sentence, the second sentence contrast with the first, and the third sentence contains a blank that is defined within the sentence.  The more comfortable you are with spotting these clues, the more you will be able to use them to your advantage to complete the text correctly.

I offer one-on-one customized tutoring that can target your weaknesses and help you reach your full potential!

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GRE Text Completion: Two Blank

By posted May 10, 2012

The old GRE Verbal section included sentence completion questions with one blank.  The new revised GRE has a new section called text completion.  Some of the texts have one blank and five answer choices, but there are also two and three blank texts with three answer choices per blank.  Let’s focus on the two blank questions.

Here’s an example of a two blank text completion question from Grockit:

It’s important to know that you should select each blank’s answer independent of the other blank.  Also, be aware that if you get one of the blanks wrong and the other correct, you receive no credit.

As with any text completion question, make sure to identify key words that can provide clues to the blanks, and to note the relationships between the clauses and sentences.  Are the ideas contrasting or consistent?  Is cause and effect shown, or a definition for the blank given in the sentence?

If you come across a two blank text completion question with a long paragraph, don’t let yourself get overwhelmed.  Take it chunk by chunk and use the same vocabulary strategies you would use for a shorter text, such as predicting words for the blanks and using clues in the sentence.

If you’re looking for more GRE Verbal tips, message me on Grockit for private tutoring sessions!

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Top Ten Ways for Better Scores on GRE Reading Passages

By posted April 30, 2012

Like figuring out the privacy settings on Facebook, or explaining the anti-aging abilities of Madonna, better scores on the Reading Comprehension questions on the Revised GRE can sometimes feel elusive. There are no “formulas” for GRE RC, but luckily there are some quick tips to better GRE scores on Reading Comprehension. These ten tips will help you turn a bad GRE score into a good GRE score; unlike doing your taxes for the IRS, the GRE doesn’t have to be painful.

1. Find the Main Idea at the bottom of the first paragraph. Just like most 5-paragraph essays, the author of a reading passage on the GRE will often put the thesis at the bottom of the introductory paragraph. If you see any questions that use keywords like “main idea” or “purpose,” look here first.

2. Use your scratch pad! It’s there for a reason. You can’t possible remember every piece of information from the passage, so take short notes to help you focus.

3. Avoid skimming. Try to find the “big picture” of the passage, but if you skim, you’ll be going back through the passage inch-by-inch later on, searching for the answers to the more specific questions! Read thoroughly the first time.

Get more help with RC by setting up a private 1 hour lesson with one of Grockit’s GRE tutors.

4. Come up with your own answer. For each question write down a Prediction based on your notes and your understanding of the passage. Process of elimination is a much more effective method than simply going straight to the answer choices as written.

5. Remember that Details support Functions. If a question asks you why the author includes a specific detail from the passage, consider that all the details within a paragraph are generally used to support the function of that paragraph. Read more »

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Top Ten Ways to Handle GRE Timing on Practice Tests

By posted April 24, 2012

To ace the GRE, you need to ace timing. The best graduate schools want grad students who can pace their time well. Graduate school candidates with good GRE scores know how to organize their GRE test prep, use the best GRE resources (both free GRE practice questions like those at ETS’s website and supplemental books and online GRE practice questions), and can pace themselves effectively within each section of the GRE.  Use the free GRE practice tests offered by ETS (the Powerprep software) to practice these free pacing tips. More free GRE practice tests are offered on the websites of almost every major GRE test prep company. Your dream college is only a couple month’s hard work away!

  1. Answer every single question on your practice tests. Finishing all sections is essential to a high GRE score.  Even if you come to the end of a section, and realize you have more questions than you have time to work on, make sure to click an answer for each one before the time runs out. This discipline on your GRE practice tests will set the right habit for Test Day, even if it’s painful at first to answer questions you can’t solve quickly.
  2. Write down what the question is really asking. For GRE multiple choice Quant questions, there is often an extra step required to solve. For example, it may ask for “the smallest prime factor of y” rather than just “y.” Answer choices that look “obviously” right for easy questions are likely correct. Answer choices that look “obviously” right for difficult questions are likely incorrect.
  3. For Verbal, save time for Reading.  For each Verbal section, you will have approx. 20 questions to answer in 30 minutes. This is approx. 1.5 minutes per question. But remember, that you’ll need a few extra minutes for Reading, so try to do the Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions in less than that time. Try to do pacing drills where you work on doing them in 1 minute each. Don’t rush and lose accuracy, but remember the importance of finishing the entire section.
  4. Create benchmarks for Quantitative. The Quant sections of the GRE will each contain approx. 20 questions and you will have 35 minutes to answer them. That works out to 1.75 minutes a question. Divide the section into 4. Around 9 minutes, you should be on question #5. Around 18 minutes, you should be on question #10. Around 26 minutes you should be on question #15, and around 34 minutes, you should be around question #20. Read more »

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GRE Text Completion: Contrasting Ideas GRE Text Completion: Contrasting Ideas

By posted April 16, 2012

On the revised GRE, you will encounter text completion questions with one, two, or three blanks.  The length of the text will range from one sentence to a short paragraph.  One of the keys to picking the right answer for text completions is correctly identifying the relationships between the sentences or within the sentence, especially as it applies to the blanks.  One relationship you will see a lot is contrasting ideas.  Some words and phrases that signal contrast are:

But

Although

Yet

However

Not

Still

Otherwise

Or

Though

Rather

In contrast

Conversely

Alternatively

Try this GRE text completion question for more practice!

Whenever you see one of these words or phrases, be aware that the direction of the sentence is changing.  For example, if the sentence was positive in tone and then you see a “but,” the remaining portion of the sentence will be negative in tone.

Be mindful of the placement of the blanks in relation to your “contrast” word.  If they both come before the change in direction, they will be similar;  if they are on opposite sides of a conjunction such as “but,” they will have opposite or different connotations. Read more »

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How to Get Every Vocab-in-Context Question Correct on the GRE

By posted April 12, 2012

Every day, we learn something new – from the discovery of the supergiant amphipod to the latest innovative cancer treatments, humans are constantly discovering that there is more to our world than meets the eye. Your GRE test prep might not feel as exciting as some of these other breakthroughs, but Vocab-in-Context questions are good opportunities to discover new vocabulary in your GRE test prep, and like these discoveries, there is also more to this question type than meets the eye. V-in-C questions look simple, but can be deceptively challenging. Don’t you just have to know the definition of the word? Nope! In fact, the common definition is often wrong (but usually one of the answer choices).

You can learn more about how to approach GRE Reading Comp in Grockit’s Video Course for the GRE.

Let’s look at how a question might appear on the GRE test.

In line 19, the word fathom means?

You may see this question and think, I know what “fathom” means. It’s like to be able to understand or comprehend. Scanning the answer choices, you’d see the following options:

  1. plaintive
  2. secondary
  3. understandable
  4. measure
  5. florid Read more »

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Structure of Ideas Question on the GRE

By posted April 6, 2012

Structure of Ideas questions on the revised GRE reading comprehension section will ask you to understand how the passage is laid out, structurally, as opposed to the ideas contained within the passage’s details. The focus is on identifying the keywords including any relevant punctuation and transitions.

Make sure you know how to answer each type of reading comprehension question.  Get plenty of practice at Grockit, and set up private lessons with expert instructors to answer all of your questions.

To get better scores on the GRE, and on Structure of Ideas questions in general, you will need to look at 1) transition words/phrase, and 2) topic sentences. These two things will give you the biggest clues as to how the ideas of the passage are put together. Let’s look at a sample paragraph with the important transitions and topic sentences highlighted:

The origin of the moon remains a subject of contention for some theorists.  There is one contingent that insists that the moon was formed in the same way that the planets of the inner solar-system were. Read more »

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Conquering Short Passages on the Revised GRE

By posted April 4, 2012

One benefit to the Revised GRE test is that there are two short Verbal sections with 20 questions each instead of one long section. Another is that you can now freely move back and forth between questions within a given section. This means that you will be able to answer look at questions and choose the order in which you can answer them.

According to the official GRE website, “reading comprehension passages are drawn from the physical sciences, the biological sciences, the social sciences, the arts and humanities, and everyday topics, and are based on material found in books and periodicals, both academic and nonacademic. The passages range in length from one paragraph to four or five paragraphs.”

New to the Revised GRE? Try this GRE Reading Comprehension practice question to get a feel for the format of the questions!

So how should your approach change from longer to shorter passages? For longer passages, it makes sense to thoroughly read and take notes on the important information presented (main idea, function of each paragraph, author’s point of view, etc.). Shorter passages, however, will usually only be accompanied by 1-2 questions.

Therefore it makes sense to read the questions first before looking at the passage. Quickly identify the pieces of information you’ll need to find. For example, let’s say the first question asks about the “Main Idea” and the second question asks about the Logic behind the author’s use of a specific detail. You will only have two tasks as you read: find the purpose, and find out why the detail is included.  There’s no point in trying to focus on the author’s point of view if it isn’t necessary to answer any of the given questions! Make your job as simple as possible. J

Creating these clear tasks for yourself is an effective strategy for shorter passages, since you don’t have as much text to decipher.

Ready for more GRE practice? Check out the new Revised GRE lobby in Grockit – study with other students, and ask for help when you need it by clicking the blue “Ask for Help” button. The best way to learn is together!

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Top Ten Things to Know About Your GRE Score

By posted March 29, 2012

The revised GRE has an entirely new scoring system, which you need to understand to get a good GRE score. Practicing free GRE test questions on ETS’s official GRE website or on Grockit is a great way to familiarize yourself with the content, but you’ll also need a comfort-level with the revised format to take a bad GRE score to a good GRE score. Here are the top ten things you’ll need to know about the new GRE scoring to add a great GRE score to your graduate school application.

  1. The AWA scoring is between 0-6. This remains unchanged from the old GRE. You’ll still writing two essays, which will be scored in .5 increments by two graders. You will receive “NS” or no score, if you do not type any text. You will receive 0 if you write in a foreign language, or completely off-task.
  2. Verbal and Quantitative are on a 130-170 scale. The scaled score on the GRE is the most noticeable difference between the older GRE and the revised GRE (as of August 2011). The scaled score is in increments of 1 point. (Previously, the GRE scaled score was between 200-800).
  3. Official scores will be received 10-15 days after the test. On Test Day, you will be an “unofficial” score, but you can view your official scores a couple weeks later for free online by creating a “My GRE Account” here.
  4. It costs $12 to get your score by phone. If for some reason you cannot create an account online, you can call 1-609-771-7290 or 1-888-473-7267 toll free and pay the $12 by debit or credit card. It’s much easier to create the “My GRE Account” if you can! Read more »

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