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What's Included
25 Hours of Video Lessons- 50 Hours of Video Solutions
- 75+ Lessons
- Computer Adaptive Tests
- 1 Diagnostic Test
- 1000+ practice Questions
If you don’t know a word, don’t try to make any assumptions about it without substantial supporting evidence (latin roots, familiar prefixes, etc.) Also, if you can identify the correct answers with certainty, then you don’t have to worry about any other confusing choices! Are there any words you don’t know in this question?
Loading ...“Paroxysmal” is pretty far out there, but if you’re lucky, then your knowledge of “calamitous” and “disastrous” can get you out of trouble here.
Posted in Barron's Courses, GRE, Verbal
Tagged GRE Question of the Day, Sentence Equivalence Questions
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On the occasion that you do not know a word in the answer choices, don’t fret! You may still be able to answer a question using elimination. Are there any words that you don’t know in the question below, and if so, can you find the solution anyway?
Loading ...Most students know the words in answer choices A through D very well, but not choice E. However, being able to consciously eliminate A, B, C, and D is enough to confirm choice E if you aren’t sure! Elimination is a powerful and effective way to increase your score; this example illustrates very clearly how four confirmed incorrect choices are just as good as one correct choice!
Do you want to improve your GRE Analytical Writing score? By now you know that an essay is more than just grammar and punctuation. In the following article, we show you seven ways to quickly and painlessly improve your GRE essay performance.
Seven Easy Ways to Improve your GRE Analytical Writing Score
Just so that you know, Kevin Rocci, our resident GRE Writing expert has covered these important concepts in great detail. You can watch some sample GRE lesson videos here.
You solve it! Take a look at the following GRE Quant problem. Try it out:
Loading ...Did you get this GRE question of the day right? Often the best way to answer a question correctly is using old-fashioned Math. Strategy and tactics are not likely to help you here. Hope these questions are helping you do regular GRE practice online.
Posted in Barron's Courses, GRE, Quant
Tagged GRE Question of the Day, Quantitative Comparison
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We told you Barron’s makes it easier to prepare for GRE. Not convinced? For all you skeptics, here is the Barron’s GRE Prep video for your viewing pleasure. Watch in HD if you can:
GRE and GMAT Prep by Barron’s from Barron’s Test Prep on Vimeo.
Did you like it? Comment and share the video.
Posted in Barron's Courses, Course Features, GRE
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If you spend some time online researching on GRE, you will find various information resources that talk about GRE preparation in detail. While this post might not be too different from them, it will be more personal, as I talk about what I did to succeed in my GRE, and if you emulate these (perhaps go a step further), you can definitely secure high scores.
Tip 1: Quit Wasting Time on Prep Course Research. This is the#1 mistake I made. Fortunately it was easily corrected once I started my prep with the Barron’s GRE Prep course. Have you ever heard of information overload? This happens when we spend too much time planning and looking at different avenues. While such an extensive research is useful, it can prove counterproductive. So my recommendation, spend no more than a week to research what you should study, and stick to that. Frankly in my case, Barron’s GRE Prep course worked very well.
Tip 2: Take Action. Take action. Sooner the better. The longer you wait to begin preparing for GRE, the costlier it will get. I spent a little more than a month to prepare for my test, but there are others who spent nearly 6 months in preparation, and scored near perfect score. Therefore if you are serious, start preparing now, even if it means spending 30 minutes a day on new words.
Tip 3: Find Your Strength and Perfect It. Even before I started preparing for my GRE, I knew what my strength was – Quantitative. I relentlessly pursued perfection in this section. Result? Based on the old scoring system, I recorded over 130 point increase in a month. So if you feel there is something you are strong at, spend some time to make it even stronger.
Tip 4: Find Your Weakness and Strengthen It. Ironic, isn’t it? But this is what I did. My verbal skills are better than most, yet still below my Quantitative abilities. What I should have done is worked on this section for 6 months. Still, I worked hard to strengthen this area, and in less than 30 days, recorded a dramatic increase of 90 points.
Tip 5: Evaluate Regularly. If there was something I did perfectly – it was this – Consistent evaluation. While some might argue that spending 4 hours every other day evaluating will not lead to better results, it certainly works to gauge improvement. When I started my GRE preparation, I did one mock exam every 3 days and closer to the exam – every day. I am analytical by nature, so this helped me to implement steps 3 and 4 better.
Tip 6: Focus and Balance. These points apply to anything that I do in life – focus and balance. I have razor sharp focus when I put my mind to things, which showed in my preparation. Moreover, being locked up inside a room with books everywhere can get suffocating, so remember to take breaks. As a matter of fact, I was meeting friends just a couple of days before the exam. This is a great stress buster, so I would definitely recommend keeping your social circle active.
The difference between GRE and other exams is that GRE requires you to focus, rather than know everything. The intensity in the examination hall can put you under undue pressure, and the best way to manage is to concentrate singularly on the task at hand. I practiced this meticulously during the GRE preparation stages. You should too.
Posted in Course Features, GRE, Quant
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This is a gem! Kevin Rocci at his best in this GRE essay video. Watch this:
Leave comments if you enjoy the video. The video summarizes some stylistic elements that you must address in the GRE Analytical Writing section. Useful not just for the GRE essay but writing in general.
As you probably know, in August 2011, ETS introduced the new GRE format a.k.a. the revised GRE. The old GRE underwent numerous changes – many minor ones, and a few major ones. The biggest change however – the change that is set to benefit students the most – is Mark and Review. Let me tell you what I mean.
The GRE in its earlier incarnation was a pure and simple Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). If you want to move onto the next question, you HAD to answer the question that was currently on your screen (you could of course leave it blank, but you won’t get any points!)
The old guard changed in August 2011.
In the new GRE, you are allowed to mark questions so that you can come back and review them later. The new screen navigation allows you to:
- Navigate between different questions by clicking on the Back and Next buttons.
- Mark questions so that you can review them later.
- Click on review to see what questions have been answered and marked for review.
Clearly, the new GRE is much more test-taker friendly. You are now allowed to leave difficult questions for later and go back to check or correct ambiguous answers.
You can now better pace yourself to spend maximum time in getting the easy question(s) right.
Personally, this new format really helped me in achieving the score I eventually got. I wanted to achieve a high score (who doesn’t!), and the new GRE format really allowed me to make my strategy more effective. This is how I handled some of the questions in the exams.
- Reading comprehension questions are my Achilles heel. So whenever I came across a long passage, I quickly jumped between screens to skim through all the questions related to that passage (usually 3 to 4 questions). This allowed me manage expectations when I started reading the passage.
- I struggled with ‘Charts and Graphs’ problems in Quantitative section. These problems are very easy, but if you don’t understand the graphs properly, the questions can seem confusing. So I marked these questions, so that I could answer them at the end, once I had answered all the other easy ones.
- In my practice exams, I noticed that I was getting through the Sentence Completion questions very quickly. Yet, I wasn’t scoring. Turns out, I was over-confident and as a result, was not spending enough time on these questions. With the help of the new format, I made it a point to leave a few minutes at the end to come back and review answers to these questions.
As you can see, you too can strategize to maximize the benefits of the new GRE format. The Barron’s GRE Prep has 4 full length tests with GRE-like questions. The test interface is almost similar to the real GRE. I strongly suggest creating a test like atmosphere before you attempt these tests.
Was this helpful? What is your strategy for the new GRE format?
Posted in Course Features, GRE
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This time of year, many graduate school applicants are struggling with word limits and time limits. Here are 4 tips to help you manage both:
Dealing with Application Deadlines:
- Set yourself a schedule and work backwards from your deadlines. Allow time for the holidays, sleep, exercise, and of course work.
- Focus first on the applications with the earliest deadlines.
- Work on applications one at a time. Adapt essays from your first application, when possible, to later applications. However never merely paste in an essay because the question is similar. Customize it for this application and this program.
- If you fall behind, consider dropping/postponing an application to maintain quality overall.
Dealing with Word Limits:
- Before you start writing, spend a few minutes to determine the theme and structure for the essay. I personally like a traditional outline, but others may prefer cluster outlines or index cards. Use the method that works best for you.
- Just write for 15 minutes. Don’t stop writing until the timer you set for 15 minutes goes off. (useful tool: http://e.ggtimer.com)
- Keep writing in 15 minute spurts separated by short breaks until you feel you are in your groove. Then write as long as you want.
- Edit your drafts using the editing funnel.
By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com, the premier admissions consultancy and essay editing company that has helped applicants around the world gain admissions to over 450+ top schools since 1994. Linda is also the co-author of MBA Admission for Smarties.
This article was originally published on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog.
Posted in College Readiness, GRE
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Have you been following our Math Facts sections? Let me tell you, it contains an amazing summary of GRE Quant material that is very useful. Percentage changes is one of the concepts that is frequently tested on the Quant section of the GRE. Here is a percentage change question of the day:
Loading ...How would you do it? Leave your comments if you think there are better ways to solve this problem quickly and more accurately.
Posted in Barron's Courses, GRE, Quant
Tagged GRE Question of the Day, Quantitative Comparison
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