When you take the GRE, you have to aim high. All your efforts should be geared towards achieving a good GRE score. With a high GRE score, you greatly improve your chances of getting into a graduate program of your choice. Now to be in that zone, you need to score pretty well in the quantitative and verbal sections (along with AWA) sections of the GRE.
Test takers who tend to do well on the exam follow a set of strategies.
Use these tips to design your own strategies for a high GRE score :
- Use the official study material – Many test takers ignore the official GRE guide. Keep in mind that no other book comes close to the official guide. After all, it is designed by the test makers themselves. Also, opt for the POWERPREP II, Version 2.2 software offered by the ETS. The practice tests are as close as you can get to the real thing. However, this is not to say that you should only stick to the official study guide. There are great resources such as mobile apps, workshops and online social learning forums which can all aid towards a high GRE score.
- Take 5 sections in practice tests – Many practice tests have only 4 sections available. Remember that in the exam, you will have to face a fifth (experimental) section as well. If you get into the mode of only taking 4 sections, you will lose focus on the fifth section during the exam. It helps you prepare more realistically for the exam.
- Stop making repeated mistakes – You should progressively improve upon your weak areas. Spend time on concepts and rules from your traditional weaknesses in verbal and quant sections. Practice tests are great to spot your weaknesses. Once you have made a mistake and analyzed it, make sure you never repeat the same mistakes again. The GRE high scorers always learn from their mistakes.
- Time Management – Time management is a key area in the GRE. Many students miss out on a good score since they are not able to manage time effectively. Remember that you have 1.5-2 minutes for every question in the exam. Of course, some problems will be solved in a lesser time frame. However, make sure that you do not end up spending 3-5 minutes on a question. If a problem takes too long, take a strategic guess and move ahead.
- Strategic guesses – GRE awards those with the maximum number of correct answers. To do that, you need to attempt a high number of questions in the exam. If you get stuck in a question, you can wriggle out of it through a strategic guess. If you have been practicing fairly regularly, you should be able to eliminate a few incorrect choices and select the best possible answer. Since there are no negative points for wrong answers, smart guesses can improve your scores greatly.