GRE studying advice

[prnoe]

Hello there!
I am posting here because I need advice on the GRE. For those of you who have studied and did great on the GRE, is there any advice you can give me? I know there are several students that purchased reviews such as Princeton review, Kaplan, so on and so forth, that helped them a lot. I personally think I am going to take that route, specially with Princeton Review and their personal one to one tutoring. Anyone here that has taken it? How was your experience?

And for those who decided to study on their own, how was it? Any advice on how to study?

I am doing my applications at the moment, I only have the GRE left. I finished school and working only a couple of hours. I am dedicating my time for the GRE. I do better with tutoring.

Thank you so much,

Noelly Ibarra

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted676737]

I know that there definitely are students who spend money on things like classes and test prep, but I personally didn't. I bought a couple of 2-3 year old GRE prep books, studied from those (albeit not super seriously), and still broke the 50th %ile for all sections, which I felt was good enough for admissions purposes. I think I made a 158 V / 153 Q / 5.5 AWA...? I was accepted to three out of the four schools that I applied to, first application attempt.

If you feel really anxious about the test and/or that you need the extra structure and guidance with tutoring, classes, etc., then go for it if you have the time and money to spare. But they're by no means necessary if you think that you can do self-study and can get along without, or if you just simply can't afford it.

By the way, an increasing number of schools are dropping the GRE as a requirement. Depending on where you're choosing to apply, you may not even need to take the test. Below is a list of the US/Canadian vet schools that no longer use the GRE in admissions.

- Florida
- Iowa State
- Michigan State
- Midwestern
- Mississippi State
- Ohio State
- Purdue
- VMCVM
- Calgary
- Guelph

 

[prnoe]

I know that there definitely are students who spend money on things like classes and test prep, but I personally didn't. I bought a couple of 2-3 year old GRE prep books, studied from those (albeit not super seriously), and still broke the 50th %ile for all sections, which I felt was good enough for admissions purposes. I think I made a 158 V / 153 Q / 5.5 AWA...? I was accepted to three out of the four schools that I applied to, first application attempt.

If you feel really anxious about the test and/or that you need the extra structure and guidance with tutoring, classes, etc., then go for it if you have the time and money to spare. But they're by no means necessary if you think that you can do self-study and can get along without, or if you just simply can't afford it.

By the way, an increasing number of schools are dropping the GRE as a requirement. Depending on where you're choosing to apply, you may not even need to take the test. Below is a list of the US/Canadian vet schools that no longer use the GRE in admissions.

- Florida
- Iowa State
- Michigan State
- Midwestern
- Mississippi State
- Ohio State
- Purdue
- VMCVM
- Calgary
- Guelph

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I appreciate it. I am looking into schools that are somewhat "easier" to apply to. I have a low GPA of 3.1 which is horrible so the GRE is something necessary in my case. I don't see myself doing anything else and thought that I have to try and apply and not get discouraged. :/

 

[deleted676737]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I appreciate it. I am looking into schools that are somewhat "easier" to apply to. I have a low GPA of 3.1 which is horrible so the GRE is something necessary in my case. I don't see myself doing anything else and thought that I have to try and apply and not get discouraged. :/

A 3.1 makes things harder, for sure, but certainly not impossible. I had a 3.2, if that helps you feel a little better.

If your science and last 45 hours GPAs are stronger than your cumulative, it may be worth potentially looking into schools like ISU, KSU, MSU, and LSU that place little to no emphasis on the cumulative GPA. I attended ISU, for example, which only looks at cumulative GPA as far as making sure that you make the 2.5 minimum to be eligible to apply. After that, it isn't considered at all. There are a few other schools where that is the case.

 

[SkiOtter]

Accepting the gre does not mean they are easier to apply to.
FYI Michigan State doesn’t really care about GPA beyond prereq/science (can’t remember which) and last 36 being at least 3.0.
Some of the schools not requiring the GRE are moving to more holistic methods of evaluating applicants.

 

[prnoe]

A 3.1 makes things harder, for sure, but certainly not impossible. I had a 3.2, if that helps you feel a little better.

If your science and last 45 hours GPAs are stronger than your cumulative, it may be worth potentially looking into schools like ISU, KSU, MSU, and LSU that place little to no emphasis on the cumulative GPA. I attended ISU, for example, which only looks at cumulative GPA as far as making sure that you make the 2.5 minimum to be eligible to apply. After that, it isn't considered at all. There are a few other schools where that is the case.

Thank you much for this helpful information. I am really glad I found this forum.

 

[cbucks]

I liked Magoosh a lot when I was studying for the GRE! They have vocab and math flashcards you can download to your phone, I would go over them when I was on my lunch break at work. Their questions are also really helpful and their practice exams are also a great indicator of what the test is like.
I took the GRE twice, first time in September 2017 and second time in July 2018. The first time I studied for 3 months by using any free resource I could find online, and didn't dedicate too much time per day to it. The second time I bought Magoosh 1.5 months before I took it and studied for 1-2 hours every day and brought my score up 5 points that way. A lot of it comes down to how *you* study, so take some time to figure out what works for you!

 

[prnoe]

I liked Magoosh a lot when I was studying for the GRE! They have vocab and math flashcards you can download to your phone, I would go over them when I was on my lunch break at work. Their questions are also really helpful and their practice exams are also a great indicator of what the test is like.
I took the GRE twice, first time in September 2017 and second time in July 2018. The first time I studied for 3 months by using any free resource I could find online, and didn't dedicate too much time per day to it. The second time I bought Magoosh 1.5 months before I took it and studied for 1-2 hours every day and brought my score up 5 points that way. A lot of it comes down to how *you* study, so take some time to figure out what works for you!

Thank you so much for your advice!

 

[sbrider12]

Perhaps obvious, but, don't forget to do the included practice tests from ETS (two were included with my GRE test fee). I found these to be relevant/helpful.

163 Q / 161 V / 4.5

 

[ericajoy98]

My advice: I bought the two ETS practice books for quantitative and verbal reasoning. I also downloaded the Magoosh Vocabulary Builder app. I got a version of the Magoosh study plan but really did not use it at all until a few weeks before the test. It is helpful, but overall practicing problems was the best help for me. I never felt prepared and I haven't spoken to anyone who took the test that actually felt prepared. So far, I know my score is average. I made a 153 on verbal and quantitative. I made a 3.5 on writing. I felt completely burnt out after the test because it is very draining and takes up a lot of your time. I felt as though I guessed on a lot of the questions, but I did way better than I expected. From everyone I've talked to so far that has already been accepted for vet school for this term, I made a better score than them. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying it really isn't as bad as you might think. Practice and set a date, then bite the bullet and take the exam. At the very worst you'll just have to take it one more time. For anyone out there who has the time and commitment for it, I would suggest taking the whole summer off and allotting yourself 2 months of studying; then schedule the exam at the end of summer. Trying to study for the GRE during college while you have a full load of classes is not realistic (at least for me it wasn't). Taking the free practice tests form ETS will help you get used to the formatting and see what you can expect. I was never able to finish a practice test because it just burned me out, but I still got the score I needed. Practice, expand your vocabulary, take a practice test, and breathe. It isn't as scary as you feel and you will feel much better once you have it over with.

 

[SkiOtter]

From everyone I've talked to so far that has already been accepted for vet school for this term, I made a better score than them. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying it really isn't as bad as you might think.

I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily normal to have as low of scores as you’re saying your friends have.

 

[tyler_thevetstudent]

Hello there!
I am posting here because I need advice on the GRE. For those of you who have studied and did great on the GRE, is there any advice you can give me? I know there are several students that purchased reviews such as Princeton review, Kaplan, so on and so forth, that helped them a lot. I personally think I am going to take that route, specially with Princeton Review and their personal one to one tutoring. Anyone here that has taken it? How was your experience?

And for those who decided to study on their own, how was it? Any advice on how to study?

I am doing my applications at the moment, I only have the GRE left. I finished school and working only a couple of hours. I am dedicating my time for the GRE. I do better with tutoring.

Thank you so much,

Noelly Ibarra

ETS should be the bread and butter of your studying. They are the company that actually makes the GRE so they have the best GRE test prep material period. (Best because it is most like actual test).

I never touched Princeton Review or Kaplan and I did well. I liked the Manhattan Prep 5 lb book of math problems and made use of Magoosh vocabulary and the plethora of free full length GRE's online (ETS, Mahattan Prep, etc).

Try to set a study schedule (like a Google Sheets that outlines every hour of your day) and stick to it. Hope this helps!