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| - | The '''Graduate Record Examination''' or '''GRE''' is a [[standardized test]] that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in English speaking countries. GRE is generally considered to be an entrance requirement for Engineering and Sciences Programs, just the [[SAT]] is a requirement for undergraduate programs and [[GMAT]] for business or management programs.
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| - | There are two kinds of GRE tests: the GRE general test and GRE Subject tests. The subject test is offered in a wide variety of subjects and is usually required by only a small number of universities.
| + | This wiki has moved to <font style="font-size:150%">'''http://www.foreignliving.info'''</font>. Please update your bookmarks. |
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| - | ==GRE General Test==
| + | You can locate the current page under the same categories on the new site. In case of problems, email help[[image:at_black.png]]foreignliving.info. |
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| - | The GRE General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study.
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| - | ===The Test Format===
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| - | The GRE is a computer-based adaptive test, which means that the number of questions in any given section is fixed, while the difficulty level and score value of those qeustions varies according to the previous responses provided by the test-taker. Since the test format goes through changes every few years, it is best to check the current format and other details directly from the official website: http://www.gre.org
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| - | ===Registering for the Test===
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| - | As of 2006, one could register for GRE via mail, fax or phone, but not online. Of these methods, there have been several cases where the applicant did not receive any response to the faxed messages and eventually had to call ETS eventually. Experience (from Pakistan) shows that the quickest and the most convenient method is to call ETS (use the appropriate regional phone number) using voice-over-IP software such as Net2Phone, VoIP Buster etc. and pay via credit card. The call duration may take up 20 to 25 minutes. Remember to note down the confirmation or any other id number that you receive at the end of successful registration, since most telephone-applicants do not receive confirmation by post at all.
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| - | ===Advice from Sudipta Chatterjee's Blog ([http://sudiptachatterjee.blogspot.com/2005/08/tips-and-tricks-for-gre.html weblink])===
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| - | 1. How long does it take to prepare?
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| - | A: There is no definite time frame. But about 2-3 dedicated hours a day, for about two-and-a-half months is enough. Then, again, it is dependent on your level. To find that out, I'd suggest that you should take one paper-based test that is there in the front of the book (Barron's, Kaplan, anything... or even the Big Book). If you score about 750 on the quants, and about 500 on the verbal (no cheatings, etc) then the time frame I've said should be enough. If you scored more, great... you should try to get to around 1550!! But if less... well, spruce up depending on how much less.
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| - | 2. From where do I do the quanti section?
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| - | A: Keep in touch with the section along with your verbal prep. Ignoring this section can mean the difference between a 780 and a 800. Try to get all your answers right when you practice the tests from the Big Book... no big need to do the practice material from the books. But again, if you stand currently at about 600 on the quanti, please do all the exercises. For the probability and statistics questions, I'd suggest that you catch hold of some CBSE XIIth grade books and do them from there. It is more than enough. Remember, the tests on the different books like Kaplan, Princeton, Barrons are a tad bit easy. You will get a taste of the real thing on the Powerprep ones.. they are good.
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| - | 3. Verbal Section: Vocab and the Barron's Wordlist
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| - | A: Yes, you have to read this one... there is no shortcut. I will suggest that you should start with the lists and go through the Norman Lewis book (a red one titled "Increase your Word Power" or something) in parallel. Make sure you do all the exercises as the author suggests in the book --- word for word. Once you are through, you'll be having a feel that you really know some words. Flash cards do help, trust me... I read most of the Barron's lists through the flash cards one of my sisters had prepared for herself, going to and fro on my office bus. It looks a bit weird, but they are good. After that, when I sat down with the Barron's book... I could see that I knew many words.
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| - | 4. Reading comprehension
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| - | A: The best way to tackle this is to practice. One RC a day continiously for 2 months should be enough to help you spot the right answer. Most importantly, please go through the methods and things suggested in the Kaplan's book as well as the Barron's book. This goes not just for RCs, but analogies, sentence completions and antonyms as well. The methods in these books are really good, and they will tell you much more lucidly how to tackle them than what you can gather from my mail.
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| - | A word about the books here should be befitting. Please read the Kaplan's and Barron's book cover to cover. There is a virtual treasure-trove of information that is of immense help and can help you find answers to most of the questions you may be having. The Princeton's book is OK, but I think it is relatively easy and not as good as the Kaplan's and Barrons.
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| - | 5. The Big Book
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| - | A: Yes, even if you haven't bought this one, do so. I bought it from Hyderabad when I visited my friends. There is a place there called Kothi and there is a line of book stalls just opposite the bus stand. You can get the book there for about 250 bucks, although the shopkeeper will start from somewhere around 270-280. Trust me, these 250 bucks will be your best investment. The verbal questions are really GRE standard, and I think one or two questions were among those that I had already seen on the Big Book. One verbal test daily and one quants test once every two days should be enough practice from this book.
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| - | 6. AWA --- Essay writing
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| - | A: This one again is heavily dependent on practice. What I'd suggest is that you write your essays, and then mail it to the group. When somebody does mail an essay, PLEASE EVALUATE IT. Believe me, it takes just about 4-5 min to evaluate 2 complete essays and then you can have a good buddy. Besides, this is a mutually beneficial affair and I personally benefited immensely from this.
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| - | 7. General tips and tricks
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| - | A. PLEASE TAKE YOUR PASSPORT TO THE TEST CENTRE. I was about to laugh out loud when a (sweet) lady came in and told the test admins even more sweetly that she did not have her passport with her. Well, her condition after she was told (in the sweetest possible way) that she needs a passport to be let in fobade the laughter.
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| - | B. Get your first 6-7 questions correct. When I was taking the powerprep tests, I got the first (and fifth) verbal questions wrong on my first test, and the second (and fourth) wrong on the second. Consequently, my scores plummeted to 590 and 620 respectively on these sections, although the quanti scores were ok (800 and 790). This happened one week before the actual test, and I cannot properly express what I had felt on the last few days because of this.
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| - | C. Don't forget to read magazines and newspaper editorials everyday. And do hunt up words which you do not know. As for example, I remembered the words UMBRAGE and PECADILLO from a newspaper article although I had read them in Barron's because I hunted them up then and there. Now, you have seen these words in my mail. Go and find your dictionary, right now!
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| - | D. There are numerous sites such as http://www.i20fever.com that offer a lot of information for GRE people. Try google, university webpages, and anything that you can lay your hands on and to narrow down on these sites... build a good list of bookmarks and keep practising. I believe that the Princetons, Kaplan's etc also have free online tests. Subscribe to the word of the day from the http://www.dictionary.com site, and make sure you read through the entire mail everyday. Most importantly, join lots of Yahoo and Google groups, and try to answer questions that other members pose.
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| - | Finally, let me assure you that I will be ready to help if anybody has any more questions beyond this. But first of all, please go through all these sites:
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| - | (Please remove broken links from the list if you find any)
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| - | *[https://www.xap.com/ Xap Student Center]
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| - | *[http://www.number2.com/index.cfm?s=15GMixHsZb157257 ACT, GRE, SAT, Free Test Prep from Number2.com (with Number2.com Redesign).]
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| - | *[http://www.sindhuworld.com/ Sindhu World Enterprises]
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| - | *[http://www.geocities.com/grematerials/ http://www.geocities.com/grematerials/]
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| - | *[http://www.computerbasedtest.com/tip.html ComputerBasedTest.com - GMAT GRE TOEFL tips materials helps links, Computer-based test, CBT, computer-adaptive test, Computer based test, CAT, ESL, EFL, EnglishMaster, computer-based TOEFL, computer-based GRE, computer-based GMAT, preparation, guide, information, materials, practice, question, examinations, answer, explanation, free, download, software, listening, structure, grammar, reading, writing, verbal, quantitative, analytical, issue, argument, essay, pool]
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| - | *[http://www.gre-test-preparation.com/ GRE Test Preparation software practice test]
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| - | *[http://www.gre-secrets.com/ GRE Secrets- Raise your GRE test score with our GRE test prep study guide]
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| - | *[http://gradmentor.placementor.com/ GRE Test preparation software - GradMentor]
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| - | *[http://www.computerbasedtest.com/ ComputerBasedTest.com - TOEFL preparation, GRE preparation, GMAT preparation, free TOEFL materials, free GRE materials, free GMAT materials, TOEFL GRE *[ GMAT practice samples, TOEFL GRE GMAT score teach course, computer based test, CBT, computer adaptive test, CAT, English Master, ESL, EFL, EnglishMaster, guide, information, materials, practice, question, examinations, answer, explanation, listening, structure, grammar, reading, writing, verbal, quantitative, analytical, issue, argument, essay, pool ESL/EFL and GRE/GMAT communities]
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| - | *[http://www.yamanoor.com/ Yamanoor.com]
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| - | *[http://www.petersons.com/ Peterson's Education Portal¨CCollege, Graduate Program, Test preparation, SAT, Scholarship, Financial Aid, Distance Learning]
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| - | *[http://www.testmagic.com/ TestMagic - Free GMAT, GRE, SAT Test, TOEFL practice]
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| - | *[http://www.edulix.com/ Edulix]
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| - | *[http://www.smic.be/smic5022/ English Exercises Online]
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| - | *[http://www.grebible.com/index.html Gre Bible - Pellucid Learning Systems.Download Free Gre Study KIts Practice tests, Vocabulary, Essays Download, Free Gre Material, Vocabulary Word lists]
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| - | *[http://www.testprepcenter.com/gre/index.php Beat the GRE system with this GRE Test Prep package!]
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| - | *[http://www.geocities.com/dearjasons/the_gre_test.htm THE GRE TEST]
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| - | *[http://www.wayabroad.com/twe/ Online TOEFL TWE GRE GMAT AWA Writing Centre]
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| - | *[http://www.wayabroad.com/chinese/twe/essays/todaystopic.cfm Today's TOEFL Essay Samples]
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| - | *[http://www.free-toefl.com/ Free TOEFL Preparation Exams, TOEFL Test, and Lessons]
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| - | *[http://www.testmagic.com/gre/ GRE Test Information :: TestMagic]
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| - | *[http://www.confusingwords.com/ Confusing Words]
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| - | *[http://phrontistery.info/index.html The Phrontistery: Obscure Words and Vocabulary Resources]
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| - | *[http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslstudent.html ESL Resources for Students]
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| - | *[http://www.prep4exams.com/aboutexams.html Prep4Exams Portal - Prep4exams Methodology]
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| - | *[http://gre2visa.95mb.com/ GRE 2 VISA]
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| - | *[http://www.studybeans.com/gre/ Taking the GRE Test (StudyBeans)]
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| - | *[http://www.road2abroad.com/ Road2abroad Univresity listings USA, Australia, Canada, Uk VISA season info]
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| - | *[http://www.downdowndown.net/ TOEFL×ÊÁÏÏÂÔØ]
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| - | *[http://www.testmagic.com/ TestMagic - Free GMAT, GRE, SAT Test, TOEFL practice]
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| - | *[http://www.gre.org/practice_test/index.html? GRE Practice Test Questions]
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| - | *[http://www.jstor.org/ JSTOR - The Scholarly Journal Archive]
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| - | *[http://www.majortests.com www.majortests.com]
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| - | That was my set of bookmarks... I have bared all my weapons now. Believe me, I spent 5-6 months building them...and these are just for the GRE preparation... I have many more up my sleeve which will be published in due course of time.
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| - | Added later on 18th May, 2005... since this post is apparently being followed by some junta:
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| - | I hope this old set of tips should help you regarding RCs:First of all, you need to understand that the reading comprehension is actually a treasure hunt and nothing more. All that is being asked has its answer somewhere in the passage given, and so you must look for the right area in the passage. Keeping that in mind sure helps... for example when you think you have read something about the question in the passage somewhere, and are about to answer from memory, don't! Go through the passage again, and find the exact thing that you were trying to remember, and then you can go ahead and answer a question.
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| - | Next, eliminate outrageous answers outright. By "outrageous" I mean any answer choice that mentions something not mentioned in the passage. It may be that the passage is about wildlife conservation, and you get an answer choice that seems to fit in, except for the fact that it mentions poachers or government apathy, etc. --- anything that was not there in the passage... chuck it out straight away.
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| - | Also, it helps to keep a pencil and paper at hand and manually cross out answers that you have eliminated like that. You know, A B C D E looks a lot more confusing than A B C D E where you have eliminated B, D and E and can actually focus on A and C. (Sorry this blogger does not allow a strikethrough).
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| - | To add to this list I have another piece of advice which, although repeated, I guess is a life-saver in itself. And that is, read the way the various books such as Kaplan and Barrons ask you to tackle the RCs or anything for that matter. Practice their sample examples religiously, and I am sure your standards will improve. Finally, don't panic. If you see that something is taking a lot of time, you have to make an educated guess, much like the way a captain decides to send four of his men through the enemy territory while he saves the other 46. You have to take mental decisions, and tough ones at that, to be able to triumph. At the end of the day, the GRE is not about how much you know but it is about how well you can steel yourself for the challenge!
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| - | ===Recommended Books===
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| - | Use the links below to order online, or details on the book so that you can look for them in your local bookstore.
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| - | * [http://www.amazon.com/Gre-Practicing-Take-General-Test/dp/0446396001/sr=1-1/qid=1169756749/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-7427571-5609649?ie=UTF8&s=books GRE Big Book]: The famous "big book" that contains an archive of actual tests.
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| - | * [http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-2007-Graduate-Test-Prep/dp/0375765506/sr=8-2/qid=1169755799/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-7427571-5609649?ie=UTF8&s=books Cracking the GRE] by Princeton Review has a good treatment of the essay-based analytical section.
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| - | ==GRE Subject Test==
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| - | The GRE Subject Tests gauge undergraduate achievement in eight specific fields of study.
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| - | Click on edit to add information to this section.
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| - | ==Frequently Asked Questions==
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| - | * Post your question here.
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| - | * If anyone knows the answer, please post it here.
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| - | * add more questions here
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| - | ==External Links==
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| - | * [http://www.ets.org Official website of the Educational Testing Service (ETS)]
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| - | * [http://www.gre.org Official website for GRE]
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You can locate the current page under the same categories on the new site. In case of problems, email help
foreignliving.info.
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