Kritika Sachdeva 321 (Q - 163, V - 158)

My GRE Experience:

Score: 321 (Q - 163, V - 158)
Test Center: Shiksha Overseas, East Patel Nagar, New Delhi. (Non - Prometric)

- How was the center?
Awful. There was no discipline at all. Even the main door was left unopened; you could hear the noises from outside. Moreover, the AC wasn't working, and no lockers were provided.
However, if you are able to concentrate, nothing will distract you. 

-How was the test?

AWA: Both issue and argument topics were simple and straight forward.

Verbal: I got verbal as the experimental section. The first verbal section was pretty simple; there were no difficult words as such. I got one long RC, on which I spent more time than was required. I fell short of time and had to mark two questions randomly.
The second VA section was again simple, no esoteric words. RCs were not difficult.
The last section was difficult. There were some difficult words, and one RC was particularly hard. Moreover, by then, I had started to lose my cool, which led to no time left to even read the last RC; I ended up marking three questions randomly.

Quant: There were a few problems which were long and had complex wording, in both the sections. However, apart from a couple of questions, there were none that were particularly vexing.
My time management skills were really poor today- I did not have time left to solve even a single DI problem. I was able to barely look at the graphs, and read the questions. They seemed to be on the easier side.

-How much time had I spent on preparation?
Around 1.5 months.

-Is coaching required?
Personally, I think that unless you have really weak concepts, there is no need to join a coaching center. They are over hyped. I had joined one, it mainly helped in forming a routine in the beginning. That's all. I regret joining it.
In the end, your skills, and how much effort you have put in, are the only things which matter.

-How many words should be done?
I did the Princeton word list, which had around 450 words. And around 300 more words from various other sources. I did not encounter many words whose meaning I did not know.

-Study Material followed?
I read the Princeton Guide, and the official ETS Guide. (And attended the coaching classes  ) . I also read the RC strategies given in Manhattan Lb. They were useful.
For practice, I did the Kaplan sectional tests. Also, I did RCs from various sources, to get used to the pattern of questions.

-Mock tests?
I gave 4 Princeton tests, and one powerprep. My score was between 322 and 325 in all of them.

-Random
>Manage your time well. If you are stuck on a question, just mark it and come back to it later.
>Practice a lot of RCs.
>Don't be stressed before the exam, it NEVER helps. It is essential that you write the test with a free mind.

Thank you for reading. Good luck everyone

Meghna Verma 321 (Q-162, V-159)

Gave GRE yesterday!

321 (Verbal-159, Quant-162)

Those who are going to give GRE in coming days, a month, this is for them.

The level of quant that comes in exam is much higher than what is in Kaplan MST or Powerprep! I had VQVQV, out of which the difficulty level of verbal was as expected, as it is in the mock tests; it dries out your mind a lot and focus is needed every passing minute!
But, the point where I got disturbed was quant (unexpectedly)! First Q was fine, but as soon as the second started, difficulty level had increased which was expected, but never in all the mock tests I had given, were all the questions so time-consuming coz of which I panicked!
In the 8 tests I gave, I ALWAYS had 5 minutes remaining to check my quant-2 (13-14 for quant 1 which became 7-8 in real GRE)..I marked 4 questions blindly in quant 2 in the real exam!!!!!!! (ugh ugh ugh!)

So guys, if you even have a week left and u r confident abt quant, still give it one day whole for practice! That's my suggestion, the only one for which I have written this post!  Don't want any one else to go thru d same!

Divya 313 (Quant-161, Verbal-152 )

GRE(wrote today): scored 313, quant-161, verbal-152 (QVQVQ)

For Verbal: There were no difficult words. Just learn the barrons 333 high frequency words and learn to use them in context. Understanding the pattern of the question is very important. Try magoosh tricks or princeton review tips for verbal.
i)Verbal TC, SE have multiple triggers(negative, positive, all sorts), and thats were many might go wrong. I would say instead of focussing on learning words, read editorials of newspapers like The Hindu, daily, understand the concept behind what they write and learn the words you come across. Most importantly understand the sentence structure, which one word might negate whole sense of sentence.
ii) Reading editorials pretty much covers RC part too. Practice the techniques for speed reading. Instead of reading lengthy passages, skim through them, come back later when you know where everything approximately is. Lots of practice is the only thing required for RCs.

For quant: I don't know if its really true that the same pattern repeats the whole month. But its better to be mentally prepared for such things. Quant was very tricky(as per my knowledge i made 2-3 wrong , but scored less ). For quant, Review each topic, practice questions involving differnet concepts.

No other tests come close to ets tests. But do take minimum three complete tests to be able to go through the test. 

Harshdeep 320 (V-157, Q-163)

gre score: V 157 q 163 awa not recieved.

experience: i underestimated quant section.. it was easy yet time consuming. i missed 3 questions
rc were quite short and easy.. no point in doing long rc because i atleast did not encounter any. .. 

prep details: kaplan 400 and manhattan advanced+essential wordlist.
verbal: manhattan guides 7 and 8, 5 lb book of gre problems.
quant: tactics from barron's gre test prep book and questions from 5 lb book. 

Vavilapalli 302 (V-141, Q-161)

Done with my GRE today ....
I wrote in chennai Prometric near Guindy .. (are there any here who gave exam here)
I got 161 in Quant and 141 in Verbal
Quant was little tough, Verbal is not linked to words learn the strategies ...
If you have difficulty remembering words, i would suggest you to go for just the high frequency words...and learn the strategies well ...
Stay cool during the exam, i panicked on my verbal section and thats the reason for my low score ...

WPME is the book to go for ...if you are not very good at remembering words , go for manhattan high frequency and barrons 333 for verbal ... however it is advisable to learn the strategies well ....if you know the strategy you can get the answer without knowing the word ... For RC i dont think one can easily crack unless they have some reading habits ... RC gor for Manhattan many did well preparing from that...

Shashank 326 (161 V , 165 Q.)

Experience:
1. Issue essay was philosophical, meandered along the topic somehow. Argument essay was a breeze.
2. Got QVQVQ. First two went great. Third the worst: I think it was ungraded since it had one definitely wrong question. Fourth made me sweat and fifth was okayish.
3. Overall, I opine that you can estimate how it feels with PowerPrep. Nothing else comes closer.

Tips: Do Barrons 333. Use those words in sentences of your own. If you have more time, go for Magoosh words. For Quant, pay more attention to statistics.

Akshay Takker 307 (Q 157 and V 150)

I wrote GRE today. Got 307 (Q 157 and V 150). It was QVQVQ.

Following are a few leanings:

1) There is no need to focus on mugging up more words (I did Barron's 3500 words). Reading speed matters in RCs. On the whole, verbal was upto the expectations. and AWAs were pretty much upto their level.

2) For quants, Lemme be honest, i have had many tricky questions today. More than the difficulty level, the length of the questions and understanding the real meaning of question is what will consume time. They seem easy at first glance, bt sooner or later you get the exact devil behind them. DI questions surprised me for the first time ever since i started practicing. manhattan series is the best. Do not touch Kaplan or magoosh.

3) Brush up your concepts with Maths Review of ETS, will prove beneficial.

4) Apart from taking all free tests, you can take mock tests from ETS. No other test seemed more close to what i saw today(leaving the quants part for obvious).

5) Unlike CAT which is a power test, GRE is a speed test. So practice matters a lot. Dont rely on Verbal part, it will just demoralise you to see that none of the words from any high frequency list or any book(except dictionary...lol) seemed familiar with.

6) Dont go without a passport. A passport is all you need and all you will be allowed take in the exam hall. No point carrying any extra burden. And also, try not to study anything for 2hrs before the exam. It will make you loose your cool.

7) You should keep extra tee,you wont be comfortable with AC. Keep snacks and a energy drink for 10 min break.

Rest, its upto you and your preparation. All the best to the future test takers. 

Tushar Gupta 329: Q-170, V-159

Verbal (in order which I studied):
1. Did the following courses on Memrise: Barrons 333 high frequency, Manhattan 500 basic, Manhattan 500 Advanced, Verbal Advantage: Essential GRE words, Challenging GRE words. And I created 1 list: Difficult GRE words.
2. Verbal Workout by Princeton (Found it the best for verbal)
3. Kaplans verbal section
4. Princeton 1014 questions verbal part complete
5. ETS verbal
6. Kaplans verbal tests (on CD or online, 10 tests in total are available)

Quant:
1. Nova
2. Kaplans quant section
3. 1-2 drills from each topic in princeton 1014 questions
4. ETS quant

AWA:
1. Read examples from ETS book.
2. Read strategies and examples from Kaplans.

Practise Tests:
1. 6 Kaplans free Tests (1 in book, 5 online)
2. 4 ETS (2 in book and 2 on software)
3. 4 Princeton (doc in this group states how to get them)
4. 1 Manhattan ( free online)

Harshal Gavali 316 (Q 161 and V 155)

I wrote GRE on 26th Sept at Borivali Center. Got 316 (Q 161 and V 155). It was VQVQV.

Following are a few leanings:

1) There is no need to focus on mugging up more words (I did Barron's 3500 words). I think 2-3 high frequency word lists from Barron and different publishers would be sufficient. I ran out of time in 2 sections of verbal out of 3 I got. So reading speed matters.

2) For quant, Manahttan series is the best. Do not touch Kaplan.

3) To brush up some concepts, you may like to see 'Math Review' of ETS. Also check with their math conventions.

4) Apart from taking all free tests, you can buy 3 tests for $ 10.75 at mygretutor.com (it's kind of cheaper software built on open source technology!). They give range of final marks you receive in their tests unlike other publishers who give a 3 digit figure, but it's OK for practice.

5) Unlike CAT which is a power test, GRE is a speed test. So practice matters a lot. Your stamina for this marathon exam is crucial.

6) It would be better to keep an photo ID (PAN, DL, Aadhar card), along with passport.

7) You should keep extra tee if not comfortable with AC. Keep nutrition bars like Snickers for 10 min break.

 If you are a working professional, please be confident that you can crack this exam in 2-3 months of prep (as I did. Thanks to BEST and Locals  )!

Thanks. All the Best!

Sumoni Hfg (GRE Score: 305/159Q/146V)

Firstly my preparation time period:
Well, Last year I had joined KP Singh here in Mumbai which started in AUgust and continued till March, but seriously it was utter waste of money and time, as the things those guy's taught us was good but not to the level of GRE, all the did was explain some basic concepts which we can even get from Internet.
So, seriously I prepared for only 45 Days, as I was pretty much decent in my Quants{Although my marks suggests otherwise, but believe me I am}, I concentrated more on Verbal.
For first 30 days: 2 hours a day{of which 1 hour was spent in this groups solving questions posted by others}
Last 15 days: 5-7 hours.

My Center: Prometric Testing Center, Aditya Insititute of Management, Borivali, Mumbai
The center was pretty much decent, the security check took about 15-20 mins which includes filling up a form taking oath that we will not share the questions which come in examination to anybody {Well, that was a joke :D}
after that you need to again do security check up and then you will be called upon and you will be asked to verify your details once again and if any correction you should call ETS Guy's before hand and then on the test day, they will help you change it.

About my Exam.
I got VQVQV.
1st Verbal: 1st verbal was of medium difficulty as the words were decent and something which I had learnt/heard before. I got 1 long RC of some 5 odd paras on Literature which had 4 questions.
1 short RC for inference type questions{Strengthen/Weaken the RC}
1 short RC with 1 questions
1 Medium RC with 3 questions
SE was a bit difficult as the words were pretty close to each other and the it was difficult to make a calculated guess also.
TC's were as comparable to Powerprep test.

1st Quant: The disaster.
Quants being the strong point I was pretty surprised with the lengthy and tricky sums which showed in my Exam, although I almost completed my exam apart from 1 question, which I could not enter the number as the time was over 
3 Stats question, 1 probability, 3 absolute value, 3 geometry, 2 Co-Ordinate geometry, 2 PNC

2nd Verbal:This one was difficult.
This section was the most difficult of all the sections, and I was reading questions, I felt that looks like I did pretty good in my first section that's why the level of the questions is difficult that normal.
Anyways, I got 3 medium RC's {No Long RC's, sad as I love long RC's }
and I got 3 TC which was triple blanks {Disaster as those triple blank were of atleast 4 lines and difficult to understand :(}
I completed this section in 28 mins, for 2 mins I rechecked the answer's again 

2nd Quants: Worst DI.
This section was also of medium difficulty level as apart from DI, almost all the sum's were solvable but lengthy which involved quite a lot of calculation and multiple concepts.
The DI was worst of all, it took me 15 mins to solve 2 DI questions and atlast I had to randomly mark my 3 DI questions {For your knowledge, DI was my strong point}.
DI had 1 pie diagram, 6X8 Data and 4 lines each questions which took 2 mins to understand on what actually they were asking 
Anyways, in this section I had to miss last question due to time constraint 

3rd Verbal: Most easiest of all verbal section.
Nothing to say much, this section had some easy questions and no long RC's although 3 medium RC's were difficult to get in first attempt, but was manageable.

AWA: I got one on "Society Enhancement by questioning authority} {It's there in ETS pools
and 1 on Industry change based on Survey.

Material Used:
Quants: there's no better book than Manhattan set of 6 strategy guides for Quants and Magoosh videos for clearing your concepts.
For practise, I used Nova, Manhattan 5LB and some part of Magoosh also.
I believe Magoosh is the closest to GRE {Mark my word for this statement}

Verbal: 
I bought Manhattan Reading Comprehension Guide {Hardcopy} and read it's strategy, it does help it seriously as I could increase my accuracy in Essay from 305 to 50-60%.
for SC/TC/SE, Magoosh Videos will suffice.

Words: I did only 333 barrons and grouping of words which did help eventually.

MY Mock scores:
I only gave Powerprep
PP1:310
PP2:310

I will update later on what strategy to use, as I am retaking it again and will post the exact strategy that I am gonna follow this time around to cross 315 barrier,

I am retaking on 315, anyone up for it?

Nithanth Kudige GRE - 324 (168Q + 156V)

Hello everyone! I finished my GRE and TOEFL a few days ago and hadn't posted here in a while. So, here it is, big thanks to all of you for contributing problems and solutions to the group, they sure helped!

My scores:
GRE - 324 (168Q + 156V) + 5.0 AWA
TOEFL - 115

Nothing special but I am satisfied with them. Thanks again and good luck to you guys as well! (I might still occasionally solve problems here when I'm bored though)

P.S. - I had already posted that a few days ago but didn't have enough time to write in detail. Wrote now, and it got too long to post as a comment in my previous thread, so making a new post instead. 

Preparation:

I did a lot of Magoosh (80% of their math problems and 60% of their verbal problems) and think they're totally awesome. Personally, I think Magoosh is a far better resource (both for learning and practicing) than anything else out there, including Manhattan 5lb. I did a bit from 5lb. (around 30% maybe) simply because I purchased it and didn't want to let it go to waste. 

Apart from that, majority of my preparation happened through practice tests. I get very lazy and casual solving problems in a non-test format, so I chose this path. In all, I took maybe 10-15 full length tests, including those from Princeton, Manhattan, Magoosh and PowerPrep.

Math: 
I was consistently scoring upwards of 165 in math right from the Princeton diagnostic test before starting any prep, so I didn't see the need to follow any strategy guides. Instead, after each practice test, I spent some time revising topics I'd made mistakes in.

What's important for GRE math is CONCEPTS, and NOT memorizing formulas. I cannot stress this enough! You can solve EVERY problem if you have a good grasp on the topic, but even with a ton of formulas stored in your head, you may not score a 165+ score. This here is the biggest GRE math tip anyone can give you.

Verbal:
I HATE memorizing and SUCK at it, but I was told that there was no other choice, so I started with The Hit Parade (Princeton). Somehow managed to go through the 6 groups (with a memory retention rate of around 80%) but I was fed up by then and did not touch the "additional groups". I started focusing on techniques instead.

SE, TC - Stick to the clues given in the sentences. If possible, come up with your own answers before looking at the choices. Do not stray from options supported by explicitly stated facts, however tempting others may be.

RC - Again, if it's not explicitly stated, it is not true. Process of elimination works best here (spot all unlikely answers rather than one likely answer).

If there's a 3-4 question RC passage, skip it and save it for last.

AWA:
I did the mistake of taking AWA for granted. Didn't touch it till 3 days before the exam. When I finally did, I got shit scared because my first attempt yielded pathetic results (only issue essay though, argument ones are very easy). Do NOT make the same mistake! Don't skip AWA in mock tests. Write SOMETHING, even if you're really bored and can only manage to write a couple of paragraphs. It'll definitely help at the end. I managed to do 3 issue essays and 3 argument essays for practice but got lucky at the test and it went pretty well. Not everyone gets lucky all the time though. 

General tips:

- Write lots of mock tests (at least 5) so that you get used to the format; by the time you write GRE, it'll be a routine for you, and probably also reduces nervousness.

- Don't get complacent after doing well in PowerPrep tests. I scored 329 in both PowerPrep tests with 170Q and 159V (yes, exactly the same scores in both sections in both tests) but look what happened in the end! -__-

- If the invigilators at the test center start chatting with one another during your test, please do not hesitate to politely ask them to SHUT THE FUCK UP. This happened to me when I was trying to read through a long RC passage but was too much of a wuss to shut them up right there right then. I regret it now.

- Arrive at the test center early and use the extra time to relax. There's nothing worse than to start the test in a stresed out state.

AWA Tips

- First and foremost, don't skip AWA sections during practice tests

- Don't use a word you're not very familiar with. There's nothing worse than using a word incorrectly, no matter how "cool" you may think its usage is going to make you seem. It's important to remember that AWA tests your critical thinking and analytical writing skills; not how well versed you are with abstruse words.

- Transition from one body paragraph to another smoothly, especially in the issue essay. If you're targeting 4.5 or higher, you might want to write something more intriguing than 'firstly', 'secondly', 'finally'.

- When I write an argument essay, I make sure each body paragraph addresses all the following:
i) what the flaw is and how/why it is a flaw.
ii) how the argument may be strengthened (or flaw eliminated).
iii) why it is important not to overlook the flaw (in other words, consequences of ignoring the flaw)

Saurav Tripathy (319 (Q-165, V-154))

Score : 319 (Q-165, V-154)
Section Order : QVQVQ
Practice Tests : ETS - 320,322 (pretty accurate!)
Manhattan - 316, 318

QUANT:

The first two quant sections seemed pretty similar in difficulty. The last one had very basic questions - must have been the experimental one.
The Manhanttan set is quite comprehensive. 5 lb covers all kinds of quesitons.The practice tests are very useful. If you are starting out, no need for any other material.

Magoosh - This deserves every bit of praise. Almost all questions were very similar to the ones in the website.

VERBAL:

Studied for 3 days . [I just aimed for a high quant score] Used only Magoosh (again!) videos. If you think their maths section is good, english is extraordinary! Its all about sentence structure in the GRE. I didn't even come across a single unknown word. But the Magoosh (yet again!!) vocab ebook helped a lot with multiple meanings of words and their usage.

For RC tactics, I also referred the Aristotle GRE Verbal Grail - very systematic and thorough.

ESSAY:

Issue - I got the same essay described as an example in the Magoosh (seriously stop now!! :P).
Argument - Breezed through. Used the tactics shown in M...well, yeah. Best $99 dolars ever spent (yet :))

Overall, focus on tricky quant questions and practice RC like crazy!

Now, I have 2 questions:
1. I wrongly entered a US school for my UG. What do I do now ? 
2. (Silly) Is the score that we see once the test is over, the final one ? I mean is there any chance the final scores might change (read increase :P). I was kinda expecting more in quants :|

Leena Panchmatia 326 (Q- 167, V-159)

Scored 326 (Q- 167, V-159) (VQVQV)  
Seriously thankful to the whole group and the admins  
This would have never been possible if I haven't joined the group...

Kaplan MSTs (1-324, 2-5 :322)
Manhattan : 329
ETS 1 : 326

Verbal:
TC/SE: More emphasis should be on understanding the sentence
RC: Manhattan is enough

Quant:
Even if your basics are strong, practise enough since you may get drained during the exam which may lead to silly mistakes.

For verbal , I did Norman Lewis word list once.. getting 25 words everyday 3 months prior to exam.. BArron 800 in the last fifteen days.. I think that much is enough... because there is very little emphasis on vocab..... SE/TC are more about understanding... all the MSTs have such questions... for practise, I didn't find any book having such questions so it is better toreview thoroughly each of the verbal tests you give

RC : Manhattan 5 lb passages are actually tough as compared to actual.. and doing them properly with proper review is sufficient... I solved manhatan 5 lb and princeton which I downloaded from here

Quant: I did manhattan 6 books for polishing all the concepts.. I didn't do much practise during the last month but I had FAITHFULLY solved RS agarwal during my vacations.. so it might have helped.. Drill sets at end of Manhattan series are nice .. u can afford to give ur time

Manhattan test quant is very much like GRE .... Just do the tests FAITHFULLY .. Quant just needs practise so u don't get drained..otherwise its easy

Pavan Kumar Silla 320(Q : 163, V : 157)

My GRE experience :
GRE score : 320 (Q-163 V-157) gave my GRE yesterday : VQVQV

Firstly, AWA is all about writing the tasks in 30 mins... follow a standard format and practice writing issue and argument tasks. ( I wont suggest more since my AWA score is not yet out)

Secondly, Verbal needs you to learn words. There were not many esoteric words. I learnt the wordlists in majortests.com. RCs is all about managing time, try to give minimum of 17 mins for RCs, you can answer every question of RCs if you have time after reading two or more times but ifyou are a good reader, not a big problem.
SE/TC : knowing the meaning of the word is 60% significant and understanding the complexity of sentence is 40% according to me. I knew the meanings of all most words and luckily i never had the case of two words having very subltle meaning.. all words meant different and if you understand the context of the sentence, you would have no problem in answering the TC/SE. SE : most of the answers i got were synonyms, so trying to read words in groups of synonyms would be beneficial.

Thirdly, Quant is all about solving the questions within the given timeframe. DI is important as you can score 6 marks at a go. Most of the DI questions were linked up with percentages. Statistics and Geometry are also important. Infact, everything is important. Questions were not that trickey but lengthy. Just practice doing 20 questions is 30 mins a 5 mins to check the ones you have a doubt in. Whenever you have a doubt in a question, mark some answer and then proceed to another as you have 1/4th probability that you get the answer right.

Finally, give as many practice tests as you can. Give Powerprep1 one week before your Gre and powerprep2 two days prior. Don't forget to review after you're sone with the test. GRE scores will be very close to your powerprep scores. My PP1: 318 (Q-166 V-152) PP2 : 314 (Q-164 V-150)
Take the Kaplan practice tests using the crack given in the group. Write your last three tests with AWA. Take Manhattan and Princeton review free tests.

 

Pranjal Haridas 321 (Q 168, V 153)

My GRE Experience

Hi friends, i had my GRE on 26th august. I scored 321 (verbal-153, quant- 168).
I started my preparations roughly around last week of june. I am working with a fertilizer industry, so 8-6 job takes the day time plus u dont really get a lot of leaves. so basically, all these days i studied for like 2-3 hours daily with marathons on sundays.

Coming to gre experience, i was really nervous before the exam. quant was my forte. I had a target of 325 (170, 155) in mind. Personally i felt quant was tougher than i expected. verbal was actually simpler than i thought and practiced in mocks.

Quant:
quant was comparatively tough, there were a lot of questions on statistics. 4 in one of the sections and 2 in other two. Yes, quant was my experimental section (thank God for that). also, questions related to probability and geometry were lill tricky. i had a strategy for this section. I solved everything in sequence till ques no. 13, it usually took me around 15-17 mins. then i mark and skip the DI and jump to Q.17. solve the last 4, of which one usually have multiple correct ans. and i felt last 4 were lill tricky everytime. so solve them in next 7-8 mins and now again to DI for the last 10 mins. it helped me big time to manage time and maximize the quant score.

Verbal:
I practiced verbal using 'gre word list' in vocabulary.com
i found this tool extremely helpful in remembering the words. for the last week, i just worked on high frequency words (333 from baron) and practiced word groups (from annexure of Kaplan book). Word groups helped me tremendously in SE. if it weren't for word groups, i dont think i wud have scored 150+ in verbal.
In gre, SC and SE were very simple but RCs were tough. one of the RCs was huuuuuge. of course it had 4 questions on it, but still it was huge. small RCs were relatively easier.

and yeah, 1 snickers and a red bull for 10-min break
I hope my gre experience would be helpful. Cheers friends 

Henil Shah 305 (162 Q, 143 V)

GRE experience!
(2nd attempt)
Score 305.
Q-162
V-143

sections QVQVQ!
1. starting with AWA. Issue topic was very easy.
2. Argument was manageable. Language was tough though!

Now comes the main part! Was thinking VVVVV and it was Q(was hoping

Q only though but from mind it was like VVV)..

Quant- 8 comparisons. the tricky part was dat none outta 8 had answer D.

Strange! dont knw but 90% answers were either A or B. Numerical entry was

like wth man! answer was coming like 1.75 and question was to find median

of given frequency table and they were rounded to .5 nearest so was

confused what to write 1.75 or 2! finally wrote 2. median was coming like

1.5+2/2=1.75..

out of 60 quant questions 17-18 questions were of median! MEDIAN! and

all were tricky! never encountered such in nova or magoosh! 

Messed up with time as 1st section of quant was tricky and lengthy!

Quant 2nd section! I am confident that this was dummy as i answered all 20

questions corect with 10 mins to spare. checked twice and all were coming

perfect!

Quant 3rd section. Hardest of all 3 bt completed in 31 mins or so! again

MEDIAAAAAAAAAAN sums. I hate Median now!.

total questions now.
17-18 on mean median
2 probability. which i messed up and m thinking dat i scored 0/2 in that.
7 DI AND HEIGHTSSSSS, DI SECTION WAS ALSO OF

MEDIAAAAAAAAN DISTRIBUTION CHART!! and questions were like

we have to find median of 14 bars.. and all were very close to each other. i

was using pencil on the screen LOL.
6-7 percents and ratio
1 profit and loss
2 P and C
1 std dev
2 time speed work distance
no question on AP,GP.
3-5 on numbers!
5-6 on equations and linear inequalities
3-4 on geometry
1-2 on coord geometry.

Now the Verbal part!

first section was slight difficult as some words were alien to me! and RC

omg.. Such a long RC and 4 questions and time remaining only 6 Mins!

SE overall manageable. but 1 option so damn easy to figure out. to find 2nd

one was really tough!

TC thik chalta hai LOL.

P.S- will be uploading questions of quants soon which i encountered today!

Tips from my side:
1) drink red bull at 630 am if ur slot is 8 am.  GIVES u WINGS!
2) take metacin if possible. after 4 sections it would be impossible to sit!
3) take some chocolates with you to eat in 10 mins break.
4) dont drink too much water LOL pressure zyada susu zyada! 
5) keep calm and cool dont panic esp in quants!
6) most imp my pp scores pp1 308(q160 v148) pp2 307.(q 164 v 143)
Manhattan msts score range were Q 160-163 and v 140-144!
ALL the BEST to all the Aspirants!
Special thanx to this group. You guys are doing wonderful job. keep up the 

Danish Patel 328 (170 Q, 158 V)

I got done with my GRE yesterday. Ended up with a score of 328(170 quants+158 verbal). A few people requested me to share my story here so that others could benefit from it  I'll break down the entire syllabus into subsections(the way I looked at it) and tell you how I prepared for it and what it was like facing that particular section on the test day. Additionally I will list out the material I utilized.

Maths: I have studied in CBSE until class 12th and am currently in final year mechanical engineering, which largely contributed to my confidence in maths! I did not do extensive maths drills or practice from any particular book. The only time i practiced maths was when solving full length computer based practice papers. However, a few friends of mine recommended Nova and Princeton 1014 for maths practice of GRE level. Also, I highly recommend "Cracking the GRE" by Princeton Review. That one book can help you get past 315 with ease! Any edition after 2012 would help guide you through the new format test. The techniques given in the above mentioned book are priceless! Be it verbal or quants, Princeton Review techniques will help you hit bulls eye! On the test day, the questions were slightly tricky. Not withstanding the fact that I was able to complete each section within 20-25 minutes, there were alot of trap answers and multi-layered questions to try and deceive you.

Vocabulary: Some (un)wise people recommended me to start spending my nights with word power. I'm glad I didn't listen to them! Not only would it have been painstaking, it would be utterly useless! ETS says the new format is not vocabulary based and they're right. The sentence completion and sentence equivalence questions on the GRE are built not around vocabulary, but around complex sentence structures! Once I got past section 1 with ease, section 2 did contain some uncommon words, but there again, about 95% of those words were from Princeton Reviews "Hit Parade" and "Beyond Hit Parade" list, which is a modest 480 words in all. Additionally, while solving computer based full length tests, I kept a notepad open at all times and kept on adding words I did not know the meaning of to the list, to look up the meaning later. I was able to come up with a list of about 70 words there too from 11 papers(about 25-26 verbal sections). Also noteworthy is the fact that questions on the test that are structured around vocabulary have very simple sentence structure, which means if you know the meanings of all 5 or 6 words, you can mark the answer in less than 30 seconds.

RCs: At this point you may think I have set out to advertise Princeton Review, but I am being honest when I say its the best book I found out there! I used to score only about 4-6/10 in RCs per section before reading their chapter on RCs. Thereafter, my scores have been 7+ consistently! On the test, your first section(non adaptive) will contain such answer choices that almost always you would end up with 2 "maybe"s when applying Process Of Elimination. Surprisingly I found the RCs of my 2nd verbal section quite easy, which initially led me to think I must have messed up my first verbal(its adaptive) but then my scores were fairly decent.

Essays: Since I'm looking to apply for MS in Engineering, I don't really need good essay scores. I need an average of 3 of 6 and that's what I worked for. In all papers except my last 2, I did not type out full essays. However, I would read the topics and list out the following:
Issue essay: keywords, my points for, my points against, my conclusion.
Argument essay: the arguments conclusion, the premise, the assumptions, how I'd attack the assumptions.
This basically forms the outline of each essay, so on the test day you would start by listing out these things and then elaborating on each point. These techniques on essay writing, again, are taken from Princeton Review Cracking the GRE 2014.


Material:
1. The Princeton Review "Cracking The GRE" 2014.(for tips and techniques)
2. Princeton 1014 questions.(sent comp, sent equal, RC drills)
3. ETS official GRE guide.

Online Tests and scores:
1. Kaplan MST 5 online tests : 322-332(quants: 168-170, verbal: 152-162)
2. Princetonreview 4 online tests: 324-332(quants: 170, verbal: 154-162)
3. Power prep 1: 325(quants: 169, verbal: 156)
4. Power prep 2: 323(quants: 170, verbal: 153)

Additional computer based practice: Kaplan practice sets(10x verbal, 10x quants practice sections), I used to score 13-18 in those.

Good luck all! I hope my experience would benefit you all 
Any more queries, feel free to mail me 

Best Regards,
Danish Patel

Aniket Mishra 310 (161 Q,149 V)

Hi frnds...first of all i would like to say a big thanks to this group. Really it helped. My Gre score: 310 (161q,149v) ... I know not too good bt i am an average student....so its good enuf for me. Coming to my preparation ...did all kaplan, barrons, nova, ets, princeton...kaplan tests(307-318) ets(311,312) ....please practice rc and do all the words of ets and remember hw they r used in sebtences, do not mug up... Make lists of synonyms...u can easily score above 165 in quant , jst follow ets material and use others as practice. Do not get confused with the option D(i did :P) ... .. Test day: 3 quant and 2 verbal...1st verbal had a very long rc, ate up a lot of time, so practice. 1st and 2nd quant were easy, 3rd was tough... Lots of question on sd, median, mode(part of di also) , probability was easy so dont sweat it, geometry was relatively tough (4 or 6q) maybe, comparison questions are tricky so be careful while choosing d....dats it as far as i can remember....All the best guys!!! U can do better than me😊 Be calm and positive, u will do gr8...Thanks once again

Anurag Singh 307 (161Q,146 V)

hi all ! gave my GRE yesterday for the second time and scored 307 ( not happy with my score, but satisfied because i did hard work, no smart study ! scored 299 in the previous attempt) here are some of the myths which i want to clear for all future GRE aspirants.

1. For verbal, practising SE/TC/RC rigorously is more important than mugging words ! i got no esoteric words, all words were understandable but I never really practised verbal that's why really couldn't understand the context. GRE comes up with so close options that it is very difficult to choose the best fit that's why understanding the context is important.

2. Quant is not super easy in GRE anymore, I scored 161 but in practice test i was scoring 165-170 week in week out. GRE comes up with 4-5 twisted Q in the second section, so be ready for some. 

3. Don't panic, get a good night sleep and stay positive, preferably go by a cab or car, don't travel by metro or local trains. My main reason for not scoring well was that i had to travel all the way from noida to sohna road gurgaon by metro  took almost 3 hours.

4. AND THE MOST IMPORTANT ! review your mistakes ! I never reviewed mine !

5. Start your preparation with a diagnostic test and maintain an error log.

6. please please please ! don't collect volumes of pdf, it will never help you, just have a vocab list + OG(must have) + practice material ( preferably 1014 Q by PR for verbal)

7. And please don't hesitate to buy practice online tests, if you can't get one for free !

*Books i would suggest*

VERBAL :- 1014 Q by princeton review + Word power made easy + barrons 333 words ( enough to get more than 155+ in verbal )

QUANT :- Nova maths ( saved me )

AND Official Guide off course

i would not recommend Manhatten 5 lb just because technique and pacing matters in GRE not volume ( i am saying this because i did my gre practice from 5lb and trust me the level of the questions in 5lb are tougher than GRE )

All the best to all of you !

PS :- sorry for the typo !