Taking the GRE (me, the parent)

[MaryTN]

<p>Who’s done it recently? I’m not sure which worries me more – the writing or the math.</p>

<p>

Typical Computer-Based GRE® General Test
Section Number of Questions Time</p>

<p>Analytical Writing 1 Issue Task* 45 minutes
Analytical Writing 1 Argument Task* 30 minutes
Verbal 30 30 minutes
Quantitative 28 45 minutes
Unscored** Varies Varies
Research*** Varies Varies </p>

<ul>
<li>For the Issue task, two essay topics are presented and you choose one. The Argument task does not present a choice of topics; instead one topic is presented.
** An unidentified unscored section may be included and may appear in any order after the Analytical Writing section. It is not counted as part of your score.
*** An identified research section that is not scored may be included, and it is always at the end of the test.

</li>
</ul>

[2blue]

<p>As someone who had forgotten a lot of the math, I found the Lighthouse Review’s “The Ultimate Math Refresher” a very easy way to ease back into it. It starts out with very basic stuff. After I worked my way through it, I then used a GRE prep book for practice with questions like those on the test.</p>

[cathymee]

<p>Mary
Besides the math anxiety, a big problem for someone not used to test taking in the “modern world” may be that the GRE test is done on a computer.
It may be worth your time to take a review class which not only reviews the math and writing skills with you but teaches you how to take the test.
Best of luck to you!!</p>

[ADad]

<p>You don’t go to a testing site to take the GRE?</p>

[molliebatmit]

<p>Focus particularly on the first 10 or so questions on each section – they are more heavily weighted in your final score than later questions. When I took the GRE, I spent about half the time on the first 10 questions in each section.</p>

<p>ADad, you do have to go to a testing site to take the GRE, but once at the site, you take the test on a computer.</p>

[Marian]

<p>At the site where my son took the GRE, he got his verbal and math scores immediately. So computers do have their advantages. He had to wait a few weeks for the writing score.</p>

[mini]

<p>Don’t stress about the writing. Almost none of the graduate schools count it. </p>

<p>And yes, the first 10 or so questions count for the most - the test works by a kind of “fuzzy logic”, and if you miss some of the early questions, it is very difficult to climb back up the logic chain.</p>

[ranima]

<p>Are there any practice tests that one could take on the computer?</p>