janeuriq garrine camilla

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Manases Yatnalkar

unread,

Aug 2, 2024, 7:51:28 PM8/2/24

to chevcaseta

I recently gave the GRE and TOEFL exams in preparation for MS / PhD applications. While there exist several excellent resources to help you prepare (Magoosh, GreenlightTestPrep, Princeton Review, Manhattan), I thought it would be useful to share my personal experience with both tests. I might write a blog on grad school admission in the future (of course, conditioned on the admits I get!)

GRE and TOEFL are necessary exams for most graduate college applications abroad. GRE is a test of basic quantitive skills, verbal skills (primarily vocabulary, comprehension and inference) and essay writing. Most engineering students find the quantitive section really easy, but struggle with verbal and essay writing. TOEFL (iBT - internet Based Test) is a simple test of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. TOEFL is generally a lot easier than GRE. People trained in an english-medium school or college generally sail through TOEFL without much preparation.

The videos I linked above are good places to get started. They walk you through basic problem solving techniques and vocabulary building ideas. Verbal preparation needs two skills - quick inference and excellent vocabulary. Both skills are necessary to get a good verbal score.

I adopted a somewhat unusual approach to learning GRE words. I maintained a list of all unusual words I encountered during verbal practice (Sheet 1 contains my original list, Sheet 2 was added by a friend). Most definitions and sample sentences can be obtained from Google Dictionary or wordnik. I installed a Chrome extension, and kept updating my list whenever I found a new word here.

Many candidates generally ignore the AWA section (essay writing), and entirely focus their efforts on the verbal section. This is NOT a good idea, UNLESS you write essays or blogs regularly. High AWA scores will help you a lot more for graduate admission as compared to high verbal scores (LTI admission guideline, the Georgia Tech application explicitly asked for the AWA score in supplementary information). This is because good writing skills are essential for success as a graduate student.

There are two essay questions per exam, the Issue Task and Argumentative Task. All possible topics are listed online! (argumentative pool, issue pool) The argumentative essay is generally a lot easier, requiring more logical than creative thinking. The issue essay can be tougher, especially if you are out of practice.

The two PowerPrep tests provided by ETS while registering are the closest to the actual examination. Solve them dilligently, do not cheat in any form. When you choose to give them are upto you. I personally gave my first exam five days before GRE, and my second exam two days before GRE. The score you receive in these tests are a good indication of the final score you will achieve. (I achieved 160V, 170Q in Test #1, 158V, 170Q in Test #2).

Make sure you carry your passport and snacks for the 10 minute break. Be sure you completely understand the exam pattern. Water is NOT ALLOWED in the exam room. The 10 minute break is the only time you will get to use the restroom, eat, or drink something. Carrying a jacket is ALLOWED, and a good idea since the exam hall is cold. The actual GRE exam has an extra experimental section, and takes about four hours in total. If you are well prepared, it should be like any other exam.

I finally scored 161 in Verbal, 170 in Quant and 5.5 in AWA. This was close to my expectation after the exam and I am pretty happy with these scores! Most of my friends got scores within 2 marks of their practice test scores.