The best strategy for preparing yourself for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is to become familiar with the test format, to review fundamentals in math and English, and to practice taking the exam.

1. Familiarize yourself with the overall format of the test. The GRE has three main areas: verbal ability, mathematical proficiency and analytical ability. It will contain two sections for each of the three areas and an extra section which is not scored. The content of this extra section will vary.
2. Take as many practice GRE's as possible. Practicing the exam will prepare you for the format and make you more comfortable when taking the test. The ARCO GRE 1999 Edition in the BRCC Library contains ten ways to raise your score and provides practice tests. Also, check out the following websites:
   • http://www.gre.org/
     This website provides descriptions of test, CBT guidelines, test dates, test registration, etc., and a diagnostic service for $15.
   • http://www.scholarstuff.com/netguide/
     test/gre.htm
     Site provides answers to general questions and test preparation for GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and others and provides online options ranging from logic games to GRE Crash Course which you can purchase. There is also a free online GRE course.
   • http://www.syvum.com/gre/
     This site offers GRE test preparation exercises with a focus on GRE Verbal Ability and GRE Quantitative Ability. It provides a GRE Vocabulary Builder with word lists as well as links to GRE information, computer-based GRE, GRE test structure, and GRE tips and techniques.
3. Review the directions for each section of the test before you take it. By reviewing the directions before the test, you will be able to skip the directions and save time when taking the test.
4. Remember that you will have 30 minutes to complete each section of the exam. Again, there will be two sections for each of the three areas and an extra section that is not scored. The verbal section will have 38 questions, each math section will have 30 questions, each analytical section will have 26 questions, and the extra section will have 25 to 30 questions. Content varies for the extra section. Since there is no penalty for incorrect answers, guess at answers you do not know by eliminating answers you know are wrong and then choose the most likely answer.
5. Familiarize yourself with the question formats for each section. The verbal section has four types of questions: antonym, analogy, sentence completion and reading comprehension. The math section contains quantitative comparisons and basic problem solving, and the analytical section features analytical reasoning and logical reasoning questions.
6. Increase your vocabulary. The verbal portion of the GRE is essentially a vocabulary test.
7. Review basic math such as geometry, algebra, proportions, fractions, percents, decimals, the order of operations and anything else you might have learned in high school math.
8. Try solving a few logic puzzles and games to prepare for the analytical portion of the exam.

Self-Preparation

This handout will give you some tips on relaxation, self-talk, and the use of visualization to help you maintain a positive attitude.

Learning how to relax is the key to your being able to do your best. Relaxation means being calm enough to work efficiently. Three highly effective ways of relaxing are deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and visualization.

Practice deep breathing. Taking a series of deep, slow breaths can often have a calming effect in normally tense environments such as testing. Follow these steps to achieve deep breathing, sometimes, referred to as "belly breathing":

1. Push out your stomach.
2. With your stomach slightly puffed out, inhale slowly through your nose while counting one, two, filling up the abdomen.
3. Continue breathing in-counting three, four-this time sending the air up into your lungs.
4. Exhale through your mouth, and reverse the process, counting-one, two-as you empty the air from your chest, and then-three, four, five, six, seven, eight-as the air leaves your stomach and your stomach deflates.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 three or four times until you're feeling relaxed. (Taken from Pauk 324)

Practice progressive muscle relaxation. Try this technique developed by Dr. Edmund Jacobson. Divert your attention from your mind to your body by slowly tensing and relaxing each of your major muscle groups. Begin with your toes and move up through your body, tensing and releasing the muscles, ending with the muscles in your face. You should feel more relaxed and at ease throughout your body.

Use visualization. Think of a favorite place where you feel comfortable and relaxed. Imagine this favorite spot in detail. The more vivid the image you recreate, the more your body will respond as it does when you are actually in your favorite spot. Do not forget any of the sensory appeal (touch, sound, or smell) of this special place.

Use self-talk. That's right. Listen to your inner voice. Is the message you are hearing self-destructive? If so, rewrite the script. Believe that you are in control and can find a solution to any problem or crisis and you usually will.

Visualize success. Visualizing an action produces many of the same responses as the actual event does. Visualize yourself completing the test comfortably and successfully. There is no guarantee, but you certainly have a greater chance of achieving your goal through visualization.

Taken from Walter Pauk. How to Study in College. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997, 324-325.

For additional information, please contact the Academic Learning Center at 225.216.8300