A student took GRE international test and wrote his GRE preparation guide.

DISCLAIMER:

I have written this guide because Waqar Baig, to whom I am greatly indebted, asked me to. I am not a teacher or an expert in GRE prep. This is just based on my experience and how I prepared for GRE so if you have a tutor or any experienced person, ask them for guidance as well. I took the test on May 2016 so I may have forgotten a few things and for that I apologize in advance. (And yes this paragraph has been copied from my TOEFL guide)

BACKGROUND:

GRE test is conducted by ETS. It is a requirement for admission in America and some Middle Eastern universities. Also it gives you an edge when you mention your GRE score on your resume in other universities (if the score is good enough).
Registration for the test is similar to TOEFL. Make an account on ETS GRE website and follow the trail. It costs around 20,000 PKR. One thing to note, if you are applying for Fulbright program, and you are from a public sector university, your fee will be refunded by Fulbright organization once you submit the application. Check Fulbright website for more details.

PREPARATION MATERIAL:

There is a lot of preparation material out there, and it is up to you which one you think is best. I will just mention material that I used and found to be helpful.
 GRE Pixinary (Android App. Sorry apple users :D) for vocabulary
 Barron’s GRE guide (available in Pakistan in cheaper versions)
 ETS Official GRE guide (you can download it. Also available in pirated form)
 ETS GRE official guide verbal (download)
 ETS GRE official guide quantitative (download)
 Manhattan 5lb (download)
 Brightlink website
 Powerprep software (ETS official website)

Now before we go into any of this, if you feel you can study 1.5 hours for 30-40 days daily, then you can score well enough in GRE by preparing on your own. However, if you feel that you will not be able to do that or need some extra guidance, then you can join Brightlink academy of Talha Omer. You will still have to study yourself and invest the hours but it will
be like a FSc. academy where the fear of tests keeps you from slacking. Plus the extra 20K you shell out act as a motivator as well.
But if you can work on your own and learn as much as you will in the academy. The hours you give will be the same, you just have to keep yourself motivated.
TEST FORMAT:
Before going into preparation methods, here is a quick overview of the GRE paper. This is copied from GRE website (https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/about/content/) which you must visit for further information
VERBAL REASONING

 The Verbal Reasoning section measures your ability to:
 analyze and draw conclusions from discourse; reason from incomplete data; identify author's assumptions and/or perspective; understand multiple levels of meaning, such as literal, figurative and author's intent
 select important points; distinguish major from minor or relevant points; summarize text; understand the structure of a text
 understand the meanings of words, sentences and entire texts; understand relationships among words and among concepts

QUANTITATIVE REASONING

The Quantitative Reasoning section measures your ability to:
 understand, interpret and analyze quantitative information
 solve problems using mathematical models
 apply basic skills and elementary concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis

ANALYTICAL WRITING

The Analytical Writing section measures your ability to:
 articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively
 support ideas with relevant reasons and examples
 examine claims and accompanying evidence
 sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion
 control the elements of standard written English

The Analytical Writing section will always be first. The Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and unidentified/unscored sections may appear in any order; therefore, you should treat each section as if it counts toward your score.
The unscored/research section can be in any order. Don’t think that you can identify the section and just relax during it. YOU CAN’T IDENTIFY IT so don’t try. So in effect there are two writing tasks, and 2-3 sections of verbal or quantitative.
PREPARATION:
GRE prep takes about 25- 45 days. It can take longer especially if you struggle with verbal sections. Pakistanis usually find quant sections easier and score well in that and struggle a bit with verbal sections.
The preparation routine will take 1-1.5 hours every day. You cannot do 5 days’ worth work in one day. It will be a waste of time and you won’t accomplish anything. Make a schedule and stick to it.
 VERBAL SECTION:

VOCABULARY:
I will begin with the verbal section. It’s the most difficult to deal with section in GRE. Your vocabulary skills are important in this section, but more important than that are your comprehension skills and ability to understand the concept being provided.
Some students spend months preparing vocab and learn thousands of words. It’s unnecessary and sometimes sidetrack you from your main preparation. Barron’s 333 word list or GRE pixinary 333 word list (same as Barron’s) is usually enough. The words are enough so that you can understand the verbal portion and answer effectively. If you want to do more than that and think it’s not enough, then you can also go for
Manhattan high freq. word list. The words are a lot tougher. But this is unnecessary in my opinion and you end up wasting time barking up the wrong tree.
If you really, really struggle with English and you think that you need to learn very basic words as well, then you can go for free vocab list with flash cards at Brightlink website (http://www.brightlinkprep.com/flashcards/index.php). A useful list which contains basic words as well as Barron’s high freq. list. You can create a free account as well and keep track of your progress.
I would suggest the pixinary app. It is really great and the best way to prep vocab. Do 15-20 words a day. In addition, each day, revise all your previous words. It’s really important.
VERBAL QUESTIONS PRACTICE:
The Verbal Reasoning section of the GRE® General Test contains three types of questions:
 Reading Comprehension
 Text Completion
 Sentence Equivalence

Reading Comprehension questions appear in sets; Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions are independent. [Copied from ETS website]
You can get more detail on each individual question types from official website. I will just go over the preparation methods.
Reading comprehension passage requires practice and above all, an active mind. Vocabulary does not really matter in these types of questions. You just need to be able to understand the passage and questions. Do not hurry over the passage. Read it carefully and make sure you understand the whole paragraph before proceeding. After that it’s a piece of cake. The question will be related to the paragraph and you will be able to answer them well enough.
Preparing for these questions is only possible by practice. 5 lb contains a LOT of questions and can be used for practice. But the best preparation material are the ETS official guides, both general and verbal. Make sure you practice every single question given in there (there are not many). The questions you see there are the similar ones to which you will face in the exam. Don’t skip on these no matter what. If you go through these guides, you should be prepared enough.
The next type is Sentence Equivalence Questions. Sentence Equivalence questions consist of a single sentence, one blank, and six answer choices. These questions require you to select two of the answer choices. You receive no credit for partially correct answers. This is where your vocab comes into play. You need to find two options that fit the sentence perfectly. Don’t think that both words have to be synonyms. Try to understand the question, eliminate the wrong choices and you are usually left with the
two correct ones. Sometimes you don’t even have to know all the words, you can smartly eliminate most of the options. Again, practice is key and solve all the ETS guide questions.
The last type of questions is text completion and also the most difficult in my opinion. Text Completion questions include a passage composed of one to five sentences with one to three blanks. There are three answer choices per blank, or five answer choices if there is a single blank. There is a single correct answer, consisting of one choice for each blank. You receive no credit for partially correct answers. The same preparation strategy and solving techniques for sentence equivalence applies here as well. Vocab is very important in this section. The major problem is that if you get one blank wrong, you get zero credit, so practice as much as you can. If you understand the sentence well enough however, you will get the answers write because it’s all about comprehending the sentence.

 QUANTITATIVE SECTION:

The quantitative section effectively consist of 2 basic type of questions: Quantitative Comparison and MCQs/Numeric Entry questions.
The quantitative section requires practice. As much as you can do. Use Manhattan 5lb as well as the official guides by ETS (they are a must)
The way to prepare for quant is first polishing up your basic math skills. I would recommend starting on quant Barron’s review section. It has approx. 16 sections covering different topics on GRE. Go through them all and solve exercises for all of them. They are really excellent. One or two in one day are good enough. You can do this along with your vocab and finish this within 10 days. You should also see the official guide’s review section as well. There are a few extra sections there as well that you should do as well.
The quantitative comparison questions are a bit tricky and you need to be really focused during this section. Lots of practice required. However, if you do Barron’s, you should get enough practice. Just look for potentially misleading questions and always put in some test values to test your answer (you will see my meaning once you start)
The MCQ/Numeric Entry questions are quite straight forward. You need math skills and lots of practice. Also the MCQs may ask for more than one answer. The distinction among these question is the bullet next to the question. You will see the distinction once you start preparing

 ANALYTICAL WRITING SECTION:

This is the first section you face but the least important one and you should practice this last. The reason this is the least important is because it does not toward your 140 score. It is scored out of 6 separate marks. Most universities don’t place too much importance on this section but this depends on the university and you should still try to score as much as possible.
There are two different section:
 An Analyze an Issue task
 An Analyze an Argument task
The way you can prepare is to set aside 2-3 days for this section. Read all the sample scored essays on ETS official site. Also read the whole section on analytical in Barron’s. It’s really good and has insanely good tips. And try some writing. 2-3 full length practices should be good enough. Also remember to make outline before writing any essay and make sure you understand all the statements.

 BREAK:

You will receive a break during the test. Take this break. Go and refresh.
 FULL LENGTH TESTS:
You can attempt the full length tests that comes with Barron’s. They are decent enough and good practice. But the best tests and the ones that MUST be attempted. These are the 3 official ETS tests available for test takers. You need Powerprep software from ETS website and Windows Explorer. Do these tests. The scores you receive will be almost exactly the ones you will get when you take the original test.

GENERAL TEST TIPS:

 Familiarize yourself with the dash board of GRE. There are review, mark buttons. Use them
 Don’t spend too much time on any one question. You can always come back to that question
 Do the ETS full length tests and all guides. It’s really important.
 Read the verbal questions and paragraphs carefully, you have enough time in this sections
 Time is a problem in quant section so keep an eye on it
 Keep focused and don’t switch off
 Check the identification requirements beforehand from ETS official website
 Take the break
 Practice, practice and practice


NOTE:
This guide is purely based on my experience and this is how I did my preparation. I did my preparation in 22 days. How you do your preparation is up to you.

GOODLUCK!!!

HARIS MOAZAM SHEIKH
GRE QUANT: 163
GRE VERBAL: 162
TOTAL: 125/140