GRE Super Over – The Ultimate Set of Last-Minute Tips!

The day is fast approaching.

After months of sleepless nights, sacrificing dinner plans and cricket matches, the day of your GRE exam is clearly visible in your rear-view mirror.

You may have completed your preparation or are en route to completion, with your Verbal and Quant section almost done and dusted.

All you have to do is to have a calm composure and take up the exam and give it your best shot.

So what lies ahead?

Even though you might have your hands on the best study material with cutting-edge technology, practice, and prayers, there is one statement that finds its way out of every student’s mouth.

A few last minute tips would be great!  

Well, what you ask is what you get.

Though ETS allows you to take up your GRE up to 5 times a year, how does it sound to get the score right on your first attempt?

You would have befriended many techniques and methods to master various sections of your GRE. Though they may be essential and effective, you might have forgotten them over time.

So here are THE LAST MINUTE TIPS that will give you the extra grip to hit your winning shot with ease.

#1. FRIEND ZONE THE FORMAT

It is important to familiarize yourself with the structure of GRE. Because the last thing you would want in your exam are surprises. So here is the syllabus for GRE!

There are a total of 6 sections: 

• AWA (Analytical Writing Assessment)
• 2 Quant sections
• 2 Verbal sections
• 1 Experimental section (Verbal or Quant)

The Analytical Writing Assessment measures your ability to think critically and present your ideas in writing.

The Quant Section is basically your high school mathematics.

The Verbal Section analyzes your English GRE vocabulary and grammar skills.

The Experimental Section can be either Verbal or Quant. Since this section is unbiased and unknown to the user, give your best shot in every section.

NOTE:

– You will have a 10-minute break after the first 3 sections. The Experimental section can be in between either of the sections or can even be your first section after AWA. 

– It is a section-wise adaptive exam. The Verbal and the Quant section are divided into two parts respectively. Depending on how you answer the first part, the difficulty level of the second part varies.

#2: TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR NONE!

So far, you’ve been trying to get your fundamentals right. Now comes the time when you gear yourself up for the D-Day. Most test takers find time management to be a major problem while taking the actual test. That is why it is important for you to train yourself to complete questions within the ideal timeframe.

AdmitEDGE Pro Tip: Reduce the total time of your GRE mock test and practice to 10% of the original time. This trains you to solve problems in lesser time and leaves you with enough time to check your answers.

QUANTITATIVE REASONING

• Ideally, you can spend up to 2 minutes on a Data Interpretation question, especially the first one.
• Spend time to understand graphs and plots. So, the questions pertaining to them will only take a meager portion of your time.
• Questions from Arithmetic and Algebra should ideally be covered in 40 to 60 seconds.
• Questions from Geometry, that are easy or of medium difficulty level (levels 1, 2, 3) should be answered in a span of 40 to 60 seconds.

VERBAL REASONING

Similar to its mathematical counterpart, The Verbal section should also be solved in a fixed span of time. This grants you the time to retrace your answers and give a little bit more attention to the Reading Comprehension section. *YAY!*

[Free eBook Download]: Ultimate Guide to Crack GRE Verbal in Just 30 Days!
Find expert tips for TC/SE & techniques to ace RC in this MUST-HAVE Guide. Download Now!

TRACK YOUR TIMELINE

Practice your mock tests with a targeted timeline.

Let us get into the explanation: each section is about 35 minutes, so ideally on your seventh minute, you should have solved your 5th question and so on.

AdmitEDGE Pro Tip: GRE exam allows you to mark an answer and return to it later, if needed. So when you feel stuck in some question at any point of time, remember to mark the answer, and move on rather than breaking your head over it.
Keep your cool! 

#3: SEARCH, SELECT, SHORTLIST!

When you decide to take up your GRE, search and shortlist universities simultaneously.

This also gives you an insight on the requirements of your dream universities. ETS allows you to send your GRE scores for free to four universities immediately after you take your exam. Why not use the opportunity wisely?

Here’s how you can research and shortlist universities before your GRE. 

#4: DECEPTIVE DIAGRAMS ALERT!

With multiple sections comprising various questions, getting your dream score can get hard. So why take a chance? Watch your every step and answer carefully.  When a diagram is given, never take it for granted and assume the measurements to be right. All these benefits expired after your math exam in high school.

Let us take an example.

Question: In the given figure, what is the measure of angle QSP?

At first look, you may be quick to conclude 30 degrees. (assuming PS || QR, PSQ = RQS)

However, it is nowhere mentioned in the question that PS || QR.  Therefore the solution is,

Unless a note states that a figure is drawn to scale, do NOT solve these problems by estimating sizes by sight or measurement.

[Free eBook Download]: Different Types of Quant Questions You Can Expect in Your GRE!
Find expert tips for each question type along with solved examples. Download Now!

#5: SET YOUR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK

Ensure that you tune your body for the GRE. Make sure to take your mock exam exactly at the same time as your actual GRE exam (or make it early, like stated in the tip above). This will make sure that your exam time is not alien to you, and you can maximize your productivity during your test hours.

#6: IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!

Don’t learn any new concept or new word on the day before your exam. Just relax, and have confidence in yourself. Make sure you have a good meal and sleep well before your exam.

321 Scorer, Rutwik says:

Before exam day, do not slog for hours giving tests or memorizing words. Get 7–8 hours of sleep and be confident, no matter what!

Make sure you pack for the exam the night before, especially the essential ID proofs and some protein bars for your 10-minute break!

Research shows that people who rest properly before the day of the exam tend to perform better than their always studious counterparts. With all your preparations coming to an end, lay back, take a break, and relax!

Think of the admission that you have always dreamed of, visualize the multiple evenings you are hoping to spend there, and believe in yourself to get there!

All the best!