has been crowded by too many responses, I've decided to make a concise and to the point archive of the entire thread and create a comprehensive guide for all you GRE
aspirants. Of course there will be a little editing here and there, but most of the time this article will corrospond to the above mentioned thread... I request you to post all your comments and suggestions in the main thread itself and I will edit this article as necessary. In wiriting this article, i give a huge vote of thanks to mleaspirant without whose contribution, this thread would not have been possible. Actually it was mleaspirant who started the thread and i could not thank him enough to share his ken with all of us.
It is futile to write in the entire application process & the format of the exam over here because the format is supposed to change by sep 2007. So basically i'll be just focussing on the basic prep methods
@vzx - posted on Sun Apr 09, 2006 11:30 am
1. Start with the Prefix, Root-Stem, suffixes chapter in Barron.... If you are poor in vocabulary or simply dont use complex words more often, then this is the chapter you wanna start with. Simply put these 10 pages will make u understand even the most complex words by breaking them up into parts. Works great with synonyms and Anotnyms.
2. Rapidly move over to word lists. I suppose 3-4 lists a day would be helpful. More lists will simply overload your mind. Make it a poing to carry a rough book with you. Note down any unusual word that you have not encountered before in regular english use, and during further revsions just read the words from this note-book. You'll see that by the 3rd-4th revision you'll know all the words in the note-book.
3. Once the word lists is over try solving the synonyms and antonyms using the wordlists and prefix-suffix-stem-root formula.
4. By the time you finish all this - your vocab will be built up and you can easily write in great essays. I gave 4 days for essay practice.
5. You can easily do math in 7 days time... No bid deal. Simple 8-9-10th grade math. Barrons is more than enough. But try reading from your younger sister/brothers books if u have time... hehe
6. Although Barron is more than enough... try reading "Word Power Made Easy". Gr8 book. Costs only 90 bucks. Will help you a lot.
@Vzx - Posted on Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:14 am
GRE
is not a piece of cake.. It's as tough as a turtle shell... hehe... But on a serious note, just concentrate on one exam at a time. icon_eek.gif . I have regular feedbacks from my seniors who have made it to the USA and are doing their residency. And all of them echo the same thing.
"ONE EXAM AT A TIME" icon_idea.gif
It's too tough preparing for GRE
. esp the math part. I spend almost 2 hrs a day now. Have finished Barrons and moved on to some books provided by a local GRE
coaching institute. This one is great too. I'd be glad to share it with ma fellow RXPGians provided they give me some time to scan it.
Coming to another piece of advice that i forgot to mention earlier: "FLASH CARDS"
Yup!!! they are an excellent means of remembering all those word-lists. I have prepared about 75 cards containing all the words in the 50 Word-lists. And i make it a point to carry atleast 10-15 along with me anywhere I go. Whenever i get some time off in my internship clinics, I just go through them and try to use them in that particular days communication (daily talks) with ma other colleagues. There's no better alternative to remembering words than using them in your day to day speech.
My typical flash card contains :
15-20 words written alphabetically on the front with the roots as well as N. ADJ. ADV., etc..
the meaning of those words on the back - This is for quick referal in case you forget what the meaning of a particular word is.
@vzx - Posted on Sun Apr 16, 2006 10:04 am
Guess what guys.... I just made contact with an Indian Student overseas through indirect references. This guy "Rahul Pratap Maddimsetty" scored 1600 in GRE
's during his time.. i.e. 2003. He has given me his entire study plans, Categorised wordlists, DOs' & DONT's of GRE
. I'd be gald to share it with all the guys out here on the RXPG forum. Believe me guys, this tiny little piece of file is more helpful than all the other GRE
prep guides, topics, all over RXPG
@mleaspirant - Posted on Wed May 17, 2006 11:31 am
To repeat what vzx has already said, 3 months is more than enough to prepare for these exams. I preapred for only a month but it was almost 6-8 hrs a day so 2-3 hrs a day for 3 months is ok. To he honest, except for some math practice, none of the prep in the whole month actually helped me. I'm serious. Try to READ Barron's and assimilate the tips and tricks. Prepare your personalised basic format of issue and argument the way I posted as "Universal templates" which would save time. Anyway don't invest much time on analytical as we Indian docs have much better analytical reasoning with sound english as compared with others.
Try to practice few tests starting a week before exam and that's all you need. Most important thing is to be emotionally calm and intellectually alert at the exam centre.
@mleaspirant - Posted on Wed May 17, 2006 11:37 pm
just try go through the verbal section of barrons atleast one. Its a job of 3 hrs without doing wordlist.......it will surely help. Try to revise the boxes given in maths section a day before exam..
@mleaspirant - Posted on Thu May 18, 2006 9:34 am
here's also repeating one of my earlier posts..... It will surely help you in saving time while solving analytical section. I
prepared it from Princeton's review,2006. Its a good sign that you are open to suggestions as I'm also a person who tries
to have a "last minute touch" of the material..... post your results later......and sincerely speaking now its high time..better not invest much time on forum..just revise revise revise..... you'll come out with flying colours..... all the best!
Sample template for issue essay-
Paragraph1-
The issue of ________________________________________________________
Is a controversial one. On the one hand __________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
And on the other hand________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
However in my final analysis, I believe that_______________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2-
On reason of my belief is that __________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 3-
Another reason of my belief is __________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 4-
Perhaps the best reason is _______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 5-
For all these reasons I believe that __________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Sample template for argument essay-
The argument that ______(restatement of the conclusion of argument)____ _________
Is not logically convincing, since it ignores certain crucial assumptions.
First the argument assume that _____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Second, the argument never addresses _______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Finally argument omits the important point that _______________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Thus the argument is not completely sound. The evidence in support of the
Ultimately the argument might have been strengthened by _____________
@Vzx - Posted on Fri May 19, 2006 9:45 pm
Well try to get the first 10 answers correct in any CBT.. That will definitely help you get a much higher score. Read Kaplan GRE
book for more info. Basically because GRE
is an adaptive test , the computer has to judge quickly about your avg score range. So if your first 9-10 questions are correct, the computer assumes that you are an above avg student (who scores abt 550) and calculates your scores in a higher score range. Even if your later answers are wrong, you'll get a much higher score.
==============================
EXAM EXPERIENCES @ Mleaspirant
On testing centre-
- Know that you should be aroun the time of your appontment at the centre and don't forget to get your PASSPORT and a copy of confirmation email.
- You need to fill up a consent form about confidentialy and other blah blah...Its ok if you want to delay the start of exam by 10-15 min if you submit it late in case you want get accustomed to the envrnmnt.
-You are not allowed to wear even watch inside, so keep ALL you possesions in the locker. Avoid taking any notes/books on the test centre as it raises suspision if in the break you open your locker for eatables
- Mineral water coolers are there so need to take even water bottle. But if you have voracious appetite (like me icon_lol.gif )u get some light food. I suggest to take some chocolates (black ones) or energy drinks (non aerated) to keep your serotonin level high after the break.
-I would sound stupid but still..... Visit lavatory before starting the exam even on slightest urge for the same. During exam, with AC on and natural anxiety all your prediction of timing and sphincter control reverse and it's a bad idea to take unscheduled break and waste time for it. Every minute counts while solving sections.
- Behave as if you are an EXPERT and are visiting centre to advice ETS about exam patterns. icon_wink.gif What i mean to say is don't freeze by any Q, just go by your instinct tinged with some logic. However be extra cautious with initial 10-15 Qs.
- Usually first educated guess is best one! So dont jumble to change your answers. Specially if you are at last phase of exam.
- Keep the "time" on your computer interface running to adjust your pace. I'd advice to complete 20 Qs of maths in 30 mins and 20 Qs of verbal in 20 mins. But that could vary with Q types.
- Don't be heroic in skipping breaks. ALWAYS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BREAKS. Go out of room, visit loo, eat chocolate, drink a cup of water, SIT FOR A MINUTE if required , charge up and then proceed.
- Don't rush to complete the section in hurry. ets gives you enought time, make use of it. There is no extramarks for quick answers and anyway all the time after exam is yours........saving 5-10 min hardly helps.
-BEWARE!. If you find too straight answer to a simple Q in the beginiing.take a look and see if there is any trap.
-Verbal- try to check if there are any secondary meanings of words.Quants-check and recheck about "what exactly is asked" as ets is smart in giving distractors which are the ones you come across while solving Q.
- Be ready to accept gracefully the result. Come out calmly. Go to our place. SCREAM A LOT (in obth cases). Get rid of the thoughts of exam. Put on some funky clothes.... viit the nearest imax eat drink and enjoy the movie.
And yes dont forget to let us all know the result..........
====================
EXAM EXPERIENCES @ Vzx
Phew man!!! finally the ordeal is over... The experience was totally enervating.. hehe... i just though i might as well put to use some of the words i learnt over these 2 months...
Well anyway i did not get expected scores.... got only a paltry 1310... I know it's too little a score for a person who prepared for about 2 months, but i will not complain about lack of time or clashes with my clinical postings over here.
My split score is
Verbal - 670 (which is overwhelming - considering that i expected only 600) Math - A mediocre 640 ( this poor score is attributed to the reasons mentiond below)
Well i dont know if you're heard of this or not, but rumor has it that some, if not many, of the questions asked in the first 20 days of the GRE
CAT exam are repeated in the last 10 days of the same calendar month. I do not have sufficient data to prove the credulity of this report. But in my own personal experince, i'll advise you this - Try to collect as many recollections of the exam questions from your peers.
7 of my friends took the exam on 12th and 13th june and i had a list of some recollections(mostly in the verbal section). It so turned out that 5 of these questions were present in my exam. It is up to you to surmise whether this little piece of information is worth the troubles of asking ppl or not.
Now coming to math section...
I was confident that i'd score atleast 750 in math. But all my hopes were shattered when i saw the first question on my screen. It was a DI (data interpretaions) question. I had always dreaded this moment since the day i started math. And my worst fears came true today. The question (from 1 to 3) had 5 line graphs. Each graph in turn had 3 lines.. and there was no distinction between the lines (something like ....., _____, _ _ _ _). All of them looked the same.
So naturally my very first and second answers were wrong - and i had wasted about 5 min in trying to figure out the data. All the remaining questions were true acc to me. But as the 1st and 2nd questions were wrong - My scores dropped drastically...
Well anyway all's well that ends well... Atleast i'm eligible for admissions into colleges of my choice. So no harm done.
What is found most ironical is that when i gave powerprep or anyother CAT exam at home, i never even paused to see if my answer choices were correct or not. I was always in the hurry to finish off the test. However, during the actual test, I
checked and almost always double checked my answer choices everytime. The result is that i finished almost always with only 5 or at the most 8 seconds to spare.
Verbal Section
The AWA section was quite interesting. Barron's technique; wiritng the body of the issue/argument first and then writing the conclusion followed by the introduction, was most appropriate. It made sure that my intorductory and conclusion paragraphs were always pertinent with the body of the essay. A word of caution here is to look very closely at the time on the clock. Do not waste too much time in thinking about many possible points which you can include in the essay. Usually 2-3 main ideas elaborated in slightly rhetoric phrase is more than sufficient.
I'd also like to point out that read and Re-Read the argument before you start to type in anything. I was almost half way down my essay when i realised that i failed to make comparisons between two cities which were mentioned in the argument. Fortunately, i was able to make ammendments by just adding a few lines. But only god knows what would have happened if i had failed to take notice of this fact. Both of my issue and argument topics were over in the nick of time with only about 10 sec to spare in each. Which meant "no time for proof reading". Although i'd highly recommend that you do it.
The verbal section as usual was a challenging task. Esp the RC (reading comp). Fortunately i got 2 short RC on literature and a really lengthy one on seismology. Literature and science are my forte. So i did exceptionally well in them - or so I think.
The rest of the verbal stuff was regular i.e. expected and not something out of the blue. 90% of the words I got, were from barron's high frequency list only. Once again due to repeated double-checking i finished only 5 seconds short.
Math Section
As i said in my earlier post, it was a nightmare. Apart from the DI questions, most of the questions were expected. I had prepared from barron's and i'd like to add that It alone is not sufficient. Barron's misses out on many important math
concetps like Progressions, certain geometric figures and statistics. I got 1 Q on Std Deviation (which was fortunately very easy), 1 about a GP (was very tough to crack - esp with the limited time i had) and 1 on a parabola (which i did not
understand at all)
So basically i'd recommend to read some other books too.. dont ask me which ones - becuase, if i knew, I'd have read them and good 800 in math. For beginners i'd recommend "R.S. Agarwal math for MBA
". Although this book does not include the topics i mentioned above, it contains a plethora of solved examples for the other apsects of maths.
The timing was the worst part in math. I could have done better if only i had managed my time well... The very first DI question that i got consumed about 10 min. So i had about 35 min to solve the remaining 25 questions and believe me the
2nd DI was a total bummer too... hehe.... So basically i squandered my 15 precious minutes just trying to solve 4-5 questions in the math section. The
result - I had to solve 8 questions in the last 5 min. And call it my luck, but the last few were correct by sheer guesswork.
So that's about it for my experiences. After the exam i had a research section in which i had to write an issue topic (actually i was lured by the amt of money -$250 - that they promised to give, if my essay was good) icon_razz.gif . So i
finished it up... I'll let you guys know if i recieve the cheque.. lolz
No unidentified sections for me...
And one more thing. I took mleaspirant's advise and took some dark chocolate to the exam center. It really helps keep you alive during the exam... hehe
Please note that while this guide just covers up the basic GRE
topics, the original article does have some other very useful info about TOEFL
and misc stuff... so be sure to check it out
Thanks dude.... Well Started with step 1 preps from yesterday. Actually have joined kaplan classes... And in 1 day i finished Histology. Dunno how much of those lectures actually got consolidated in ma mind but i guess eventually they will.. hehe...
Which brings me to one more question.. which books are an absolutely must to read for anat? pls reply in PM cause we dont wanna spoil the content of this thread by mentioning step 1 trivia...
Hi vzx!
Had exchanged mails with you a few days ago.You have been a great help to me.I gave my GRE
gt 1300(V-570,QUANT-730 ANALYTICAL-3.5)
I have given my TOEFL
and results awaited
I want to apply for MPH prog .Could you suggest me some of univs which have reasonable tution costs and good chances of scholarships ??
Hoping to hear from you soon
Thanx
Aurco
you can browse through individual univeristy sites and look for the cheapest option. I'd recommend going for an accredited university because thier degree carries more value than cheaper non-accredited universities.
Scholarships are a different thing - Let me make it very clear to you, that officially, Foreign graduates are not entitled to scholarships from fedral funds. But depending upon your skills and performances, you might land up getting an assistantship or a fee waiver (that however would be after you reach USA and could take 6-8 months to fetch). The only university I know which offeres a scholarships to almost all international students is Western Kentucky (degree carries very little value).
In short be prepared to bear all expenses for atleast 1 year in USA following which more than 90% students tend to get some sort of fee waivers/assistantships/on-campus jobs.
I hope you find this helpful.. I was busy with my PSM
internships postings for 3 months now (hell on earth incognito.. hehe)... Anyway now that it's over, I shall be frequenting this forum more often. And you can also check out my very own website on www [dot] xvzx [dot] net
Hi vzx!
I really appreciate your quick reply.I also viewed ur site!It is really superb
Wish I could create my own site but alas !!I am nt that good at computers.
Anyways Actually I am a Dentist and applying for MPH program
I want to DDS(Course of duration 2 yrs bt expenses go upto 150000$ so it is difficult for me unless I get a cosigner to sign for my loan).Doing MPh is an easy way to reach there as dentists donot get a visa if they apply directly for DDS and for me the cost factor also comes in picture)
SoI want to MPH from a university so that even If I am not able to do DDS later ,The MPH Degree alone fetches me a good decent job.So I want to do MPH from a university which Has a value in market and at the same time has reasonable tution costs.I had gone through the list odf CEPH before also but I guess so many univs are there and hence I am nt able to decide)
Could you suggest me a few.Also if possible can we chat sometime,I mean if convenient for you so that my doubts can be cleared faster.
Thanks
Hoping to hear from you soon
Aurco
I only use IRC as my primary chat program and as far as I know not many ppl use IRC or even know what IRC is... hehe... So stick to this forum for general info, which in turn would also benifit other users of the forum too.
Humm... I understand your position and that is one of the primary reason why I'm inclined towards completing my MPH degree too, beofre applying for Residency. MPH salaries are comparable with internists after a couple of years in the field and I know 2 people who opted for MPH based careers after they did not match to a suitable residency.
Well let's see... If I want to give you some headers into the university lists, some of the names that pop up in my mind are
Temple University, Philadelpia
Rollins School of Public Health - Emory University, Atlanta
Univeristy of North Texas at Houston
University of Alabama at Birmingham
These have excellent reputation in the MPH field and I'd recommend going through their sites to view more details. There is much more data available about these and other universities on www [dot] usanews [dot] com
Unfortunately Temple University's deadlind is Dec 15, so you won't be eligible for that...
Woah!!! some activity on the thread after months... Well I'll tell you what, I'm currently busy with finding an apartment in Philadelphia (yeah! I got admission and my visa for MPH at Temple University and will be leaving on 10th Aug). Plus the preps for USMLE
step 2 are on at full speed. So I've got my hands pretty much full these days. I'll try to squeeze in a reply by tonight or tomorrow evening. Keep a watch on this thread...
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