HOW TO PREPARE FOR GRE

Spare time to read this . It Helps.
QUANTS:

It is a "tactical blunder" to aim at anything lesser than 800 in Quant. So aim at 800.This is because, Quant is the section where you can max your score. Aim at 800 and get it. Since you are an engineer, you are at a certain advantage. you can easily do quants .Only non-math students find it hard .You can easily get 800.And dont let overconfidence set in. Do barron tactics for 3 or 4 days.dont prepare all day for quant.And in the 30 minutes you prepare,concentrate well. tats enough.

After doing barron tactics,solve bigbook 1 section everyday.(it takes 30 minutes).then correct it. Analyse your performance after some time (Like if you do the test in the morning,you do analysis of performance evening and vice versa).See where you have committed mistakes. This way,it will take 54 days to complete quant in big book. Dont spend many hours continuously. you have to do "some" quant daily for abt 2 months.

This will make you well versed in quant within 2 months.And dont stop here.See what is the best tactic for a problem. Work real systematically. This way, within 80 or 90 days, you shld complete it with a LOT of confidence. Now, go to the real tests. Take Kaplan CD, tactics he suggests, see if there is anything you did not know. Likewise do princeton. And dont spend too much time on these. You are good enough now. So spend more time on verbal. That does not
mean "stop Quant". Revise quickly everyday. After 90 days, dont spend more than 30 minutes everyday. After 120 days, start with Kaplan section tests. Do 1 each day. Then take break for 1 week. Do the tests again,as usual.On the day of the exam,concentrate on the question.read it properly. just think. and then click. This will make sure you get 800 in Quant.(I hope it makes sure!)


VERBAL:THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THEM ALL.

Now abt verbal. Look, verbal deserves some good preparation. It is "supposed" to be difficult, and not invincible. Given that u work consistently,you can conquer it. Anybody can, for sure. AND yes, you need to be disciplined in ur effort. --very disciplined. to put it in a single word, you shud try and be the word "discipline" itself.-- It demands nothing else from u. What I will suggest is that u begin with "Norman Lewis".If you have any questions in ur mind like "Shud I learn these useless words,especially because they are not going to come there in the exam??", remove any such doubts.

I agree that you are preparing for an exam.And that does not mean,"you shud learn only what comes in the exam".You can never afford to miss any word. NEVER. Not one word shud be missed. So all books are important.

Develop a love for words.

Only then you can be successful with Verbal.For this you need to develop a keen love for words. What I am saying is that you learn words to learn them. if you begin to develop a love for words,it will ultimately fetch u not only marks, and also a sense of well being, of having been enriched and improved. You will be totally different. You will improve on all counts. Marks is just one of them. Think of the multiple benefits u receive if you work this way. So please understand that you need to develop a deep love for words. You cannot afford to hate them. Its far too costly. Read a LOT. See whats the new word in each page. search. Find out. "Think".

So, begin with norman lewis. Do 1 section(or 2 at the most) everyday(It will take you 10 to 15 minutes per section).Do the tests given in it seriously. Meanwhile, begin to work with Barron. Do not Cram 100 of odd unconnected words everyday. It wont help. You will remember nothing.
Read each word. Look at its meaning as it is given in the dictionary (Webster is preferable)

Do some "thinking" about each word you learn. look at the example usage (sentence) as it is given in Barron. Read the dictionary usage. Think what that sentence could "exactly" mean. After this, think of a situation in ur life where u can use the word. Frame a meaningful sentence. It will be especially good,if you can frame a sentence that has some special meaning(and appeal) to you alone. maybe not that much to others. You may ask,"Why this way?" This is because,you are trying here to associate something that is part of your life(and uniquely yours!) with a new word.And,from now on,whenever you see that word,you must remember that situation in ur real life.This will remind you of "that" sentence, which you first formed. After that sentence,you will ultimately remember the meaning.

By now,you must be conscious of having really learnt something new. You must be able to "feel" your knowledge increasing as you continue your work. This way, try and form your own sentence for every word you learn. Write it down in a notebook. If not,maintain a text file, where you type in your sentence. You read this file now and then, even if you are doing it frivolously.To do this for every wordlist,it may cost you more than 4 or 5 hours. Allot a definite time of the day each day. Learn not more than 30 words everyday.

REVISION:ITS IMPORTANCE...

Disciplined revision is more important than learning itself. So revise each wordlist on the following days.......

revision 1: After 1 hour.
revision 2: The Next day.
revision 3: Exactly after 1 week.
revision 4: Exactly after 1 month.

I know it is very difficult to follow the above Procedure especially in the beginning. And once you are used to it, it must feel ok.

HOW TO REVISE???

Well there are many ways. Use the one that suits you. One is to go thru the barron again. Other is to see the sentences you prepared. Third is to take a test in the word list.

WHAT ELSE SHUD I DO???

Please remember here Barron is not "Exhaustive". You have to collect Non Barron Words from many sources. These sources include mainly the bigbook, Voca s/w, American Edu aids book, GM Voc tests, "GRE6000-the chinese list" etc(there are many more).The words in the chinese list are especially weird. You have to follow the same procedure as Barron for these Non Barron words as well.

THE FINAL STEP....

Finally, you shud try and learn how to associate words with each other. This will help you remember both the words. For example,think of the word "Curmudgeon", then you must remember a related word,which is "Stingy",then "Skinflint", then, "codger", then, Parsimonious" then, "Niggardly" then, "Tightfisted", then ,"Tightwad" then,"Thrifty" then,"Frugal" and then.."Husbandry. This is damned useful. This is because, each of the words differ lightly in meaning(Note here that "stingy" has a negative connotation while "frugal" has a positive connotation). And each of the words means almost the same (Yeah.Both "frugal" and "stingy" means not spending much).If you can see in which way they are "same" and in which way they are "different". you have succeeded.

Best Advice:
Work hard. It Really pays off! And Work systematically and intelligently!. Don’t Get carried away by too much hype and rumours. work your own way. you will succeed...

A L L T H E B E S T ! ! !