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 November 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
Barrons 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)
GRE Manhattan 5lb Android App
Now the last one is really important. GRE Manhattan app is an android app (I dont have an
iphone so I dont know if it is available there or not). It basically consists of about 80% of the
questions that are present in Manhattan 5lb book. If you are like me and cant study a pdf for
hours on laptop, then this is the next best thing. Very user friendly and you can solve
questions on the go, even during office hours or a boring class. It has some free content. But
I would suggest that you buy the app. It costs just 1000 Rs. and your money will be very well
spent.
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 you can 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
Measure Number of Questions Allotted Time
Analytical Writing
One "Analyze an Issue" task and one 30 minutes per
(One section with two separately
"Analyze an Argument" task task
timed tasks)
Verbal Reasoning 30 minutes per
20 questions per section
(Two sections) section
Quantitative Reasoning 35 minutes per
20 questions per section
(Two sections) section
Unscored Varies Varies
Research Varies Varies

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. Dont think that you can identify the
section and just relax during it. YOU CANT IDENTIFY IT so dont 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 wont accomplish anything. Make a schedule
and stick to it.
 VERBAL SECTION:

VOCABULARY:
I will begin with the verbal section. Its 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. Its
unnecessary and sometimes sidetrack you from your main preparation. Barrons 333
word list or GRE pixinary 333 word list (same as Barrons) 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 its 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 Barrons 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. Its 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 its 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. 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. Dont 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. Dont 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 dont 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 its all about comprehending the sentence.

You should practice all of the verbal section from GRE Manhattan App. Keep track of your
score and monitor your progress. The questions are a bit more difficult than the actual
GRE verbal sections but they will prepare you enough that those questions will be a piece
of cake after that.

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 Barrons 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 guides
 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 Barrons, 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
The best way to practice Quantitative section is again Manhattan app. There are about
600 quant. questions in there and they are very similar to the ones that are in the actual
GRE. Practice all those questions and keep track of your progress.

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 dont 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 Barrons.
Its 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 Barrons. 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
Dont 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. Its really important
Do the complete Manhattan app. It is really helpful and not that long
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 dont 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!!!

Date: 11/28/2016 HARIS MOAZAM SHEIKH

GRE QUANT: 163
GRE VERBAL: 166
TOTAL: 329/340