GRE Analytical Writing Tips

Analytical Writing is one of the hardest part in the GRE because it is one of the most difficult skill to develop in a short time. When it comes to Verbal section you can mug out the words and vomit it out during the exam but mugging is useless in AWA. So here are the techniques to improve:-

1. Make the habit of reading newspaper articles, novels etc. While reading try to grab the variations in structure, use of language and the flow. I personally recommend the articles from New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and Washington Post. Wile going through those articles do take notes of the vocabulary as well. While reading choose articles from diverse areas like arts and literature to dining. This will germinate in you a feel of use of language in different areas as well as improve your vocabulary on respective fields.

2. AWA is a writing test so reading won't be enough. So develop a habit of writing regularly. Try to use your new vocabulary set while writing. Benchmark your writing with that in ETS to determine the score level that you might get for your writing.

All these things require time. So register for the test as early as possible and begin practicing. You might need some 3 or 4 months to bring about a significant improvement in writing. You can also refer to some books on essay writing but still practicing is the key.

GRE Scoring

Everybody appearing for the GRE test knows that scoring is non linear.That is all the questions don't carry equal marks. The questions asked in the exam fall under different difficulty levels ranging from easier ones to the tough ones. If you get the tough ones wrong your score might not suffer but if you get the easier ones wrong you will get penalized. The difficulty levels are labeled as 2,3,4 and 5. 2 being the easiest one whereas 5 being the toughest. So in both verbal and quantitative sections you should try to get all the questions from level 2,3 and 4 right. If you get those right be assured your score will be close to 800 if not 800 exactly. One of my friend who got six questions in quantitative wrong scored 800. Five of the questions that he did wrong were of difficulty level 5 and one was of difficulty level 4. One of my other friends got seven quantitative questions wrong. Five of them were of difficulty level 5, one was of 2 and the other was of difficulty level 3. This makes it pretty clear how the scoring takes place in GRE.

This is the reason why people keep on saying that you shouldn't do first five or ten questions wrong. If you get initial questions wrong your subsequent questions would be of more easier level thus hampering your score.

So don't try to be perfect (if you are gifted and can be perfect then no problem) and prepare for the core portions of the test. It's not that you should get all the questions right but it's that you should get most of the questions right.

GRE Books Advice

Based on my experience of the test, here are the books and exercises that I would recommend:

1. Barron's How to Prepare for the GRE : If you are going to take GRE my bet is you must have this book. Both verbal and quantitative sections are superb. Verbal section also features a vocabulary list which is widely popular and most of the words asked in the exam do fall from them. Quantitative section covers all the mathematic skills needed in the test. Analytical Writing section in this book just gives tips and ways on organizing your essays. But for writing I guess practice is more important than a book. So employ techniques given in this book and practice writing essay a lot.

2. Nova's GRE Prep Course: I didn't like verbal section myself but quantitative section is good. I recommend going through the quantitative section in this book. Exercises are similar to those that appear in the real test.

3. GRE Big Book: This book used to be published by ETS but now its out of print. It's good for verbal section because there are lots of practice exercises and the great thing is that those exercises were from real tests in the past. So it would be good to find this book and practice. But quantitative section is too easy for real GRE today. So use this book for practicing the verbal section.

These are the best three books that are enough for preparing the GRE. But I would recommend you to go through Kaplan, Princeton Review and Arco if you can get thise. If you can't buy these book, no problem. But I would strongly recommend you to get their frequent word lists and go through it.

Regarding the essay, you can get a book with sample essays but I won't recommend that. Best thing to do is to practice so get the tips from books like Barron and practice as much as you can.Check this ETS page for benchmarking the essay you have written :-

Samples of Scored Issue Essays with Reader's Commentaries

Samples of Scored Argument Essays with Reader's Commentaries

Sample speaking section questions

When I prepared for Toefl speaking test I went through various books and materials. What I found was that the speaking section question would be centered around some common themes. The question generally centers around themes like:

1. Memorable Moment

Example Question:

i. Describe the most memorable moment that you share with your family or friends.

2. Favorite

Example Question:
i. Describe your favorite pet, fruit etc.

3. Description of Something and what does it tell?

Example Questions

i. Describe your bedroom and mention what can be inferred about you from your bedroom.

ii. Describe a place that you have recently visited and what is the most important thing that you liked about it.

4. Likes/Dislikes

Example Questions:

i. Would like visiting a new place or a place that you have already visited?

These are common questions that can occur in the test. What you can do is think about more questions like these yourself. Practicing with questions like these would certainly help you do well in first 2 questions of speaking section in Toefl IBT.

Toefl Speaking SectionTips

Toefl Speaking section is always a troubling one for the test takers. Here are few tips based on my own experience of the exam:-

1. Don't try to speak fast. Speak clearly and in the average pace.
2. Leave yourself enough time to conclude your speech.
3. Don't spend much time thinking about fancy points. Just a few average points with articulate speech would do.
4. Avoid a long pause while speaking. Few occasional short pauses are common in speech.
5. Try to maintain same volume level while speaking.

All of these are based on my personal experiences of the test. Wanted to share it in this blog hoping that it might be a help to other aspirants.