Yes, I'm busy..

[niccig]

I get that not everyone knows what's involved in my summer intensive program or studying for the GRE - 3.5 weeks for both, OMG that low number is scary...but I've told plenty of people that I'm really busy...and they just do not seem to get it.

I AM REALLY BUSY...so bugger off and leave me alone - or is that too rude?

[ThreeofUs]

Nicci, I think almost NOBODY knows what's involved in these courses, unless they've attended or taught them.

Tell anyone who asks that you're not just busy, you're *buried* for the next few weeks. If you have time (and the brain power left over to remember) to shower and eat, it will be a miracle.

GL!

[larig]

How's the GRE studying going? Let me know if you want some math help on it--I taught that stuff for 10 years.

Do you have to take a subject test too, or just the general?

[niccig]

Nicci, I think almost NOBODY knows what's involved in these courses, unless they've attended or taught them.

Tell anyone who asks that you're not just busy, you're *buried* for the next few weeks. If you have time (and the brain power left over to remember) to shower and eat, it will be a miracle.

GL!

I do know that no one understands. I will use the word "buried" and hope that helps. It's jusst frustrating to have to say AGAIN, no I'm busy.

[niccig]

How's the GRE studying going? Let me know if you want some math help on it--I taught that stuff for 10 years.

Do you have to take a subject test too, or just the general?

No, just the general.

I can sit it again in August - I have nothing in that month, BUT they're changing the exam, so I was advised to take it before, as there's lots of prep books/strategies for the old exam. I'm taking it July 6

I need to get over 500 in Verbal and Math. School doesn't look at written - I'm sure if you bomb in that, then they do.

Any/any advice will be soooooo welcome. :bowdown:

I have to change strategies as now I have my summer class as well, I don't have as much time. My class has exam every week, hours of homework/reading etc.

I was using the Baron's 800 words, but only about 1/3 through. So, I'm now concentrating on the Princeton Review's Hit Parade. Once I get those, I'll see about adding in extra words if I have time. I do have a word app for my iPod and I do that when out and about. I'm finding that I *know* a lot of the words, but I can't give as succinct a definition. In every group of 10 words in Barons, I know 7-8, but the other 3 are "is that English?"

I don't get analogies, so I need more time working on those.

Math - I've revising the match concepts that's in the Princeton Review book. I'm then looking online for practice questions just for those concepts. The book doesn't have a lot of GRE math practice questions though - the CD or online portion might have more. Or I'll hunt around.

Written - I haven't even looked at...need to see what techniques they suggest.

I know a key component will be pacing, and I need to do practice exams to help that out. But I'm still trying to get basics under my belt.

[liamsmom]

:hug: I know EXACTLY how you feel. It's so frustrating when people make assumptions about how your time should be managed. I can't wait to be done with school next May. Good luck!

[larig]

I got an 800 on the math when I took it. I worked pretty hard to get that score, but didn't have much more time that you do to study (ETA: I was teaching h.s. & in the midst of helping my AP calc students prepare for their exam, so I had about 1 hour a night for a month). 500 should be very attainable for you on the math.

Skip the princeton math review and go straight to this.
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/pdf/GREmathPractice.pdf

ETS put this together, and they wrote the test. Go through it page by page until you get each thing. It will help you identify what you need to work on. They do it by section with brief reviews and examples, and at the end of like sections is a set of review problems. Depending on how you like to work you could either try the problems without review to see what you need to study (a pretest) or review and then do the problems. I would go through these problems a day or so before the test again. After you've done this you can use the Princeton stuff to review what you are missing.

Pacing is key, like you said, but so is the knowledge that you are on a computer and (at least when I took it) you could not go back to a problem. There is a cumulative effect too, so you need to answer the first several right to get the highest score possible (missing a bunch early means they give you easy questions the rest of the way, thus making it hard to get a really high score). So, I'd say don't rush through the first, make sure you're correct. Practice working on unlined paper too, which is what I had to use there.

The parts that I see as being a problem for most people are the Geometry (not because it's hard, but because it's been many years since most have taken geometry and there are lots of things to be forgotten--corresponding parts of congruent triangles are congruent, parallel lines & angle measures, polygons & properties... etc) and the Data Analysis (namely calculating standard dev by hand, which people just don't do anymore).

I'll let someone else chime in about the verbal part. I did respectably, but no 800!

Just let me know if you need more review problems of any type--I probably have an old test/quizzes or notes that I wrote for my kids, and I've got lots of other sources. I'm happy to help you and love doing math problems--PM or post with anything you're struggling with.

eta: if you are anywhere near one of these libraries, this is the BEST GRE prep for the math and verbal.
http://www.worldcat.org/title/gre-practicing-to-take-the-general-test-big-book/oclc/36413513&referer=brief_results

Yeah, they're paper tests, but they're actual GRE exams. Best practice you can get.

eta2: the book is VERY hard to find, and sells for a lot of money (hundreds of $)

[niccig]

Larig - thanks for the links. I printed off the math review and I'll work through the sections.

I can't get that practice book. If I had more time, I could get work (library) to request it, if any of the owning institutions will loan it out.

I'll find and do as many practices as I can.

[MontrealMum]

It's been ages since I took the GRE but I just wanted to wish you tons of luck, and I hope the people in your life get the message that you need some space right now.

I do like Ivy's suggestion to say that you're buried. It's really hard to communicate grad-school urgency and swamped-ness (that is NOT a word on the GRE, LOL) to non-grad-school people. I battled that for years, and really had to learn to put up some walls. Caller ID, not always answering the phone, no open-ended responses to enqueries about dinner/movies, etc. and I suppose with kids, playdates. The firm "no" is a hard thing to learn, for both sides.

[niccig]

I do like Ivy's suggestion to say that you're buried. It's really hard to communicate grad-school urgency and swamped-ness (that is NOT a word on the GRE, LOL) to non-grad-school people. I battled that for years, and really had to learn to put up some walls. Caller ID, not always answering the phone, no open-ended responses to enqueries about dinner/movies, etc. and I suppose with kids, playdates. The firm "no" is a hard thing to learn, for both sides.

It is crazy.

I also feel that if this was work, as in a paid-job, people would understand. But because it is study, it's not respected. DH and DS get it...they have no choice as have to live it with me :rotflmao:

[MontrealMum]

I also feel that if this was work, as in a paid-job, people would understand. But because it is study, it's not respected. DH and DS get it...they have no choice as have to live it with me :rotflmao:

I think you have truly hit the nail on the head here, at least in terms of what I experienced. In my first go-round of grad-school my non-school friends just did.not.get.it. I don't know why paid work is valued more...especially since many grad students are working in paid jobs at the same time...but it seems to be. When I went to grad school for the 2nd time - and as a mom - it was much easier for me, surprisingly. But that's probably because either I had either weeded out the people that just couldn't "get it" the first time around, and I had "trained" the rest :) My 2 experiences with this are separated by about 10 years, and none of my friends had kids the first time around, which makes it interesting. You're stuck with doing both at the same time, I think, and that's got to be worse. Stay strong, it will be worth it :) And make use of those things that will allow you to keep a bit of distance from people w/o actually saying "bugger off"...so you can still hang with them when you do have time :p