And obviously I've been studying...but does anyone who has taken it already have any tips/insights/random musing about the test you would like to lay on me?
If you're halfway competent at math, the quant section is a joke. A cursory review should be enough. Definitely focus on vocab - study it every day with whatever method works for you, whether it's word lists or flash cards.
I took it "just in case" shortly after getting my BS and got an 1100 or slightly higher...can't remember exactly. But I didn't do any formal studying, so I don't have much advice regarding quantitative and verbal. I'll just say that if the writing section matters to you, make sure to be VERY detailed with your responses. I felt like I was, but only got a 5.0 out of 6.0. I expected to ace that part.
I had a bad case of writer's block when I took it. Only got like 3.5 out of 6.0 at writing. The math part is easy if you are a math person, plain and simple. The verbal part got me, but being an Asian engineer English was never my strong suit. Think my verbal was something like 530 with minimal studying, so make sure you do review your vocabulary and stuff. It's just like SAT except slightly harder.
I took it without studying because I knew I didn't need a great score. i thought it was a little harder than i remember the SAT being. That said, the Math was still easy. It required me to think a little harder (than the SAT) to not be tricked, but overall it was easy. Verbal, unexpectedly harder than the SAT. Just more of those gray-area type questions. I think you could definitely use some practice there if that section matters to you. I really don't remember the writing part at all
Internal facts in the halls of ETS: if you write a question for the SAT that is too easy, it gets sent to the GRE; if you write a question for the SAT that is too hard, it gets sent to the PSAT. This is based on the observation that most Americans take less and less math as they progress through education, starting at roughly the sophomore year in college.
I took mine 3 months ago looking to get into engineering grad school. If you're doing the same, then you should ace the math. To do this, just try and practice as many math problems... You'll find that the hard part is not 'knowing how to do the problem' but rather focusing and keeping track of details in questions so you don't make silly mistakes. There are shortcuts to solving every quant problem so you should finish each question earlier than the recommended time, then spend a couple of seconds double-checking your work. The only way you'll get used to being meticulous with the math answers is by practicing as much as possible. The practice can be fun since the problems are so easy! Verbal: Anything above a 550 should be just fine for engineering grad school. IMO the only way to do well on this is to learn as many words as possible. If you're like me, you don't read much and have a 'normal' vocabulary... so I found that the quickest way to learn the GRE words is to make up flash cards and memorize... note that the GRE words are not words anyone would use in everyday speech. I memorized about 20 per day leading up to test-day.
I would recommend practicing for the math part. It's really easy, but remember that you can make no assumptions. They will try to trick you. I prepared for the writing section by going on the website and reading their examples of what type of response results in what score. I don't think it's really possible at this point to prepare for the verbal section, just hope you do well. Oh, and I ended up getting perfect scores on the math and writing, and ~600 on the verbal.
This. The verbal is absolutely brutal, and I killed it on my SATs. I think I got a 1350 or something, but I didn't do that hot on the math section, surprisingly. I studied a lot for the verbal and kind of neglected brushing up on the math (of course, matrices freshman year was my last math class...).
the part that psyched me out the most was that the writing component came up first, then math, and lastly verbal. maybe it's random, but i went in there thinking it was always verbal, math, writing, in that order. my brain was so focused on verbal that when it started asking me geometry questions it took a while for me to adjust. also, i suggest timing yourself when doing practice sections. i walked into the test room without ever practicing the math and ended up with about 10 seconds to answer my last math question. i guessed C and prayed that that was correct. if the GRE hasn't changed since i took it in '06, the computer version changes its difficulty with each question you get right or wrong. it starts off with "medium" difficulty questions and gets harder/easier as you go along. that said, make sure you get the first few questions correct if you want any chance to get a perfect score. if you screw up on a "medium" question early on, they cap you at 760 and so on. the test is more forgiving if you get the difficult questions wrong.
