What is GRE?
GRADUATE RECORD
EXAMINATION.
Taken after 16 years
when you graduate, so basically it reflects your 16 years of education rather
than 2 months prep that you do before giving GRE. This examination just not
only tests your English and mathematical skills but also checks how well you
perform under pressure? How you manage to complete all questions within the
time limit? Can you continuously focus for about 4 hours? Can your mind
continuously give the best for about 4 hours with only 10 minutes break?
I am not a GRE pro- I didn’t
get high score, still there are few things that I would like to share as people
are asking about GRE and the test centers. DON’T ASK ME ABOUT GRE PREPERATION
OR GRE MATERIAL PLEASE.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
Do READ EACH AND EVERY
WORD OF INSTRUCTIONS.
Do timed practice i.e.
note your time while attempting questions.
Do not stress out.
First give a diagnostic test and discover your weak areas and then work on
them.
Do not ask for study
plans from someone else because no two prescriptions can cure the disease for
two different patients. Find out your own areas of improvement and work on
that. Only you know how much hours to spend on a particular section.
ABOUT GRE:
There are three main
divisions in GRE test: First is the writing part, second is Verbal part and
third is Quantitative part.
WRITING PART: Also
knows as AWA
This is the first
section of your GRE test. It consists of two parts:
In first part you will
be given a few statements and you will have to give your OWN
opinion about those statements whether you agree or disagree with proper
reasoning and examples. Make sure you writing has proper sequence and you divide
it in paragraphs with each paragraph consisting of one specific sub-topic.
Example: The statements
can be like:
Education nowadays is
limiting the mind and soul whereas the purpose of education is to free one’s
mind and soul. (I am just giving an idea here, actual statement will be 5-6
lines long)
Should risk be taken?
Or every consequence should be analyzed before taking the risk.
In second part you will
be given a statement which is given by someone else and you have to analyze
that in how many possible ways conclusion drawn by the other person can be wrong
or what are the things that are being assumed in the given statement.
Example: The statements
can be like:
Scientists found remnants
of “xyz” animal’s bones, does that mean humans killed them or they were extinct
due to drastic climate change etc.
ABC bakery changes
butter with margarine, only 2% customers files a complaint, so this means this
change can be implemented to all their branches throughout the country etc. etc.
TIPS:
From a total of 30
minutes spend first five minutes in careful reading and writing down points and
making an outline for your essay. Then start writing, following your outline
for a good sequence structure of your essay. There is no autocorrect or auto
punctuation in that window as you can have in Microsoft Word. So, save a last
few minutes to proofread your essay, or to elaborate any point etc. Do not keep
writing till the last minute. Proofreading is important, too many spelling
mistakes will not leave a good impression.
This is SECTION 1 of
your GRE. This will take one hour.
Now the next section
can be Verbal or Quantitative: it is random. There will two sections after the
writing section and then there will be 10-minutes break. After that there will
be three more sections and then you are done with the test. There are two
verbal sections and two quant sections in the test. There is also one extra
section which can be either verbal or quant whose score is not entertained for
your test score, but you don’t know which section is the extra one so you have
to attempt every section with full concentration.
VERBAL SECTION:
There are different
types of questions in the verbal section. Sorry I am not a verbal pro but still
there are few things. As it is already said by many of GRE takers that only ratifying
vocabulary is not enough, it is important to understand the sense of the
sentence, especially for sentence completion. You need to focus on the words
like “despite, although, however etc.” which changes the sense of the sentence
from positive to negative and vice versa. For reading comprehension you need to
get an overall idea about the passage rather than reading each and every word.
Consult any good TOEFL book for tricks regarding reading comprehension.
QUANTITATIVE SECTION:
Quant section also has
different types of questions from almost every section of mathematics and basic
statistics. For this section I would say that go for the basic concepts, learn
the tricks to solve questions faster, cover every topic, basic theorems and
formulae and then practice practice practice!!!
REGISTRATION:
Register yourself NOW
if you want to apply for Fulbright, you will not get a slot after.
Make an account on ETS
website and register yourself.
Make sure you have a
smart CNIC and Valid passport.
Make sure that you
enter the same name and detail while making your account as they are on your
CNIC/Passport.
Search for you
location: there are selected test centers in few of the major cities of
Pakistan.
Select the date and
then time and pay for your test.
Payment cannot be done
via DEBIT card.
Take a print out of
your Email receipt which contains all your details, just in case.
ON TEST DAY:
Make sure that you don’t
give any full length test the day before your test day.
Make sure that you
slept well and are well fed.
Do take your Smart CNIC
and Passport to the test center.
There is no need to
take any pencil/pen/clipboard etc. with you as the test will be computer based
and you are not allowed to take anything with you.
Arrive early at the
test center. You will be asked to mark your entry on a register, to show your
ID card. They take your cell phone switched off at Islamabad center but not at
the Lahore center. In Lahore center you can keep your phone in the locker also.
After your entry, they
will scan you and ask you to deposit every extra material, wallet, rings,
chains, watch etc. in a locker and you will take the key with you. You will
also be given a visitors lanyard.
Then you will proceed
into the main hall with you ID card and locker key in your hand, along with any
eatables that you have brought.
BONUS TIP: Take a bite
of your energy bar and a sip of your juice before entering the test area. In
this way no one else can eat your snacks and they will be safe till break time J
You will be given a
form to fill in which you undertake that you are the person who registered and
you will not tell anyone about the test questions. After that a USEFP person
will give you guideline about the test.
Then one by one you
will asked to enter into the testing area. You will be asked to sit for facial
scanning, another entry, ID confirmation and then full body scan. In the scan
you will be asked to roll up the sleeves till your elbow and also show your
ankles. Make sure you dress up accordingly.
At your screen you
information will appear and you will confirm, read all the instructions and
start the test.
If you need anything
just raise your hand quietly, the USEFP officials will be watching you from
outside, they will come to you.
Do take that 10 minutes
break, refresh yourself and again all the entry protocols are followed.
After the test you have
to submit your scores. For Fulbright aspirants you must send your scores to
USEFP and IIE at that time, for others you can send your score reports for free
upto 4 institutions at that time.
And that’s it you are
done with GRE J
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