GRE/ TOEFL Preparation

Hi Everyone. I’ll be first talking about GRE preparation, then TOEFL.

GRE

Usually, the preparation of GRE takes about three months. I started my GRE preparation in mid June, and gave my first attempt in August end.

FYI- My first attempt (Aug 22) score was 310 and second attempt (Sept 15) score was 318. My essay score is 5. I took Jamboree coaching for their renowned study material and helpful faculty. But self study is the ultimate game changer!

Now I’ll tackle each section separately-

Quant- This section is easy for students who have a strong mathematical understanding. Jamboree’s yellow book is a bible for scoring well in this section. The level of questions is almost on par with the level in main exam. Other than this, I did quant from ETS official guide (but this was secondary, yellow book was primary). There are all kinds of questions in the yellow book- tricky, easy, tough, lengthy, quick. And a lot of questions for each topic, which gave me a thorough practice covering each type of question/ concept.

Verbal- This section was the most toughest for me to study, because I’m not adept with this much level of vocabulary. After doing the 14 dictionaries in Jamboree green book, I improved but not significantly. So I did a number of things.

1. I downloaded the Magoosh vocab app which displays placards with word meaning and sentence for easy remembrance. It also has an option for shuffled quiz so that we can assess which words we’re having difficulty with. I used to work with this app twice a day in the last month of preparation. Recommended for quick self tests and revision.
2. I used to read random articles from ET, NYT, and the Editorial Column of TOI. These articles contained majorly all the words that I read in Magoosh app / jamboree dictionaries. They were helpful in the sense- I did not have to cram the word meanings now as I could recall the word’s meaning from the tone of sentence in the article it was present in. These really helped me ease the learning vocab process. And whenever I knew the meaning of a difficult word I saw in any article, it felt very accomplishing :)
3. I used to maintain a register where I used to write all the tough vocab words, and used to revise in twice a day daily for 2 months (every time from the first page). After 2 months, almost all the words were engraved in my memory.

So I had to be very patient with verbal as it was difficult for me compared to other peers. But the key was to keep revising old words religiously, reading articles with advanced english to test your knowledge (to see if you’ve improved over time or not), and to pay attention to new words too (which one can come across in mock tests)!

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AWA- For this section, your verbal skills need to be very good. There should be 5 paragraphs (on an average)- introduction para, one para for each argument/point (try to keep atleast 3 points), and concluding para. The words used in vocab must be from the GRE bank you’re studying, and the spelling must be correct (otherwise marks are deducted as there is no spell check in the main exam). I studied for AWA in the last month of my preparation. I used to copy random Issue/Argument Essay topics from ETS topic pool and search those on Google. There were so many answer essays in the results, I used to read some of them (usually 2 for pro side, and 2 for against side). It benefited me in various ways- I read examples/references which I didn’t know and later helped me apply some of those in my main exam (luckily!), sometimes a particular phrase/quote/format of writing clicks with you and you feel comfortable using it. There were a couple of introductory and concluding para sentences which I felt comfortable with and that became my staple format for the main exam, I just used to modify it little bit according to the topic if required. Reading 3–4 articles once a day for a month gave me great confidence because in the end I knew about a lot of historical/political/general examples through answer essays and could apply them in my main exam without putting a lot of thought.

Now something I say to every person who asks me for tips- Give as many mock exams as you can. That is the ultimate deal breaker. No matter how hard you studied, it will not be fruitful unless you give practice mocks to access yourself. Generally in the main exam the score drops by around 10 marks than what you got in practice mocks at home. It is because of subconscious pressure, new environment, timer on screen, and various other factors. So it is better to be prepared. But giving mocks is not the only trick. It is important to analyse each mock test too. During the last month, I gave one (sometimes two) mock each day (during the same hours my exam was scheduled for) and did analysis the same evening. I took the same amount of breaks with exact duration we’re provided on the test day. Giving mocks and analysing it is more important than you think, this is how-

Importance of giving mocks- When you give mocks, you adjust your brain to switching between quant and verbal sections. Doing verbal sections require your memory, and in quant section you’ve to apply logic and concepts. Added with the random order of verbal and quant sections, time constraint and adaptive pattern (you get an idea about your performance if the next section is tougher/easier than previous ones), our brain doesn’t work at it’s optimum capacity. So giving mocks at least 15 days before the final day gives us an advantage to tune ourselves into doing so. Plus taking the timed breaks teaches us to rejuvenate ourselves and freshen our minds before we resume the test. (So do not skip the breaks, take a few minutes to relax and have water/snacks because otherwise you can get hypoglycaemia/dehydration which can affect your performance).

Importance of doing same day analysis- Analysis teaches you what are your weaknesses. You see the questions which are wrong, and referring to the solutions teaches you new approach/trick to tackle those kind of questions in less time. But analysing correct questions is equally important as sometimes our guesses are correct, but the concepts aren’t. So it is always better to have clear concepts because one cannot rely on luck in the final exam. During analysis, you also come across shorter methods for some questions, easy formulas for tricky questions, and most importantly, how much time you gave to each topic. This way you know you need to improve time management on those specific topics with more practice/revision of concepts. Same day analysis is recommended because it is fresh in your memory. If you do the analysis the next day, you won’t remember all the questions or what approach you put while attempting it.

(It doesn’t matter which brand you take mocks from. I took mocks from ETS (free and paid), Jamboree, Manhattan prep, Kaplan, and a few more. It is completely upto you. But give it from at least 2 brands because the level of difficulty varies which gives you better practice.)

These are mostly all the things I inculcated in my routine during my preparation. I worked primarily on verbal as it was a weak subject for me. In the end, mocks brought the real jump in my score.

(Also, please book GRE exam on time, and soon. You should consider saving a few weeks before deadlines, in case you have to give second attempt. A gap of 21 days is a must between two attempts. So don’t book exam date very close to the deadlines. Plan accordingly.)

TOEFL

For TOEFL preparation, the verbal preparation for GRE helps pretty much. Reading and writing is covered by GRE verbal too (as GRE has reading comprehensions and AWA). As far as speaking/listening is concerned, giving mock tests is the best way to practice because it is a game of timing.

Listening to English movies/ series/ shows helps you a lot in the listening section as you’re already comfortable with their accent. If you don’t have this habit, listen to TOEFL audio files available on the net and try to focus. It is important to note the ‘tone’ of the speaker, because you get a lot of questions asked on that. While listening to audios (in listening section), make notes and jot down important points of the conversation. Don’t worry about neat handwriting or full sentences because as long as it makes sense to you, it can be scribbled notes! It feels tough initially to make notes and listen to their dialogue, but try to pay attention to both without compromising any one of them. With time you will feel better at it.

Same is to be done in the speaking section, during the preparatory time. Make small points of what you’re going to speak, and try to link all together to make it sound in a flow. If you do not have fluency in speaking, try recording yourself on timer while you speak on any random topic (you can search for topics on the net). It gives you practice of extempore speaking and you feel confident after a while. Speaking section requires a lot of focus as in the main exam, students around you will also be speaking on different topics, which will create noise / distraction for you. It will be difficult to focus so train yourself to be as focused as possible (as those noise cancelling headphones are not that effective).

TOEFL preparation was much easier than GRE for me as Jamboree audio files were sufficient. I also did ETS mocks of TOEFL in the last week, and continued to revise my GRE vocab bank (Magoosh app, and the register I was maintaining for myself). If there are any specific problems regarding TOEFL, please let me know I’ll be more detailed.

Hope this helps! Please feel free to ask any more doubts regarding preparation. All the best!!