In 2014, a hair more than 525,000 master's degrees were given out by accredited colleges and universities across the United States. Almost all programs require applicants to take standardised admissions tests like the GMAT or MCAT to have their applications judged by graduate admissions committees. One of the most popular graduate school admissions tests is the GRE, or the Graduate Record Examinations General Test, which quizzes test-takers on language and mathematics skills. Its scores strongly correlated with the quality of graduate programs test-takers gain entry to, performing well on the GRE is important. There are many options available to help you study for this important exam, like a GRE prep course online. 

The GRE Expects You to Fully Understand Mathematical Concepts 

Quantitative Analysis questions on the GRE often combine two or more basic concepts and apply them to problems. You'll usually have to work backward with one concept, use information from that concept and apply it to other relevant concepts, and fill in tons of blanks. The best way to learn the concepts you'll be tested for, how to use them, and become acclimated to how they'll show themselves in problems on the GRE is to solve practice questions that are supplied in official practice textbooks and online course materials. 

You're Not Given Much Time to Read Passages 

One portion of the Verbal Reasoning section covers reading comprehension. You'll be expected to read through passages of uninteresting excerpts from articles, journals, books, and the Internet and digest them in roughly 1.5 to two minutes. The GRE grants test-takers 35 minutes to take each of the two portions of the Verbal Reasoning section. Test-takers are responsible for rationing their time themselves, meaning that unprepared test-takers often spend too much time answering difficult questions on the verbal section, particularly those that test reading comprehension skills. In taking practice tests, you should regularly ration out how much time you have to answer each question. If one question takes too much of your time, make a reasoned guess. Further, if you have to guess on any one problem in this section because you're behind on time, do so on the longest reading comprehension questions. 

Test Anxiety is Often Associated with Taking the GRE 

Modern statistics indicate that between one-fifth and two-fifths of United States students suffer from text anxiety, a type of anxiety that interferes with people's performance of various tasks. People who suffer from test anxiety are less likely to perform as well as their peers, especially if they fail to properly prepare for such exams. 

The Analytical Writing Scorers Want a Certain Structure Utilized 

There are two types of prompts you could be given on test day for the Analytical Writing section - the Argument Essay and the Issue Essay. In the Argument Essay, you'll be asked to outline issues in the prompt's thinking and reasoning. You will also need to point out problems in evidence used and evaluate underlying assumptions that the author relied on. The Issue Essay will require you to take a stance on a social issue and argue that stance. You will always be able to take the essay in a variety of directions, just make sure that your logic and reasoning is clear. 

In both of the essay types that the GRE tests for, you'll need to follow the reasoning and techniques outlined in the solutions to practice essay prompts found in the official coursework for whatever GRE prep course online you're taking.