Gre Preparation – Tips and Ideas

Studying endless words is a daunting task. But once you do it, you will feel a sense of accomplishment. If you don’t, then you have done it the wrong way. I’m preparing for GRE myself, and thus I feel I can share a lot with the other students out there regarding the vocabulary part.

First, set out a schedule. You don’t need to stick to this schedule strictly, as long as you come atleast close to completing your target. Also, find yourself a good word list. I recommend the one in the GRE book by Barron’s. It is extensive with 3500 words. This will give you a good starting point in your quest for an improved vocabulary.

Then, start with A. Many people say it’s boring to always start with the same letter again and again. You can also start with another letter if you like, but reading it from A can give you some coherence when relating words with synonyms easily. Also, it will also give you an accurate measure of what you have finished and what is left, which is of great help when revising.

Now, to the actual memorizing part. Whatever letter you start with, read the word, the meaning and the usage in the sentence. For some words, the meaning might not agree with the usage. In that case, look the word up in an online dictionary or any pocket dictionary, where the meaning is a lot more simpler and detailed.

Relate words when reading. For example, when you read “circumcentre” and “circumnavigate”, you have to notice they have a common part in “circum”, which means around. Now, you just need to know the meanings of the rest of the word. Reading this way also helps you to guess the meanings of words when you’re doubtful about them.

Whenever you come across a word which sounds strange, or a word which you feel difficult to remember, write it down on a list. Whenever you have spare time, look at this list and try to guess the meanings. Eventually, these hard-to-remember words will come to you automatically, and you needn’t go through the whole list to make sure you remember the word.

Another piece of important advice : Use flash cards. They come in extremely handy in random recollection of the meanings of words and they help consolidate the memory. If you’re just too lazy to make some flash cards, go online to www.quizlet.com, where you can create, share or access flash cards. It’s a great site with a lot of potential for making your memory of the words permanent.

With all these tips, I hope you can really make an impact out there. GRE might be tough, but with will power, dedication and self confidence, you can make it into the elite scores and get into any college you want. Heck, you may even get a dream job wherever you want! So don’t waste your time and start preparing.

All the best!!!