Preparing for GRE

I think it is my sister.

Hey guys! I've been having a hard time trying to post on Nairaland. I post successfully and then it disappears for no reason. I'm even wondering if the posts are actually there and I'm the only one not seeing them. Anyways, it seems to be working today.

 
How do you mean we all sound the same? As per payment method. Yes, you can pay online. Mastercard may work for initial payment but visacard is preferable. In response to why they had no mastercard in stock,  I heard from an ICB customer service staff that mastercard is being phased out. Infact, when I ordered additional scores online, it was stated on ETS's site that only visa and jcb are acceptable.

yeah, i dont knw if i mentioned this in my previous posts, but usually it is a good idea to contact professors especially if you are planning to do a PhD, I dont how helpful it would be for an Meng student though. yeah after thought, not helpful for Meng.

@ SEFAGO, yeah I kinda felt that way too. But then, the advise to contact profs came from a current Petroleum Engineering Masters degree (not sure if it's MSc or MEng) student in Texas A&M. And who knows, I might decide to change to MSc when I get there.

@ zukkie, it's ok. I think you can use a mastercard for registration. But If there's a situation where you can't use it, then you can use your friend's visacard. ETS only needs to know the card details; not whether it's your own or not.

He's in Mechanical Engineering doing an M.Sc. Check the department site for the funding opportunities o'er there. I remember it was a scholarship for Africans and funded by MIT/ Total Finaelf. I'll send him a mail to get more details -only three Africans are sponsored yearly (that i remember clearly).

interesting that i have never heard of it. Is it only for mechanicl- ask your friend.

Godeagle, thats a bit true, about the research part but I was just wondering about the funding, if you find a funded Meng, that is fine, and great for you.

Hey Guys,

I apologize for intruding. I am not Nigerian, am from India actually but i came upon this forum through google. I am also preparing for the GRE, this is my second attempt, the first one was quite dissapointing (V-380, Q-730). That is why i have to concentrate more on the Verbal for the next attempt (hopefully in the 500's).
In my defense i hardly studied for the Verbal albeit i am studying the Vocab, i am not sure hoew to prepare for the reading comprehension. I know people advise to read alot but from my experience, the subject matter is trite and the allotted time per question is unbelievably short.

I am planning on taking the GRE late novemeber. I was wondering if you guys have any tips?

I am applying for MS in Petroleum Engr. (Fall 2010) like you guys, I have BSc in Chem Eng from U.Tulsa (GPA- 3.05/4) . I really want to go to UT Austin or Texas A&M. Th next best schools for P.E are Tulsa, Stanford, LSU, and USC. I wonder how difficult it is to get into Stanford for a P.E program? Also I just want to make sure but the Deadline for international students for MS in Petroleum in UT is January 1st right? and A&M is March 1st?

Thanks for the links for GRE Bible and GRE Big Book, really appreciate it guys.

Hey Moviebuf87, welcome to the forum We're more than glad to have you. It's a global village, aint it? There are Indians working in my office even as I write. Well, my new theory on the GRE, having taken it two times (scored Q740, V650 in my first attempt, canceled the second) and heard a lot of other people's experience with it, is that the key to scoring real high is to solve the most difficult questions with the smallest amount of time. And for the Verbal section, RCs are clearly the most difficult and carry the most points! So, cramming the barrons wordlist alone can only take one so far. I've seen people memorize the entire wordlist and still score low. My advice will be to get good material on verbal, eg barrons, kaplan and big book, learn the strategies for attacking the sections, especially RC, and master them by constant practice under timed conditions. Yes, the passages are abstruse, but you just have to study them with focus. You may not notice a marked improvement initially, but keep working and the results will come. Someone on this thread (Arshy) raised his verbal score from the 300s to the 400s in less than one month.

I'll also advise that you don't neglect to study for quant, since the schools you want (UT and TAMU), have their average acceptable quant scores in the upper 700s. In any case, you may want to also apply to the other schools you mentioned as the competition is crazy for those two. You didn't mention Colorado school of mines and Oklahoma Univ. They are among the best too. I believe admission in Stanford will be tough , from my research, they have the highest accepted GRE score and are just behind UT as per lowest acceptance rate. Confirm the deadlines from the departments' websites.


All the best!

Those who score high know how to answer the difficult questions. Of course, they also solve the easier questions, but almost everybody does. So, what separates them from others is the difficult questions they solve and the amount of time spent solving them. If you look for score diagnostics on www.urch.com/forums, you'll notice that those who scored above 700 in verbal, for instance, got almost all the RCs in record time. Even if they fell short in some simple antonyms and analogies, it didn't hurt their scores much. I'm inclined to believe that since ETS places more emphasis on analytical and logical thinking as opposed to ability to store facts in the brain, one is better off when good at solving the complex questions.
Moreover, marking a question without recourse to the time spent is never a true test of ability. If ETS didn't think that time does matter, they wont put it on the diagnostic report. Granted, the GRE pattern is very difficult to predict, but I believe these observations are true.


NB: Diagnostic is a service provided by ETS where one can know what questions he got right/wrong and the time spent on each question.

masters in public health

So did you guys narrow your schools yet? I am having trouble doing so- for various reasons (I have so much stuff to do, I am stressed, lol). Also, I wanted to mention to you guys not to only focus on the US, you could try University of Alberta in Canada especially if you plan to do chemical engineering. The applications are free for  people with an address in nigeria, they offer full scholarships immediately after acceptance for Masters, and they are located in the oil area of canada- its just really cold and sucky there- but if you don't mind the weather.

Are u serious? i haven't even started yet lol. Still getting recommendations, and would probably send the GRE to various schools this Friday. And I have midterms in school right now so ridiculously busy (exams). Are you applying for fall admissions and why so quick? It is getting late though, so when I have assembled my recommendation letters and other info I would be done. I havent assembled my schools too lol and I have definitely need to contact professors.

Oh, you didn't know I was applying for spring 2010. I sent all applications just at the deadlines -October 1st. I'm even hoping that I'm not badly behind schedule and that the admissions come this month or early November like arshy said. As for you, you're very well on track as early applications increase chances of financial assistance.

No news yet o. The graduate schools have all sent my application packets to the departments for review, but I don't even know when the admission decisions will come.

PLS still waiting for your response coz i need this info badly thanks all and goodluck to you all in waiting for you decision