₦airaland Forum

pennstate:
Hey have you gotten the GRE material if no, let me know so I can put the following in the mail for you:
ETS QUANT
ETS VEBAL
ETS Official Guide 2nd Edition
(May be) Manhattan GRE Set of 8 Strategy Guide
5LB Manhattan

please can you send the materials to my mail. Jeremiahayomide@gmail.com .... thanks in advance

Ajibade105:
I have. Thanks

Please mail me the material as well. Am applying for Msc in Mass Communication at Cleveland state university as well as Masters in Public Administration at Georgia southern university, thought GRE is only required at Cleveland state university...... The quantitative aspect is scary though.......
Any material mail to- cherishemmanuel@gmail.com

andrejerry:
please can you send the materials to my mail. Jeremiahayomide@gmail.com .... thanks in advance

Please me too
Cherishemmanuel@gmail.com

[quote author=Perotti post=47880336][/quote]Geophysics and seismology

happyday:
Congratulations! If anything, you can be sure that the department thinks you're good on paper. It's time to make them gauge how eligible you're for a PhD slot in their program. First, how did you get the interview invite? Was it through a normal application, or you knew someone (a grad student, post-doc or faculty) who helped you 'press' the right buttons? If it's the latter, you might contact them to give you a heads-up on what to expect.

Either way, you need not fret. Interviews like this is 2-way. They're trying to interview you, as much as you're trying to interview them!

Firstly, be prepared for the interview. If you don't have a 2-way headset (microphone and earpiece), get one. If your internet connection is not optimal, find a place where you can be connected for the period of the interview. Ensure your PC's battery is fine enough to last you throughout the interview, even if PHCN comes knocking.

Resist the temptation to dress in half. Dress as if you'll be attending an in-person interview. You might need to stand up, plus dressing full-length will give you confidence levels a huge boost. Minutes before the interview, test run the audio, video and internet connection. Test everything and make sure all is in order.

Then, you'll need to be ready. Find out about your interviewers. How many are they? It doesn't hurt to ask prior to the interview. Most likely, your future advisor will be leading the team. Check his research page and really dig into his research interests. You'll need to show some enthusiasm about his research objectives. Otherwise, he might think you won't make a great addition to his lab. Which might be okay than for you spending the next 5 years on something you absolutely have no interest in. If you're applying with a BSc, be prepared to discuss your final year project, and look for ways to link it up with the faculty's research work. Ultimately, your answers should reflect that you've taken time out to know what the Prof is working on, and how you see yourself being a great Plus One in his lab.

He would also like you to meet him. Pay attention. Don't get lost in the need to impress him/them. Tell him your doubts, be open and let him know you're looking forward to working with him, if truly he seems a cool person to work with. Prepare a few questions to ask, towards the end. It shows your level of initiative and motivation. Ask about the application process. If one document won't be coming through anytime soon, let him know. He might fight for you at the admissions committees. Again, if he thinks you're good enough. Which takes me to the last point.

Blow your trumpet. Don't be reserved or 'humble'. Glance through the documents you've submitted to them, and make sure you can defend them very well at the interview.

If all goes well, he might typical encourage you to apply. If you haven't done so already. I wish you the best.

Thanks man, I did a normal application.

SirRiddy, Happyday, Pennstate et al, I need an answer on this issue: what weight does published papers carry in the admission process? I am wrapping up my MS in Nigeria and I am trying to publish my research, however, the publisher (a top ranked peer-reviewed one) doesn't want to accept my work due to a myriad of factors; the reviewers are questioning every detail in the paper and the response I have given isn't impressing them. I want to ask you guys if you published your undergrad/MSc papers in reputable journals when you were studying in Nigeria. Is it really compulsory to publish in reputable journals for the sake of seeking admission to US schools (especially PhD)?

Thank you all as I anticipate your responses.

Hello Everyone,

My first official post.

I found these videos and they are free and very helpful. I am watching them for my exam preparation and I am sure they would help me improve my score and I hope they help everyone else who watches them and follows through on the study plans religiously.

https://www.greenlighttestprep.com/

Regards

kenkool:
Thanks bro I need it.

Please bro I need a copy. Sharon91dolapo@gmail.com

Perotti:
SirRiddy, Happyday, Pennstate et al, I need an answer on this issue: what weight does published papers carry in the admission process? I am wrapping up my MS in Nigeria and I am trying to publish my research, however, the publisher (a top ranked peer-reviewed one) doesn't want to accept my work due to a myriad of factors; the reviewers are questioning every detail in the paper and the response I have given isn't impressing them. I want to ask you guys if you published your undergrad/MSc papers in reputable journals when you were studying in Nigeria. Is it really compulsory to publish in reputable journals for the sake of seeking admission to US schools (especially PhD)?

Thank you all as I anticipate your responses.

Yes it is good to have publish paper(s) especially for PhD admission it gives you an unseen advantage (most people if not all still gets admission without published papers, but it is yourself you know about). I remember when I was presenting a seminar during my MS all my colleagues back then where having issues with writing and referencing I never had such problems because I had writen some papers before I went for graduate studies. Some PhD Programs is focus on Research and Publications while some is on Mentorship, if you happen to find a school that is focus on research and you want to be in that school, how do you prove to them that you are a research guy-it is through your publications.

Let me ask, was it co-authored along with your supervisor or just you alone. Was the details (being questioned) pertaining to citations, methodology, sampling, structures, presentation or results etc It will do you a lot good if you publish your first paper with an experience person in your field of study, that way you will have absolute confidence.

Having said that I will give you a story pertaining to what you are feeling-Most times some reviewer are so clueless (especially Nigerians: because when you send a paper to any journal, what they do mostly is that they look for people in that same field in your country and then they send your paper to them for review ). The second paper I did with my Prof, we had sent the paper for publication to one journal, eight months on we were still correcting and rearranging, the reviewer was so clueless that the BASIC (FIRST) PRINCIPLE OF HYDROGEOLOGY He/She didn't know, we were so embarrassed to the extent that we started quoting so many author-gurus in the field, yet He/She was still adamant.
What we did is that, we quickly withdraw the paper and send it to another journal within two months, the paper was published.

There are a lot of peer-reviewed journals all over the places it doesn't matter how they are ranked (My Opinion) when you look at some of the journals some professors in Nigerian University publish in you will laugh-you dont want to be like them though, you are a young researcher with years ahead of you. To publish a paper is not like cooking beans. If you are satisfied with what you have done withdraw the paper and sent it to another journals. The main issues I have come across in the cause of getting a paper published are as follows: merge your diagrams, too many diagrams, too many tables merge some, take away this and that, citations in work but not referenced and typo error which is pretty basic, check line 5 and line 14 etc.
My MS Thesis was publish in a peer-reviewed journal.

Good luck to you.
Sorry for the long epistle

emma1996:
Please mail me the material as well. Am applying for Msc in Mass Communication at Cleveland state university as well as Masters in Public Administration at Georgia southern university, thought GRE is only required at Cleveland state university...... The quantitative aspect is scary though.......
Any material mail to- cherishemmanuel@gmail.com

Check your email

emma1996:
Please mail me the material as well. Am applying for Msc in Mass Communication at Cleveland state university as well as Masters in Public Administration at Georgia southern university, thought GRE is only required at Cleveland state university...... The quantitative aspect is scary though.......
Any material mail to- cherishemmanuel@gmail.com

HI bro, pls how much is tuition for mpa in georgian uni, am interested

Teaser4:
HI bro, pls how much is tuition for mpa in georgian uni, am interested

It around $21000

emma1996:
It around $21000

Thanks. kinda scared of gre esp quantitative. i hate maths, but dat one is kinda advance. am a fresh graduate with no working exp, am i eligible. most usa grad sch for mpa requires werk esp.

pennstate:
Hey have you gotten the GRE material if no, let me know so I can put the following in the mail for you:
ETS QUANT
ETS VEBAL
ETS Official Guide 2nd Edition
(May be) Manhattan GRE Set of 8 Strategy Guide
5LB Manhattan

Kindly help with the materials mentioned above. hope4samsegs@yahoo.com thank you.

Ajibade105:
Check your email

Kindly help with GRE materials hope4samsegs@yahoo.com thank you

Pls am interested in gre materials too, my mail na lheicksh007@gmail.com thanks

SAMUELS3:
Kindly help with GRE materials hope4samsegs@yahoo.com thank you

Check your inbox

babisho:
So I wrote the GRE too and i'll like to share a bit of my experience. 
Analytical writing: 4.5 (82nd percentile).
Quantitative reasoning: 158 (70th percentile).
Verbal reasoning: 164 (94th percentile).

You nailed it bro

Well done...

Please what materials/platforms did u use for your practice, and how are your scores in the practice tests compared to your real test scores??

Teaser4:
Thanks. kinda scared of gre esp quantitative. i hate maths, but dat one is kinda advance. am a fresh graduate with no working exp, am i eligible. most usa grad sch for mpa requires werk esp.

Am a fresh graduate as well........ Work experience isn't required. Just Toefl just incase you might want to be considered for graduate assistant.
But it okay to write the GRE am not good in quantitative as well but the consular might ask you at the interview just to see how competitive u are......

emma1996:
Am a fresh graduate as well........ Work experience isn't required. Just Toefl just incase you might want to be considered for graduate assistant.
But it okay to write the GRE am not good in quantitative as well but the consular might ask you at the interview just to see how competitive u are......

aiit bro. do you know the required gre scores

andrejerry:
please can you send the materials to my mail. Jeremiahayomide@gmail.com .... thanks in advance

@pennstate...thanks so much, I got the materials and got your response about the blank mail. Am so sorry, I was actually sending you a message to make some enquiries, dunno why it keeps sending as blank. Please, leave me a mail add I can reach you om

Good day,

Pls, I need someone to add me to the facebook and whatsapp groups. These are my contacts :

e-mail:success4dammy@yahoo.com

Phone no:08166269635

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely
Dammy

babisho:
So I wrote the GRE too and i'll like to share a bit of my experience. 
Analytical writing: 4.5 (82nd percentile).
Quantitative reasoning: 158 (70th percentile).
Verbal reasoning: 164 (94th percentile).

Quantitative: . As u can see above my math is average, so I have nothing much to say...well, except that whoever wants to do well must know how to manage time. Given adequate time, the questions can be answered. But the time ETS gives is so-so for average math guys like myself. Add exam nerves and 10 +10 which should take a millisecond to answer takes more time than appropriate. Bottom time:
1. take timed tests while practicing. It helps with pacing and this is absolutely key. 
2. U don't have to answer all questions and it is important to know when to let a question go. The silly exam has "time wasters". Nothing hurts as much as finding that u spent 4-5 minutes on a particularly question (which u aren't certain u got right by the way), only to find that there are some pretty cheap (takes less than a min) questions u no longer have time for. Again. Bottom line. If u're spending too long on a question when u haven't seen all the questions, u're setting urself up and it's a pretty bad strategy. Better to go through all questions, murder d cheap questions and then if time permits, face d hard ones. 

P.s: I think this should be pretty obvious, but u'll find it surprising that it is hard to let a question go and to move on in d real exam. So again. Practice ur pacing with timed tests. 

VERBAL. 
My score here suggests that I have a bit of a "bragging right" and I probably know what I'm saying. (lol). Unfortunately, I don't have a quick fix solution here. But for the long haulers who have a couple of months to prepare, here I think is a good strategy. The verbal as we all know is 20 questions per session. 10 reading comprehension, 5 sentence equivalence and 5 text completion. 
Good news: the sentence equivalence and text completion can be destroyed quickly, leaving ample time to face the convoluted, opaque, recondite and abstruse (haha! Bloody hell. I show off)...difficult to understand reading comprehension passages. 

So this was my routine. I used aldaily.com everyday for several months. Aldaily.com basically recommends 3 essays daily for its readers. Now one has to attack these essays. Not just a cursory reading. The essays are academic, high literary, GRE language styled. Some of them are from newyorK times, New yorker, LA review of books, London review of books, aeon magazine, new Republic, the Atlantic bla bla bla. The point in reading all these is that one then begins to see various writing styles. The way people shift their sentences, the nuances and subtleties, and of course GRE type words and vocabulary. Now with these new words, I had a list I was keeping. Upon seeing a new word, I would go to vocabulary.com. The advantage of vocabulary.com is that it not only gives the meaning of words in simple language, it gives SEVERAL examples of usage. In seeing those examples, one appreciates how the words can be used in sentences.  

If one can conscientiously follow this routine, what happens is that u find that sentence comprehension and text completion questions become a godsend. The time one spends answering the questions remarkably drops, leaving time for the reading comprehension. U'll become so used to the sentences u'll be able to predict what goes into what in the text completion, and sentence equivalence becomes rediculously cheap.  Of course the voracious reading would also help with reading comprehension generally, but men! Those questions, bloody freaking hell! 

P.s. I didn't say anything about reading comprehension strategy. Here I think magoosh GRE blog offers excellent advice. So u won't lose anything by checking out magoosh.com/gre and reading the blog. 
‎
I might also have oversimplified the process of reading those essays from aldaily.com. Sometimes it is so much tedium and mental drudgery u just want to close the page, and leave the essays...when u get to this point, know that u're not alone. Even the best of us struggle with some of these passages and sometimes there's so much jargon in the passages u begin to think they are straight from hell. Besides, it really doesn't hurt doing well in the exam and not wasting money (the $205 these days...pretty hard to come by)

Finally on analytic writing, i'm interested in knowing anyone who has scored 5 or more. I know people get it, but I think the exam is rigged. Unless u type pretty fast of course. But that's by d way. My advise here is to use official material from ETS. Especially sample essays and reader commentaries. By the time u focus on samples that are scored 4 or 5 or 6, u'll begin to see what u have to do to get the required scores. So please, read the official examples. Sorry, read is an understatement...study them. 

Overall, abeg practice, practice and more practice, there is no short cut. Good luck and see yah all in America. ‎

Congrats bro.
I celebrate you big time. please, can I get your mail? I will love to ask some crucial questions from you.
Thanks in advance.

Abimmbolar:
@pennstate...thanks so much, I got the materials and got your response about the blank mail. Am so sorry, I was actually sending you a message to make some enquiries, dunno why it keeps sending as blank. Please, leave me a mail add I can reach you om

lordpennstate@yahoo.com

DanjaNinja:
My GRE Experience: Lessons Learnt - J.

General Tips
#Tip 1: Don’t rely on any one single book.

Each book has its strength and weakness. Combine them all for maximum impact.

#Tip 2: What books do I need?

1. Grubber 2015
2. Barron’s GRE
3. Nova GRE Math Bible
4. Kaplan
5. Princeton Review

#Tip 3: How can I get these books?

If you can afford physical copies of these books – Sweet, go head and buy them all. But If you can’t afford any or you’re a ijebu madam like the lovely,intelligent MsNas or like myself, simply send a blank mail to selfstudy360@gmail.com or selfstudy.version2@gmail.com for soft copies (Pdf’s). #MoneyMustNotWaste

(a) selfstudy360@gmail.com contains:

• Barron's New GRE 19th Edition
• Cracking the GRE 2013
• Gruber's Complete GRE Guide 2012

While

(b) Selfstudy.version2@gmail.com (New*) contains:

• Gruber's Complete GRE Guide (2015)
• Mahanttan Prep - 5* lb. Book of GRE® Practice Problems (2013)
• Nova’s GRE Math Bible (2008)

#Tip 4: When should I take the GRE?

Take the exam at least 4 months before you plan to send your admission applications. That way, if you don’t meet your targeted score (not your portion…Oya say Amen!), you would still have enough time to retake the exam without duress. For example, if the deadline for admission application is September 15th, the ideal time for taking the GRE should be by May. The reason for this is simple: If you don’t meet ur target score, you can retake the GRE by June thereby providing ample time for sending your application. This is not a rule but a suggestion.


#Tip 5: How much time would it take to prepare for the GRE?

Minimum: 2months @ 4-5hours per day.
Note: The number of hours do not really matter, it’s the amount of problem solving skills learnt per unit time that counts. Some people learn quickly while for others, it might take longer to read and understand new concepts. So remember, 4-5hours are just recommendations, whether u spend more or less time – ultimately, it doesn’t matter. What matters is how much u learn and how fast you can correctly answer questions. If it takes u 4-5hours per day to achieve this goal, so be it. If it takes u less time, so be it. If it takes you more time, so be it. No one cares. Ultimately it’s your scores that matters.

#Tip 6: Can I prepare within a month?

Yes u can, but it’s not advisable. You need time to internalize and completely memorizes the GRE strategies.

And lastly,

#Tip 7: Don’t be deceived by your score on POWERPREP II.

You took the sample test on PowerPrep II, you had an average of 160-165, you feel good and cant wait to take the actual test. Truth is Powerprep II does not compare to the actual test. On a scale of one to ten, one being very easy and ten being very difficult, Powerprep is a 4.5 and the actual test is an 8.5. #OkBye

Now for the part you’ve been waiting for: My GRE Experience.

This is a summary of lesson learnt from my personal experience, please feel free to add your insights and contributions. Sharing is caring.

You probably know this already but just to refresh your memory - The GRE is made up of three parts: Analytical writing, Verbal and Quantitative.
1. Analytical Writing
2. Verbal
3. Quantitative

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO ACHIEVE HIGH SCORES.

FOR ANALYTICAL WRITING:

Books and Resources needed for Analytical Writing:
Official GRE Topic List (30%) + Kaplan (60%) + Barron (10%).

(a) Official GRE Topic List: GRE maintains a list of every possible topic that you will find on the actual test date!!!!!! It’s totally legal and you can find the list here:
Pool of Argument Topics: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool

Pool of Issue Topics: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool

The list is quite exhaustive: 200 issue task topics and 200 argument task topics. Once you have the list, group the topics into categories and proceed to (b). I believe if u know the possible questions, your chances of success should be up 30%.

(b) Get a copy of Kaplan’s New GRE Premiere and head to the Analytical Writing Section. Read, digest and understand the essay development template for both the issue task and the argument task as discussed on chapter 15 – Chapter 21 (New GRE Premiere - Kaplan 2011-2012 edition. Newer editions should be better). Don’t bother reading anything else on Kaplan, the rest of the book is useless. With the Kaplan template, you can begin to draw up possible responses to each topic category from the GRE topic list that you obtained from the GRE website. That way, on the test day, coming up with responses won’t be all that difficult because you’ve seen it all – abi how una see am?

(c) Get a copy of Barron: While this may not be compulsory, it will help you in paragraph development. Read and understand the “Claim, Grounds and Warrants” development on chapter 6 (Barron’s New GRE 19th Edition).

The last and most important step is to PRACTISE, PRACTISE AND PRACTISE. Practice using the available topics from the GRE list in a timed mode – your practice should mimic the real test. For the GRE, its 30minutes per writing task but for you, its 22 minutes. Why? It’s always better to practice with less time – It makes you stronger.

Practice with POWERPREP writing platform or Notepad to get a feel of the nature of the typing platform. Don’t practice with Microsoft Word.

One Again, PRACTISE AND PRACTISE. It’s ultra-important you do so. You can only write well by constant practice.

My Experience: I didn’t practice enough. Truth be told I practiced only once and the end result was abysmal. I could only manage one sensible paragraph for the issue task – Big Poo. The way time flies when ur messing up is simply amazing. The argument task was much better, I wrote 4 sensible paragraphs –all within 23 minutes.
Score: Surprisingly,I scored a 3 on the writing section. since the total score is the average of both scores, I assume I made a 5 on argument and a 1 on issue…lol..just my opinion.

Generally, Argument tasks are easier than issue tasks – for Argument tasks, an essay or issue with faulty premises is given; your job is to identify and logically explain them while for the Issue writing Task, you have to develop your own argument from scratch. Finding faults is easy (argument task), writing from scratch is less easy (issue essay). But for you reading this right now, a minimum of 4.5/6 should be perfectly achievable. Why? Cos you know every possible topic, you have pre-planned responses and your “hand dey hot” due to constant writing practice.

One last tip: As soon as you are done with a particular section, whether you performed well or not, it’s best to completely ignore that section, it belongs to the past - it doesn’t matter anymore. Whether you did well or not, does not matter and if you believe you didn’t perform well, it still doesn’t matter. Focus completely on the next section – You have seven (7) more sections to deal with and you need a focused, optimistic mindset to proceed successfully. There’s no use crying over spilt milk. [/b]

FOR QUANTITATIVE

Books You Need for Quantitative:

Grubber (25%) + Barron’s (25%) + Nova GRE Math Bible (25%) + Mahanttan (25%).

Do you have to read them all from cover to cover? Not really. Each book has its strength and weakness’s. You want to be prepared for every possibility. Better you write the GRE once than write it twice. Think of the cash - $200. Think of the time spent on preparation – weeks, even months and finally, think of your Goals. So grab does books and study like mad. The end justify the means.

Lesson 1: Study each question category and solve the most difficult questions you can find on that category to re-enforce your understanding of that category.

For example, if you had prepared with Grubber like I did, you will find the data interpretation, graphical and statistical questions difficult. Why? Grubber does not really delve into these sections. Barron in addition with Manhattan and Nova does a better job. So read and understand the underlying principles and skim all books for difficult questions on all topics.
Likewise, if u ignore Grubber’s Data Comparison and algebra strategies, you might not do so well. But then, there are notable exceptions. Individuals with an engineering, mathematical and statistical background would generally do better in the Quantitative section – they’ve been doing these problems for years. Also those with an aptitude for numbers would better. Does that mean those with little mathematically backgrounds would end up with low scores? – Nope. Just read up and practice, you might end up doing better than the so called Math wizards.

The GRE Quantitative consists of two sections made up of 25 questions each. Each section runs for 40minutes – that’s an average of 96 seconds per question – which leads to lesson 2.

Lesson 2: When studying and solving quantitative questions, set a time limit of 50 seconds per question and stick to it. Like previously stated, practicing with less time makes you stronger and faster.

Lesson 3: Solve lots of Quanttitative questions.

Manhanttan and Nova Math Bible offer a huge collection of quality quantitative questions. Solve as much questions as you can on both books. Luckily, if you don’t know the answers, solutions and explanations are provided in both books.

My Experience: I studied solely with grubber. Algebra and data comparison were a walk in the park but “I hear “ween” for Data interpretation/Statistics, Combinations and Graphs. On the actual test, I saw 6 hefty graphical and data interpretation problems and some others I can’t recall @ the moment. Were they super hard? – Not really but “them hard small o”. To answer them, you need to understand the question (30secs), solve for solutions (30-40secs) and compare possible answers (10secs). If u get it wrong, u start all over again. But as you start over, remember Time dey go ooooo!
That’s why you need Lesson 4.


Lesson 4:Someone on this thread advised - if you find any question difficult, simply mark that question and move on to others.. You may return to that question later. Don’t waste time trying to solve one question for over 1 minute, skip and return later. This is so true!.

FOR VERBAL

Books you need: Grubber (90%) + Barron (10%).

Honestly, You can actually survive by using only grubber. The verbal section seems like the easiest section on the GRE but don’t be complacent o! This section is pretty tricky. I remember one particular essay with about seven (7) paragraphs. It was so dense that you could barely understand the content of a single paragraph; It also felt like it was written in another language. It was that difficult.

Also,the verbal section is made up of several subsections all mixed into one. You will find sentence completion (synonyms and antonyms) and essay comprehension all packed into one.
My Experience: I scored a 157/170 – Not bad @ all given that Grubber was the sole book I used. I won’t lie, am an avid reader – I guess that helped. However, if you study the Grubber Verbal Strategies: Latin and Greek Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes; the Most Important/Frequently Used GRE Words and Reading Comprehension Strategies – You should have no problem with the Verbal section. Grubber does an excellent job by building ur vocabulary, teaching new words and providing some interesting strategies for essay comprehension.
There are other books like Princeton Review but since I didn’t use it, I can’t say much about it. This is where external input is advisable. Those who used Princeton, oya speak up.

Final Advice:
Unlike Jamb (wicked people) that provides a single opportunity to write the exam per year, the GRE gives you 5 chances per year to write the exam (better people). But because you can doesn’t mean you should. Prepare well and write it once. A score of 160 per section is totally achievable. Just read and solve a huge collection of difficult questions in a timed mode.

Oya it haff do, una bye bye, I don try.


UPDATE 1: If you had to choose one Book for Quantitative Analysis, Barron's should be it. That Book is the truth. The best GRE Quantitative prep book ever.

UPDATE 2: Listen all, i just found this incredible online resource for GRE materials. Its a facebook group but its by invitation only. So drop ur email addresses or send me a pm and i'll send you an invite to the group. Here's the group link, however it can only be accessed by members of the group:

https://www./newgremaster/

After joining the group, head to the file section and you will find every book and test questions there. #OneLove
.

UPDATE 3: Added Kaplan New GRE to "selfstudy.version2@gmail.com". If you want a copy of the Kaplan GRE book, send a blank mail to selfstudy.version2@gmail.com" .

thanks so much for this exposition. I will like to join facebook group.
success4dammy@yahoo.com
AKamo Damilola zion

DammyChrist:
thanks so much for this exposition. I will like to join facebook group.
success4dammy@yahoo.com
AKamo Damilola zion

done

andrejerry:
please can you send the materials to my mail. Jeremiahayomide@gmail.com .... thanks in advance

send to me too.....kholarr_ola@yahoo.com

nastydamus:
I had to put the caveat out there to avoid touching stories. If you choose to go the Edulight route, you'll have to be on their neck every step of the way.
Had 111 in the TOEFL.
The premium videos are in a compressed file that is about 1.1GB large. The regular videos are not compressed into one file so you'll have to download them individually, they shouldn't be more than 2GB.

You had a great score bro, and a nice profile as well. Just go ahead with PhD application. U r very fit for it. All d best in ur apps.

nastydamus:
I had to put the caveat out there to avoid touching stories. If you choose to go the Edulight route, you'll have to be on their neck every step of the way.
Had 111 in the TOEFL.
The premium videos are in a compressed file that is about 1.1GB large. The regular videos are not compressed into one file so you'll have to download them individually, they shouldn't be more than 2GB.

You had a great score bro, and a nice profile as well. Just go ahead with PhD application. U r very fit for it. All d best with ur apps.

DanjaNinja:
My GRE Experience: Lessons Learnt - J.

General Tips
#Tip 1: Don’t rely on any one single book.

Each book has its strength and weakness. Combine them all for maximum impact.

#Tip 2: What books do I need?

1. Grubber 2015
2. Barron’s GRE
3. Nova GRE Math Bible
4. Kaplan
5. Princeton Review

#Tip 3: How can I get these books?

If you can afford physical copies of these books – Sweet, go head and buy them all. But If you can’t afford any or you’re a ijebu madam like the lovely,intelligent MsNas or like myself, simply send a blank mail to selfstudy360@gmail.com or selfstudy.version2@gmail.com for soft copies (Pdf’s). #MoneyMustNotWaste

(a) selfstudy360@gmail.com contains:

• Barron's New GRE 19th Edition
• Cracking the GRE 2013
• Gruber's Complete GRE Guide 2012

While

(b) Selfstudy.version2@gmail.com (New*) contains:

• Gruber's Complete GRE Guide (2015)
• Mahanttan Prep - 5* lb. Book of GRE® Practice Problems (2013)
• Nova’s GRE Math Bible (2008)

#Tip 4: When should I take the GRE?

Take the exam at least 4 months before you plan to send your admission applications. That way, if you don’t meet your targeted score (not your portion…Oya say Amen!), you would still have enough time to retake the exam without duress. For example, if the deadline for admission application is September 15th, the ideal time for taking the GRE should be by May. The reason for this is simple: If you don’t meet ur target score, you can retake the GRE by June thereby providing ample time for sending your application. This is not a rule but a suggestion.


#Tip 5: How much time would it take to prepare for the GRE?

Minimum: 2months @ 4-5hours per day.
Note: The number of hours do not really matter, it’s the amount of problem solving skills learnt per unit time that counts. Some people learn quickly while for others, it might take longer to read and understand new concepts. So remember, 4-5hours are just recommendations, whether u spend more or less time – ultimately, it doesn’t matter. What matters is how much u learn and how fast you can correctly answer questions. If it takes u 4-5hours per day to achieve this goal, so be it. If it takes u less time, so be it. If it takes you more time, so be it. No one cares. Ultimately it’s your scores that matters.

#Tip 6: Can I prepare within a month?

Yes u can, but it’s not advisable. You need time to internalize and completely memorizes the GRE strategies.

And lastly,

#Tip 7: Don’t be deceived by your score on POWERPREP II.

You took the sample test on PowerPrep II, you had an average of 160-165, you feel good and cant wait to take the actual test. Truth is Powerprep II does not compare to the actual test. On a scale of one to ten, one being very easy and ten being very difficult, Powerprep is a 4.5 and the actual test is an 8.5. #OkBye

Now for the part you’ve been waiting for: My GRE Experience.

This is a summary of lesson learnt from my personal experience, please feel free to add your insights and contributions. Sharing is caring.

You probably know this already but just to refresh your memory - The GRE is made up of three parts: Analytical writing, Verbal and Quantitative.
1. Analytical Writing
2. Verbal
3. Quantitative

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO ACHIEVE HIGH SCORES.

FOR ANALYTICAL WRITING:

Books and Resources needed for Analytical Writing:
Official GRE Topic List (30%) + Kaplan (60%) + Barron (10%).

(a) Official GRE Topic List: GRE maintains a list of every possible topic that you will find on the actual test date!!!!!! It’s totally legal and you can find the list here:
Pool of Argument Topics: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool

Pool of Issue Topics: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool

The list is quite exhaustive: 200 issue task topics and 200 argument task topics. Once you have the list, group the topics into categories and proceed to (b). I believe if u know the possible questions, your chances of success should be up 30%.

(b) Get a copy of Kaplan’s New GRE Premiere and head to the Analytical Writing Section. Read, digest and understand the essay development template for both the issue task and the argument task as discussed on chapter 15 – Chapter 21 (New GRE Premiere - Kaplan 2011-2012 edition. Newer editions should be better). Don’t bother reading anything else on Kaplan, the rest of the book is useless. With the Kaplan template, you can begin to draw up possible responses to each topic category from the GRE topic list that you obtained from the GRE website. That way, on the test day, coming up with responses won’t be all that difficult because you’ve seen it all – abi how una see am?

(c) Get a copy of Barron: While this may not be compulsory, it will help you in paragraph development. Read and understand the “Claim, Grounds and Warrants” development on chapter 6 (Barron’s New GRE 19th Edition).

The last and most important step is to PRACTISE, PRACTISE AND PRACTISE. Practice using the available topics from the GRE list in a timed mode – your practice should mimic the real test. For the GRE, its 30minutes per writing task but for you, its 22 minutes. Why? It’s always better to practice with less time – It makes you stronger.

Practice with POWERPREP writing platform or Notepad to get a feel of the nature of the typing platform. Don’t practice with Microsoft Word.

One Again, PRACTISE AND PRACTISE. It’s ultra-important you do so. You can only write well by constant practice.

My Experience: I didn’t practice enough. Truth be told I practiced only once and the end result was abysmal. I could only manage one sensible paragraph for the issue task – Big Poo. The way time flies when ur messing up is simply amazing. The argument task was much better, I wrote 4 sensible paragraphs –all within 23 minutes.
Score: Surprisingly,I scored a 3 on the writing section. since the total score is the average of both scores, I assume I made a 5 on argument and a 1 on issue…lol..just my opinion.

Generally, Argument tasks are easier than issue tasks – for Argument tasks, an essay or issue with faulty premises is given; your job is to identify and logically explain them while for the Issue writing Task, you have to develop your own argument from scratch. Finding faults is easy (argument task), writing from scratch is less easy (issue essay). But for you reading this right now, a minimum of 4.5/6 should be perfectly achievable. Why? Cos you know every possible topic, you have pre-planned responses and your “hand dey hot” due to constant writing practice.

One last tip: As soon as you are done with a particular section, whether you performed well or not, it’s best to completely ignore that section, it belongs to the past - it doesn’t matter anymore. Whether you did well or not, does not matter and if you believe you didn’t perform well, it still doesn’t matter. Focus completely on the next section – You have seven (7) more sections to deal with and you need a focused, optimistic mindset to proceed successfully. There’s no use crying over spilt milk. [/b]

FOR QUANTITATIVE

Books You Need for Quantitative:

Grubber (25%) + Barron’s (25%) + Nova GRE Math Bible (25%) + Mahanttan (25%).

Do you have to read them all from cover to cover? Not really. Each book has its strength and weakness’s. You want to be prepared for every possibility. Better you write the GRE once than write it twice. Think of the cash - $200. Think of the time spent on preparation – weeks, even months and finally, think of your Goals. So grab does books and study like mad. The end justify the means.

Lesson 1: Study each question category and solve the most difficult questions you can find on that category to re-enforce your understanding of that category.

For example, if you had prepared with Grubber like I did, you will find the data interpretation, graphical and statistical questions difficult. Why? Grubber does not really delve into these sections. Barron in addition with Manhattan and Nova does a better job. So read and understand the underlying principles and skim all books for difficult questions on all topics.
Likewise, if u ignore Grubber’s Data Comparison and algebra strategies, you might not do so well. But then, there are notable exceptions. Individuals with an engineering, mathematical and statistical background would generally do better in the Quantitative section – they’ve been doing these problems for years. Also those with an aptitude for numbers would better. Does that mean those with little mathematically backgrounds would end up with low scores? – Nope. Just read up and practice, you might end up doing better than the so called Math wizards.

The GRE Quantitative consists of two sections made up of 25 questions each. Each section runs for 40minutes – that’s an average of 96 seconds per question – which leads to lesson 2.

Lesson 2: When studying and solving quantitative questions, set a time limit of 50 seconds per question and stick to it. Like previously stated, practicing with less time makes you stronger and faster.

Lesson 3: Solve lots of Quanttitative questions.

Manhanttan and Nova Math Bible offer a huge collection of quality quantitative questions. Solve as much questions as you can on both books. Luckily, if you don’t know the answers, solutions and explanations are provided in both books.

My Experience: I studied solely with grubber. Algebra and data comparison were a walk in the park but “I hear “ween” for Data interpretation/Statistics, Combinations and Graphs. On the actual test, I saw 6 hefty graphical and data interpretation problems and some others I can’t recall @ the moment. Were they super hard? – Not really but “them hard small o”. To answer them, you need to understand the question (30secs), solve for solutions (30-40secs) and compare possible answers (10secs). If u get it wrong, u start all over again. But as you start over, remember Time dey go ooooo!
That’s why you need Lesson 4.


Lesson 4:Someone on this thread advised - if you find any question difficult, simply mark that question and move on to others.. You may return to that question later. Don’t waste time trying to solve one question for over 1 minute, skip and return later. This is so true!.

FOR VERBAL

Books you need: Grubber (90%) + Barron (10%).

Honestly, You can actually survive by using only grubber. The verbal section seems like the easiest section on the GRE but don’t be complacent o! This section is pretty tricky. I remember one particular essay with about seven (7) paragraphs. It was so dense that you could barely understand the content of a single paragraph; It also felt like it was written in another language. It was that difficult.

Also,the verbal section is made up of several subsections all mixed into one. You will find sentence completion (synonyms and antonyms) and essay comprehension all packed into one.
My Experience: I scored a 157/170 – Not bad @ all given that Grubber was the sole book I used. I won’t lie, am an avid reader – I guess that helped. However, if you study the Grubber Verbal Strategies: Latin and Greek Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes; the Most Important/Frequently Used GRE Words and Reading Comprehension Strategies – You should have no problem with the Verbal section. Grubber does an excellent job by building ur vocabulary, teaching new words and providing some interesting strategies for essay comprehension.
There are other books like Princeton Review but since I didn’t use it, I can’t say much about it. This is where external input is advisable. Those who used Princeton, oya speak up.

Final Advice:
Unlike Jamb (wicked people) that provides a single opportunity to write the exam per year, the GRE gives you 5 chances per year to write the exam (better people). But because you can doesn’t mean you should. Prepare well and write it once. A score of 160 per section is totally achievable. Just read and solve a huge collection of difficult questions in a timed mode.

Oya it haff do, una bye bye, I don try.


UPDATE 1: If you had to choose one Book for Quantitative Analysis, Barron's should be it. That Book is the truth. The best GRE Quantitative prep book ever.

UPDATE 2: Listen all, i just found this incredible online resource for GRE materials. Its a facebook group but its by invitation only. So drop ur email addresses or send me a pm and i'll send you an invite to the group. Here's the group link, however it can only be accessed by members of the group:

https://www./newgremaster/

After joining the group, head to the file section and you will find every book and test questions there. #OneLove
.

UPDATE 3: Added Kaplan New GRE to "selfstudy.version2@gmail.com". If you want a copy of the Kaplan GRE book, send a blank mail to selfstudy.version2@gmail.com" .

I'd like to join the Facebook group. Thank you

babisho:
So I wrote the GRE too and i'll like to share a bit of my experience. 
Analytical writing: 4.5 (82nd percentile).
Quantitative reasoning: 158 (70th percentile).
Verbal reasoning: 164 (94th percentile).

Quantitative: . As u can see above my math is average, so I have nothing much to say...well, except that whoever wants to do well must know how to manage time. Given adequate time, the questions can be answered. But the time ETS gives is so-so for average math guys like myself. Add exam nerves and 10 +10 which should take a millisecond to answer takes more time than appropriate. Bottom time:
1. take timed tests while practicing. It helps with pacing and this is absolutely key. 
2. U don't have to answer all questions and it is important to know when to let a question go. The silly exam has "time wasters". Nothing hurts as much as finding that u spent 4-5 minutes on a particularly question (which u aren't certain u got right by the way), only to find that there are some pretty cheap (takes less than a min) questions u no longer have time for. Again. Bottom line. If u're spending too long on a question when u haven't seen all the questions, u're setting urself up and it's a pretty bad strategy. Better to go through all questions, murder d cheap questions and then if time permits, face d hard ones. 

P.s: I think this should be pretty obvious, but u'll find it surprising that it is hard to let a question go and to move on in d real exam. So again. Practice ur pacing with timed tests. 

VERBAL. 
My score here suggests that I have a bit of a "bragging right" and I probably know what I'm saying. (lol). Unfortunately, I don't have a quick fix solution here. But for the long haulers who have a couple of months to prepare, here I think is a good strategy. The verbal as we all know is 20 questions per session. 10 reading comprehension, 5 sentence equivalence and 5 text completion. 
Good news: the sentence equivalence and text completion can be destroyed quickly, leaving ample time to face the convoluted, opaque, recondite and abstruse (haha! Bloody hell. I show off)...difficult to understand reading comprehension passages. 

So this was my routine. I used aldaily.com everyday for several months. Aldaily.com basically recommends 3 essays daily for its readers. Now one has to attack these essays. Not just a cursory reading. The essays are academic, high literary, GRE language styled. Some of them are from newyorK times, New yorker, LA review of books, London review of books, aeon magazine, new Republic, the Atlantic bla bla bla. The point in reading all these is that one then begins to see various writing styles. The way people shift their sentences, the nuances and subtleties, and of course GRE type words and vocabulary. Now with these new words, I had a list I was keeping. Upon seeing a new word, I would go to vocabulary.com. The advantage of vocabulary.com is that it not only gives the meaning of words in simple language, it gives SEVERAL examples of usage. In seeing those examples, one appreciates how the words can be used in sentences.  

If one can conscientiously follow this routine, what happens is that u find that sentence comprehension and text completion questions become a godsend. The time one spends answering the questions remarkably drops, leaving time for the reading comprehension. U'll become so used to the sentences u'll be able to predict what goes into what in the text completion, and sentence equivalence becomes rediculously cheap.  Of course the voracious reading would also help with reading comprehension generally, but men! Those questions, bloody freaking hell! 

P.s. I didn't say anything about reading comprehension strategy. Here I think magoosh GRE blog offers excellent advice. So u won't lose anything by checking out magoosh.com/gre and reading the blog. 
‎
I might also have oversimplified the process of reading those essays from aldaily.com. Sometimes it is so much tedium and mental drudgery u just want to close the page, and leave the essays...when u get to this point, know that u're not alone. Even the best of us struggle with some of these passages and sometimes there's so much jargon in the passages u begin to think they are straight from hell. Besides, it really doesn't hurt doing well in the exam and not wasting money (the $205 these days...pretty hard to come by)

Finally on analytic writing, i'm interested in knowing anyone who has scored 5 or more. I know people get it, but I think the exam is rigged. Unless u type pretty fast of course. But that's by d way. My advise here is to use official material from ETS. Especially sample essays and reader commentaries. By the time u focus on samples that are scored 4 or 5 or 6, u'll begin to see what u have to do to get the required scores. So please, read the official examples. Sorry, read is an understatement...study them. 

Overall, abeg practice, practice and more practice, there is no short cut. Good luck and see yah all in America. ‎

Hello, just sent you a mail,i will like to ask you some questions as well.... congrats once again

pennstate:
Hey have you gotten the GRE material if no, let me know so I can put the following in the mail for you:
ETS QUANT
ETS VEBAL
ETS Official Guide 2nd Edition
(May be) Manhattan GRE Set of 8 Strategy Guide
5LB Manhattan

pls I need the materials.
Emmanuella.kel14@gmail.com.
Thank you.