How should I GRE® prepare?

[Subhra Sankha Sarkar]

Hi,
I'm planning to appear for GRE in December. Roughly, around 60 days are left for preparation. I have the following questions -

1.Started with Barron's Wordlist. Can anyone please suggest wherefrom should I prepare for Reading Comprehensions, Analytical and Essay Writing sections?
2.Wherefrom can I get a collection of GRE practice tests?
3.What are the pros and cons of applying for Fall and Spring?

Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Subhra Sankha Sarkar

[Sprightly]

Hi there! I will see where I can help!

1. The Barron's wordlist is pretty big, so if it gets to be too much (you will only see a tiny fraction of Barron's words on the test), get a smaller list like Word Smart for the GRE. Barron's can be overkill IMHO. For verbal prep, you can get a verbal workbook. I liked Princeton Review's verbal prep in Cracking the GRE, so their separate verbal workbook is probably pretty good.

2. For practice tests, do Powerprep, the official ones, although they seem to be a bit easier than the real test. (Dunno how that's possible...) Also the tests in the Cracking book are really good, and they have answer explanations, which are helpful. I didn't get any other books so I don't know which other tests are good.

3. Spring vs. Fall...I would go for Fall because not all programs take new students for spring and, most importantly, most of the financial aid is given to students starting in the fall. The only benefit I can see to starting in the spring is that you can start a few months earlier, but it will limit your options and reduce your financial aid in most cases.

Hope this helps!