Have you taken GRE prep classes?

Question

I have seen some (very expensive) weekend GRE classes, and I wonder what people's experience has been with them.

Answer 1

If you do not test well, these classes can be very valuable, but if you do generally test well, you probably really don't need them.

Your GRE score will often be the crucial factor as to whether you will be offered a fellowship or assistantship, so students are highly motivated to score well on the GRE.

Many students prefer to prep themselves by using a book like the Barron's guide, the Princeton Review guide, or the Kaplan guide. (Many of my students have expressed a preference for the Barron's guide.)

My advice? Buy a guide. Take some of the practice tests that are included in that guide. If you're doing well, then don't worry. If you are having a lot of trouble, consider taking a prep course.

Answer 2

I will also say that these courses won't be worth the money. A self-study book will be just as useful and a lot cheaper! I'll second the recommendation for the Barron's GRE prep book. It's easy to read, gives lots of good hints, and is a good value.

The biggest thing would just be to take as many practice tests as you can until you feel comfortable. You don't need to pay a prep class to do this on your own.

Answer 3

Well I took a prep course before taking the exam and I found it somewhat useless especially when it came to the quantitative section. The quantitative section is rather/very easy for people who have had classes in higher level mathematics and have the following degrees in such as physics,mathematics,economics, and decision sciences

I did do poorly in my verbal section compared to the quantitative, so I feel that that prep course didn't exactly help me.

I would tell you save the money if you are considering paying for a prep class and go and buy a study book instead(Barron's is the best) on the GRE and read it night and day months before the exam. If you believe you are not strong in your math/quantitative skills then take a prep class.

Good luck

Answer 4

I think it depends on where you think you'll fall. If you're in the top 75% to begin with, best thing you can do is start early, buy a couple of books, and study on your own. If you're in the 50%-75% range, you may want to look into a course. These courses help you improve your overall average - what are common techniques that in general will help you improve your score. They teach you how to narrow down your choices and how to avoid common mistakes. These techniques are great for the "average" and "hard" questions, but the GRE is an adaptive test. If you get a number of "average" questions right, the questions become progressively harder until you hit the difficult questions. If you're looking to get a top score, in the top 90% or so, the classes won't help because you can't guess at the difficult questions. You have to know how to solve them AND work through them quickly, and only practice will help you with that.

So if you're expecting in the upper 50%-75%, the classes will definitely help - any higher and there's diminishing returns and you're better off with a couple of books and your own intensive study.

And start early. That's good advice no matter how you expect to do.