The GRE, or Graduate Record Examination, is a test that graduate student applicants take to gain entrance into graduate school. The test is administered by an organization called the Educational Testing Service, and many schools use the scores to decide whether to allow the student to enroll in their program, although the degree to which the scores actually matter to school administrators differs between graduate programs. There are a total of three sections in the GRE, and the time given to complete them changes with the format of the test. For the essay section, analytical writing, you have 75 minutes to complete it with both the computer-based and paper-based GRE tests. The verbal reasoning section, vocabulary and reading, takes 30 minutes to complete by computer and 60 minutes to complete by paper. The last section, quantitative reasoning, takes 45 minutes to complete by computer and also 60 minutes to complete by paper. Paper GRE tests are only offered in places where there are no computer tests available.
The verbal section contains a total of 30 questions that are one of four types: antonyms, which is when you must choose the word that is the most opposite to the word you are originally given; sentence completions, where you must choose the word that best fits a sentence; analogies, which test your ability to determine the relationship between a pair of words; and reading comprehension, which requires you to read a passage and then answer the following set of questions that are based on the passage which you just read. As one could guess, knowledge of vocabulary is vital to success in this section. It is especially important because the GRE is computer adaptive and there is no partial credit given for incorrect answers. A computer adaptive test means that the questions you receive depend on your responses to the previous ones. Basically if you get a question right, the next question will have a larger degree of difficulty. If you get a question wrong, the next one will have a smaller degree of difficulty. You start with what the GRE determines is an average score and then you work your way either up or down. Because of this, it is more important to get questions at the beginning of the verbal section right than it is to answer the ones at the end correctly. A strong vocabulary to begin the verbal section will do a lot to produce a strong verbal score.
An important step in improving your vocabulary is to embrace any new words that you see. Pay attention to words in magazine, tv shows, books and signs that you don't recognize. There are many times when someone will see an unfamiliar word and immediately skip over it. To avoid this habit, try keeping a notebook with a list of all the new words that you've learned. Writing down the words will help you remember them, and familiarity is key to learning.
Improving your vocabulary is more than word recognition; it is actually learning the meanings of the words. There are three types of words: words that you know, words that you kind of know and words that you don't know. Words that you know are words that you know the complete and full meanings of. You don't need to look these words up at all. Words that you kind of know are words that you can probably use in a sentence but aren't sure what the exact definition is. Words that you don't know are words that you have no idea what they mean at all. Always look up words that you don't know and even words that you kind of know. The GRE is known for using the second definition of a word, so be sure to look at all of the definitions of words and not just the first one in the dictionary. Once you know the definition, put the definition in your own words. That way the word will become more familiar to you. Another way to help you remember the different definitions of words is to use mnemonics. Create a mental picture for your word. If the word is voracious, picture a dinosaur energetically eating large amounts of food. Using images with words is just another way to quicken the recall of their meanings.
Don't hesitate to test your knowledge of what you've learned. One of the advantages of quizzing yourself is that it reveals what you need to work on. Sometimes it is hard for a person to figure out what their weaknesses are when they are away from a testing environment. Practice with some GRE verbal questions to see if you can quickly recall their definition. Give yourself a set amount of time to answer each question so that you can get used to working with a time limit. However, when you quiz yourself you don't always need to be in a miniature testing environment. Simply using flashcards would go a long way in helping you remember vocabulary words.