In this article, I am sharing my experience of Graduate Record Examination, popularly called GRE, and some suggestions to GRE aspirants.
I was cool and tranquil when I left home for Prometrics Test Center of GRE. I had even dared to watch a movie before leaving, as it was difficult to kill the time. My test was scheduled for 1pm. On the way to the test center, I was meticulously cautious, especially while crossing roads – probably because of the ‘love’ for the preparation I did for last 4 months.
My calmness faded away when I reached the test center. I think the ambience of test center is such that anyone would start feeling nervous, especially when predecessors come and make compliment, “Very very difficult questions.” Furthermore, I wasn’t used to with giving tests through computers. Writing on paper is what I did till date. Anyway, 5 simulated tests I gave in the later part of the preparation helped me get acquainted with computer-based tests.
Before entering the test hall, I had to go through serious checking. The exam supervisor often made comments on what we were allowed to do and what we weren’t, which upsurged the mercury level of my nervousness furthermore.
Anyway, exam started with the Analytical Writing Section. Yipee! Pretty easy Issue topic-“An effective leader should show highest ethical and moral standards” or something like that. It was easy to write in such topic probably because of having being born in the nation rife with demagogues. That was the GRE word I used often in my essay to sound erudite. Then started analyzing an Argument Section. It had several flaws and was easy to analyze. I could complete it in time and was able to revise for the probable grammatical and spelling mistakes done unwittingly.
And then started Verbal Section, indicating I had to do one more experimental section of English. No questions were vocabulary based, I suppose. I was familiar with each and every word that appeared on my screen. However, the questions were so convoluted that it was very difficult to interpret and come up with a correct answer. That level of difficulty, I hadn’t faced in any of the simulated tests of Kaptest.com and Manhattan’s website. Forget about the reading comprehension. Actually the Verbal Section had never been my cup of tea. The problem with me is that I could hardly concentrate on those passages. The moment I read the next paragraph, I forget the previous. I was prepared to get any sort of score in the Verbal section.
Similarly, the quantitative section had started. Till that time I had got control over my nervousness. I had told to myself, “I don’t necessarily have to top GRE; any score would help me get admission in universities of US.” I don’t know whether luck favored me or I was prepared for any sort of questions of Mathematics, after doing all the question of majortest.com and books of Barron, Kaplan, Princeton, Cram Plan, Cracking the GRE, ETS official guide and so on; I didn’t get any questions that can be labeled ‘difficult’. Even the data interpretation was surmountable which was my Achilles’ heel.
Ten-minute break followed the section. I came out with my passport and the key of the locker. When I tried to open the locker for snacks, the superintendent roared, “You should ask for the permission first.” “Ok man. May I?” I asked earnestly. “Go on. But show me your snacks.” I showed.
There were two friends who weren’t seemed to be prepared for the break. I mean, they hadn’t brought snacks. I decided to share my biscuits with them. At the mean time, superintendent came and said in a stentorian voice, “You are not allowed to discuss questions.”
“Ok mam”, we estranged from each other.
Before re-entering the hall, I’ve to go through sever checking again, as if I was a criminal and she was a cop. Anyway, further sections started as I took my seat. Level of difficulty was almost same, I think even an American student will ruin the verbal section. Regarding the quantitative section, I was lucky to get the same six questions I practiced that morning. Even if I hadn’t practiced it that morning, I could have solved it easily; but with more confidence I could tick the correct answer in the test.
When I was approaching the end of the test, I was getting impatient. I wanted to complete the exam as soon as possible and get off. That was the reason again why I couldn’t concentrate on my reading passage. The section ended and finally the score came instantly:
Verbal Reasoning: 146
Quantitative Reasoning: 165
I added the score in my scratch paper quickly to get the overall score: 311. Even after completely ruining the verbal section, I could maintain a venerable overall score. I was happy with the score. But later I felt, had I not been so impatient in the verbal section, I could have scored more than that.
The four-month penance of GRE has finally come to an end. It was in fact a penance – giving up your sleep, your favorite TV shows, gathering with friends and so on. I even gave up this year’s Dashain, the greatest festival of ours. You might not believe, I used to learn even when I was walking on the street. I used to listen to the audio of GRE vocabs. Even when I was in bus, I used to be glued with my cellphone where I had installed GRE Guru App. Although the way I learned words didn’t paid well off in my test, those vocabularies will always help me maintain the standard of prosody of English throughout my life.
Concludingly, here’s the final suggestion for the GRE aspirants. GRE is not like the exams you gave till date. It measures your actual ability of reasoning. Like every GRE test takers say, I would repeat the same verse, “PRACTICE PRACTICE AND PRACTICE”. Practice all the questions from online test preparation sites and from any books you get. You don’t have to buy all those books. I would suggest you to read the e-books, available online. After all, you’ll be getting questions on the computer screen only. If you are a starter, read Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis. It will lay a good foundation of your vocabulary needed for GRE. Also, download apps related to GRE and get into it whenever you get a ‘leisure’ time. When you approach the test date, do as many simulated tests as possible.
