# GRE prep advice **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gre-prep-advice/495517 "2009-05-06T05:08:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gre-prep-advice/495517/21 "2009-05-06T20:05:57Z")
> [@DETXL](#): > > In my case it was because I was unhappy with my job at the time and wanted to put the foundations together for going back to school. As things worked out I wound up actually applying, but at the time it was definitely more of a “well, see if you can get your foot in the door” sort of thing. I imagine in this economy, the fairly trivial costs of the test itself are something a number of people are willing to bear if they think it’s a more viable option than their current work. Same here. I hated, hated, _hated_ my job, and finally I realized it was time to damn the expense and get my second masters, because there was no way I was going to get a better job in this economy, at least not without a pact with Satan. It turned out OK; I’m down to half time at my former job, I’m making money tutoring students English, and I am in my masters program. In fact, I’m typing this in the student center, so life is pretty good at present. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gre-prep-advice/495517/22 "2009-05-07T02:50:26Z")
As for me, I’ve been having a great time living abroad and teaching. But, my heart really is in Africa and I want to go back. And going back basically means finding work with an NGO. And it seems pretty clear that my ability to advance is going to be severely limited if I don’t have a Masters. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gre-prep-advice/495517/23 "2009-05-07T03:52:21Z")
In my experience this is the kind of test you can’t really cram for. You either know it or you don’t. It’s not terribly difficult though so don’t sweat it too much. I don’t remember there being much Algebra. Alot of working with radicals though. That surprised me. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gre-prep-advice/495517/24 "2009-05-07T04:39:50Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > In my experience this is the kind of test you can’t really cram for. You either know it or you don’t. It’s not terribly difficult though so don’t sweat it too much. I don’t remember there being much Algebra. Alot of working with radicals though. That surprised me. I totally disagree. Maybe this is true about the verbal section, but if you don’t know the math, you CAN learn it. Personally, I’m bad at even basic math and couldn’t remember how to say, add or multiply fractions. Obviously I needed to study. It depends on your own starting level, I guess. I CERTAINLY didn’t remember all of those geometry formulas for figuring out the volumes of various shapes. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gre-prep-advice/495517/25 "2009-05-07T13:37:59Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > In my experience this is the kind of test you can’t really cram for. You either know it or you don’t. It’s not terribly difficult though so don’t sweat it too much. I don’t remember there being much Algebra. Alot of working with radicals though. That surprised me. Totally disagree. You have to learn how to apply some of the formulas but they repeat tricks over and over again. Fuck, they tend to repeat NUMBERS over and over again (they’re fond of fractions with decimal equivalents that people have to think twice about). I think the quantitative sections of standardised tests are much easier to learn than the verbal sections. You can’t just cram formulas and then sit down and take the test-but you do need to do some basic memorization and then take a bunch of practice tests and you’ll see a pattern emerging. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gre-prep-advice/495517/26 "2009-05-07T14:03:21Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > In my experience this is the kind of test you can’t really cram for. You either know it or you don’t. It’s not terribly difficult though so don’t sweat it too much. I don’t remember there being much Algebra. Alot of working with radicals though. That surprised me. Gotta third the disagreement here. If you want to get a _really_ good score, you have to know a bit of math and have a fair amount of reading comprehension before starting the review, but otherwise, you can learn how to take the test. As others have said, there _are_ patterns. I’ll give you this, though: The worse your math, vocab, and reading skills are, the harder you’re going to have to work to find the patterns on the practice tests and reviews. Oh, and there’s a fair amount of algebra on the tests. Story problems, solve for x, and the like. Some geometry too. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gre-prep-advice/495517/27 "2009-05-07T14:57:20Z")
As this thread should amply demonstrate, people vary in their situation in regards to the GRE. Some require lots of studying, some none. Some find it mindboggling gibberish, some find it mindbogglingly simple. The only way for you to figure out where you are is to take a practice test and see. Then you can go from there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gre-prep-advice/495517.md?page=1)