RedLeader
Bluelight Crew
[Thread temporarily unarchived in hopes that Z Y G G Y can get more responses. -RL]
IMHO, the GRE is about as difficult as the SAT. It surely isn't A LOT harder, even if it might be slightly. I actually got 10 points higher on the GRE as compared to the (old) SAT, which put me at about the same percentiles. My split was also almost identical.
What I can say this this:
Math Section: The material is NOT any harder than the math on the SAT. This is an objective statement. Any prep book will tell you this. They do not go beyond high-school pre-calculus. If you are decent at math, don't stress over it. If math is a weak point, then you might want to focus on it. But you could just as easily learn the math from studying from an SAT book, if you still have any old ones.
Verbal Section: Much like the SAT in that you need to know a lot of random vocab, so it's good to learn word origins, prefixes/infixes/suffixes, and that kind of stuff. You will also do some reading comprehension where often multiple answers will seem "right" and you will have to pick the best one (this annoyed me..I am not the best at this stuff).
Writing Section: You will basically have to pick apart arguments. They're really not that hard, and I cannot emphasize any stronger that GRE prep books for the writing section will tell you EXACTLY what types of themes show up in this section, and how to tackle each one. If you can memorize these strategies, you'll nail the writing section (just as long as you don't butcher your spelling/grammar).
You will take the GRE on a computer, though. So be ready for that. You are forced to go through a super-annoying computer training session beforehand, so have fun with that! And if you're left-handed, have fun if you're forced on a right-handed computer station.
But the test goes quickly and you get your score immediately. Again, don't stress it too much. It's not anything scarier than the SAT.
I don't know much about the MCAT since I never took it. But I trust the advice already given in this thread. But I warn you, if you have to take any of the subject GRE tests to get into your graduate school program, these introduce a whole new world of hell into your life. I had to do this, and it was the hardest standardized test I ever took in my life.
I got a 1490 on the GRE (690V 800M 6W), so it definitely didn't hurt me concerning grad school. Now I didn't do as well on the subject test I took, which I had to submit for my program (and which they paid more attention to). So it's hard for me to really assess how much the GRE alone actually helped me. But like the SAT, the mean score is around 1000, so let this be a benchmark. Unless you're applying to an Ivy or something, getting 1000+ without your split being too lopsided should not work against you.
IMHO, the GRE is about as difficult as the SAT. It surely isn't A LOT harder, even if it might be slightly. I actually got 10 points higher on the GRE as compared to the (old) SAT, which put me at about the same percentiles. My split was also almost identical.
What I can say this this:
Math Section: The material is NOT any harder than the math on the SAT. This is an objective statement. Any prep book will tell you this. They do not go beyond high-school pre-calculus. If you are decent at math, don't stress over it. If math is a weak point, then you might want to focus on it. But you could just as easily learn the math from studying from an SAT book, if you still have any old ones.
Verbal Section: Much like the SAT in that you need to know a lot of random vocab, so it's good to learn word origins, prefixes/infixes/suffixes, and that kind of stuff. You will also do some reading comprehension where often multiple answers will seem "right" and you will have to pick the best one (this annoyed me..I am not the best at this stuff).
Writing Section: You will basically have to pick apart arguments. They're really not that hard, and I cannot emphasize any stronger that GRE prep books for the writing section will tell you EXACTLY what types of themes show up in this section, and how to tackle each one. If you can memorize these strategies, you'll nail the writing section (just as long as you don't butcher your spelling/grammar).
You will take the GRE on a computer, though. So be ready for that. You are forced to go through a super-annoying computer training session beforehand, so have fun with that! And if you're left-handed, have fun if you're forced on a right-handed computer station.
But the test goes quickly and you get your score immediately. Again, don't stress it too much. It's not anything scarier than the SAT.
I don't know much about the MCAT since I never took it. But I trust the advice already given in this thread. But I warn you, if you have to take any of the subject GRE tests to get into your graduate school program, these introduce a whole new world of hell into your life. I had to do this, and it was the hardest standardized test I ever took in my life.
I got a 1490 on the GRE (690V 800M 6W), so it definitely didn't hurt me concerning grad school. Now I didn't do as well on the subject test I took, which I had to submit for my program (and which they paid more attention to). So it's hard for me to really assess how much the GRE alone actually helped me. But like the SAT, the mean score is around 1000, so let this be a benchmark. Unless you're applying to an Ivy or something, getting 1000+ without your split being too lopsided should not work against you.
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