Apparently, I wasn't the only one in the entire world who had to take the GRE in one week - somebody googled onto my site with just about those exact keywords. I did fine. (And in actuality only studied 4 days.) Here's how:
My Circumstances:You can review
my original post to see my father refusing to take "I can't do it" for an answer and reminding me of my childhood ventures in overachievement.
Now, I'm applying to a writing-heavy program so the verbal and analytic writing portions count much more than the quantitative (I hope), which is necessary for me since my brain attempts to apply humanities logic to mathematics with comical results. I've also been working as a professional editor for years and counted the dictionary as my favorite book when I was 12. I knew I would need a balanced approach to studying - amping up my long-lost math skills while still making sure I had the verbal section down since that's what admissions departments would focus on.
Likewise, you'll have to understand what your strength is and, looking at the program you are applying for, determine which sections to devote more time to.
Day 1Let the comforting buzz of denial carry you through this first day. You have plenty of time: 7 whole days of nothing but a watered down version of the SAT's. Easy.
I spent the day looking at the official ETS page (I'm not linking it here because you should have it bookmarked already. If not, go and do it now.) and crying on the inside. After I was thoroughly convinced I had signed up for advanced quantum mechanics by accident, I gchatted
L.S., who told me that his perpetual student boyfriend was the king of standardized testing.
So I called the Test King who assured me that I could sleepwalk a 500 out of each section if I went in today and, upon request, regaled me with the tale of how he got into a Columbia grad program by applying on the day of the deadline. He also recommended the Princeton Review books.
Day 2Now that you know how easy it's gonna be, start off by doing all the practice problems on the ETS site. Stick with the official site as much as you can, because their examples are going to be closest to the actual test (much as Princeton Review tries, their practice sets are always simultaneously easier and harder somehow).
I familiarized myself with all the instructions on the ETS site. Tedious, but it ensures that there are no surprises on test day and that you know exactly what's going to happen.
I then went through all the test problems, breezing through verbal and feeling comfortable with the analytical sample questions.
Days 3 and 4Unfortunately, the weekend started and my well-intentioned boyfriend bought me
,
which kept me up past 6 a.m. both nights. Schedule: shot.
For you, however, you can take this time to jump ahead and proceed with my Day 5.
Day 5Back in the saddle!
I tackled the quant practice problems. I had no clue how to do any of them. I made my roommate/bff tutor me. She would make me try to solve it on my own, then repeatedly say, "What are you trying to do?" Even I had to laugh at myself.
Then she deserted me! Deserter!
So I texted
Daycrawler, who gallantly let me call him so he could take over tutoring duties.
Then awesome boyfriend came by to feed me and rush me over to Barnes & Noble 15 minutes before closing so we could pick up:
The included DVD is pointless if you only have one week, just get:
, it's cheaper. (I would have but the pricier one was all they had in store.)
Thank goodness he insisted we get it - when I returned home my internet went down and I lost access to practice problems and the ETS site. I spent the next few hours reading the the first 100 pages (they go by quickly) and studying the first 75 vocab words. Only make flash cards for the words you don't know.
Day 6Finish the verbal review and start the quant review. Use your flash cards during meals, at the gym and in the car (if you're not driving).
Start on the second set of 75 vocab words, again flash carding the unfamiliar terms.
Day 7Last full day of study. Finish the quant review and the analytic writing review. Again, flash card during all free time. Swap out any flash cards you now know and keep old flash cards still unlearned. (I used different colored index cards to differentiate between the sets.) Start on third set of 75.
Set aside 3 hours and take the practice test offered by ETS. If you're like me, you'll be shocked at how well you do. Feel confident and go to dinner. Don't forget to bring your flash cards!
Test DayUnfortunately, I stayed up forever looking up anything Twilight-related online and woke up too late to work on the fourth set of vocab. Don't do what I did. Work on that last set. Bring those cards with you in the car on the way to the test site. Have your boyfriend bring you lunch and some food for the 10-minute break after the analytical writing section. That worked well for me.
My ResultsI placed in the 99th percentile for verbal and I haven't received my writing scores yet, but I did write copiously and finish before time was up.
As for my quant...I'll quote from my facebook message to Test King:
It's so low that I actually believe people will laugh when they see the disparity between the two scores. It makes the American economic situation look communist.
Good luck and don't panic - you can always take it again. (Unlike me, I had to take it before Dec. 15 as required by my prospective school.)
