GRE , as most people say, has a repetitive pattern of questions. So adapting a smart preparation technique always helps. A fear most people have is you have to mug words. akes.
Now coming to vocabulary. The common methods are flash cards. It definitely helps if you prepare the flash cards yourself. However, it is a bit time consuming. But before you target 3000 words or so, it is always advisable to learn the 200 GRE most common words. You would definitely get a few words from this list and they are repeatitive in the exams. So do this first. Alongside start analyzing the prefix, root and post fix words.
Now coming to the flash cards....Sometimes flash cards do not work out for candidates pursuing a full time job. I prepared for GRE while I was working till 1 AM at office everyday. So fI do know how difficult it is. But if you keep the bigger picture in mind, that 3 or 4 months of hard work can change your life, it would definitely keep you focussed. To make it a little easy for you if you are really not able to take 4 to 5 hours a day for GRE, get the flash card packs from book stores. But do make it your life. During your commute, keep reading it. Start with some pattern which is comfortable for you. Try to group similar words in your flashcards. I went the long way and followed the complete barrons word list. I had started with A, then did Z, then went to B ,Y.,C, X etc. However you can choose any technique. Read it on your breakfast, lunch or dinner table. Before going to bed, revise what you have read that morning.
If you are the types who likes to stick to the computer, use guru's software. You can download the first beta from http://grewordlist.groupfetch.com/gre21b.zip
Install this software and you can keep playing with it everyday for an hour or two. Try to beat your own score each time. This tool has most of the Barron's words (all 50 wordlists). So it helps to review yourself after you have read some flash cards. Later on when you are quite comfortable with some of the word lists, randomize the words and score yourself. However this tool only lets you choose the meaning or synonyms. GRE does not test you on synonyms but knowing the meaning always helps in identifying antonyms and is helpful for the other sections as well.
For antonyms I used to follow the GRE big book and do Barron's excercise as well. GRE Big book is a compilation of numerous GRE questions and is one of the best ones to practise from. You can also download the Big book wordlist from here.
For sentence completion, analogies and comprehensions, I practised from Big book, Barron's Kaplans. You can use any other material. Practise fast reading for comprehensions. You will have less time in GRE and you should be able to identify key words and concepts in a comprehension instead of reading all the lines. If you have a reading habbit, it always helps. If you do not read as much, start reading articles from Reader's Digest, News paper editorials. They not only help you pracitise fast reading and understand different topics but also makes your vocab stronger and gives you points for your AWA section as well sometimes.
Now coming to vocabulary. The common methods are flash cards. It definitely helps if you prepare the flash cards yourself. However, it is a bit time consuming. But before you target 3000 words or so, it is always advisable to learn the 200 GRE most common words. You would definitely get a few words from this list and they are repeatitive in the exams. So do this first. Alongside start analyzing the prefix, root and post fix words.
Now coming to the flash cards....Sometimes flash cards do not work out for candidates pursuing a full time job. I prepared for GRE while I was working till 1 AM at office everyday. So fI do know how difficult it is. But if you keep the bigger picture in mind, that 3 or 4 months of hard work can change your life, it would definitely keep you focussed. To make it a little easy for you if you are really not able to take 4 to 5 hours a day for GRE, get the flash card packs from book stores. But do make it your life. During your commute, keep reading it. Start with some pattern which is comfortable for you. Try to group similar words in your flashcards. I went the long way and followed the complete barrons word list. I had started with A, then did Z, then went to B ,Y.,C, X etc. However you can choose any technique. Read it on your breakfast, lunch or dinner table. Before going to bed, revise what you have read that morning.
If you are the types who likes to stick to the computer, use guru's software. You can download the first beta from http://grewordlist.groupfetch.com/gre21b.zip
Install this software and you can keep playing with it everyday for an hour or two. Try to beat your own score each time. This tool has most of the Barron's words (all 50 wordlists). So it helps to review yourself after you have read some flash cards. Later on when you are quite comfortable with some of the word lists, randomize the words and score yourself. However this tool only lets you choose the meaning or synonyms. GRE does not test you on synonyms but knowing the meaning always helps in identifying antonyms and is helpful for the other sections as well.
For antonyms I used to follow the GRE big book and do Barron's excercise as well. GRE Big book is a compilation of numerous GRE questions and is one of the best ones to practise from. You can also download the Big book wordlist from here.
For sentence completion, analogies and comprehensions, I practised from Big book, Barron's Kaplans. You can use any other material. Practise fast reading for comprehensions. You will have less time in GRE and you should be able to identify key words and concepts in a comprehension instead of reading all the lines. If you have a reading habbit, it always helps. If you do not read as much, start reading articles from Reader's Digest, News paper editorials. They not only help you pracitise fast reading and understand different topics but also makes your vocab stronger and gives you points for your AWA section as well sometimes.
