Okay, the title shouldn’t describe them as activities that teachers hate, so much as activities that this teacher hates. I don’t hate them because they’re completely useless, but I hate them because they distract well-meaning and hard-working students. Studying for the GRE is time-consuming and hard enough without inefficient strategies.

There are certain study strategies that exasperated students have in common. When a student tells me that they’re following one of these strategies, the rest of the story is usually, and my score isn’t going up at all. Here are, in my opinion, the four big ones, and their better alternatives.

Binging on problems

This is a big one. Stories that start with, I did all the problems in the book or I bought an extra set of problems and did every single one usually end with but I’m not getting any better!

It’s not that doing all the problems in the book is a bad thing, but chances are if you’re doing that many problems, you aren’t giving them the time they deserve. Doing problems is a good way to assess what you know, but it’s actually not a great way to get better at doing problems. That comes when you review what you’ve done.

Wonder if you’re doing too many problems with not enough review? Go back and do 10 problems you did last week, timed. Do you remember how to tackle them? If so, you’re probably reviewing enough. If not, you might want to tackled fewer problems in more depth in order to see a better payout.
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Here are the free GRE events we’re holding this week (All times local unless otherwise specified):

6/24/13– Online- Monday’s with Jen– 9:00PM – 10:30PM

6/26/13– New York, NY- Free Trial Class– 6:30PM – 9:30PM

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listing Page.

Happy Friday and happy summer! Get a jump start on your summer reading with a few of this week’s top grad school articles:

When Grad School Does and Doesn’t Make Sense (USA Today College)

Here are 10 circumstances when grad school may make sense and 10 when it might not.

How to Choose the Right Graduate Program? Consider Your Personal Life (About.com Grad School)

Sometimes you have to look beyond academics to choose the right graduate school program for you.

5 Tips for Applying to Graduate Programs in Clinical or Counseling Psychology (About.com Graduate School)

Be on your game to improve your odds of admission to graduate programs in psychology with these five helpful tips.

How to Tackle Student Loan Debt as Quickly as Possible (USA Today College)

Here are some wise steps to pay off your student debt as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Read Your Way to a Higher Score: Summer Reading Recommendations from our GRE Instructors (Manhattan GRE Blog)

To celebrate the first day of summer, we’re bringing back a post from the archives. Check out our list of summer reading recommendations!

Did we miss your favorite article from the week? Let us know what you’ve been reading in the comments or tweet @ManhattanPrep

Shows from our childhood can teach us a lot... even GRE vocab!

or your bookshelf, or radio, or whatever. When it comes to remembering GRE words, it really helps to link them to something you know.

Here are just ten examples of GRE words showing up in shows, movies, or books that you might know. If you’re a visual or auditory learner, try searching for GRE words that are bugging you on YouTube to see if any helpful references come up!

It might be clear after working your way through this post that these references come from the perspective of a 30-something American woman. The references that come to mind for you might be completely different, but the sentiment remains the same “ link the words to things you know, and they’re likely to stick with you.

1. Leery: If you’re the right age to remember Dawson’s Creek, you know that Dawson Leery was always worried about someone breaking his heart. To be leery means to be guarded or wary and not trust others. We knew you never should have trusted Joey, Dawson. She broke your heart.

2. Wily: Why was Wile E. Coyote so darn obsessed with that roadrunner anyway? He certainly did try some clever, crafty, tricky, sneaky stuff. Maybe that’s how he got his name, since that’s what wily means.

3. Plucky: If you’re between the ages of 25 and 35, you probably remember Plucky Duck from Tiny Toon Adventures. The word plucky means courageous, brave, and game for adventure “ and Plucky was perfectly all those things, always coming up with egotistical schemes where he tried to undertake some mammoth feat.

4. Craven: In The Secret Garden, Master Craven is so afraid to face life after his wife dies that he locks up her garden, retreats from the world, and even avoids their ailing son at any cost. Perhaps he got his name because craven means spineless, timid, or fainthearted. Don’t worry “ he gets it together by the end of the book.

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Each week, we post a new Challenge Problem for you to attempt. If you submit the correct answer, you will be entered into that week’s drawing for two free Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides.

If x is a positive integer and the units digit of x² is 6 and the units digit of (x “ 1)² is 9, which of the following is the units digit of (x “ 2)³?

 

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Here are the free GRE events we’re holding this week (All times local unless otherwise specified):

6/18/13– Atlanta, GA- Free Trial Class- 6:30PM – 9:30PM

6/18/13– Cambridge, MA- Free Trial Class– 6:30PM – 9:30PM

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listing Page.

Take a time out to catch up with this week's grad school news!

Here’s a roundup of our favorite GRE links from the week. Enjoy the weekend!

Don’t Be Afraid of Going to Graduate School in the Humanities (Pacific Standard)

Full-time, tenure-track professorships in the humanities are famously scarce. But that’s not a reason to avoid an advanced degree.

3 Concerns of International Grad School Applicants (U.S. News Education)

Here are some answers to common application questions from prospective international graduate students.

How to Choose the Right Graduate Program? Consider Your Personal Life (About.com Graduate School)

Sometimes you have to look beyond academics to choose the right graduate program for you.

3 Key Ways College, Graduate School Differ (U.S. News Education)

Grad School isn’t a continuation of college. Be prepared for larger workloads and more responsibility.

Graduate Degrees with Strong Career Prospects (Graduate Guide)

Here are some of the best fields to consider in graduate school when it comes to the current job market.

When it comes to studying for the quant portion of the GRE, I’m a big advocate of mixing a variety of study styles. The GRE pulls questions from a big selection of question types and content areas, and pulling your study habits from a variety of strategies can help you keep up.

I encourage you to take a look at your study patterns and see if anything’s missing. Are you only practicing in short stints but never working for a full-exam-length of time? Are you only practicing mixed sets but never targeting particular question types? You might want to consider mixing it up!

Systematic vs. Cherry-picking

There is clearly merit to a systematic study approach. Working your way through your study materials in order ensures that you cover all the material you need to prepare for the test. It also ensures that you give adequate time to each area.

On the other hand, cherry-picking the areas you want to study lets you focus your attention on the areas that most need your attention. It also allows you to study effectively on a crunched schedule if you already have a comfortable, working knowledge of math basics.

These strategies can be effectively combined to maximize their benefits. Do you want to cover all the material? Yes. But what happens when you get to a topic you don’t understand? Don’t fixate and get stuck there; note it and move on! The math concepts on the exam are related to one another, so there’s a good chance that when you come back to a topic later, you’ll understand it differently than the first time around. You also may want to break away from your study system and pay some immediate attention to concepts that newly make sense to you, or that you thought you had mastered but then notice you’ve forgotten.

Depth vs. Breadth
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Each week, we post a new Challenge Problem for you to attempt. If you submit the correct answer, you will be entered into that week’s drawing for two free Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides.

Quantity A

The average of (x “ 1)² and (x + 3)²

Quantity B

3

 

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Here are the free GRE events we’re holding this week (All times local unless otherwise specified):

6/10/13– Berkeley, CA- Free Trial Class- 6:30PM – 9:30PM

6/11/13– Chicago, IL- Free Trial Class– 6:30PM – 9:30PM

6/12/13– Austin, TX –Free Trial Class– 6:30PM – 9:30PM

6/13/13– Santa Monica, CA- Free Trial Class– 6:30PM- 9:30PM

6/15/13– Online- Free Trial Class– 1:00PM – 4:00PM (EDT)

6/13/13– New York, NY- Free Trial Class– 5:30PM- 8:30PM

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listing Page.