<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Tom Anderson – GRE</title> <atom:link href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/author/aandrewstanderson/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre</link> <description>GRE Prep | Best GRE Test Preparation | Manhattan Prep GRE</description> <lastBuildDate>Tue, 22 Dec 2020 17:39:22 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2</generator> <item> <title>What Are the Hardest GRE Math Problems?</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/hardest-gre-math-problems/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 13 Dec 2020 01:24:27 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Challenge Problems]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Quant]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Math]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gre]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Math]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardest GRE Math Problems]]></category> <category><![CDATA[math]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=12029</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>And what do they tell us about prepping for the GRE? Students often ask me, “Where can I find the most difficult questions on the GRE?” In this blog entry, I’ll show you the top three hardest GRE Math problems, ranked by percent of students who got them wrong. Before we get there, I should […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/hardest-gre-math-problems/">What Are the Hardest GRE Math Problems?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12062" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/what-are-hardest-gre-math-problems-tom-anderson.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - What Are the Hardest GRE Math Problems? by Tom Anderson" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/what-are-hardest-gre-math-problems-tom-anderson.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/what-are-hardest-gre-math-problems-tom-anderson-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/what-are-hardest-gre-math-problems-tom-anderson-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/what-are-hardest-gre-math-problems-tom-anderson-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And what do they tell us about prepping for the GRE?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Students often ask me, “Where can I find the most difficult questions on the GRE?” In this blog entry, I’ll show you the top three hardest GRE Math problems, ranked by percent of students who got them wrong. Before we get there, I should say: you don’t need to correctly answer questions like these to get a very, very good score on the GRE. This is a test that favors accuracy and consistency on mid-range questions over the ability to get the very hard ones. One can nab a score in the 90</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> percentile or above without getting any of the very hardest GRE Math problems correct. In case you’re curious, though, this is what the hardest GRE Math problems look like. Each of these questions were correctly answered by fewer than 20 percent of GRE test takers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Start the drum roll.</span></p> <p><span id="more-12029"></span></p> <p><iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/GBvkxysAR8Svm" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/GBvkxysAR8Svm"></a></p> <h4><b>The Hardest GRE Math Problems: #3</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Coming in at #3 is this probability question—85% of test takers missed it. Feel free to try it before you keep reading.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12031" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - What Are the Hardest GRE Math Problems? by Tom Anderson" width="626" height="210" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-1.png 626w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-1-300x101.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 626px) 100vw, 626px" /></p> <h4><b>What It Teaches Us about GRE Math</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This question is a “one-trick pony,” as they say. It’s a relatively simple probability question with a tricky little twist. I’d be willing to bet that it’s that little twist that’s making most folks miss this one. Once you figure out the twist, this problem (and others like it) will be a breeze. To illustrate how it works, let’s look first at a simpler version of the same question:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A person rolls a 20-sided die two times. What are the odds that both of the rolls result in 19s or 20s?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To answer this question, you’d first need to write the odds of getting a 19 or 20—that’s 2 out of 20. Because you need both rolls to come out with the high numbers, your odds are (2/20) x (2/20) or (1/10) x (1/10). For this question, our answer is 1/100. We have a 1% chance of getting such high numbers on both dice.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A similar sort of scenario is at work in the “very hard” problem above. At first glance, these problems may seem to be two surface-level flavors that contain the exact same math. (We’re no longer in a basement playing role-playing games; we’ve got a job in a factory checking out lightbulbs. I guess we had to pay the bills.)</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/3oriNPdeu2W1aelciY" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/animation-dragons-dnd-3oriNPdeu2W1aelciY"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Underneath that surface-level veneer, though, arises a sneaky little trick. As we pull bulbs out of the box, we change the odds of what’s left in it. If you’ve got a good bulb in one hand, that’s one fewer good bulb that might be in the other hand. To solve this problem, you have 18 good bulbs to choose from (18/20), but even if you’re pulling them out simultaneously, there are only 17 </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">other</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> good bulbs that might be in your other hand. So the odds change to 17 out of 19.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Multiply (18/20) by (17/19) and you get 153 out of 190—a very ugly fraction that is the correct answer to this tricky little question.</span></p> <h4><b>The Hardest GRE Math Problems: #2</b></h4> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12032" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-2.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - What Are the Hardest GRE Math Problems? by Tom Anderson" width="630" height="189" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-2.png 630w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-2-300x90.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here’s #2 on our list of the hardest GRE Math problems. 89% of test takers missed this one. Before we discuss how to do it, give it a shot on your own.</span></p> <h4><b>What It Teaches Us about GRE Math</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s not an excited 25 in there, it’s 25 factorial. 25! Means</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> 25 x 24 x 23 x 22 x 21 x 20 x 19 x 18 x 17 x 16 x 15 x 14 x 13 x 12 x 11 x 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And it’s this part of the problem that sets up a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">classic </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">GRE trap. If you were to approach this problem by calculating 25!, you’d either have a calculator with an error screen (too many digits) or you’d be spending 10 minutes doing a long calculation on paper… and end up with something totally useless to you. Even typing out all of the numbers (like I did above) takes an annoyingly long amount of time. To beat this “can’t calculate” trap, turn your attention instead to the answer choices.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/UvOaWabxo1enu" width="480" height="367" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/commercial-sharp-electronics-UvOaWabxo1enu"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If they’d given us 25 as an answer choice, I bet you’d know immediately that it divided evenly into 25!. Same thing if they gave us 24 or 23 or any of the other smaller numbers listed above. They’re right there in the product, so they could be divided out evenly. The same thing is true about the answer choices they gave us, if you break them down into smaller products like so:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A) 26 = 13 x 2<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">B) 28 = 14 x 2</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">C) 36 = 12 x 3<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">D) 56 = 7 x 8<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">E) 58 = 29 x 2</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">4 of the choices are made out of factors on our list. They’ll all divide evenly into 25!. Only one of them contains factors that aren’t on our list for 25! Answer choice E contains a 29, which is a prime number bigger than 25. It won’t be found anywhere between 1 and 25 and it can’t be broken down any further than it is. That makes E the correct choice here.</span></p> <h4><b>The Hardest GRE Math Problems: #1</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/RnX4q6yYDoYCI" width="480" height="255" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/arrested-development-good-RnX4q6yYDoYCI"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12033" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-3.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - What Are the Hardest GRE Math Problems? by Tom Anderson" width="627" height="259" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-3.png 627w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-3-300x124.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 627px) 100vw, 627px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There you have it: the hardest GRE Math problem in the book. 90% of test takers missed it. Feel free to give it a go before we discuss…</span></p> <h4><b>What It Teaches Us about GRE Math</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you dealt with this question in an abstract way, it’s a lot to process. Instead, draw out a few variations of lines that don’t go through the origin and look for any patterns.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12034" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-4.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - What Are the Hardest GRE Math Problems? by Tom Anderson" width="639" height="217" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-4.png 639w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/10/ta-14-image-4-300x102.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since the first couple of answer choices ask about x and y intercepts, take a look at our examples and look for patterns. In our negative lines, we hit the axes in two positive spots or two negative spots. On the positive lines, one intercept is in the negative and one is in the positive.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer choices A and B are both ways of saying that the x and y intercepts have the same sign. If they have the same sign, their slopes are negative. Lines with positive slopes have a positive x-intercept and a negative y-intercept or vice versa. Both of these choices are correct.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer choice C seems strange at first, but rephrase it a little bit: (a – r) refers to the change in x. (b-s) refers to the change in y.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may have learned to call these—the “run” of the line (a-r) and the “rise” of the line (b-s). Answer choice C is telling you that if you multiply the rise and run of the line you get a negative. And that’s the very definition of a negative slope. If you’d like to try it with real numbers, try it with the coordinates drawn in on the lines above. You’ll find that answer choice C also proves the line has a negative slope. It’s also correct.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Underneath all of this content, I think, lies the real head-game of this “most difficult” question. You actually check all three of the answer choices. As wild as that might seem, sometimes all three are correct.</span></p> <h4><b>This is as Hard as It Gets, Folks</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I think these problems have a few big-picture things to teach you about GRE Math:</span></p> <ol> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> When faced with a complex or very difficult problem, solve a simpler problem as a step to getting the hard one.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Avoid big calculations. Look for opportunities to work backwards from the answers.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Take any complex information (especially on geometry) and draw it to better understand it. </span></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There’s also definitely some content worth remembering:</span></p> <ol> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> With countable objects, probability often changes as you go.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Numbers are divisible by their factors. And you can break big numbers down into factors to check.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> The slope of a line is negative when its rise and run have opposite signs—one positive and the other negative.</span></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Perhaps most importantly, remember that this is as hard as it gets. You’ll likely never encounter anything nastier than these. And even these “hardest GRE Math problems” can be cut down to size. </span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10555 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/08/tom-anderson-150x150.png" alt="tom-anderson" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tom Anderson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</strong> He has a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in education. Tom has long possessed an understanding of the power of standardized tests in propelling one’s education and career, and he hopes he can help his students see through the intimidating veneer of the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Tom’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/hardest-gre-math-problems/">What Are the Hardest GRE Math Problems?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>5 Quick GRE Vocab Hacks</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/5-quick-gre-vocab-hacks/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jan 2020 14:31:49 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gre strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gre verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Vocab]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Vocab Strategies]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=12714</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Perhaps more than any other kind of studying for the GRE, vocabulary practice directly translates into one’s GRE verbal score. For those of you feeling less than enthusiastic about memorizing hundreds of esoteric vocabulary words, take heart: there’s some interesting research that shows your vocabulary continues to grow throughout your life. If you use your […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/5-quick-gre-vocab-hacks/">5 Quick GRE Vocab Hacks</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-12717 size-full" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2020/01/mprep-blogimages-wave1-56-e1580307787388.png" alt="GRE vocab hacks" width="1200" height="628" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Perhaps more than any other kind of studying for the GRE, </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/review-gre-vocabulary-questions/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">vocabulary practice</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> directly translates into one’s </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/whats-tested-on-gre-verbal/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">GRE verbal score</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. For those of you feeling less than enthusiastic about memorizing hundreds of esoteric vocabulary words, take heart: there’s some interesting research that shows your vocabulary continues to grow throughout your life. If you use your GRE study to turbocharge that process, these words will likely stay in your memory through to your eventual senescence. Maybe you’ll use this vocabulary to sound super smart. Maybe you’ll just use it to call out your pretentious friends when they’re showing off. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One way or another, knowing lots of words is a powerful skill. In this entry, I’m going to share 5 quick tips for memorizing vocabulary for the GRE quickly, painlessly, and permanently. </span></p> <p><span id="more-12714"></span></p> <h3><b>Tip #1: Make little stories</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The human brain is an incredible tool. It’s also a tool shaped by its history and evolution. If you think about the needs of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, it makes sense that our memory is really good at remembering faces, places, and things. It’s always been in the interest of our survival to remember things like: </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Urg with big stick is bad and want to hit me.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Sabertooth Tiger in cave.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Good berries in red bush next to river.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Such memories—vivid, concrete, rooted in actual places/people/things—had direct survival value for our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Our brains evolved to remember them.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unfortunately, our brains are much less receptive to intricate abstract or symbolic information—stuff like physics equations or the exact wording of page 200 of Paradise Lost. Also unfortunately, GRE vocabulary words tend to fall into this 2</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">nd</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> more abstract category. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We humans are a clever bunch, though. Try this: if you want to remember a difficult and abstract vocabulary term, turn it into a story. For our purposes here, a good story is one that involves a person, an action, and an object.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">For example, take the word “</span><b>probity</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">.” “</span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/probity"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Probity</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” means honesty, or moral integrity. To remember this, you could think about morality and goodness and all sorts of related concepts. But concepts in and of themselves are not very memorable.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, write out a little story:</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The professional wrestler displayed a complete lack of probity when he stole an imperial probe and ran away to Italy. Finally, he confessed to the priest—a man with much more probity than him. </span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My story includes a person (the wrestler) stealing an object (the probe) and running away to Italy (an action). Your brain can remember these things easily. If you tie them in somehow to sounds or meanings related to your vocabulary word, you’ll be in great shape to remember it.</span></p> <h3><b>Tip #2: Get weird</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may have noticed that my last sentence went a little off the rails. Not only was it a story, but it was a pretty weird story too. There’s actually a reason for that—your brain best remembers stuff that’s shocking, weird, or funny. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Writing about a faceless guy acting with probity isn’t very memorable. Imagining your sweet old grandmother getting in a bar fight and robbing a bank without one iota of probity—that’s much more memorable. In general, try to write vocabulary sentences about something that makes you laugh, something that’s totally absurd, or even something shocking. Write them about friends, family members, or celebrities. In fact, a good goal would be to make a flashcard deck so shocking that you’d be embarrassed if your mother found it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here’s an example with the word “</span><b>apocryphal</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">.” “</span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/apocryphal"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Apocryphal</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” means dubious, doubtful, or otherwise probably untrue:</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dr. Phil told an apocryphal tale on national TV, claiming that the apocalypse would come in 2012. There was no apocalypse, but Dr. Phil’s apocryphal tale earned him some excellent TV ratings that week.</span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’m not sure why Dr. Phil would ever say such a thing on national TV, but the idea of it is pretty weird. The strangeness of this sentence is actually quite helpful in making the memory of “apocryphal” stick with you.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I have an old notebook full of sentences like this from the first time I studied for the GRE, nearly a decade ago now. I must have spent 5 minutes per sentence coming up with these, but I still remember a bunch of weird old stories today. I wrote a wild tale about a </span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mercurial"><span style="font-weight: 400;">mercurial</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> teacher in my elementary school. There was a bawdy sentence about a Mr. Clean telling </span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ribald"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ribald</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> jokes. The world </span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/querulous"><span style="font-weight: 400;">querulous </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">also wouldn’t stick with me until I wrote something about a bunch of peevish squirrels. Strangely enough, years later, I remember not only what these words mean, but many of the strange tales that helped me memorize them. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYYfzkVEKv8"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just make sure not to let things get totally out of hand….</span></a></p> <h3><b>Tip #3: Do a ditty</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’m sure you’ve had the experience of getting a song stuck in your head. Music can be so memorable that it embeds itself in our grey matter completely against our will. If you want to make a vocabulary word more memorable, give it rhymes, alliteration or other musical qualities. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take a look at this example with the word “</span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/chary"><b>chary</b></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” which means “wary” or “cautious:”</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">There once was a man named Larry</span></i></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Who hid himself from anything scary</span></i></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">He was afraid of the dark</span></i></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">And frightened of dogs who bark</span></i></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even my chihuahua made him chary</span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’ll admit, this isn’t the best poem I’ve ever written. Luckily, the quality of the writing matters a lot less than the presence of rhymes and alliteration tied in with the word “chary.” The word means something related “wary” and “scary.” The play with sounds in “chary chihuahua” is also helpful. Of course, rhymes and song can get pretty cheesy, and you may feel somewhat goofy writing sentences or poems like this one. That said, as long as you don’t post your embarrassing rhymes on the internet (like I’m doing), you’ve got nothing to worry about.</span></p> <h3><b>Tip #4: Use the roots</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Okay, word nerds, this could easily become your favorite way to memorize vocabulary. We’ve put together a pretty thorough list of GRE-worthy roots in </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/gre-strategy-guides/verbal-strategies/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">our verbal strategy guide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. If you memorize one of these roots, you’ve often got a colorful way to remember 5-6 vocabulary words all in one hit.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here’s an excerpt about the root “anim-“ which comes from the old latin word “animus” meaning “spirit” or “breath.” </span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-12715 aligncenter" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2020/01/gre-vocab-hacks-300x110.png" alt="gre vocab hacks" width="434" height="159" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2020/01/gre-vocab-hacks-300x110.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2020/01/gre-vocab-hacks.png 422w" sizes="(max-width: 434px) 100vw, 434px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a list like this, there’s so much to play around with. You can imagine animated cartoons or ghostly spirits for each of the words. You can write crazy run-on sentences, melding a few of these words into one big memory: “True magnanimity often requires bravery and sacrifice, something the puny, pusillanimous coward struggles to achieve; perhaps meditation could give him a little more equanimity.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A word of advice—if you’re going to memorize the roots to master your GRE vocabulary, start early. There are approximately 70 roots in the </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/gre-strategy-guides/verbal-strategies/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Manhattan Prep Verbal Strategy Guide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and those 70 words correspond to approximately 300 GRE vocabulary words. This is a great way to jump-start your word collection.</span></p> <h3><b>Tip #5: Steal some ideas</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, and most importantly, don’t try to do all of this vocabulary work on your own. There are tons of great apps and resources out there. If you haven’t already installed it, try the </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/app/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Manhattan Prep App</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on your phone. Check out websites like </span><a href="https://apps.ankiweb.net/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anki</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">vocabulary.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and </span><a href="https://mnemonicdictionary.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">mnemonicdictionary.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. I also use a little daily reminder app called </span><a href="http://knudge.me/#!/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">knudge.me</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that sends vocabulary words straight to the notifications on my phone every day. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Acquiring the vocabulary you need to ace the GRE is a formidable task, but it’s one that you can quickly cut down to size if you study efficiently. Whatever method you try, make sure you aren’t just plowing through the words on autopilot. Trust me, it’s so much faster and so much more fun to try some quick vocab hacks like those outlined here.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><b>RELATED: </b><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/common-gre-vocabulary-words/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most Common GRE Vocabulary Words</span></a></p> <p><b><i>Don’t forget that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. We’re not kidding! </i></b><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/free/"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-12716 alignleft" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2020/01/tom-anderson-gre-hacks.png" alt="tom anderson gre hacks" width="150" height="150" /></p> <p><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/"><b><i>Tom Anderson</i></b></a><b><i> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> He has a B.A. in English and an M.S. in education. Tom started his teaching career as a New York City Teaching Fellow and is currently a Math for America Fellow. Outside of teaching the GRE and the GMAT, he is an avid runner who once (very unexpectedly) won a marathon. </span></i><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Check our Tom’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here. </span></i></a></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/5-quick-gre-vocab-hacks/">5 Quick GRE Vocab Hacks</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>GRE Reading Comprehension without the Reading</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-reading-comprehension-without-reading/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 27 Aug 2018 18:03:32 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reading Comp]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=11923</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Who Needs the GRE Reading Comprehension Passage Anyway? Let me be clear, if you want to maximize your GRE Reading Comprehension score, you should read each passage, thoroughly and entirely, before trying any of the questions about it. Strategies like skimming the passage or reading the questions first tend to result in sub-par performances. In […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-reading-comprehension-without-reading/">GRE Reading Comprehension without the Reading</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h4><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11952" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/08/gre-reading-comprehension-without-reading-tom-anderson.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Reading Comprehension without the Reading by Tom Anderson" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/08/gre-reading-comprehension-without-reading-tom-anderson.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/08/gre-reading-comprehension-without-reading-tom-anderson-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/08/gre-reading-comprehension-without-reading-tom-anderson-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/08/gre-reading-comprehension-without-reading-tom-anderson-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></h4> <h4><b>Who Needs the GRE Reading Comprehension Passage Anyway?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Let me be clear, if you want to maximize your GRE Reading Comprehension score, you should read each passage, thoroughly and entirely, before trying any of the questions about it. Strategies like skimming the passage or reading the questions first tend to result in sub-par performances. In the name of honing your Verbal skills, though, I’m going to suggest you do something seemingly ludicrous: practice answering some GRE Reading Comprehension questions without reading the passages.</span><span id="more-11923"></span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/l3V0bMLX1oJhnWeNG" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/teamcoco-conan-obrien-annoyed-l3V0bMLX1oJhnWeNG"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You heard me—skip the passages entirely. Jump straight to the GRE Reading Comprehension questions and try to answer them with no context or background whatsoever. Of course, your accuracy will almost certainly drop when doing GRE Reading Comprehension questions this way. By starting with the answer choices, though, you may just train yourself to pay attention to some nuances in the way correct answers tend to be written and in the very common ways they take otherwise-fine answer choices and make them provably wrong. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For reference, I’ve found that when I do this, my accuracy falls from 90+% correct answering normally down to about 50% correct without reading the GRE Reading Comprehension passages. Even so, that’s </span><b>much</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> better than random guessing. When you try this, aim to beat the 20% odds you’ve got going for you on a run-of-the-mill guess. If you can learn to eliminate some obviously-wrong choices and identify some common themes in right answers, you’ll likely blow that number out of the water. And if you practice this without looking at the passages, imagine how well you’ll do when you start reading them again. </span></p> <h4><b>The Personality of the Test</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To make this exercise work, you need to know something about the GRE: It has a personality. In both the Verbal and Math sections, there are themes, tricks, and traps that appear over and over again. The GRE Reading Comprehension passages also come with a bit of a personality. It’s a pretty stodgy test. There’s little in the way of slang or improper grammar. You’re not going to be reading racy passages or experimental fiction. There are no long, rambling excerpts from Jack Kerouac’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the Road</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on this test. No bitter rants. No Twitter feuds. No </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">50 Shades of Grey</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/l3V0H7bYv5Ml5TOfu" width="480" height="324" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/hells-kitchen-hells-kitchen-gordon-ramsay-l3V0H7bYv5Ml5TOfu"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, remember that the GRE Reading Comprehension questions, answers, and passages are all written with a careful scholarly tone. All of the writing will be filled with the elevated vernacular and labyrinthine sentences characteristic of academic writing. Passages tend to discuss both sides fairly. Rarely do they advocate for one side of an argument over another; when they do, they’ll advocate carefully with caveats and concessions. You’ll never read a GRE Reading Comprehension passage that totally rips the opposing side to shreds. If you go in expecting all of this, it often helps you to dodge answer choices like this one:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">D) The author’s work is vastly superior to all other fiction written in the 19</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th century.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Or this one:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">E) The passage argues that all scientific theories have failed due to the same few reasons.</span></p> <h4><b>The “Right Answer Voice”</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are some traits of the GRE Reading Comprehension “right answer voice.” For each one, I’ve written out an example of what a correct and an incorrect answer might sound like. Most of these are taken out of context from questions in the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/strategy-guides/5-pound-book-gre-practice-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5 lb Book of GRE Practice Problems</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h4><b>The GRE Reading Comprehension “Right Answer Voice” is Bland and Hard to Disprove</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/SxpX5m1rJXjMY" width="480" height="332" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/the-office-bored-SxpX5m1rJXjMY"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Correct answers on the GRE tend to be vague or boring. They’ll be full of words like “may” and “generally” and “some” rather than words like “all” or “never.” The wrong answers tend to make bigger, more exciting claims that just aren’t quite backed up by the passage. Because the wrong answers on the GRE have to be provably wrong, they’re often written in simple declarative sentences: “It is exactly this way,” whereas correct answers tend to be written in a way that makes them more slippery and therefore difficult to disprove.</span></p> <p><b>Example question:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Which of the following expresses the main idea of the passage?</span></p> <p><b>Right:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> A small set of non-human animals has been found to form social networks.</span></p> <p><b>Wrong:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Only humans can form social networks.</span></p> <h4><b>The GRE Reading Comprehension “Right Answer Voice” is Inoffensive</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GRE is written by people who value political correctness. You’ll never find correct answers that are offensive to an author, scholar, or group of people. If you can imagine a person being offended by an answer, it’s probably wrong.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/l0K4fIEZ1FFiWFJPq" width="480" height="261" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/snl-drake-hurt-feelings-l0K4fIEZ1FFiWFJPq"></a></p> <p><b>Example question</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: Based on the information in the passage, which of the following would best explain Einstein’s motivation for stating that “God does not play dice with the universe”?</span></p> <p><b>Right:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Einstein did not believe that particles should be governed by probability as in a game of dice.</span></p> <p><b>Wrong:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Einstein’s religious beliefs did not allow him to fully understand the theory of quantum mechanics.</span></p> <h4><b>The GRE Reading Comprehension “Right Answer Voice” is Based on the Passage, Not on Common-Sense Knowledge</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GRE test writers very often plant a “common knowledge” trap—an answer choice that most folks know without ever reading the passage. That answer choice tends to be utterly unrelated to what the passage discusses, but perhaps it’s tempting because it feels familiar. If you notice blatantly obvious choices that clearly pull on outside knowledge rather than the passage itself, don’t pick them.</span></p> <p><b>Example Question:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?</span></p> <p><b>Right:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> At least some individuals in Puerto Rico have expressed opposition to Puerto Rico becoming a U.S. State.</span></p> <p><b>Wrong:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> There are currently 50 states in the United States of America.</span></p> <h4><b>You Try a Few!</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Read each of these questions and do a little process of elimination. You’ll probably be able to rule out at least a few wrong answers for the reasons listed above. You might not be able to get all the way to the correct answer, but I bet you can get close. I’ve also written out my analysis of the choices (without reading any of these passages, I promise). If you do want to look up any of the original passages and questions, you can find them in the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/strategy-guides/5-pound-book-gre-practice-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5 lb Book</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><b>5 lb. Book p.208 #72</b></p> <p>The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements?</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A) Free Riders cannot be blamed for their actions, because they are an inevitable part of any government.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">B) Free rider problems are not worth worrying about, because they are an inevitable part of any government.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">C) There are at least some situations in which the free rider problem should not be viewed as an inevitable part of government.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">D) National defense is a perfect example of why free rider problems need to be stamped out as quickly as possible.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">E) Free riders are morally at fault, and ought to be punished.</span></p> <p><b>5 lb. Book p.218 #92</b></p> <p>2. Which of the following most accurately states the author’s reason for citing the Copernicus and Brahe models of the solar system?</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A) It shows that a theory without predictive power can never be tested and verified.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">B) It reveals that some theories can have more or less of an “ad hoc” quality.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">C) It shows that two different theories can never yield the same predictions for future events.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">D) It is used to support the idea that a more complicated model will always fail to a simpler model.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">E) It provides an example of when a theory can correctly predict future events but not offer the best explanation.</span></p> <p><b>5 lb. Book p.194 #45</b></p> <p>3. The passage implies which of the following?</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A) Students can benefit from exposure to inaccurate accounts of history.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">B) Students today prefer music to film.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">C) Students today are functional illiterates.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">D) Students today prefer charts to opinions.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">E) Students today should not be exposed to political agendas.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before I give you the answers, here is my analysis of the choices. </span></p> <p><b>Question 1:</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A and B both make the claim that this problem is ”an inevitable part of any government.” That’s a pretty big claim and would be very hard to prove. All it takes is one government that solves this problem to prove these false. Answer choice D calls this a “perfect example,” which also feels a little too strong for the GRE. Stating that they need to be “stamped out as quickly as possible” also sounds rash and judgmental—not the typical voice in which these passages are written. Choice E also makes a pretty big subjective claim, so it’s likely to be wrong. My guess is answer choice C because it’s such a small claim: “at least some situations” are an exception to the rule. This is much more bland and more difficult to disprove, compared to the other choices.</span></p> <p><b>Question 2:</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I can’t guess all the way on this one, but I can narrow it down to two. Answer choices A, C, and D all use extreme language. By using the words “never” and “always,” they open themselves up to be easily disproved. They’re almost certainly going to be wrong. Answer choices B and E both seem pretty good to me. B is nice because it only talks about “some theories.” And answer choice E just says that the author used this as an example of a very particular and un-extreme phenomenon. Without reading the passage, I’m stuck between those two choices, but I’m willing to bet B or E is correct.</span></p> <p><b>Question 3:</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many of the choices here are both extreme and offensive. Take a look at choice C, for example. Any current or former student would feel hurt by that choice. “But I’m not a functional illiterate! Leave me alone!” So that choice is definitely going to be wrong. I also thought all of the choices from B through E were making bold, black-and-white claims that would be easily disproved. Surely some students don’t prefer film over music or charts over opinions. And answer choice E also feels a little subjective and moralistic. To state that students should not be exposed to political agendas is a value statement—not the carefully-worded, judgment-free kind of statement we typically see on the GRE. I’d be willing to bet the correct answer is A without ever reading this passage. It’s a mild claim. It’s not even stating students “will” benefit but that they “can” benefit. Who could argue with that?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After checking these in the answer key, it seems like my predictions were pretty close. Here are the actual correct answers:</span></p> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">C</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">E</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A</span></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How did you do?</span></p> <h4><b>Imagine How Well You’ll Do When You Start Reading Again</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you can learn to answer these questions without reading the passages, imagine how well you’ll do when you start reading them again. You’ll likely find that you start paying attention to wording and turns of phrase in a way that you weren’t before. Good luck with this GRE Reading Comprehension exercise. Happy studying! ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10555 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/08/tom-anderson-150x150.png" alt="tom-anderson" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Anderson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</strong> He has a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in education. Tom has long possessed an understanding of the power of standardized tests in propelling one’s education and career, and he hopes he can help his students see through the intimidating veneer of the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Tom’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-reading-comprehension-without-reading/">GRE Reading Comprehension without the Reading</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Math and the Growth Mindset</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-growth-mindset/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 25 Jun 2018 17:25:36 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[In the News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Learning Science]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Math]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Growth Mindset]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Math Person]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=11615</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Do you consider yourself a “math person?” Actually—hold on a second. Whether you answer yes or no, you’re expressing a potentially harmful thought. Such thoughts reflect a fixed mindset about oneself—a belief that you’re born good at some things and bad at others. Carry that line of thinking a little further: “Math people” grew up […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-growth-mindset/">Math and the Growth Mindset</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11772" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/06/math-growth-mindset-tom-anderson.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - Math and the Growth Mindset by Tom Anderson" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/06/math-growth-mindset-tom-anderson.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/06/math-growth-mindset-tom-anderson-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/06/math-growth-mindset-tom-anderson-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/06/math-growth-mindset-tom-anderson-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you consider yourself a “math person?”</span><span id="more-11615"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/BmmfETghGOPrW" width="480" height="206" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/reaction-BmmfETghGOPrW"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Actually—hold on a second. Whether you answer yes or no, you’re expressing a potentially harmful thought. Such thoughts reflect a fixed mindset about oneself—a belief that you’re born good at some things and bad at others. Carry that line of thinking a little further:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Math people” grew up solving quadratic equations in their heads as toddlers. They always just “got it.” Everyone else had to work hard to get there. “Non-math people” could more easily run 10 miles backwards than calculate a tip at a restaurant. If you’re a “math person,” congrats on the easy grades and high GRE scores for the rest of your life. If you’re not, then too bad. It’s hopeless.</span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I believe that such thoughts are not just untrue, but downright harmful. There’s a growing body of research on this issue. Many readers of this blog entry will no doubt have heard of Carol Dweck, her book </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mindset</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and her </span><a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TED talk</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which currently has over 7 million views. Dweck argues that the way you view yourself has a huge impact on your success. It’s not just those who think they’re “naturally bad at something” who are at risk, by the way. One of the most negatively-impacted groups seems to be very high-performing students who think it’s all about being “naturally good at something.” I would encourage you to leave behind those fixed ideas of being a “math person” and instead adopt a mindset of growth.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this entry, I’ll share with you a few ideas from research in educational psychology about growth mindsets and what you can do to develop one. In particular, I’ve been reading a book called </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Mindsets-Unleashing-Potential-Innovative/dp/0470894520/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1528303782&sr=1-4&keywords=mathematical+mindsets&dpID=51NeyOR3NqL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mathematical Mindsets</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by Jo Boaler. I’ll share with you some ideas from this book.</span></p> <h4><b>You Can Rewire Your Brain (to Become a “Math Person”)</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/l44QzsOLXxcrigdgI" width="480" height="360" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/stupid-smart-l44QzsOLXxcrigdgI"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First of all, know that your brain can be changed. In one intriguing study, researchers looked at the brains of cab drivers in London who had to memorize over 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks in order to qualify for their jobs. During the intensive training process, cab drivers showed dramatic growth in the hippocampus—the area of the brain that is used to acquire spatial information. Their brains were so affected by their practice that they showed measurable growth in the very brain matter inside their heads.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This concept that the brain can change and adapt in dramatic ways is called </span><b>neuroplasticity</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. There are abundant examples of it. Stroke victims can sometimes regain their speech by rewiring a new region of their brain. People paralyzed in accidents can sometimes regain their movement; in one extreme case, an individual even lost the entire left hemisphere of her brain and was then able to regrow its functions in the remaining right hemisphere.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Aside from these extreme examples, we all experience neuroplasticity when we learn. </span><b>Your brain is more like a muscle that can grow with exercise than like a computer that’s stuck with the processor it was built with.</b></p> <h4><b>Mistakes Matter</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/xUPGczg032OXCUb4Iw" width="480" height="261" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/antmvh1-premiere-antm-xUPGczg032OXCUb4Iw"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take a few minutes and watch </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-44333446/the-swiss-master-watchmaker-running-out-of-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">this video of a Swiss watchmaker</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> who has been making watches by hand for 50 years. He tells us, “It’s not easy because you learn all your life. Even at my age, I learn every day and very often by making mistakes.” An expert in nearly any field will tell you the same thing: they’ve made their most significant learning through mistakes rather than successes.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The research backs them up. Not only do experts learn from making an incredible number of mistakes, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">they seem to learn more when making mistakes than when doing something correctly.</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Jo Boaler summarizes some research on the issue:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Students’ brains reacted with greater […] electrical activity when they made mistakes than when their answers were correct. Second […] brain activity was greater following mistakes for individuals with a growth mindset than for individuals with a fixed mindset. The study also found that individuals with a growth mindset had a greater awareness of errors than individuals with a fixed mindset, so they were more likely to go back and correct errors.” </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mathematical Mindsets</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (p.12)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It may not always feel this way, but mistakes are not something that should make you cringe. They’re probably the most worthwhile tidbits from any study session. And they’re even better for you if you open yourself up to growth, log them, and go back to correct them.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Think of it this way: your brain grows a synapse every time you make a mistake. A good practice session shouldn’t be easy. Get out there and start making some mistakes!</span></p> <h4><b>Process > Product</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/eP00VsF12Bbfq" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/lightbulb-eP00VsF12Bbfq"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A good teacher will make it clear: the route to a right answer is much more important than the right answer itself. Of course, on an exam like the GRE, you want to get as many points as possible. But you get those points by carefully thinking about the problem in front of you and the solution paths it beckons you to use.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the same way that you don’t improve your free throws by focusing on the “whoosh” a basketball makes when it goes through the net, you shouldn’t try to improve your problem-solving process by going straight to an answer key. Instead, focus on the steps to get there.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you practice on your own, try thinking of your answer keys and explanations less like the finish line and more like consultants to whom you can turn for feedback along the way. Rather than just checking the right answer, peek at the explanation to see if the work you’ve done is on the right track. If so, continue onward. If not, go back and revise. Try to lead yourself to the correct answer rather than just reading what it is.</span></p> <h4><b>Believing You Can Grow is Part of the Recipe for Growth </b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/B2zrUu1Q4HKeSO1brl" width="480" height="269" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/rupaulsdragrace-episode-1-rupauls-drag-race-B2zrUu1Q4HKeSO1brl"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the first day of my GRE class, I often ask my students a similar question to the one I asked at the beginning of this blog entry—I ask them to raise their hand if they’ve come into my classroom with an idea floating around in their subconscious that they are “bad at math.” Every time I ask this question, a few reluctant hands pop into the air, followed by an avalanche of others, until a huge majority of hands silently confess this belief.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s easy for me to believe that there is no such thing as being “bad at math”—for years, I’ve seen my students bring up their GRE Math scores, sometimes to levels they never thought possible. That said, I’m well aware many folks have been traumatized by math in their prior education. Even many well-meaning teachers may have conveyed the notion that math is a gift, and either you have it or you don’t. Take heart and do what you can to throw out these “fixed” notions that may be rummaging around in your brain. Just like your math ability can be changed, so can your mindset.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Believing that you can get smarter is part of the process in doing so. ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10555 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/08/tom-anderson-150x150.png" alt="tom-anderson" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Anderson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</strong> He has a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in education. Tom has long possessed an understanding of the power of standardized tests in propelling one’s education and career, and he hopes he can help his students see through the intimidating veneer of the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Tom’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-growth-mindset/">Math and the Growth Mindset</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>What Should I Look for in a GRE Trial Class?</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/what-is-gre-trial-class/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 24 May 2018 20:34:52 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Logistics]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Manhattan GRE]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Manhattan Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Teaching]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Free Trial Class]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Trial Class]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Standardized Tests]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=11505</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>As you may know, we open up the first session of our 8-session Manhattan Prep GRE Complete Course as a free GRE trial class for anyone to attend. What happens in a GRE trial class? Why bother attending one? I’m sure every class is a little bit different, but there are some things you can […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/what-is-gre-trial-class/">What Should I Look for in a GRE Trial Class?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11577" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/05/what-look-for-gre-trial-class-tom-anderson.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - What Should I Look for in a GRE Trial Class? by Tom Anderson" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/05/what-look-for-gre-trial-class-tom-anderson.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/05/what-look-for-gre-trial-class-tom-anderson-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/05/what-look-for-gre-trial-class-tom-anderson-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/05/what-look-for-gre-trial-class-tom-anderson-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As you may know, we open up the first session of our 8-session </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/prep/complete-course/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Manhattan Prep GRE Complete Course</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as a free GRE trial class for anyone to attend. What happens in a GRE trial class? Why bother attending one? I’m sure every class is a little bit different, but there are some things you can expect to see, as well as a few things you should make sure to look for.</span><span id="more-11505"></span></p> <h4><b>1. Why take a standardized test class in the first place?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I was a high school student preparing for the SAT, I never really considered taking a test prep class. In retrospect, I really should have—I just never considered it at the time. I have a hunch that it had something to do with my own deep misunderstanding of how standardized tests work. I thought that the SAT tested how smart you were. It was called the “Scholastic Aptitude Test,” after all. Surely, smart people just did well on it and that was that. Actually, in the 1970s, the SAT was renamed the “</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAT" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Standardized </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Achievement</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Test</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.” Why the name switch? I think they realized such a silly test could not and should not pretend to test someone’s innate ability. Rather, it tests a set of discrete, learnable skills. In many ways, the SAT just tests how well you prepared for the SAT.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Likewise, the GRE—at its core—is just testing you on how well you prepared for the GRE. And you will almost definitely do better on it if you put in some deliberate practice. When I approached the GRE as an adult, I did so in a much different way than I’d studied for such tests in the past. I dug deep into the problems I missed, ironed out weaknesses in the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/strategy-guides/5-pound-book-gre-practice-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5 lb. Book</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and noticed that the problems were usually much easier when I pushed past the content to look for time-saving and efficiency strategies.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After years of considering myself “a bad standardized test taker,” I surprised myself with how well I did on my GRE. I also recently went back and took the SAT again. (That might seem peculiar—30-year-old me sitting there with a bunch of teenagers getting ready to go to college—but sometimes you’ve got to do such things if you’re a test prep instructor.) After years of teaching the GRE, I was surprised at how much easier this test felt compared to when I was in high school.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/3o7btNUijQYS0WAcwg" width="480" height="480" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/water-green-tree-3o7btNUijQYS0WAcwg"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I was younger, I really struggled on it; I took it twice and got the same mediocre scores on both attempts. When I went back and took it as an adult with lots of relevant practice, I scored about 200 points higher. What was the difference? There may have been some maturity and a college education at play. But I think the most significant factor was that somewhere along the way, I learned how to prepare for standardized tests. They’re not intelligence tests, and they really do keep testing the same few themes over and over again.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However you prepared for tests when you were younger, consider approaching the GRE with a mindset that embraces your potential to grow. Even if you never considered yourself a “good test taker,” you can learn to become one. A good test prep class will show you how to begin that transformation.</span></p> <h4><b>2. What’s covered in a GRE trial class?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a Manhattan Prep GRE trial class, you can expect to look at the structure of the test, analyze the way it’s scored, and then spend the brunt of the three-hour class actually solving and talking about problems. Along the way, you’ll learn (or re-learn) some things about how exponents and triangles work.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a good class, though, your teacher won’t just stop at the content and rules. A good class will also introduce you the personality of the test. In my class, we refer to this GRE persona as “Ethel”—a peculiar and exacting spirit who knows some common errors in thinking and tries to induce those mistake patterns in similar ways, over and over again.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take, for example, a simple comparison:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11507" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/05/ta-11-image-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - What Should I Look for in a GRE Trial Class? by Tom Anderson" width="461" height="294" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/05/ta-11-image-1.png 461w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/05/ta-11-image-1-300x191.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ethel knows that your first instinct is probably to simplify quantity A and B, rewriting each as “x.” She knows that you’ll probably want to pick answer choice C. And she’s messing with you. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a pretty common move. If the two sides seem equal and it seems really easy to prove that… then C is probably a trap answer. Pause for 10 seconds and ask yourself whether they’re still equal when you plug in a negative number. The correct answer to this question should be D.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A good test prep class will introduce you to such situations, and will make you aware of the “personality of the test” and themes that come up in such tricky questions. Many of us Manhattan Prep teachers have actually grown to enjoy these little puzzles. (I sometimes write about them in </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/2018/03/28/answer-choice-d-gre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">blog entries like this one</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.) Once you’ve had these patterns highlighted for you, you’ll find that your awareness makes you sidestep all sorts of common pitfalls you weren’t really noticing before. Who knows, you may even find yourself having a little fun doing so.</span></p> <h4><b>3. What kind of teacher do I want?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’m sure you know that an ideal teacher is somewhat a matter of personal taste. And while I do think my colleagues are all fantastic teachers in their own ways, I’d encourage you to attend a GRE trial class before you commit to 8 full weeks with any of them in particular. Any teacher can tell you how the content works; a good teacher will also leave you feeling inspired and will give you a fundamentally different way of thinking about something than you had before.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/CH4ejLIpCfwly" width="480" height="360" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/fire-hand-teacher-CH4ejLIpCfwly"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For some of you, you’ll find that you gravitate toward a benevolent, kind teacher who knows how to encourage you. Others will find that you need a tough personality—a teacher who holds you accountable, challenges you, and gets you out of your comfort zone. If you attend my GRE trial class, you’ll probably find that I’m far from that “drill sergeant.” I certainly hope you’ll enjoy the class, but I’m sure many folks will find they need a teacher who’s a little tougher on them. If that’s you, I know a few other teachers I’d highly recommend. One way or another, you should try a GRE trial class to determine whether your teacher is a good fit for you.</span></p> <h4><b>4. Not just the what, but the why.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, a GRE trial class should leave you not just knowing </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">what</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to work on, but </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">how</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">why.</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;">If you really understand how your memory works, for example, you’ll spend about 1/3 as much time memorizing vocabulary as someone who just makes simple flashcards and churns through them repetitively. In your first class, you may learn the definitions of the words “arcane” and “archaic.” Ideally, you’ll also learn how to tell them apart and how to generate some good flashcards for them:</span></p> <p><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/archaic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Archaic</a> = old (like this old arch)</p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/IoMpkdLUe1JxS" width="343" height="480" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/headlikeanorange-paris-headlikeanorange-arc-de-triomphe-IoMpkdLUe1JxS"></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/arcane" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arcane</a> = mysterious (like the magic spells of a cane-wielding wizard)</p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/3o6ozmARdwc9r6XvgY" width="466" height="480" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/thedailydot-debate-bernie-sanders-democrat-3o6ozmARdwc9r6XvgY"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’ve written a little bit about such memory moves in <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/2017/08/17/multi-meaning-sentences-gre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blog entries like this one</a>. A good class will consistently make you aware of how your brain works and how to use it best. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In your GRE trial class, your teacher will also introduce you to your course books, videos, flashcards, and apps, as well as give you some guidance on how to best approach studying them (hint: it’s definitely not just plowing through page by page, trying to do everything). Ideally, you’ll leave that first class with a crystal-clear game plan for what you should be doing before the next class starts.</span></p> <h4><b>5. Let us know what you think.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hopefully I’ve got you thinking about whether or not you want to attend a GRE trial class and about what you should look for if you do. If you’ve been to a GRE class (whether with Manhattan Prep or some other test prep company), be sure to let us know what you thought about it. Shoot us an email or post about it in the comments below. ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10555 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/08/tom-anderson-150x150.png" alt="tom-anderson" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Anderson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</strong> He has a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in education. Tom has long possessed an understanding of the power of standardized tests in propelling one’s education and career, and he hopes he can help his students see through the intimidating veneer of the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Tom’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/what-is-gre-trial-class/">What Should I Look for in a GRE Trial Class?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Study Like an Athlete: What Rock Climbing Taught Me about the GRE</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/study-like-athlete-rock-climbing-taught-gre/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 26 Apr 2018 18:17:41 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Learning Science]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[error log]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Rock Climbing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Like an Athlete]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=11467</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? Check out our upcoming courses here. I’ve written before about how it’s healthy to think of GRE study more like an athletic event you’re preparing for and less like run-of-the-mill studying. If you study for the […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/study-like-athlete-rock-climbing-taught-gre/">Study Like an Athlete: What Rock Climbing Taught Me about the GRE</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11472" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/04/study-like-athlete-rock-climbing-gre-tom-anderson.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - Study Like an Athlete: What Rock Climbing Taught Me about the GRE by Tom Anderson" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/04/study-like-athlete-rock-climbing-gre-tom-anderson.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/04/study-like-athlete-rock-climbing-gre-tom-anderson-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/04/study-like-athlete-rock-climbing-gre-tom-anderson-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/04/study-like-athlete-rock-climbing-gre-tom-anderson-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><b><i>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’ve </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/2017/09/13/study-like-an-athlete-gre-hacks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">written before</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> about how it’s healthy to think of GRE study more like an athletic event you’re preparing for and less like run-of-the-mill studying. If you study for the GRE by memorizing formulas and glancing at written explanations, you’ll likely get very little out of your study.</span><span id="more-11467"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As a student with some pretty terrible study habits, I first attempted the GRE in the same way I’d always studied. I didn’t do that well. When I prepared to take it a second time, I tapped into my experiences an an athlete and used them as a model for my study. To my happy surprise, I did much better.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I would encourage you to think about GRE prep more like an exercise routine than a typical study session. In this entry, I’ll share a few insights about GRE study from the world of rock climbing. I am by no means an expert rock climber, but I’ve gone from embarrassingly bad to relatively competent in the couple of years I’ve been climbing. Surprisingly enough, I’ve found that climbing has taught me a lot about prepping for the GRE.</span></p> <h4><b>You’re Going to Fall</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/l2Jeizpnn3NJg3wek" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/climbing-mallorca-rock-l2Jeizpnn3NJg3wek"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you decide you’re going to learn how to climb, you have to accept something: you’re going to fall. A lot. In a sport that is fun because it’s challenging, failure is a normal part of the game. Some failures are elegant, and others are really awkward. One way or another, embracing wrongness is an important step toward becoming an expert.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’ve made mistakes on more GRE problems than I can count. And whenever I do make a mistake, I’ll admit, my first impulse is to sweep it someplace dark and dusty where no one will see it again.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Over the course of my GRE study, that impulse has gradually changed. I started getting more comfortable with being wrong. Unlike in one’s personal life or career where mistakes can be embarrassing and harmful, mistakes on standardized tests are totally benign. Nothing bad happens to you when you forget a vocabulary word or fail to carry a negative sign. In your GRE study, embrace your wrongness and listen for whatever it has to teach you. Start by making an </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/2017/12/06/careless-gre-math-mistakes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">error log</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h4><b>Repeat the Hard Stuff, Over and Over</b></h4> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/3o6MbsKR6cE6HSjYK4" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/climbing-mallorca-rock-3o6MbsKR6cE6HSjYK4"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When a climber completes a hard route for the first time, it’s often pretty sloppy. Fingers slip around awkwardly on a little hold. Toes go flying off the wall. But somehow, miraculously, the climber reaches the top. At that point, they might be tempted to check it off the list and then move on to another climb. Not so fast. Good climbers do repeats. They might do this 3 or 4 or even 10 times before they move on to something else.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I frequently see my GRE students make a similar study mistake. Rather than go back and re-solve problems that gave them trouble, they just try finish each chapter in their books. Even worse, they spend their time reading explanations of how to solve the problems rather than actually going back and doing them again.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even if you theoretically understand how to do a problem, you really have to go through the motions—and do it a few times—before you master a problem. A good rule of thumb: do every missed problem a second time, 4 days after your first try. Do this problem a minimum of four times before you check it off your list.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Consider keeping a folder full of problem screenshots. You can pull them straight from your CAT exams and from the e-book versions of the Strategy Guides. If you keep your target problems in a special place and come back to them routinely, you’ll improve so much faster than you would if you just moved on.</span></p> <h4><b>Make It Look Easy</b></h4> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/hcixpHXTfyOoE" width="480" height="218" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/climbing-hcixpHXTfyOoE"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you ever watch really good rock climbers in action, you’ll notice something curious: they make it look incredibly easy. I’m often inspired enough by this sight that I’ll take a crack at the same route, only to collapse on the floor, unable to get off the ground.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sometimes it may feel like “expert test takers” do the same thing. They have such an easy time taking a test like the GRE that it appears as if they put no effort into it at all. While it might be tempting to write it off as “being a good test taker,” what we’re really seeing is the product of lots of </span><a href="http://calnewport.com/blog/2010/01/06/the-grandmaster-in-the-corner-office-what-the-study-of-chess-experts-teaches-us-about-building-a-remarkable-life/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">deliberate practice</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Whether whizzing through standardized tests or looking like Spiderman on a rock wall, experts master their respective fields in remarkably similar ways: they repeatedly come back to their particular weaknesses—anything that feels slow or funky—and work on them until they feel easy.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the world of the GRE, this means you shouldn’t just be repeating the problems you got incorrect. The most important ones to work on are the ones you almost got wrong. If you can get a problem correct in an ugly way, you can probably learn to get it correct in a faster, smoother, and easier way.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If fraction mechanics like the ones in the back of the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/strategy-guides/fractions-decimals-and-percents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fractions, Decimals, and Percents Strategy Guide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> usually take you 30 seconds to complete, time yourself until you can get them down to 10 seconds apiece. Not only will this make all sorts of related problems feel easier to you, but you’ll save a lot of time as well. 20 seconds saved here and there throughout the test adds up to a few problems you would have never been able to attempt if you were moving slowly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And the really cool part about this? </span><a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3d2b/7c60698c58c410ba6c006613a7c38c77c27e.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Research</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> seems to indicate that stuff really does become easy when you practice it enough. Compared to novices, expert chess players and problem solvers show less activity in their brains while they work.</span></p> <h4><b>Don’t Look Down</b></h4> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/3o6MbnoFPEu0miPkc0" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/climbing-rock-3o6MbnoFPEu0miPkc0"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After climbing for a few years, I somehow convinced my 58-year-old mother—a woman with a healthy fear of heights and a strong desire to stay alive—to come out and do a day of rock climbing with me. To my utter astonishment, she not only tried it, but shot up the rock wall with ease. Then, about 60 feet off of the ground, she turned around to wave at those of us back on the ground. In a flash of terror, she realized where she was, panicked, and demanded to be brought down immediately.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Later, after she was down safely on the ground, she remarked at how carefree she felt while climbing and how suddenly the fear took hold of her when she realized where she was. Most of us have had some kind of experience like this: as long as your attention is on the move in front of you, you’re fine. The second you start thinking about the big picture, panic sets in.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The same thing can definitely occur during a GRE exam. It is a challenging exam that is tied in to your grad school future—a fact that has a way of inducing tunnel vision and sweaty palms. Halfway through your test, you’ll be solving a problem about something random, say, circles. As long as you’re thinking about circles, you’ll be fine. But you may find yourself plagued with less helpful thoughts:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There are only 10 minutes left in this section.”<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What if I’m only in an easy section right now? I can’t be doing well.”</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What will my friends think when I tell them my score?”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First, know that a little bit of stress can actually be healthy—it fuels you to do better than you would if you didn’t care so much about the test. If the stress becomes too great, though, you can center yourself by taking a deep breath and taking a moment to be mindful of the present. Give yourself a brief internal mantra: “I’m getting this one right.” In other words, you don’t care about the problem you just saw or the problem you’re about to see. You’re focused only on the one right in front of you.</span></p> <h4><b>Keep on Climbing Toward Those 170s</b></h4> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/ef87nHRSxZcI0" width="480" height="269" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/rock-sport-climbing-ef87nHRSxZcI0"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are numerous analogies for study—from running a marathon to preparing for a piano recital. One way or another, think of it more like a performance you’re preparing for and less like a study checklist to move through. And whatever your metaphor of choice, remember these few big ideas from the world of rock climbing:</span></p> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do old problems over again. Try any missed problem a second time 4 days later.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Repeat old problems until you can do them without all the missteps along the way.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Work on mechanics until they feel easy. You’ll want all the brain power and time you can get for the hard problems.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keep focused on the problem at hand. If your mind wanders or anxiety overtakes you, center yourself with the mantra “I’m getting this one right.”</span></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Happy studying! ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10555 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/08/tom-anderson-150x150.png" alt="tom-anderson" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Anderson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</strong> He has a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in education. Tom has long possessed an understanding of the power of standardized tests in propelling one’s education and career, and he hopes he can help his students see through the intimidating veneer of the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Tom’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/study-like-athlete-rock-climbing-taught-gre/">Study Like an Athlete: What Rock Climbing Taught Me about the GRE</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/answer-choice-d-gre/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 28 Mar 2018 19:06:30 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Quant]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Math]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Quantitative Comparison]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Taking the GRE]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Answer Choice D]]></category> <category><![CDATA[probability]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=11418</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? Check out our upcoming courses here. If you’ve ever taken a GRE, you’ve encountered something like this: This is a good ole GRE Quantitative Comparison question—a “QC” for short. They’re always the first questions you see […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/answer-choice-d-gre/">To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11449" src="//cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/d-not-d-gre-question-answer-choices-tom-anderson.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question by Tom Anderson" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/d-not-d-gre-question-answer-choices-tom-anderson.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/d-not-d-gre-question-answer-choices-tom-anderson-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/d-not-d-gre-question-answer-choices-tom-anderson-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/d-not-d-gre-question-answer-choices-tom-anderson-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><b><i>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></span></p> <hr /> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you’ve ever taken a GRE, you’ve encountered something like this:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11419" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question by Tom Anderson" width="471" height="157" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-1.png 471w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-1-300x100.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 471px) 100vw, 471px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a good ole GRE Quantitative Comparison question—a “QC” for short. They’re always the first questions you see on the test. And they always have the same answer choices. </span><span id="more-11418"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A, B, and C are fairly straightforward. Is quantity A bigger? Quantity B? Or are they both equal? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer choice D, on the other hand, has a way of driving test-takers mad on the GRE. If you took even the most benign question in the world and stuck on an answer choice that said “it cannot be determined from the information given,” that choice would sow the seeds of uncertainty. I can picture it now:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Question 1: What’s 4 + 5?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(A) 9<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(B) 6<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(C) 4<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(D) It cannot be determined from the information given.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Ah! I don’t know! I mean, I thought I knew how to add. But now that I see answer choice D, I just don’t know anymore!”</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/RZQIIUO9qrTRC" width="480" height="327" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/televandalist-hamlet-RZQIIUO9qrTRC"></a></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">To D or not to D on the GRE – that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of proving an answer choice like A, B, or C, or to take arms against a sea of certainty, and pick D.</span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Okay, okay… I’ll stop. And if you’re thinking this way, so should you. There is no need to wax poetic and become the Hamlet of standardized tests, paralyzed between D and the other choices. A good GRE test-taker is pretty skeptical—but not too skeptical. Fail to exercise enough skepticism and you fall for a trap answer. Exercise too much skepticism and you never get done with any of the questions.</span></p> <h4><b>Seems Like = Wrong Answer</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How do you tell the difference between one with enough information and one without? Compare these two problems. One of them is D. The other is not. Can you tell the difference?</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11420" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-2.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question by Tom Anderson" width="592" height="212" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-2.png 592w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-2-300x107.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 592px) 100vw, 592px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take a look at that triangle problem; we’ll come back to the other one afterwards.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I don’t know about you, but something immediately pops into my head when I see this triangle. My flashcard memory sees “triangle…3…4…” and immediately thinks “5!” A 3-4-5 triangle is one of the very famous Pythagorean triples. Sure enough, if you square 3 and add it to 4 squared, you get 5 squared—it gets the Pythagorean stamp of approval. Pick C and move on.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Actually, wait a second. If you do that, you miss the question. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A 3-4-5 triangle is in fact a famous </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">right </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">triangle. If you were tempted to pick C here, ask yourself what you were assuming. They never told you this was a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">right</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> triangle. It could just as easily be something else. Geometric figures are not necessarily drawn to scale on the GRE. Just because something “looks like” a right triangle doesn’t mean it is. If you’re ever answering a question because it “looks like” or “seems like” something, you’re getting it wrong.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11421" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-3.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question by Tom Anderson" width="604" height="259" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-3.png 604w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-3-300x129.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Admittedly, this problem is pretty annoying, but the GRE is a pretty nit-picky test. I picture a pedantic little gremlin, cackling to himself, writing questions like this one. He might be pretty irritating, but you can learn to play his game. Remember: If it feels too easy, it probably is. All it takes is a brief, skeptical self-check to make sure you’re on solid ground before you answer.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/8IhDpeAusu4ww" width="480" height="252" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/cub-8IhDpeAusu4ww"></a></p> <h4><b>It’s Not You, It’s Me</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, look at the second question. This one is definitely </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">not</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> going to be D. Why not?</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11422" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-4.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question by Tom Anderson" width="326" height="152" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-4.png 326w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-4-300x140.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 326px) 100vw, 326px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First, note that many people mistake “I can’t solve it” with “It’s unsolvable.” Notice how they give you incredibly difficult math to solve in quantity A? I imagine most folks solving this problem—especially on a timed test—will look at it in befuddlement, realize their calculator won’t help them, and eventually give up and guess. </span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/wloGlwOXKijy8" width="480" height="271" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/wloGlwOXKijy8"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many of them will guess D—and they’ll get it wrong. If you look a little deeper at quantity A, you’ll see it refers to an actual value that you could theoretically find if you had a giant calculator with a 3-foot-long screen. This kind of situation always results in a correct answer of A, B, or C. (Take that great big number, divide it by 11, and you’ll end up with some specific amount left over. It’ll be 4, or something a little bigger or smaller.)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It takes some guts to throw in the towel on a difficult question, and it takes some humility to distinguish an inability to solve on your part from the general “unsolvability” of a problem. If it seems impossible to solve, ask yourself if it’s the problem that’s making it impossible or if it’s you not knowing how to do it. If it’s you, a reasonable guess is anything other than D. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Back to this particular problem. If I’m honest with you, I’ve never bothered to calculate n and divide it by 11—and I wouldn’t try to do so on a real test. Instead, solve a simpler problem as the key to unlocking the more difficult one. If you started testing these powers of 10 by adding 4 and then dividing them by 11, you’ll notice a pattern:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">14… 104… 1004… 10004… 100004…</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">14/11 leaves a remainder of 3</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">104/11 leaves a remainder of 5</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">1004/11 leaves a remainder of 3</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">10004/11 leaves a remainder of 5</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the cases where 10 is raised to an even power, the remainder is 5. So the answer to this QC question is A.</span></p> <h4><b>Test Before You Guess </b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The question of whether or not to pick D remains a vexing one. In the middle of a tough QC question—one that just doesn’t seem to have all of the information you need—when is it best to solve through and get some kind of answer? And when is it best to just pick D and move on?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take a look at this one. What does your gut instinct tell you the answer is?</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11423" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-5.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question by Tom Anderson" width="313" height="315" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-5.png 313w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-5-150x150.png 150w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-5-298x300.png 298w" sizes="(max-width: 313px) 100vw, 313px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are definitely a lot of unknowns here. We don’t know exact values for any of our variables. At first glance, w, m, n, and z could be any positive integers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But they gave you a line on a coordinate plane. Why on earth did they do that?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here is a much simpler variation of this problem. Let’s try it and then come back. What would your answer be here?</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11424" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-6.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question by Tom Anderson" width="254" height="105" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With hardly any constraints at all, I’m almost 100% certain that this one will be D. For good measure, I’ll put a few numbers on my paper anyway. If c and d are 1 and 2, but a and b are 100 and 101, then B would be bigger. Reverse those values and A could also be bigger. The correct choice here would be D.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now go back to the other problem. Try exactly the same thing. Put some numbers to your paper to confirm whatever intuition you had about the answer.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11425" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-7.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question by Tom Anderson" width="322" height="303" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-7.png 322w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-7-300x282.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For this problem, it might seem like “anything goes.” But you’re actually limited to putting in only certain kinds of numbers for w, m, n, and z. For (w, m) your x value has to be bigger than your y value. (You ran further than you rose.) The opposite is true for (n, z). Try setting (w, m) equal to (4, 2). And set (n, z) equal to (2, 4). You’ll notice quantity B is asking you to add the smaller values together. A is adding the larger values. Thus, your answer is A.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whatever your initial thought about this problem, you’ll likely find that you become a stronger problem solver if you combine an instinct about the answers with a simple number test. It’s much safer to pick a choice when you’ve proved it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sometimes you’re going to feel lazy. Or tired. Or rushed for time. It’s cases like these where a simple number test will save you from a bad guess.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/Fig1uR9DGHf6E" width="480" height="269" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/playing-toy-lazy-Fig1uR9DGHf6E"></a></p> <h4><b>In Order to Beat the GRE Gremlin, BE the Gremlin</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Earlier, I mentioned that the GRE can often be a pedantic test—it loves to lead you into traps and test you on the limits of your knowledge. When I studied for the test, I found myself laughing out loud and thinking, “Hah! You thought you had me, you GRE gremlin-demon, you! I’m not falling for your trap!”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yes, my roommates at the time were a little concerned. But I think this attitude helped me get the score I wanted.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you can learn to see the GRE like a game—and particularly if you can learn to test the limits in that game—you’ll find that you become much more aware of the trap choices and how to avoid them.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Check out this problem from the Official Guide. </span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11426" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/03/ta-9-image-8.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question by Tom Anderson" width="280" height="207" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The problem tells you almost nothing about that quadrilateral. There are so many options. It certainly seems like the answer should be D. Pencil down. No math done.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But is that an answer or a guess? If I put my pencil down, am I being wise by saving some time? Or am I just being lazy and going on “math autopilot?”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This one does in fact happen to be D, but with a little change it could very well have another answer. Think about how you would rewrite it if you were that evil GRE gremlin, seeking to make it just a little bit harder. What would be a more deceptive value to write in for quantity B? I have an idea that would likely fool a lot of test-takers. What about you? If you’ve got a suggestion, write it in the comments below.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/3ofT5RnMByv6D7jEmk" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/filmeditor-christmas-movies-gremlins-3ofT5RnMByv6D7jEmk"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thinking like a test-writer will hone your sense of skepticism. When you study, making moves like this will sharpen your sense of what’s D and what’s not.</span></p> <h4><b>Ay, There’s the Rub</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I don’t know if I’ve got you thinking you’ve mastered QC or if I’ve got you questioning everything you thought you knew in math. In the long-run, a well-cultivated level of skepticism and a game-like approach to QC will make you a better test-taker. Get out there and crush some QC questions on the GRE. Happy studying! ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10555 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/08/tom-anderson-150x150.png" alt="tom-anderson" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Anderson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</strong> He has a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in education. Tom has long possessed an understanding of the power of standardized tests in propelling one’s education and career, and he hopes he can help his students see through the intimidating veneer of the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Tom’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/answer-choice-d-gre/">To D or Not to D on the GRE — That is the Question</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>7 GRE Study Habits of Highly-Effective Students</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-study-habits-highly-effective-students/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 28 Feb 2018 20:10:12 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Challenge Problems]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Learning Science]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Flipped Homework]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Study Habits]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Timing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Pomodoro Technique]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Scrap Paper]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=11362</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? Check out our upcoming courses here. 30 minutes of highly-focused study beats 2 hours of “half-studying.” I’d like to share with you a little study mantra. This is something I firmly and absolutely believe to be true: […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-study-habits-highly-effective-students/">7 GRE Study Habits of Highly-Effective Students</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11375" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/02/gre-study-habits-highly-effective-students-tom-anderson.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - 7 GRE Study Habits of Highly-Effective Students by Tom Anderson" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/02/gre-study-habits-highly-effective-students-tom-anderson.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/02/gre-study-habits-highly-effective-students-tom-anderson-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/02/gre-study-habits-highly-effective-students-tom-anderson-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/02/gre-study-habits-highly-effective-students-tom-anderson-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><b><i>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? </i><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></a><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <h4><b>30 minutes of highly-focused study beats 2 hours of “half-studying.”</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’d like to share with you a little study mantra. This is something I firmly and absolutely believe to be true: “30 minutes of highly-focused study is far better than 2 hours of half-studying.” As much as one might try to make up for poor GRE study habits by slogging through a multi-hour weekend marathon session, it just doesn’t work. There are so many reasons to avoid such lengthy study sessions—increasing fatigue, impaired retention, general painfulness of sitting there for so long…</span><span id="more-11362"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you study this way, not only will you fail to improve, but you’ll teach yourself to hate the GRE in the process.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead of bashing the practice of lengthy “half-studying” sessions, let’s focus in on exactly what makes a study session “highly-focused.” I don’t think this is the norm for study, by any means. And I don’t think one achieves it easily or automatically. Here are a few things you can do to hit that golden-standard study session and develop good GRE study habits:</span></p> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spend 90% of your time solving and 10% reading—not the other way around.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you do read, read with a purpose.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Time the problems. You can go back if you need to, just be aware of the time.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Embed reflection at the end of every problem set. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Study short—no more than 30-45 minutes without a break.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Treat scrap paper as a precious resource. Document meticulously.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mix old and new. Every session should include some throwbacks.</span></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Let’s get into a little more detail on how exactly to pull this off:</span></p> <h4><b>1. Read Only What You Need</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/3oEduPlMkw4LZE7624" width="480" height="300" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/newspaper-baboon-office-monkey-3oEduPlMkw4LZE7624"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Often in my GRE classes, a student will come to me after 3 or 4 weeks and tell me they’ve fallen way behind in the homework. They keep reading and working but never seem to finish even a tiny portion of what’s assigned. More often than not, the problem is too much reading.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Certainly, there’s a need for reading here and there. If you’ve forgotten your exponent rules, for example, you’ll need to look them up, hear them explained, and read a little bit about why they work the way they do. But reading has a pernicious tendency to eat up all of your time before you ever get to the good stuff. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you only ever read explanations about how to solve problems, you get really good at hearing problems explained, but not necessarily at doing them yourself. It’s a bit like watching Bobby Flay cook. It feels like you’re learning, but when you actually end up in the kitchen yourself, you end up with nothing but burnt Hot Pockets and a giant pile of dirty dishes.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s much better to do your homework flipped. Start every 30-minute session with 3-5 problems solved. Flip to the back of the chapter first if you’re using the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/strategy-guides/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Manhattan Prep Strategy Guides</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. If you can do the problems… great! Don’t bother reading how to do them. If the problems are a struggle, go back and read whatever you need.</span></p> <h4><b>2. Read Like a Homing Missile</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/GDiDCTh9AjbiM" width="480" height="372" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/space-nasa-test-GDiDCTh9AjbiM"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you do read the chapter, read with a mission. If you tried a few problems first, make note of what you didn’t know how to do, then skim back and find that part of the chapter. If you’ve had an experience of struggle before you read, you’ll be much more likely to home in on that particular nugget you needed to unlock the problems. Nothing makes reading stick in your memory like the thought, “Oh, dang! </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;">how you do it. I wish I knew that 10 minutes ago.”</span></p> <h4><b>3. Time Each Question</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/xT9KVBrK92mLCTDsys" width="480" height="260" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/filmeditor-horror-evil-dead-the-xT9KVBrK92mLCTDsys"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GRE is a timed test. You have, on average, 1:45 per Quant question and 1:30 per Verbal question. That might sound brisk… because it most definitely is. Pretty much everyone who takes this test finds themselves pushed for time. When you practice, get used to this feeling. Learn what it feels like to blow 5 minutes on a problem—and then learn to cut yourself off before you get to that point. This doesn’t mean you’re giving up entirely. It means you are recognizing what you can and can’t do within the time limit and then going back untimed to straighten things out.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, I totally understand that timing can be stressful. If you find that cutthroat time limits are a bit too much for you, at least run the timer in the background. If you aren’t comfortable cutting yourself off, at least learn to be aware of your timing. You can bring in the cutoffs later, once you’re on firmer footing. </span></p> <h4><b>4. Embed Reflection: The Two-Pen Method</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/OooCfM8WuHPc4" width="480" height="480" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/sharpie-art-motion-OooCfM8WuHPc4"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you’ve done a timed problem or set of problems and you’re ready to review, what’s the first thing you do? Check the answer key?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Not so fast.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before you consult a key, switch into review mode. Try to become your own answer key. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I make this switch, I make it official with a symbolic switch of my writing implements. Solving problems timed gets a black pen or pencil. Review gets a bright blue or pink. This allows me to fix mistakes, highlight paths that didn’t go so well, and write myself big-picture notes for next time that stand out among the scribbles.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I do all of this before checking the key. If I can catch my own mistake and teach myself how to do the problem better, I’ll definitely remember it. If I have to rely on someone else to explain, I at least go back and rephrase it in my own words as a message to myself. My notebook is littered with phrases like “Watch out for negatives in inequalities questions,” “don’t mix up median and mean,” and “learn to recognize the special quadratics.” Since I do all of these notes in a nice bright color, I have a really easy way to figure out what was important—even weeks or months after the fact.</span></p> <h4><b>5. Time the Session and Study Shorter</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/l2Je66zG6mAAZxgqI" width="480" height="366" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/season-10-the-simpsons-10x22-l2Je66zG6mAAZxgqI"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition to timing individual problems or short sets, use your timing to document your overall session. In general, human attention starts to wane at around 30 minutes. There’s a whole school of thought around instilling disciplined timing strategies as a way to be a more effective studier and worker—check out the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pomodoro technique</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, for example. They recommend using a buzzer that goes off every 25 minutes, reminding you to take a short, mandatory 5-minute break. You do this a few times in succession and then call the study session complete.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In my own practice, I’ve found that the perfect GRE study session starts with about 5 problems timed in a 10-minute set. It then includes about 15 minutes of re-solving, reflection, and documenting patterns. It ends with a few minutes consulting reading or other materials to put together some notes, flash cards, or big-picture takeaways for the next time. Beyond that, most time tends to get wasted. Walk outside. Pet the dog. Send some texts. Do something to hit the reset button on your brain before you get back to it.</span></p> <h4><b>6. Your Scrap Paper is Gold</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/zz1v8vjwQwTja" width="480" height="360" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/life-people-my-zz1v8vjwQwTja"></a></p> <p></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I do one-on-one tutoring, I always ask my students to bring in their scrap paper from the week. This ends up telling us so much more than a particular practice test score or checklist of problems completed. If you’re doing a good job with your scrap paper, you can pick it up one week later, find the problem you were doing, and then follow the logic you used to solve it. If your paper organization isn’t this clear, learn to:</span></p> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Label every problem’s page number and source so you can go back and find it if you need to.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Identify variables and quantities on your paper clearly enough that you can figure them out when you come back to them.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Write your takeaways in the margins (preferably in a clear format or with a different color) so that you can refer to them regularly.</span></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you do this in every session, you’ll accumulate a gold mine of insights about yourself as a problem-solver. You’ll learn what you do well and what you do badly. You’ll learn what your </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/2017/12/06/careless-gre-math-mistakes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">careless mistakes</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are. And if you start to notice and document your careless mistakes, you’ll become more aware of them, treat them with a little more care, and then stop making them.</span></p> <h4><b>7. Do It Again</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You don’t have to do all the pages in all the books. You’d never be able to make it through all of the problems. (Have you seen the size of the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/strategy-guides/5-pound-book-gre-practice-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5 lb. Book</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, for crying out loud??) If that’s a goal of yours, know that it’s probably fueled much more by an obsessive compulsion than it is by genuine wisdom about how to get better at the GRE.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Good GRE study habits include a vast amount of circling back. There are numerous ways to do this, but my weapon of choice was a screenshotted “target problems” folder. At the end of a few study sessions—usually about once a week—I would go back through every missed problem, every problem that got a bit funky, and every problem that took me a long time. I’d screenshot them, save them in a folder on my computer, and then solve them again 2, 3, or 4 times before I’d call them done. You’d be surprised how often you kinda-sorta-maybe remember how to solve a problem, even after seeing the exact same thing multiple times over. After this happens a few times, you’ll start to internalize the process for getting it right. And that process will stay with you when you see a new problem. After all, the GRE is a pretty patterned test. They go after the same moves and ideas over and over and over again.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you want to get better at it, so should you.</span></p> <h4><b>7 GRE Study Habits of Highly-Effective Students, in Summary</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maybe you’ve heard the old saying “you play like you practice.” If you practice badly, you’ll score badly on the real test. If you practice well and develop good GRE study habits, you’ll crush it. You’ll also save yourself a boatload<strong>*</strong> of time you could use for, oh, I don’t know… any of the 1,000 other things you’d rather be doing than studying? Study hard. Do it right the first time. And then you won’t have to worry about that nagging feeling hanging over your head any longer. Speaking of studying, what are you doing reading this article? Hit the books, my friend! ?</span></p> <h5><strong>*</strong><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Boatload</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is not exactly a GRE vocab word. Maybe we could substitute </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">plethora</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">abundance</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">plenitude</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">deluge</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">torrent</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, or any other of the boatload of synonyms out there? Shoot me some suggestions in the comments! </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">?</span></h5> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10555 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/08/tom-anderson-150x150.png" alt="tom-anderson" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Anderson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</strong> He has a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in education. Tom has long possessed an understanding of the power of standardized tests in propelling one’s education and career, and he hopes he can help his students see through the intimidating veneer of the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Tom’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-study-habits-highly-effective-students/">7 GRE Study Habits of Highly-Effective Students</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-riddle-doubling-average-rate/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2018 17:39:43 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Challenge Problems]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Quant]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Math]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Average Rate]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Doubling the Average Rate]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Math Riddle]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=11286</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? Check out our upcoming courses here. Here’s a GRE math riddle: This isn’t exactly a GRE question, but solving it tells you something absolutely crucial about “average rate” questions—which definitely are on the GRE. So take […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-riddle-doubling-average-rate/">GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11331" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/gre-math-riddle-doubling-average-rate-tom-anderson.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/gre-math-riddle-doubling-average-rate-tom-anderson.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/gre-math-riddle-doubling-average-rate-tom-anderson-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/gre-math-riddle-doubling-average-rate-tom-anderson-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/gre-math-riddle-doubling-average-rate-tom-anderson-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><b><i>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i></i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here’s a GRE math riddle:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11287" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="635" height="96" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-1.png 635w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-1-300x45.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 635px) 100vw, 635px" /><span id="more-11286"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This isn’t exactly a GRE question, but solving it tells you something absolutely crucial about “average rate” questions—which definitely are on the GRE. So take a minute and think about it before you read any further.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">…</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(I trust you’re doing some good thinking on your own first. It wouldn’t really be a GRE math riddle if I just gave you the answer. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">?</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">….</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(Still thinking? Cool. Keep scrolling when you’re ready to discuss.)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">…</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alright, now let’s talk. Like I said, you’d never get something like this on the GRE. But it’s so worth thinking about, I say we play around with it for the rest of this blog entry. First, let’s discuss an obvious answer. An obvious answer that also happens to be a wrong answer: 150 mph.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you took a direct average of 150 and 50, you’d get 100.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the good old-fashioned average formula, that looks like:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11288" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-2.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="406" height="74" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-2.png 406w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-2-300x55.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 406px) 100vw, 406px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But, like I said, 150 mph is incorrect for our question. Average speed is not a direct average of two numbers. And it actually follows a slightly more nuanced formula:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11289" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-3.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="255" height="55" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Let’s keep playing around with 150 mph to see why it fails. If we plug our given information into the rate formula, we’ll be able to crank out everything else we need.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the first lap:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11290" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-4.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="248" height="57" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dividing both sides of the equation by 50, you can solve for T. The time it takes for the first lap is 2 hours. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">And for the 2</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">nd</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lap:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11291" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-5.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="254" height="57" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We divide both sides by 100 mph and solve for T. The time it takes for the 2</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">nd</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lap is 100/150… or about .66 hours. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since each lap was 100 miles, the journey totals 200 miles.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since the first lap took 2 hours and the second lap took .66 hours, the total time is 2.66 hours.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11292" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-6.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="518" height="79" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-6.png 518w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-6-300x46.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 518px) 100vw, 518px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Not only does 150 mph fail to double our average speed for the whole trip, it actually falls quite a bit short of the overall average of 100 mph we were shooting for. Just for reference, here’s the riddle again:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11293" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-7.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="632" height="101" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-7.png 632w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-7-300x48.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Doubling the car’s speed for the overall trip requires it to go quite a bit faster on the 2</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">nd</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lap than it went on the first. Let’s try plugging in a pretty outlandish guess to see what happens. Say the car burns some serious rubber and comes zipping through the 2</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">nd</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lap at a speed of 400 miles per hour.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11294" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-8.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="244" height="71" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The car would make quick work of 100 miles, finishing in just ¼ of an hour.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Plug that in with the time and distance of the first lap, just like we did before:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11295" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-9.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="532" height="49" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-9.png 532w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-9-300x28.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 532px) 100vw, 532px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s definitely faster, but it’s still not even close to the 100 miles per hour we were shooting for. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now let’s cut to the chase. What’s the answer to the GRE math riddle???</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The car would need to go </span><b><i>infinitely fast</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for the 2</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">nd</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lap in order to obtain double its average speed. Even if it was travelling at 5,000 miles per hour, the car wouldn’t quite be able to double its average speed. That’s because it would have to be done with the 2</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">nd</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lap at the exact moment the lap started. To get an average speed of 100 miles per hour, we’d need this:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11296" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-10.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="639" height="44" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-10.png 639w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-10-300x21.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pretty crazy, right? Think about that the next time you’re driving to work. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Actually, don’t. Focus on driving safely. Driving and mathematics are probably a somewhat dangerous pair to combine.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you’ve got the kind of nerdy friends who are open to it, try asking them this same math riddle. I’m admittedly pretty nerdy, and I tend to hang with a somewhat nerdy crowd, but I’ve found that this question gets some pretty reliable mental fireworks going.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/xT0xeJpnrWC4XWblEk" width="480" height="320" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/whoa-hd-tim-and-eric-xT0xeJpnrWC4XWblEk"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Enjoy! And maybe now you’ve got a good way to truly remember that average rate formula (which definitely <em>is</em> tested on the GRE):</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11297" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-7-image-11.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate by Tom Anderson" width="246" height="53" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Happy studying! ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10555 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/08/tom-anderson-150x150.png" alt="tom-anderson" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Anderson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</strong> He has a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in education. Tom has long possessed an understanding of the power of standardized tests in propelling one’s education and career, and he hopes he can help his students see through the intimidating veneer of the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Tom’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-math-riddle-doubling-average-rate/">GRE Math Riddle: Doubling the Average Rate</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/remember-gre-vocab-words/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jan 2018 18:44:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Text Completion]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Vocab Words]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=11243</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? Check out our upcoming courses here. I’m going to give you two options. Which do you think would be more beneficial for your GRE Verbal score? 1) You are granted the ability (via some kind of […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/remember-gre-vocab-words/">The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11255" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/perils-half-remembered-gre-vocab-words-tom-anderson.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - The Perils of Half-Forgotten GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/perils-half-remembered-gre-vocab-words-tom-anderson.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/perils-half-remembered-gre-vocab-words-tom-anderson-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/perils-half-remembered-gre-vocab-words-tom-anderson-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/perils-half-remembered-gre-vocab-words-tom-anderson-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><b><i>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i></i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’m going to give you two options. Which do you think would be more beneficial for your GRE Verbal score?</span><span id="more-11243"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">1) You are granted the ability (via some kind of magic lightning bolt) to memorize 500 GRE vocab words instantly with really thorough definitions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">2) You are granted the ability (via some similar magic bolt) to memorize </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">the gist</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of 1000 GRE vocab words instantly.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/12071fYBO811v2" width="480" height="276" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/movie-film-90s-12071fYBO811v2"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So which would you choose—fewer words memorized in detail or more words memorized halfway?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In my years teaching the GRE, this is actually something I’ve put a little thought into. Of course, there are no magic bolts (that I know of) which enable you to instantly memorize GRE vocab words. But every GRE student does face a similar dilemma: is it better to memorize more words sloppily or fewer words with greater precision? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If I had a choice like the one above, I’d choose option #1, hands-down. In my opinion, 500 really solid definitions are a lot more useful than 1000 tenuous definitions. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why? Because the people who make the GRE Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions deliberately test you on the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">nuances</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of definitions. A half-definition is usually more dangerous than no definition at all.</span></p> <h4><b>I. What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You (But What You Halfway Know Can Hurt You Worse)</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here’s a little quiz. Pause for a second, stop reading the article, and write down the clearest definitions of these GRE vocab words you’re able to conjure. If you don’t have paper around… at least state a definition to yourself and try to remember the terms you used.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11244" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="629" height="286" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-1.png 629w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-1-300x136.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now compare your results with these, taken from </span><a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS696US696&q=Dictionary" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Google Dictionary</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The accuracy of a definition is not a matter of black-and-white or right-or-wrong. Think of yours falling somewhere on a spectrum of accuracy. Where did they fall? Mostly accurate? Halfway there? Totally unknown?</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11245" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-2.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="719" height="179" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-2.png 719w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-2-300x75.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is most definitely a good practice to push as many GRE vocab words as possible toward the green end of this spectrum. If you can use a word fluently, then you’ll likely know whether or not it fits a given fill-in-the-blank question. That said, we all have limited time and resources. Inevitably, many of the </span><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_good_word/2006/04/word_count.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">~1,000,000 words that make up the English language</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> will elude us. You don’t need to memorize all of the words and you don’t need to get all of them to the point of perfection. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In your vocabulary memorization practice, though, you should not let words sit in the “red zone” outlined above. </span><b>Words partly known are often more harmful than words you don’t know at all.</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To illustrate, look at the results of a couple of “students” doing the same little exercise you just did. We’ve got Beauregard’s and Antoine’s answers to the same little mini-quiz listed below:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11246" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-3.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="609" height="137" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-3.png 609w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-3-300x67.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 609px) 100vw, 609px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It might be tempting to think that Beauregard has a slight edge on his GRE exam, but I’d argue that his answers are much more problematic than Antoine’s. Admitting you don’t know is much better than faking it. Beauregard scribbled out some half-answers and complete guesses; in the process, he whipped up some truly nebulous concoctions: fragments of connotations swirled into a cocktail of forgotten contexts and misremembered details. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Such half-remembered definitions are more likely to be harmful to your GRE Verbal score. Here are a few reasons why:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">1) Connotations matter: The GRE loves to test you on the nuances of words. Especially in Sentence Equivalence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">2) Denotations matter: The GRE loves to test you on precise definitions—and it often tests you on less-common second and third definitions too.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">3) Context matters: The GRE also loves to test you on the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">idiomatic usage</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of words. Practice the “correct” use of those words in context.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">4) Finally, and most importantly, GRE vocab words you don’t know at all can become strategic wildcards. It’s tempting to choose a word you half-know by “forcing” it to fit the blank in the sentence. If you admit that you don’t know, you won’t be lulled into picking a half-known word that you’re more comfortable with.</span></p> <h4><b>II. Embrace the Wildcard</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GRE vocab words you don’t know become strategic wildcards. Consider, for example, this mockup of a Text Completion question:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">After a long day of toilsome labor in the fields, the farmer’s energy level deteriorated and she felt quite ________________.</span></i></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11247" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-4.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="132" height="113" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yeah, I know, that last word is in Chinese. And no, of course that won’t happen on the real exam, but humor me for a minute. Even though one word is in Chinese, I bet you can still get this question correct. Do any of the other words fit?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Working a long day in the fields does not usually make one excited or purple. Maybe you could make a case for sad, but there is no direct link to what the sentence is talking about. And the same goes for “angry.” There is no direct clue for any of those words in the sentence. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So what’s the right answer? Lei. It’s Chinese for “tired.” That’s a perfect fit for this sentence. Obviously you’d never be put in this position on the real exam—they don’t include other languages in the answer choices. Similar situations do arise on the GRE, though. Despite memorizing hundreds of GRE vocab words, you’ll likely encounter a few that you don’t know on the real exam. When you have a breakdown like this… </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11248" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-5.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="232" height="107" /><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">…pick the one you don’t know.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you treat the unknown GRE vocab words like strategic “wildcards,” you’re still in a really good spot to get the questions correct. Pick the wildcard if you have no other word that makes a good fit.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Note that this only works if you admit what you don’t know. If, instead, you were in a situation like this… </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">After a long day of toilsome labor in the fields, the farmer’s energy level deteriorated and she felt quite ________________.</span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11249" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-6.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="185" height="180" /><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">…it would be much harder to make an accurate guess. Even if the right word is still choice E, you’d be lost in a sea of half-definitions, tempted to pick something that sorta-kinda seemed like it should fit. And on the GRE, something that “seems right” usually results in wrong answers.</span></p> <h4><b>III. Bringing It Back to Reality</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We’ve journeyed down a few hypothetical rabbit holes in this blog entry, so let’s bring it back to the actual test. Here’s a question from the </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/official-guides-for-gre/official-guide-gre-revised-general-test/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Official Guide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. It’s actually the “hardest” question in the entire book—only 10 percent of students got it correct when it was live on the real GRE exam. I bet that if you admit when you don’t know the meanings of words, you’ll have a pretty good shot of getting it right. Even if you’re able to eliminate one obviously wrong answer, your guessing odds will be significantly better than the percent of students who got it right when it was an actual test question. The key will lie in not letting yourself get lured in by a half-known word.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11250" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-7.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="504" height="381" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-7.png 504w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-7-300x227.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 504px) 100vw, 504px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I bet you know the word “irrelevant.” </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may know the word “frivolous” too. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Don’t try to answer the question based on half-knowledge of the other words. Try to admit it: either you know them or you don’t. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can you be both “irrelevant” and “worthy of attention” at the same time? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">No.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And can you be both “frivolous” and “worthy of attention” at the same time? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Also no.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If that doesn’t sit well with you, go look up “</span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/frivolous" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">frivolous</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” and “</span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/irrelevant" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">irrelevant</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.” There is an element of the definitions you must be missing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you know it, you can rule out “</span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/didactic" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">didactic</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” in a similar way. “Intended to teach” has no relation to the clothing descriptions being mentioned. And “</span><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syntax" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">syntactical</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” fails as well. We are not discussing grammar or word order here. The only choice left is “sartorial.” Pick it. It’s the correct answer. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What does sartorial mean? Who cares. If you picked it, you just got the question right.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">…Okay, maybe you care a little bit. </span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/sartorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Look up the definition of sartorial here</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Sure enough, it’s a perfect fit for the sentence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One way or another, remember the big point: You don’t have to know all the GRE vocab words on the test, but don’t try to fake it if you don’t really know the word. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now get out there and start moving a few more words from the “red zone” further to the right in your vocabulary spectrum! And if you hear of any magic vocab memorization lightning bolts out there, choose wisely. ?</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/7PwOZJLNYUkU" width="480" height="360" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/twin-peaks-dale-cooper-thumbs-up-7PwOZJLNYUkU"></a></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10555 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/08/tom-anderson-150x150.png" alt="tom-anderson" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Anderson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</strong> He has a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in education. Tom has long possessed an understanding of the power of standardized tests in propelling one’s education and career, and he hopes he can help his students see through the intimidating veneer of the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Tom’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/remember-gre-vocab-words/">The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>