Taking the GRE for your grad school application? You’re in luck. Each month, we’re featuring a series of admission tips from our admissions consulting partner, mbaMission.

Not surprisingly, one of the most common questions we receive from candidates is “Will I get into grad school?” Of course, this is an important question to consider before applying, and we suggest that you honestly assess and understand your candidacy and risk profile within the context of your target school’s typical student body before completing or submitting an application to that school. However, once you have determined that you will in fact apply to a particular grad school, you should not let this question haunt you or halt your progress. Many applicants spend too much time worrying and not enough time working. Your admissions decision is ultimately out of your control, so just focus on submitting the best application you possibly can. Read more

Happy 2016! This is the year you get an awesome GRE score and are accepted to the graduate school of your dreams. Even if you’re reading this well into the year, or you’re half-way through your GRE prep, you could probably use some guidance, motivation and focus. Here are some New Year’s resolutions to get you started or re-started on your journey to a great GRE score. Read more

GRE high-scorers might not be smarter than everyone else, but they do think about the test differently. One key difference is in how high-scorers do algebra. They make far fewer algebraic mistakes, because, either consciously or subconsciously, they use mathematical rules to check their work as they simplify. Here’s how to develop that habit yourself. Read more

Do you work for a non-profit? How about promote positive social change? Manhattan Prep is honored to offer special full tuition scholarships for up to 16 individuals per year (4 per quarter) who will be selected as part of Manhattan Prep’s Social Venture Scholars program. The SVS program provides selected scholars with free admission into one of Manhattan Prep’s Live Online Complete Courses (a $1299 value).

These competitive scholarships are offered to individuals who (1) currently work full-time in an organization that promotes positive social change, (2) plan to use their degree to work in a public, not-for-profit, or other venture with a social-change oriented mission, and (3) demonstrate clear financial need. The Social Venture Scholars will all enroll in a special online preparation course taught by two of Manhattan Prep’s expert instructors within one year of winning the scholarship.

The deadline is fast approaching: July 6th, 2015! 

Learn more about the SVS program and apply to be one of our Social Venture Scholars here.

This is going to be a short post. It will also possibly have the biggest impact on your study of anything you do all day (or all month!).

When people ramp up to study for the GRE, they typically find the time to study by cutting down on other activities—no more Thursday night happy hour with the gang or Sunday brunch with the family until the test is over.

There are two activities, though, that you should never cut—and, unfortunately, I talk to students every day who do cut these two activities. I hear this so much that I abandoned what I was going to cover today and wrote this instead. We’re not going to cover any problems or discuss specific test strategies in this article. We’re going to discuss something infinitely more important!

#1: You must get a full night’s sleep

Period. Never cut your sleep in order to study for this test. NEVER.

Your brain does not work as well when trying to function on less sleep than it needs. You know this already. Think back to those times that you pulled an all-nighter to study for a final or get a client presentation out the door. You may have felt as though you were flying high in the moment, adrenaline coursing through your veins. Afterwards, though, your brain felt fuzzy and slow. Worse, you don’t really have great memories of exactly what you did—maybe you did okay on the test that morning, but afterwards, it was as though you’d never studied the material at all.

There are two broad (and very negative) symptoms of this mental fatigue that you need to avoid when studying for the GRE (and doing other mentally-taxing things in life). First, when you are mentally fatigued, you can’t function as well as normal in the moment. You’re going to make more careless mistakes and you’re just going to think more slowly and painfully than usual.
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In a way, the environmental movement can still be said to be _________ movement, for while it has been around for decades, only recently has it become a serious organization associated with political parties and platforms.

The above sentence is a SE example from the 5Lb Book of GRE Practice Problems, #89.  Today’s discussion explores a third element of sentence structure that is easily overlooked – pronouns!  They can greatly help you clarify the meaning of a sentence.  (And if you didn’t notice already, do you see what I did in the previous sentence?  They – did this pronoun catch your eye?)

The challenge with pronouns isn’t that they are difficult to address, it’s that they are nearly invisible to us, because we have spent our entire adult lives ignoring them when we read and speak.  As a test, how many pronouns have I used just in this short paragraph?

Here’s one way I want you to ‘see’ the earlier SE example:

In a way, the environmental movement can still be said to be ________ movement, for while it has been around for decades, only recently has it become a serious organization associated with political parties and platforms.

Stop mid-sentence, and address those ‘it’s.  This mental exercise is not about finding the target, clues, and pivots, although you should be aware a pronoun could certainly be the target.  This is about making sure you understand the sentence.  Mentally, you should read the sentence as
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The following article comes from our friends at AdmitSee. We’ve invited them to share their insight about peer mentors in the grad school application process.

As you begin the grad school application process, you will have plenty of opinions at your disposal.  From your parents, to your current educational institution, to grad schools themselves–you may be bombarded with conflicting opinions on where you should apply. Add to that the plethora of free (and sometimes unreliable) information on the web, often written by anonymous sources, and you’re likely no clearer than when you started!

If you’re fortunate enough to have an older sibling with a tight group of friends who’ve taken career paths that interest you, you’re in luck! Spend lots of time talking with these folks about how and why they picked their grad schools, what they like and don’t like about their programs, and what they wish they knew when they were considering their options.

But, if you’re like most applicants, you need to seek out your own mentors.

Often, people with similar interests who are just a year or two ahead of you will be your most effective mentors. There are many reasons for this, but, to start, you will have an easier time connecting with your near-peers than with someone who’s 20 years older than you. You’ll find more common connections and more shared experiences to bond over. A strong personal connection is the foundation for a great mentor-mentee relationship.
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While studying for the GRE Text Completion (TC) and Sentence Equivalence (SE) questions, you naturally want to study vocabulary.  After all, that’s what the test is testing, right?

Yes and no.  The GRE does test vocabulary, but it also tests your ability to analyze a sentence and divine the author’s intended meaning.  (And for those of you keeping score at home, did I use the word ‘divine’ correctly?  Are you familiar with this less common usage?)

And so, we preach (sorry, with the word ‘divine’ earlier, I had to!) a method for TC and SE that involves identifying the Target, Clues, and Pivots in the sentence.  All well and good, but how do you to this?  Here’s where the following limited grammar discussion should help, because although the GRE does not directly test grammar, a little grammar knowledge can be immensely helpful!

We begin with the core elements that every sentence contains: the subject and the verb.  Separating the subjecting and the verb from other elements (which I will generically call descriptors) is part 1 of my TC and SE analysis.  Part 2 is matching each descriptor to what it describes.

So let’s see two examples.  One is a TC example from Lesson 1, the other is a SE example from the 5 lb. Book.
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Happy Friday and happy Fourth of July Weekend! Here’s our weekly roundup of grad school news and tips:

Leverage International Roots for U.S. Grad School Applications (U.S. News Education)

Emphasizing cultural differences is a natural way prospective international graduate students can craft unique applications.

What is an Online Graduate Class Like? (About.com Graduate School)

Online classes hold some similarities with traditional on-ground courses, but there are also many differences.

6 Important Things Nobody Tells You About Grad School (Cracked)

If you’re considering or already in postgrad work, take some helpful advice from someone who already has two and a half postgraduate degrees under his belt.

Policing Your Productivity: 7 Tools to Help You Focus (Entrepreneur)

Are you easily distracted by social media and entertainment sites? Keep your focus, especially when it’s time to study, with these helpful programs.

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

Set the GRE prep work aside for a moment to catch up on some of this week’s top grad school tips and news links:

How to Make the Final Grad School Enrollment Decision (U.S. News Education)

Former dean of admissions has some advice for how to focus your needs and desires when you make your final grad school enrollment decision.

Overcome Procrastination with the Pomodoro Technique (About.com Graduate School)

Looking for a way to overcome procrastination? The Pomodoro Technique is a formal timer-based time management technique”it’s simple and effective.

How to Choose a U.S. Graduate School (U.S. News Education)

Use these four tips to thoroughly research graduate programs and prospective career fields before becoming and international graduate student.

U.S. Graduate Schools Stung by Drop in Chinese Applications (Reuters)

Reuters reports that slowing grad school enrollments, including a 5 percent decline in applications from Chine for fall 2013, are hurting the revenues of many U.S. universities.

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