10 mistakes to avoid for

a 320+ on your GRE

And how to know if you’re making them

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What you’ll be learning

from this eBook!
1.) The top 10 mistakes you need to avoid for a 320+ score on your GRE!

2.) Common errors in verbal and quants that cause students to lose marks.

3.) Why time management can make or break your score and what you can

do to work on it!

4.) What GRE® trainers recommend for getting your target score!
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Did you know
that the average GRE score of
Indian students
is just 298? (Source: ETS)
However, the average GRE score of students who successfully gain admittance

to Top 20 US universities is 322!

So what are the factors that cause students to lose precious marks on their

GRE?

Also, what can you do to ensure that you don’t make these mistakes?

That’s exactly what we’ll be discussing in this eBook.

Do read till the end to find out all the DOs and DON’Ts of preparing for a 320+

score on your GRE!

India’s national average GRE score

298

Scores Required by Top 25 Universities

322
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Mistake #1
An unbalanced study plan!
“Even slight differences in tyre pressures can unbalance a
car!”

The same holds true for your GRE preparation.

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One Size
Does NOT Fit All
An engineer who solves complex sums for breakfast, lunch and

dinner, may be far more comfortable in quants than someone with a

degree in comparative literature,

but on the other hand, the latter might easily outpace the engineer

when it comes to the Verbal and AWA sections!

Even though the exam is the same for all, their study plans might be

completely different. However, both their study plans have to be

comprehensive in the way they identify and tackle the individual

issues they face.

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Case in Point:

Meet Karan Saluja,

GRE score - 332 (Q: 169, V: 163)

Diagnostic Test Score - 299 (Q: 161, V: 148)

Analysis: Quite comfortable with Quants,

needs to work extensively on Verbal.

Being a working professional, does not have much time to spare for

GRE preparation,

His problem areas: Verbal - Reading Comprehension, Sentence/Text Completion

Quants - Data Interpretation

Let’s take a look at the study plan his trainers made for him!
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Study Plan
As his diagnostic test identified RC and SC/TC as his weakness areas in verbal,

that’s exactly what his study plan focused on for the first 2 weeks - along with a

regular dose of assorted quants topics that centred more around

data interpretation.
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SOLUTION
A well laid out study plan that focuses on each aspect of the GRE syllabus is a

crucial step in the way you prepare for the test.

And that’s not all, it has to be one that is tailored to suit your individual needs

as well!

Even before drawing up a study plan, one must ensure that they have a

thorough understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and thereby

prepare in a way that best prepares them to take the test! A carefully designed

diagnostic test helps in this regard, as it helps students accurately identify

where they stand, and the areas which they need to work on to achieve the

target score!
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Mistake #2
Putting off GRE preparation till
the last moment!
There are a lot of exams you can or might have cracked in your life with

last-minute cramming and pulling a couple of all nighters!

Your GRE, however, is not likely to be one of them!

Depending on your general proficiency levels and ability to take intelligent

guesses you might be able to come up with a slightly higher than average score

after taking a GRE crash course.

But, to target a really good score (read: 320 and above), you need to start your

preparation at least 45 - 60 days in advance!

Of course, if you’re ready to put in some really intensive work, you might be able

to prepare for your target score in as less as a month, but on the whole it’s

advisable to keep time by your side for a more comfortable and comprehensive

learning experience.

This is especially true for those students who face more difficulties with GRE

Verbal than they do with Quants, as vocabulary building and analytical essay

writing are things that are particularly hard to master overnight!

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SOLUTION
Try and plan your GRE preparation as far in advance as possible so that you are

completely equipped to achieve the score you’re targeting! Remember, your GRE

score is valid for 5 years after taking the test, so you can start planning for your

exam as early as your 1st year of college!

600
Number of Students

400

200

0
0-30 30-60 60-90 90-120 >120
Preparation Time (Days)
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Mistake #3
Preparing only from previous
years questions
Think previous year’s questions are going to be enough to prepare you for your

GRE?

However,

Yesterday’s questions are rarely enough to accurately anticipate those of

tomorrow.

The first reason is that, although some question patterns might be repeated

across papers, the questions are nearly always unique.

The second and most important reason?

This method is more likely to encourage rote-learning and leave a

lot of knowledge gaps!

Don’t get us wrong here! It’s important that you do have experience of solving

previously asked questions to know what to expect on the day of the test!

However, it would be a grave mistake to solely rely on them for your

GRE preparation.
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SOLUTION
It’s always a better idea to prepare extensively for the exam first, and then

attempt previously asked questions to test your concepts and learning! Make

sure to attempt other GRE-style mock tests as well as many of the questions on

your test are going to be absolutely distinctive.

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Mistake #4
Silly mistakes in quants
Before we start with this, let us first find out what is makes a mistake a silly one!

Well, put simply, silly mistakes are those in which you possess all the requisite

skills to solve a problem, yet you get it wrong for some reason!

These are commonly due to either:

Reading errors: Caused mostly when students don’t read the data correctly or

succumb to a trick question.

Computational errors: These are due to either too many mental calculations,

sloppy writing or simply your mind playing tricks on you!

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SOLUTION
A lot of people think that making silly mistakes is better than making mistakes

due to not knowing the technique to solve a problem, but both have the same

potential to make you lose marks! Hence, if you find yourself making these type

of errors often, maybe you could start making a conscious effort to avoid them by

being doubly cautious while reading the question or cross checking your answers

at every step to ensure mistakes don’t inadvertently creep in!

ProTip: It’s a good idea to maintain a log of the mistakes you make. If you make

the same type of mistake often, there’s a chance it might not purely be a careless

mistake but due to flawed understanding of some concepts, which might need

immediate attention.
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Mistake #5
Not being able to pick out the
correct choices in sentence
equivalence and text completion!
The sentence equivalence and text completion questions are those which actu-

ally test the student’s grasp on advanced English vocabulary. Often similar

words are used to confuse students and test the depth of their knowledge!
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Examples
Consider this question for
example
Select the two answer choices that, when used to complete the sentence, fit the

meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are

alike in meaning

Unlike many young men, who look forward to living in an urban environment,

Charles preferred the charm of a quiet ______ setting!

(A) unpopulated

(B) typical

(C) bucolic

(D) unknown

(E) rural

(F) quiet

If you answered (A) unpopulated and (E) rural, then you have got it wrong!

The reason? Unpopulated, even though a suitable fit for the blank, isn’t the exact opposite of Urban.

So what is the correct answer?

It’s (C) bucolic and (E) rural.

Now if you’re wondering what bucolic means, it’s has exactly the same meaning as rural!
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Examples
Let’s take a look at a text completion
question now!
“There is something __________ about the pictures on the packaging that is

__________ the buyers. It is no wonder that the business house plans to

__________ its designers for gross insensitivity”

Your choices are:

A. repulsive

B. magnetic

C. alluring

D. dissuading

E. distracting

F. digressing

G. penalize

H. reward

I. felicitate
To answer the question correctly, a student has to focus on the tone of the sentence, which is set by

the last word - insensitivity, typically a negative trait!

Hence the correct answers will be (A) repulsive, (D) dissuading and (G) penalize, in that order!

Note that if the last two words were those that had a more positive connotation, like say, ‘sheer

creativity’, then the correct options would have been: (B) magnetic, (C) alluring and (H) reward!
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SOLUTION
GRE® Verbal preparation is not something that can be achieved in a matter of a

days or weeks. Ensure to cultivate a reading habit and listen to native speakers of

English to pick up metaphors, figures of speech and subtler nuances of the En-

glish language. As for mastering GRE vocabulary which comprises around 3500

advanced words, it’s a good idea to have a methodical way to learn a certain

number everyday, using pictorial tools and their usage in sentences to help you

retain more. Mastering text completion and sentence equivalence can be a criti-

cal cog on your way to a 320+ score!

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ProTip :
“Remember words faster and remember them longer by using picture guides and

understand their application by seeing how they are used in a sentence!” -

GREedge SFA

This is exactly what is done in the WordBot app by GREedge, where GRE words

are accompanied by a relevant picture, usage in a sentence, its synonyms and

antonyms as well as its pronunciation.

See an example in the next page!

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Mistake #6
Spending too much time on
Reading Comprehension passages!
GRE Reading Comprehension passages are typically around 500 words long and

contain a lot of unnecessary information. The key is to extract the information

that you’ll need to answer the questions asked, without wasting time reading or

analysing the sections!

Just imagine having to the entire block of text from the beginning, line by line,

word by word, every time you have to answer a question.

That is just what many students do, losing out valuable time in the process!
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SOLUTION
An important way to master the RC section is to develop the capacity to skim read

or scan long passages and extract precisely the information you’re searching for!

When you skim read, you are not reading every single word and paragraph, you

are looking for specific keywords, factual points, certain names and a

chronological sequence to locate what you need in the shortest possible time!

This approach works wonders in boosting your reading speed and helps you save

a lot of time.

Skimming — getting the essence from reading material without reading all the

words — boils down to knowing what parts to read and what parts to pass by.

Following are some tips and techniques for recognizing what is important to read

in the act of skimming

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The Beginner’s Guide

to Skim-Reading
(DISCLAIMER: It takes some time to perfect)

1. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

Before you start skimming, ask yourself what information you wish to get from

the book or article. Think of 2 or 3 terms that describe what you want to know,

and keep an eye out for those terms.

2. READ VERTICALLY AS WELL AS HORIZONTALLY

When skimming, you move your eyes vertically as much as you move your eyes

horizontally. Which means, you have to move your eyes down the page as much

as you move them from side to side.

3. THINK LIKE THE AUTHOR

Detecting the author’s point of view requires that you put yourself in his/her

place. Apart from noticing the content, notice how he presents the content. See if

you can characterize how the author presents important information, secondary

statements, tangential information, and even non-relevant points.

4. PRE-READ THE ARTICLE ONCE BEFORE YOU SKIM

Examine an article closely and in its entirety at least once. By pre-reading an

article before you skim, you know where exactly to find the parts of the article

that require your close attention and the parts that you can gloss over.
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Mistake #7
Not understanding the nuances
of the passages
Nuances refer to the fine distinctions in the meaning of words or phrases that can

totally change the context of the speech!

Let’s analyse this with an example!

Arthur is Stubborn!

Arthur is Determined!

Arthur is Pig-Headed!

Arthur is Headstrong!

Arthur is Single Minded!

Arthur is Inflexible!

Now, while the ones marked in green often have a positive ring to them, the ones

in red have a more negative or critical tone to them. The term headstrong, howev-

er, may be either positive or derogatory, depending on the supporting circum-

stances!
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SOLUTION
READ, READ, and then READ some more! It’s only when you develop a voracious

reading habit that you know all the ways a word can be used and how even subtle

variations in tonality can cause sentences to be interpreted differently!

If you absolutely cannot sit down with a book, try listening to native speakers of

English understand how nuances work in everyday speech.

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Mistake #8
Insufficient Practice of
Data Interpretation
Data Interpretation is undoubtedly the most feared element of GRE Quants for

many test takers!

Around 7-8 questions on the GRE are from this section. They can comprise

graphs, charts, plots and tables.

The purpose of data interpretation is to test your knowledge of percentages,

ratios and statistical measures such as mean, median & mode.

Two of the major actions you’ll have to perform in data interpretation questions

are translating and extrapolating.

Students have a tough time with data interpretation as they fall prey to the tricky

and sudden axis and unit changes, and answers corresponding to the mistakes

students are most likely to make!

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Example :
Question: In a survey of 190 manufacturing companies, 103 hired operators, 67

hired technicians, and 49 hired both operators and technicians, as illustrated in

the Venn diagram below:

How many companies surveyed hired at least one category of employees: opera-

tors and technicians?

(a) 130

(b) 121

(c) 49

(d) 67

(e) 93

Answer:

49 companies hired both operators and technicians.

103 - 49 = 54 companies hired operators only.

67 - 49 = 18 companies hired technicians only.

Therefore, the number of companies that hired at least one category of employees is 49 + 54 + 18 = 121
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SOLUTION
Watch out for sudden unit changes. For example the question could have data in

hours and yards, but the answers could be in days and miles! Make sure you don’t

get caught up in unit conversions!

Keep a tab on the axes - which axis corresponds to which value. In questions that

have multiple axes, you have to pay be extra careful to not make careless mis-

takes!

Use estimation to solve questions fast! The GRE often uses inconvenient num-

bers. It may ask you to calculate the July expenditure as a fraction of the annual

expenditure. It could provide the July expenditure as $11,210 and the annual

expenditure as $56,025. In this case you could just approximate the values as

11,000 and 55,000 and pick the value just below 20%!
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Mistake #9
Not working on your time management!
Arguably one of the most dangerous mistakes you can possibly make, time man-

agement is a key skill to master if you have your sights set on a great score!

Often, candidates who are well equipped to answer GRE questions with accuracy

often find themselves battling the clock towards the end of the exam and conse-

quently fail to complete the test on time -

This is often because they have not practiced taking timed and full length mock

tests before their GRE® exam!

Common areas where students end up spending more time than they can afford

to include Reading Comprehension, analytical writing assessment passages, and

the data interpretation section of quants!

This is roughly how much time you can devote to each type of question:

Sentence Equivalence - 45 seconds

Text Completion - 30 to 90 seconds, depending on the number of blanks

Reading Comprehension - 1 minute 30 seconds

Quantitative Comparisons - 1 minute 15 seconds

Discrete Quant - 2 minutes

Data Interpretation - 2 minutes

AWA - 30 minutes on each essay

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SOLUTION
Practice taking full length timed tests at least once a week. Make it a point to time

your tests using an online timer and not a watch as watches are not permitted in

the GRE exam.

Remember that the actual GRE exam has a total of 5 sections (2 scored sections

each of quant and verbal and an unscored section that can be either). Since you

have no way of knowing which section is unscored, make it a point to practice all

5 sections during your timed practice sessions and not just 4!

Using the IGMO technique: The IGMO technique is used by almost all high scor-

ers, and it stands for intelligent guess and move on! If you find a question you’re

stuck on for more time than you can afford, just eliminate the options that totally

violate the given conditions, take an educated guess and move on! Remember the

GRE has no negative marking so ensure that you don’t leave any questions unan-

swered!

Try spending as little time as possible on the simpler questions so you have more

time to devote to the more difficult ones and also revise your answers to elimi-

nate careless mistakes.

Keep looking at the background timer from time to time to evaluate how much

time you have left and spend time on questions accordingly.

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Mistake #10
Ignoring the AWA section
Since the Analytical Writing Assessment is scored separately and does not form a

part of your final GRE score, a lot of students tend to take it lightly, or even go so

far as to ignore it!

However, this can pose a serious problem to students, which is why we decided to

talk about it in this eBook!

What is the AWA anyway?

The AWA is a separate component of the GRE marked on a scale of 6. However,

your AWA scores are not included in your total GRE score.

The AWA comprises two essays, with 30 minutes for each!

In the 1st essay candidates have to analyse an issue and give an argument either

in favour or against it!

Students are expected to present a compelling essay explaining their stand on the

statement.

The 2nd essay is called analyse an argument and tests your ability to logically

understand and analyze arguments and express your reasoning clearly in your

passage.

One must not be concerned about the accuracy of the statements or your own

views regarding it, but only evaluate the logic behind the argument.
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Mistake #10
Ignoring the AWA section
Why do universities pay so much attention to the AWA?

The AWA section checks your aptitude at understanding a topic and your ability

to analyse it from various angles, supported by foolproof logic.

Your AWA really starts to matter when the admissions council evaluates your

statement of purpose (SoP). If an applicant sends in an SoP that’s simply

astounding, but has a lesser than desirable score on his/her AWA (3 or below),

they might think that you have copied your SoP or have had it written by some-

one else.

If the quality of content, reasoning prowess and flow of your SoP is out of sync

with your performance in the AWA, it may lead to your application getting reject-

ed - unless of course your other credentials are so outstanding that they are will-

ing to overlook it.

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SOLUTION
Make sure you get sufficient practice for your AWA, specially if you’ve been out

of touch with writing for a while, or lack the confidence to write long passages. It

is a good idea to get your passages evaluated by an expert, to point out how you

might be going wrong and ensure you are able to write perfect essays on your

GRE .
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