1/29/2021 My Philosophy — Greg Mat

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10 Principles for GRE

Success

1. Don’t break the Taking the GRE test is expensive. Taking

the test multiple times is even more
bank
expensive. University is exorbitantly
expensive. Dare I say rip-o ?

Test prep doesn’t have to be.

2. Official material No one beats ETS. Period.

is king
The company that makes the test
naturally creates the highest-quality
practice questions. Much as they try, test
prep companies cannot replicate what
you’ll see on test day. And neither can I.
This is especially true for Verbal.

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3. It’s all about the No question type should be approached

blind. You should have an idea of what
process
steps you’ll implement — and in what
order — to get the question correct.

Having a process eliminates test-day

surprises, lowers anxiety, and keeps you
focused on the task at hand.

The processes you employ on test day

should be second nature, as if they were
part of your muscle memory.

4. Quality > Many are under the mistaken impression

that completing hundreds of GRE
Quantity
questions invariably results in a higher
score. In fact, if you regularly employ
bad habits, you might only be reinforcing
them.

In practice, don’t be afraid to spend time

with a question. Really get to know it.
Intimately.

In doing so, you’ll glean insights not

readily apparent when blowing through
questions.

5. Be a GRE Albert Einstein famously stated, “The

de nition of insanity is doing the same
scientist Your Account

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thing over and over again and expecting

di ferent results.”

If a strategy is not working, try another.

If that one doesn’t work, try a di ferent
one. In practice, experiment with various
strategies.

Trial and error is what accounts for our

modern world. Don’t underestimate its
power.

6. Discipline Doing things you want to do is easy.

Doing things that you don’t want to do —
trumps motivation
but that are good for you — is hard.

People who study for the GRE when they

are excited about the prospect of
graduate school are exhibiting
motivation.

People who force themselves to wake up

at 6 AM on a Saturday to learn 100 GRE
vocabulary words four months into
studying are exhibiting discipline.

Who do you think has more success?

7. Easy to hard Every question on the GRE carries the

same weight. Because of this, you can
maximize your score by working from
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the easiest questions to the most

dif cult.

In other words, imagine you’re cutting

through an avocado, with its thin skin,
eshy outside, and rm pit. The skin and
the esh are no match for your knife.
Worry about the hard pit later.

8. Have a strategy Mastery of concepts is not suf cient.

You’ll also need strategies. But one
toolkit
strategy does NOT t all, much as one
tool cannot accomplish every task around
the house.

Your strategy toolkit should include a

variety of techniques that can be
employed — exibly — on GRE
questions.

9. Work on your Working on our strengths feels good. We

get most of the answers correct and
weaknesses
enjoy a positive feedback loop. Working
on our weaknesses feels bad. Many of
the answers, at least initially, are wrong,
and we start to feel discouraged.

But to kill the GRE, we must be well-

rounded…we must be competent in all
areas of the test.

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Tiger Woods did not become Tiger Woods

by only hitting his driver at the range.

10. Prepare to get For many, the GRE is a humbling

experience. For some, it can be
frustrated
downright nasty.

Walking hand-in-hand with GRE is

frustration, that feeling you get when
you’re unable to exert control over an
undesirable situation or condition.

You might even feel defeated, like all is

lost. Power through these negative
emotions.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

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