Hisvoice:
My Observation (Post 2)
Special thanks to everyone for their congratulatory messages. Overcoming the dour feeling experienced after the exam (where you put your head on a BRT/LAGBUS window) thinking of what you could've done right is enough to propel for success. On a lighter note, one of the good experience GRE brought is the urge to open this thread everyday and meeting virtual friends with similar ambition. Infact! I commend this guys/ladies - ponpon, time2smile, ecoleco,iekene, Scholastica et al - for the info and help you dish out here. Special thanks to Lagosismyhome (on the visa thread), who I never met even till now but paid 50k to register for me during the promo time. God bless you all.

I discovered few things about GRE exam, which is important to impending test takers - either 1st, 2nd or my category;

1. About 60-70% of 1st time takers re-write more than once in other to get a desired score. Probably, due to the fact that they were not familiar with the concept of the exam or not too prepared for what they met. Therefore, if you are a 1st time taker, try as much as possible to prepare very well to get your desired score. Ask questions from people who have experienced it.
2. Some of the available books are not adequate enough for the real GRE questions. Although some topics are more elaborated in few ones. Carefully select books for reading. Don't just read randomly.
3. Generally, it is easier to improve in Quant than Verbal. Most students, including chinese struggle with the Verbal questions partly because of the convoluted style of writing them. Believe me, if you get the concept, you can do well in it.
4. Low GRE score does not equate failure in securing admission if other aspect of the admission package is good. Funding! is probably difficult with low GRE but schools like (ETSU, TTU) still offer funding for low scorers. Do your assignment well and don't raise the bar too high.

Next post is for Verbal discussion. Feel free to ask questions.

Nice one. Success in all your endeavours!

Good evening

Let me also share my GRE preparation experience and the test experience.

I registered for GRE on June 10 and I wrote my exam on Aug 11. So, I used about two months for preparation. It was not easy as I was also working.

I started by taking the Powerprep test. I got 148 in VR and over 150 in QR. I knew I had lot of work to do especially on VR. The next thing was to download the Magoosh GRE flash card and word builder . I made sure I learnt all the words in the flashcard. I later proceeded to watching the Magoosh videos on tackling the passages in VR. This really helped as I improved tremendously in answering the comprehension passages, I later took the Mahanathan test, Crunch prep test and barron test. My score in VR in those tests was between 152 to 154 and my QR score was floating between 158 and 165. I used the kaplan and Magoosh videos for AWA. For my QR, I used the Princeton review(This book contains many strategies for answering QR questions). I also read the official ETS for both QR and VR.

On the test day, I arrived JKK like one hour before the test. My issue essay was straightforward.It was to take a position whether students should choose a career based on what is needed in the labour market or on their interest, the argumentative essay too was simple and I quickly picked all the fallacies and unstated assumptions.

My second section was verbal so my experimental question too will also be verbal. This was when I knew GRE is different from all practice tests. There was no vocabulary that I learnt in my Flashcard in the actual test;though, the strategy I garnered came handy. I did my TC first, then moved to short passages, then SE and finally long passages(I did some simple questions like word in context in long passages before doing the others.)

The next section was the QR, this section was very simple. I finished everything before twenty five minutes and I checked my answers over and over again. This was my best section.

The next was the ten minutes break. I used the opportunity to stretch my leg and I also had my refreshments

The next was VR and It was just like the first VR. I used my strategies and finished it on time too.

Now to my worst section in the test. This was the most difficult section in the test, the comparisons were tasking, word problems was also very complex and the geometry too. I tried to do my best in this part too but I knew I will not get close to six questions, this weighed me down. It dawned on me that my 165 target in QR is no more achievable here.

Now to the last VR, For like two to three minutes I was not myself here but I later calmed down because there was nothing I could do to correct the last QR. I made sure I put in my all in this section too, The passages were not complex and there were few words that were not new to me in both TC and SE.

The time between when I pressed the button not to cancel score and the time it was displayed was like a year. The score was finally displayed I had 160 in QR and 156 in VR. I was a bit disappointed in my score in QR. Nevertheless, I gave all glory to God. My AWA was later sent after a week. I got 4.0.

Advice to prospective test takers

Try to learn the strategies for solving questions in QR and VR using the princeton review.
Read the official ETS guide, They are the testmakers.
Solve questions in the mahanttan 5lb series.
Use Kaplan for AWA
You don't need to pay for any training or magoosh plan for the tests. There are many free materials on the web.
There are many free practice tests that are available viz(Barron,Crunchprep,Mahanattan etc.)
Reread the instructions during the test. I know you are familiar with it but it helps to calm down during the test.
Try to go to the test venue at least once before the test.

My appreciation goes to everyone that has spared their time to give valuable information on this thread.

Bosses in the house, Please I need safe schools that grant scholarship for Msc/phd computer science in the united states.
My GRE score is 316, CGPA(4.43/5) and I have one year working experience.

Hello house, please how do I get to JKK from Ojota bus stop. My GRE is on 23rd of Aug. Hope to share my success story soon.

hey Mathano
Congratulations and thanks for giving back.
Please, I sent you a pm. Let us connect.

Mathano:
Good evening

Let me also share my GRE preparation experience and the test experience.

Bosses in the house, Please I need safe schools that grant scholarship for Msc/phd computer science in the united states.
My GRE sore is 316, CGPA(4.43/5) and I have one year working experience.

Congrats Mathano, I can TOTALLY relate with your experience and I know others can. I am being very real with you: you did well. I know you wished you did better in your quants (going by your practice scores) but these things happen.

Now, straight to the matter and here is the tricky part;

CS is very well-funded in the US but it is very competitive. I was going full throttle on the direct PhD route but my experience is making me tell you to mix it. Submit some direct PhD apps and 1 or 2 MSc apps as contingency. You would most likely be admitted for you MSc apps but funding will depend on luck and how easily you can gain audience with some POIs in your considered schools. If the PhD app pulls through all the better.

You have a great GPA working for you so leverage it in discussing with Advisors or even applying to schools.

Kansas State
UMass Amherst
North Carolina State
Arizona State Uni
Rice University
Ohio State
Michigan State
Stony Brooks
UT Arlington
Sunny Buffalo
University of Illinois Chicago
UT Dallas

LOL. I don't expect you to apply to all of them but you may see interesting options from this. People with profiles in a way less than yours got admitted and funded into said schools. By Profiles I mean < or =316 GRE, < or = 4.4/5.0 and for the same CS albeit some were for MSc and some for PhD.

Cheers.

happyday:


Next time, type while you're wide awake. First off, don't drop out of your MS. Don't. Finish what you started well. All you need to know about registering for the GRE is on www.ETS.org/gre

When you're done reading on the site, don't hesitate to ask questions here.

Sir/Ma, I am unable to view country, Nigeria on the centre list

holarwhaley2:
Hello house, please how do I get to JKK from Ojota bus stop. My GRE is on 23rd of Aug. Hope to share my success story soon.

From Ojota, board Yaba/Palmgroove/Oyingbo/Ojuelegba and tell the driver to stop for you at JKK building. It's after Ilupeju bus stop.

DreManuel:


From Ojota, board Yaba/Palmgroove/Oyingbo/Ojuelegba and tell the driver to stop for you at JKK building. It's after Ilupeju bus stop.

Thanks

sirRiddy:
hey Mathano
Congratulations and thanks for giving back.
Please, I sent you a pm. Let us connect.

Hello bro,

I have replied your pm.

Thanks.

Scholastica16:


Congrats Mathano, I can TOTALLY relate with your experience and I know others can. I am being very real with you: you did well. I know you wished you did better in your quants (going by your practice scores) but these things happen.

Now, straight to the matter and here is the tricky part;

CS is very well-funded in the US but it is very competitive. I was going full throttle on the direct PhD route but my experience is making me tell you to mix it. Submit some direct PhD apps and 1 or 2 MSc apps as contingency. You would most likely be admitted for you MSc apps but funding will depend on luck and how easily you can gain audience with some POIs in your considered schools. If the PhD app pulls through all the better.

You have a great GPA working for you so leverage it in discussing with Advisors or even applying to schools.

Kansas State
UMass Amherst
North Carolina State
Arizona State Uni
Rice University
Ohio State
Michigan State
Stony Brooks
UT Arlington
Sunny Buffalo
University of Illinois Chicago
UT Dallas

LOL. I don't expect you to apply to all of them but you may see interesting options from this. People with profiles in a way less than yours got admitted and funded into said schools. By Profiles I mean < or =316 GRE, < or = 4.4/5.0 and for the same CS albeit some were for MSc and some for PhD.

Cheers.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I will also check the site of the schools.

Good Evening. My exam is on Wednesday This is the summary of all my practice tests. Quan always > 165 Verb between 140 n 149. I do have 5 questions left unanswered. Am afraid!!!

.

holarwhaley2:
Good Evening.
My exam is on Wednesday
This is the summary of all my practice tests.
Quan always > 165
Verb between 140 n 149. I do have 5 questions left unanswered. Am afraid!!!

Make sure you do your SEs and TCs very well. They are about 10 in both VR sections. If you can get 16-18/20 of them, you already have 146-148/170. It is the only aspect you can work on in such short notice.

BTW, a base minimum of 165 in the Quants is phenomenal and would count more for you if you are on the Maths/ CS/ Engineering train so don't sweat the VR.

Thanks a lot.
Atmospheric Physics

holarwhaley2:
Good Evening.
My exam is on Wednesday
This is the summary of all my practice tests.
Quan always > 165
Verb between 140 n 149. I do have 5 questions left unanswered. Am afraid!!!

You need to work on your pacing, the additional mark required to push you to >150 in verbal lies on those unanswered questions.

As DreManual posited earlier, you can answer TC/SE first, next, move to short passages and paragraph argument then cap it all with the long passages question. Practice Powerprep 1and2 verbal section to get the pacing technique right.

Go show dem what u got!!

Mathano:


Hello bro,

I have replied your pm.

Thanks.

kindly check your pm

Good evening all...
I stumbled on this group just dew weeks ago and really got a good look after my GRE exams....
However I've taken time to go through a lot her and must really appreciate everyone for their contribution...
The initiative is awesome and a lot of people ave really been blessed by this ......
Will share my GRE experience shortly..

OtorHope:
Good evening all...
I stumbled on this group just dew weeks ago and really got a good look after my GRE exams....
However I've taken time to go through a lot her and must really appreciate everyone for their contribution...
The initiative is awesome and a lot of people ave really been blessed by this ......
Will share my GRE experience shortly..

Now unto my GRE experience.....
I paid for the exam with MAFIT in January but only registered in mid July mainly due to a demanding PPA as I only passed out in may.....

I started with the Kaplan book and took time to go through the strategies for the different sections.....
I must say the Kaplan book doesn't give allot of question that depicts GRE difficulty levels but it's a good tool to learn strategies especially in taking calculated guess or word inferences.....
After that i did the practise tests in both the verbal and quantitative official guides ....
And there I got to confirm what I already knew.. RCs were my Achilles heel in VR...the TCs and SE were difficult when I found arcane words....
Then in QR baring some lapses in polygons and permutation questions I was fine when I avoided silly mistakes.....
I discovered the best bet was to practise and practise and practise....
I took some magosh tests....
Then I took kaptest (Kaplan software)... Software and navigation just like power prep.... 10 sets if timed verbal and quant test....
Through the practise test I was able to learnt allot of GRE word as I'm not good at memorizing words in isolation....
I took some tests in Manhattan 5lb books and learnt a lot of words from there too......
Learning words from dffernet sources of practise tests and then revising them with the different word group in the Kaplan book helped me develop my vocab ......
The Manhattan 5lb book also helped me develop faster ways in attacking qr....
Then I went tru the magoosh videos and a couple other videos I got...
The magoosh videos were excellent to say the least... They develop ur strategy where vocabs can't bail you out (unfortunately though i got them close to my exams) nevertheless they were helpful....
For AWA I went tru videos ..develop my templates... Did some practise and sent to a friend to critique... Eventually I was comfortable with the timing...
I also skimmed tru all the topics I the issue pool(as it WS harder for me) and a few argument topics...

Wrote the exam on the 11 August
Nerves got better of me at the beginning o..lol...
I had to tell myself to call down sef...
Nonetheless the issue topic was what the doctor ordered .,.infact I finished faster than any practise test.. Had time to correct typos and all...was looking for GRE words to put on between and vary sentence structures but the words couldn't just come.....
Argument too was cool....
By then nerves had calmed and I felt better...
Had VQVQV...
Verbal was cool.didn't really encounter b strange words comprehension were my points of contention...did TC,SE then Comprehension lasts...
Quant OK too...harder than practise tests but i felt ok(as I'm typically comfortable with maths)...
All in all score came out..
Vr-157.. Qr-162.. Awa-4...
Expected a lot better especially in qr but perhaps I made silly mistakes....

Mathano was the friend I got after the exam..we exchanged scores ..shakes hands and left.... Great guy
Now I know our essay topics were the same sef...

Need advice generally
Considering MS/PHD in US
Chemical engineering
Cgp: 4.78
Gre: 319
No much work experience and little research experience..
Ambitious and safe options all welcomed

PS: for those guys writing tomorrow, for tonight strengthen your basics..revise and decide your essay templates and pacing strategies.... The nerves will come definitely but see it as one last practise test and you'll be fine.

Cephas0009:


If you are not particular about ranking, I'll suggest u try SDSM&T

Abeg, What up with these school??

Is it a lowly ranked school??

OtorHope:


Vr-157.. Qr-162.. Awa-4...

Need advice generally
Considering MS/PHD in US
Chemical engineering
Cgp: 4.78
Gre: 319
No much work experience and little research experience..
Ambitious and safe options all welcomed

Congrats OtorHope, great GRE score with an even greater GPA. You are ripe for Georgia Tech. Apply for Direct PhD here - they encourage it in their chemical engineering program especially for top performers like you.

I have not really looked at Washington State but someone recommended it to me here. You should look at Auburn University as well. Let me just throw a few more schools that you should look at;

UC Davis
Uni of Virginia
U Wisconsin
Uni of Toledo (Safe..Plenty funding for CE)

Nothing is guaranteed.

temi4fash:


Abeg, What up with these school??

Is it a lowly ranked school??

It's a safe school...

Scholastica16:


Congrats OtorHope, great GRE score with an even greater GPA. You are ripe for Georgia Tech. Apply for Direct PhD here - they encourage it in their chemical engineering program especially for top performers like you.

I have not really looked at Washington State but someone recommended it to me here. You should look at Auburn University as well. Let me just throw a few more schools that you should look at;

UC Davis
Uni of Virginia
U Wisconsin
Uni of Toledo (Safe..Plenty funding for CE)

Nothing is guaranteed.

Thanks Scholastica16...
Will check out the schools
Yeah.Gatech is the top school I was looking at too..
Checked out Toledo too(what's CE pls)...
You a chemical engineer too right?.
Pls do you know much on university of Minnesota... The chemical engineering program looks really attractive and highly rated.. But I don't know much om their acceptance rates and all

Congrats OtorHope! In addition to the schools stated earlier, you can also check Michigan State University. They have good funding package for PhD candidates.

Impressive! How can I get the Manhattan 5lb book.
I'll greatly appreciate.

OtorHope:


Now unto my GRE experience.....
I paid for the exam with MAFIT in January but only registered in mid July mainly due to a demanding PPA as I only passed out in may.....

I started with the Kaplan book and took time to go through the strategies for the different sections.....
I must say the Kaplan book doesn't give allot of question that depicts GRE difficulty levels but it's a good tool to learn strategies especially in taking calculated guess or word inferences.....
After that i did the practise tests in both the verbal and quantitative official guides ....
And there I got to confirm what I already knew.. RCs were my Achilles heel in VR...the TCs and SE were difficult when I found arcane words....
Then in QR baring some lapses in polygons and permutation questions I was fine when I avoided silly mistakes.....
I discovered the best bet was to practise and practise and practise....
I took some magosh tests....
Then I took kaptest (Kaplan software)... Software and navigation just like power prep.... 10 sets if timed verbal and quant test....
Through the practise test I was able to learnt allot of GRE word as I'm not good at memorizing words in isolation....
I took some tests in Manhattan 5lb books and learnt a lot of words from there too......
Learning words from dffernet sources of practise tests and then revising them with the different word group in the Kaplan book helped me develop my vocab ......
The Manhattan 5lb book also helped me develop faster ways in attacking qr....
Then I went tru the magoosh videos and a couple other videos I got...
The magoosh videos were excellent to say the least... They develop ur strategy where vocabs can't bail you out (unfortunately though i got them close to my exams) nevertheless they were helpful....
For AWA I went tru videos ..develop my templates... Did some practise and sent to a friend to critique... Eventually I was comfortable with the timing...
I also skimmed tru all the topics I the issue pool(as it WS harder for me) and a few argument topics...

Wrote the exam on the 11 August
Nerves got better of me at the beginning o..lol...
I had to tell myself to call down sef...
Nonetheless the issue topic was what the doctor ordered .,.infact I finished faster than any practise test.. Had time to correct typos and all...was looking for GRE words to put on between and vary sentence structures but the words couldn't just come.....
Argument too was cool....
By then nerves had calmed and I felt better...
Had VQVQV...
Verbal was cool.didn't really encounter b strange words comprehension were my points of contention...did TC,SE then Comprehension lasts...
Quant OK too...harder than practise tests but i felt ok(as I'm typically comfortable with maths)...
All in all score came out..
Vr-157.. Qr-162.. Awa-4...
Expected a lot better especially in qr but perhaps I made silly mistakes....

Mathano was the friend I got after the exam..we exchanged scores ..shakes hands and left.... Great guy
Now I know our essay topics were the same sef...

Need advice generally
Considering MS/PHD in US
Chemical engineering
Cgp: 4.78
Gre: 319
No much work experience and little research experience..
Ambitious and safe options all welcomed

PS: for those guys writing tomorrow, for tonight strengthen your basics..revise and decide your essay templates and pacing strategies.... The nerves will come definitely but see it as one last practise test and you'll be fine.

OtorHope:


Thanks Scholastica16...
Will check out the schools
Yeah.Gatech is the top school I was looking at too..
Checked out Toledo too(what's CE pls)...
You a chemical engineer too right?.
Pls do you know much on university of Minnesota... The chemical engineering program looks really attractive and highly rated.. But I don't know much om their acceptance rates and all

CE is Chemical Engineering and yes I am a Chemical Engineer too (Word to COREN and NSE )

Uni of Minnesota Twin Towers is a top school for us. They are a deeply selective school too but you have a competitive GPA so you could still try. I would advice you to email the grad coordinator first and find out if they admit direct PhDs into the school as not all schools do that (Uni of Florida and UIUC come to mind).

Minnesota is well endowed fundingwise ($30k a year) but they can be selfish and expensive especially to international students. They don't seem too dependent on GRE scores as well - 162-165 Q scores have been accepted and rejected. I have seen grad cafe reports of 3.87/4.0 GPA + Master's degree get rejected and also another similar one get accepted. So I can't tell if already having an MSc is important.

tizentos:
I gave my GRE test on 17th of August( last Thursday). Here is a short transcript of how it went.

Verbal : 152
Quant: 160

I was surprised cuz I wasn't in my ideal mind throughout the test, but I can not but to thank God.

#teamFall2018

Congrats! Your scores are great and quite competitive. I would advise you to thoroughly research your schools/programs before you apply....if you haven't already sone so...

Mathano:


Bosses in the house, Please I need safe schools that grant scholarship for Msc/phd computer science in the united states.
My GRE score is 316, CGPA(4.43/5) and I have one year working experience.

Great scores you have here. Congrats!!! Nice GPA too. Just try and package your application very well...All the best.

OtorHope:


All in all score came out..
Vr-157.. Qr-162.. Awa-4...
Expected a lot better especially in qr but perhaps I made silly mistakes....

Need advice generally
Considering MS/PHD in US
Chemical engineering
Cgp: 4.78
Gre: 319
No much work experience and little research experience..
Ambitious and safe options all welcomed

Congrats! You have great scores and a nice GPA which should help you a lot. Try and research individual programs before you submit your application.
To add to all what has been said earlier, I would like to give a word of advice to future applicants, try as much as you can to get information on the number of students each program admits and what percentage are international students. This can help you make better school selection choices. Some graduate coordinators will readily give this information, some departmental websites show it and sites like grad cafe can give you a feel of cohort sizes.
Generally, you might want to look at large-average size departments. The competition is still tough but better odds than say a dept that recruits only 5 students each year.
You still have a lot of time, so research properly. Wish you all the best with your applications.

Good day all,
I'm new at the same time not new, had to take my time to go through all 271pages (phew!). I have some questions and would be glad if anyone could be of help.

First of all I noticed we have more of science students here especially engineers .haba
Please I'm looking for anyone in the social science field, most especially economics.

I'm a graduate of economics and I want to switch to agricultural economics , I want to know if agricultural economics is seen as a STEM course (I know it's a science course and not a social science course). And will like to know what re the funding opportunities in that field.

If anyone knows any other course with good funding that an economist can switch to with ease please kindly suggest here. (buh I'm still bent on agricultural economics).

Lastly, I'm looking for study partners in Uyo or calabar (Uyo is preferred, because that's where I am serving). Kindly pm me

Thanks. Apologies for my blunders and silly questions or requests.

#TeamFall2018.

OtorHope:


Now unto my GRE experience.....
I paid for the exam with MAFIT in January but only registered in mid July mainly due to a demanding PPA as I only passed out in may.....

I started with the Kaplan book and took time to go through the strategies for the different sections.....
I must say the Kaplan book doesn't give allot of question that depicts GRE difficulty levels but it's a good tool to learn strategies especially in taking calculated guess or word inferences.....
After that i did the practise tests in both the verbal and quantitative official guides ....
And there I got to confirm what I already knew.. RCs were my Achilles heel in VR...the TCs and SE were difficult when I found arcane words....
Then in QR baring some lapses in polygons and permutation questions I was fine when I avoided silly mistakes.....
I discovered the best bet was to practise and practise and practise....
I took some magosh tests....
Then I took kaptest (Kaplan software)... Software and navigation just like power prep.... 10 sets if timed verbal and quant test....
Through the practise test I was able to learnt allot of GRE word as I'm not good at memorizing words in isolation....
I took some tests in Manhattan 5lb books and learnt a lot of words from there too......
Learning words from dffernet sources of practise tests and then revising them with the different word group in the Kaplan book helped me develop my vocab ......
The Manhattan 5lb book also helped me develop faster ways in attacking qr....
Then I went tru the magoosh videos and a couple other videos I got...
The magoosh videos were excellent to say the least... They develop ur strategy where vocabs can't bail you out (unfortunately though i got them close to my exams) nevertheless they were helpful....
For AWA I went tru videos ..develop my templates... Did some practise and sent to a friend to critique... Eventually I was comfortable with the timing...
I also skimmed tru all the topics I the issue pool(as it WS harder for me) and a few argument topics...

Wrote the exam on the 11 August
Nerves got better of me at the beginning o..lol...
I had to tell myself to call down sef...
Nonetheless the issue topic was what the doctor ordered .,.infact I finished faster than any practise test.. Had time to correct typos and all...was looking for GRE words to put on between and vary sentence structures but the words couldn't just come.....
Argument too was cool....
By then nerves had calmed and I felt better...
Had VQVQV...
Verbal was cool.didn't really encounter b strange words comprehension were my points of contention...did TC,SE then Comprehension lasts...
Quant OK too...harder than practise tests but i felt ok(as I'm typically comfortable with maths)...
All in all score came out..
Vr-157.. Qr-162.. Awa-4...
Expected a lot better especially in qr but perhaps I made silly mistakes....

Mathano was the friend I got after the exam..we exchanged scores ..shakes hands and left.... Great guy
Now I know our essay topics were the same sef...

Need advice generally
Considering MS/PHD in US
Chemical engineering
Cgp: 4.78
Gre: 319
No much work experience and little research experience..
Ambitious and safe options all welcomed

PS: for those guys writing tomorrow, for tonight strengthen your basics..revise and decide your essay templates and pacing strategies.... The nerves will come definitely but see it as one last practise test and you'll be fine.

Beat others to the game by submitting early applications to schools that have Dec 1st deadline or does rolling admission..Good Test score and a good gpa sir

Hello house, pls how do u guys send ur Ielts results s

tescoman90:
Hello house, pls how do u guys send ur Ielts results s

Go to the closest British Council office with your passport. It requires bank draft ish...