GRE preparation through Internet

by Dr. Ipshita Basu Guha

Graduate Record Exam is a common entrance test with widespread appeal. One can prepare for it from books, from material downloaded from Internet or directly attempt to solve online test questions. Our first instinct while preparing for the test is to go online and search for course-related information and study material. True! There are vast resources but not all of them are worth accessing.

These days due to the advent of Internet and free sharing of information, it has opened a huge vista for students to tap on while preparing for GRE. A simple search on Google with keywords like “GRE Online Practice Test”, you will get ample websites offering GRE related material in some form or the other. There are many sites that will promise to prepare you for the tests in hours. It is not true. You will need lot of dedicated effort and considerable practice to crack the test. Preparation for GRE using Internet can be used as a good supplement to tutorials and books. The ‘anywhere anytime’ accessibility of information on the Internet is one of the key factors why it should be a serious component of preparation.

Internet in this context can be used for mainly three purposes – practicing questions, discussing GRE issues in forums and to read good English material for attempting the Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing sections.

The site which forms the base for this preparation is the GRE Official Page.
The continuous GRE online companion should be the official site – http://www.ets.org/gre. One should visit this site often to check for any changes or notification about the upcoming test dates or format. The ETS site also offers few sample questions and general brief for preparation – http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare. You can also buy the Official Guide to the GRE revised General Test from ETS’s online site from the following link – http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare#additional. Alternately try the following link: http://store.digitalriver.com/store/ets/en_US/pd/productID.222626800/categoryId.3551800 ETS being the official site offers lot of paid content that can be used in course of preparation. It is one the most reliable sites.

There are many websites offering study material online for preparation. These sites have questions for other entrance exams like GMAT or TOEFL too. The questions of these sections are also useful while practicing for GRE as they all have commonality to a certain extent.

A selected few are featured in this article with brief insight on each sites’ offering. Learnhub is a part of Educomp Solutions (India) and offers wide range of GRE study material apart from motivating articles on how to prepare for the same. (Educomp has domain expertise in Education) The site also has a dedicated Question and Answer section for test preparers to discuss their issues or simply read what others have to say. http://gre.learnhub.com/questions. The site also has a repository of questions under various heads and is displayed with a timer for people to test themselves. http://gre.practice-tests.learnhub.com. Jumbotests, Learnhub’s sister company, consists of 52 GRE tests and 773 questions (with newer questions being added each day). (http://jumbotests.com) The site is free for use and offers many other tests which can be taken for improving quantitative and verbal skills.

WizIQ is another site which has lot of practice material for GRE. The site also offers various paid features with a 30- day trial offer.

Learnwordlist.com is a site dedicated to the Verbal Reasoning section of GRE. It has good collection of wordlist quiz, sentence completion, antonyms and synonyms and flash card for memorizing.

English-test.net has a very rich discussion forum. You can check for free tests as well as practice inputs from fellow GRE-takers.

The quantitative section of GRE requires students to have in-depth knowledge of mathematics. A useful site in this regard is Gremathformulas. The complete set of formulas can be bought in the form of a printable e-book or hardcopy or both for as little as $ 8.95. This is a very handy utility.

My GreTutor offers good guides for each section of GRE. The site offers 375+ practice questions apart from useful tutorials to learn from. Tcyonline has free as well as paid premium courses which are formatted as computer based training modules. The site consists of an enviable question bank as well as test analysis option to check how well you fared. It has a challenge zone based on exam or skill which is useful for learning.

The site also includes an option to generate test based on desired difficulty level and number of questions for quantitative and verbal reasoning by providing test time. This feature requires login.

Unlike quantitative section, verbal skills or analytical writing is not always very scientific or structured. One needs to develop his/ her flair for the same. This is one section which students intending to attempt for GRE should start working on well in advance, preferably while completing their graduation courses.

The websites of good newspapers and magazines are useful sites to read good analysis of contemporary issues. BBC (www.bbc.co.uk) and CNN have very good international news sites. The level of English, usage of words, nuances in writing and articulating ideas are very important for Analytical Writing section of the test. The news sites apart from reporting current affairs also feature good debates and view points on issues ranging from global warming to economic issues, cultural and social matters, science and technology.

Good writers and paper/ magazine editors have their own blogs which are very rich in content and viewpoint. Many blogs have serious comments written by readers which can broaden our understanding and perspective. The sites like Learnwordlist can provide a huge collection of words but one also needs to understand the skill of using those words effectively in their written communication. Many people have good ideas but are unable to articulate themselves. This drawback can be overcome using the e- sources.

There are many good (and free) websites offering tips on improving writing skills. University of Kent offers a page on Communication Skills: Writing (http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/written-communication.htm). Yale also provides a capsule of “Developing Good Written Communication Skill” (http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1986/4/86.04.03.×.html).

A huge stockpile of communication skills (the prerequisite for writing) is available in the Air University website (http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awc-comm.htm). It also consists of sections like critical thinking, argumentative/ persuasive communication and creativity and thinking skills to name a few.

Students are fairly aware of Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis. The electronic version of the book is available online. The website of Webster (www.webster.com) not only offers the entire dictionary but also the thesaurus, antonyms and synonyms, nearly similar words and also examples of usage of the words. It is very useful for developing a strong vocabulary, the corner stone for effective written expression. It has many puzzles and word games to test our skills of English.

Students use books and tutorial classes where the trainers help make a head way while preparing for GRE. The Internet has lot of free as well as paid material to prepare for GRE. You can sift for information on each of the sections of the test. The depth of material available for Verbal and Analytical Writing are extensive compared to Quantitative Reasoning. It can prove to be a huge help in the process of preparation as a potent part of self-study.

About the Author:

Dr. Ipshita Basu Guha has done her PhD in Management, MBA in Information System and B.Sc from South Gujarat University. She has worked for nine years in manufacturing companies like petrochemicals, diamonds, and packaging material. Presently, she is working in her family business apart from writing articles in SMEWORLD as well as in TISA – a magazine of Thane Small Scale Industries. Guha is extremely passionate about research and writing.

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