Am I ready for the GRE? Is it very difficult?
September 1st, 2010 | 
Author: 
Hi and welcome to my blog,
I opened this blog to help anyone who is preparing for his GRE exam.
I remember myself when I started - I was so lost and in such a panic.
Luckily I got this great Gre guide that helped me a lot
So study hard and good luck!
I want to go to grad school for music education, and need to do this all quick to be in time for the fall. I want to sign up for the GRE, take it 5 days from now, and pass it without ever studying… but can’t afford the time to fail and try again.
Last I checked, I was smart. I was a National Honors Society student in high school, and aced every math course since 1st grade. I graduated HS nine years ago, and have since earned a music degree and teach and perform music. I have not exercised any advanced math or linguistic skills. My music school does not care about my GRE score. It just has to be passing according to the university as a whole.
Do you think I can pass the GRE? What can I do that’s simple and quick to pass it if you don’t think I’m ready?
Please only respond if you have taken this test before.
Yes, according to ets I can register and take the test as early as 5 days from now.
Posted in gre course | 
Tags: advanced math, grad school, gre score, linguistic skills, math course, music degree, music education, music school, national honors society, nine years
Without knowing what a "passing" score is according to your university, I doubt that your plan is a very good one. The test is, as other posters indicate, sort of like a glorified SAT, with math and verbal sections. The math and verbal subject matter is more advanced than the SAT, of course, and if I remember correctly, the test is still a computer self-adaptive program. It gets more difficult as you get questions correct, and easier when you miss them; harder questions are worth more points.
Bottom line, if you haven’t done any of this math work for close to a decade, you’d better spend a little time preparing. Verbal probably will be more intuitive for a smart person, but a substantial portion of the test depends on your knowledge of a large set of vocabulary words, and it can’t hurt you to review them.
The test is graded out of 1600 points, with each subject worth 800. You get 400 points just for showing up, but if you need any kind of reasonable score, you have to put in some kind of effort studying.
Whether or not you can pass the GRE is probably a moot point right now, since I doubt you can actually sign up so close to the actual exam date. But since you asked…
On the one hand, the GRE is rather like a glorified SAT, so if you took the SAT you’re going to be familiar with at least part of the GRE format. On the other hand, if you haven’t taken classes on certain topics in a while — and from your description it sounds like you haven’t — you might find the content difficult. For example, the math section is basically algebra, geometry, and I think trigonometry (no calculus), but you have to do it all by hand. You are not allowed a calculator.
Personally, I think it’s a bad idea to take a test like this with absolutely no preparation. If you must take it now and you can actually manage to sign up for the test, go to every bookstore you can find and look for GRE study materials published by the College Board (the same folks who do the GRE and the SAT) and study. But I really doubt you’ll be able to register for the test so soon.
go to http://www.ETS.org
Click on the site for the GRE test.
It will show you what it’s like, and you can look at sample questions.
The test is timed and is taken online.
If you don’t answer the question in front of you, you can skip it, but you can’t go back to it.
Remember not to lose track of the time, because if you spend too much time on one question, you’ll not be able to answer the others.
There are two essay questions at the end of the test.
You must be able to construct an argument for one,
and critique an argument for the other.
If you don’t know what "critical thinking" is – you might want to find that out before hand.
Go for it. My former girlfriend never studied for it at all, drank more than usual the night before (so she went in a little hung over), and got a perfect score. Never missed a point. The only person I ever heard of to do that with the GRE. Maybe you could do the same.