

Learning how to avoid these tricks is just as important as learning the vocabulary, if not even more so. Why does this happen? There are a few common traps that GRE questions include to confuse you into picking the wrong answer. Unfortunately, you can learn hundreds of vocab words and still get tripped up on actual GRE questions. It won’t help you to learn a bunch of words unless you know how to apply that knowledge.Ĭhallenge 3: Falling for the GRE’s Tricks and Traps Think about it this way: would you memorize every math equation and assume you are going to ace every math question on the GRE quant section? Knowing equations is essential and memorizing definitions is necessary, but the GRE tests how concepts are applied. You also need to understand how you’ll see them on the GRE. However, if you’re preparing for the GRE, learning words alone isn’t enough. When studying vocabulary it can be tempting to just memorize word definitions correctly and then move on. If you spend a lot of time making beautiful flashcards but flip through them like a word list, you won’t absorb the vocabulary any better than you would with the list. It’s simply not enough to help you to ace the GRE. #2: Flipping Through Flashcards Over … and Over … and Overįlashcards can be an effective study tool if, and only, if you use them correctly. You’ll get through a lot of words without really understanding how to use any of them correctly. Reading through pages and pages of words can feel productive, but it won’t help your brain make the neural connections you need to remember the words long-term.

Let’s go through some common mistakes people make when studying GRE vocabulary.

A good GRE vocabulary list alone isn’t enough. It takes meticulous research and frequent updates to generate a list of GRE words that are actually likely to show up on the GRE.Ī lack of methodology usually means that the list maker pulled a bunch of “hard” vocabulary words or words from the old GRE.Ĭhallenge 2: Not Applying Words to GRE QuestionsĮven after you’ve found a realistic, helpful word list, it’s still just a list of words and definitions. The problem: The list is probably inaccurate. Chances are you’re not mastering the high-frequency words most likely to show up on the GRE. Working with a long list of words might feel comforting, but it’s the same as flipping through the dictionary and hoping you’ll get lucky. The problem: You’re unlikely to truly master so many words.Īny word list longer than 700 words is too long, because you have no way of knowing which words are really important to memorize and practice. There are more than 100 vocabulary words on a single GRE exam, and there’s no guarantee the specific 100 words on a given list will all show up.Įven if the list is high quality, you’re still missing out on important vocabulary. The problem: It’s too short to throroughly prepare you for the GRE. Let’s go through some of the common types of GRE vocab lists and what the problems with them are. Unfortunately, most of these lists are, frankly, garbage. There are countless GRE vocabulary lists out there - just do a quick Google search and you’ll find dozens of them. But you might be wondering, how hard can it be? 3 problems make successful GRE vocab study difficult.Ĭhallenge 1: Not Studying the Right GRE Words You now know that it’s critical to study GRE vocab. You need to study for the GRE vocabulary, or you will run into questions you can’t solve on the GRE. These high-frequency GRE words are low-frequency in everyday life and known by few native English speakers.
Ultimate vocabulary full#
To learn why this is the ONE GRE Vocabulary Course you need to get, read on! Why Is GRE Vocabulary Critical to the Verbal Score?ĭid you know nearly half of the GRE Verbal Section consists of questions that test your vocabulary knowledge? Vocab comes up in every type of Verbal question, including T ext Completion, Sentence Equivalence, and Reading Comprehension.Ī weak GRE vocabulary base can hurt your verbal score by 20 points. This is a huge difference 20 points can be the difference between the 99th percentile (170) and the 47th percentile (150), between a full scholarship to your dream graduate program and a swift letter of rejection.īased on PrepScholar research, we believe nearly 50% of Verbal questions tagged as “hard” by the ETS test your vocabulary knowledge.
