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meepa · 05-18-2005, 07:29 PM

No you cannot use calculators.

For the record, all the math in it is pretty much below the "pre-calculus" level. In theory you should have learned everything you needed to know in Jr High (or HS if you never went to precalc). The theory is that all types of potential grad-students need to take the GRE. Thus all those social science folks going into, say, history, cannot be expected to have taken anything more than the most basic required math classes in order to pass.

But before you get your hopes up, their strategy is to take those simple math concepts and make them as confusing as humanly possible. Thus expect fairly simple mathematical concepts presented in very confusing or trick questions.

IF you happen to know every little math trick that they will throw at you, you will not even wish you had a calculator. The number-crunching is supposed to be non-existant if you know what you're doing. Hint: If you come upon a question that has you filling up a piece of paper with all kinds of arithmetic, you're not doing it how they want you to do it.

Also, I know you only said you're studying the math, but don't forget the verbal part is essentialy one giant vocabulary test. You can learn the basic strategies to crack the questions from various guides, but at the end of the day, you will only succeed in obtaining a good verbal score if you learn the vocab. There are probably books with word lists and I know there are websites with some, although they're not always perfect. I know you said you're taking it at the beginning of June which doesn't leave much time for this, but if it's any encouragement, I reviewed over 500 words in about three weeks by only testing myself for about 20 minutes three times a day. You don't need to know every word's definition perfectly, but it helps having a general idea for as many words as you can.

I hope this was a help to you or anybody else looking. If anyone has any other questions about the GRE feel free to PM me. GOOD LUCK!

05-18-2005, 07:29 PM	#6 (permalink)
meepa Insane	No you cannot use calculators. For the record, all the math in it is pretty much below the "pre-calculus" level. In theory you should have learned everything you needed to know in Jr High (or HS if you never went to precalc). The theory is that all types of potential grad-students need to take the GRE. Thus all those social science folks going into, say, history, cannot be expected to have taken anything more than the most basic required math classes in order to pass. But before you get your hopes up, their strategy is to take those simple math concepts and make them as confusing as humanly possible. Thus expect fairly simple mathematical concepts presented in very confusing or trick questions. IF you happen to know every little math trick that they will throw at you, you will not even wish you had a calculator. The number-crunching is supposed to be non-existant if you know what you're doing. Hint: If you come upon a question that has you filling up a piece of paper with all kinds of arithmetic, you're not doing it how they want you to do it. Also, I know you only said you're studying the math, but don't forget the verbal part is essentialy one giant vocabulary test. You can learn the basic strategies to crack the questions from various guides, but at the end of the day, you will only succeed in obtaining a good verbal score if you learn the vocab. There are probably books with word lists and I know there are websites with some, although they're not always perfect. I know you said you're taking it at the beginning of June which doesn't leave much time for this, but if it's any encouragement, I reviewed over 500 words in about three weeks by only testing myself for about 20 minutes three times a day. You don't need to know every word's definition perfectly, but it helps having a general idea for as many words as you can. I hope this was a help to you or anybody else looking. If anyone has any other questions about the GRE feel free to PM me. GOOD LUCK!