We all know we need to take the GRE – that beast of an exam – if you want to get into grad school. It’s one of the many hoops that we are forced to jump through in order to prove our academic ability… or to prove just how many hoops we’re willing to jump through in order to get into school (can you tell I’m a little cynical about standardized exams?)
I’m going to tell you (1) a little about my experience with the GRE, (2) what kind of score you might need, and (3) I’m going to give you an overview of the tools and the GRE prep course that I’m using to prepare for the test.
My First GRE Experience
When I finished my undergrad, my university offered to pay for the GRE as an exit exam. Pretty cool, right? At the time, I wasn’t planning on going to grad school so I didn’t prep for it much at all – and by “much at all” I mean that I got a book on the GRE from the library… that I never opened. I did spend a few hours going over flashcards with friends who were also taking the test, and that was about it.
When I took the test, I earned a 520 in Verbal Reasoning and 500 in Quantitative Reasoning (those are about about 154 and 144 on the new scale). Overall, a 1020 (299) isn’t a bad score. In fact back when I took it, everyone told me that 1,000 was the score to shoot for. So I was pretty happy – especially because at the time didn’t mean anything!
Now it means something.
What Score Do You Need for an SLP Program ?
Every program (except The Teacher’s College at Columbia) I’ve seen requires a GRE score. Some schools publish a minimum required score. Others will tell you what kind of score is competitive. Some will only tell you the average score for each admission year. I’m keeping an excel document with my research on different programs and the average SLP GRE score is *drumroll*
303: the average of the averages.
Does that mean you need a 303 to get into a program? Absolutely not. It means that most students are somewhere near a 303. Some have scores much higher than that and some have scores much lower than that. That’s why it is an average.
What you really need to do is look at the specific program that you’re interested in. Look at their official webpage, but also check them out on other websites. Reach out to alumni on Facebook or Twitter – people are very friendly and willing to share whatever information they have.
Also take into consideration other factors. Most schools and professors will tell you that your GPA and you GRE are the important factors, but they’re not everything. And frankly they’re right. The number one predictor of possibility for academic success is GPA. I’m not sure if a GRE score is number two, but schools seem to think so.
But despair, there are lots of other things schools will look at! Your personal statements and letters of recommendation will also play a huge part in your admission. I’ll talk more about this is another post, but just know that your GRE score is neither a death sentence nor a free ticket.
To Pay or Not to Pay:
There are SO MANY different options on what to study, how to study, when to study, how long to study, what you should be wearing while you study, etc, etc. You can either pay to get all of those options or you can get them for free. I can be pretty frugal, so at first I tried finding a free program or at least enough free pieces that I could hobble together into something useful. Maybe you’re thinking about trying to do the same.
I realized though, I was wasting a lot of time. I was skipping between lots of websites and spending hours trying put together a calendar/schedule of study material. Besides that, the free material wasn’t that great and it takes so much extra effort. I quickly decided it wasn’t worth it. So, I coughed up some dough and purchased a GRE prep course.
Which one?
Magooshimp.i154272.net/0ePmE.com
I paid $99 for 6 months of access and test prep awesomeness.
Why did I pick Magoosh?
- It’s online
This was so important to me. Living in Mexico City means I don’t always have easy access to things – classes are one of those things. Also, I love that I can bring my iPad with me and practice anytime or anyplace. If I get to work early, I might take some time for practice questions. When I go out with friends, I show up early to café and I can review! The flexibility is really important for my crazy schedule.
- There are video lessons teaching each of the concepts that you need to know
The lessons are divided into 3 sections that correspond to the 3 sections of the test: verbal, math, and writing. Then they’re broken down into specific areas based on skills. The website even suggests lessons based on what you’ve already done.
- There are lots of detailed study plans to pick based on how much time you have
The people at Magoosh published several different study plans based on how much time you have and your strengths/weakness. They have plans for 6months of prep to 1 week and everything in between. I picked the 3 month plan and I love it. It tells me everyday which lessons to watch, how many practice questions to do, and other stuff too!
- Their practice questions imitate the format of the real computer based test
Knowing what to expect on test day is so important, and Magoosh offers all of that! Their platform looks similar to the real GRE one including how you answer and even the on-screen calculator you get for the math part.
- Each of their practice questions has a video explaining what the right answer is and how to get to it
My When I was trying practice problems on my own, I’d get really frustrated when I couldn’t figure out why my answer was right/wrong – especially in the math section. Every practice problem in Magoosh comes with a video that explains exactly how to get the right answer and they even recommend full lessons and blog posts related to the question!
- Good Customer Service
Last but not least, I really appreciate how well the staff treats me. Occasionally one of the video explanations doesn’t fully answer my questions, and so I email the Magoosh team. They’re great at getting back to me with detailed explanations and even more links and references to helpful material.
There are a lot of other great features to the website and the study plans. Overall, I am so glad I purchased this course over all the programs out there.
If you’re not sure, try the 7-day free trial and see what you think. I tried it, and I was convinced.
My results
I’m about 1/3 of the way through the GRE prep course. I’m going to take the test in October, and I’ll let you know if the program has helped me boost my score or not. The website includes a “Score Estimator” that bases itself off of the practice questions that you’ve completed. It gives you an estimated 5-point range and it’s estimating mine will be between 305 and 315. I reeeeeeallly hope that’s accurate 🙂