Well I guess I'm finally becoming Chinese since all I do now is study. As for what I've been up to this summer, besides a brief interlude in Beijing, I've just been studying for the GRE. I've gone through basically all the books they print at this point. The books are in some regards surprisingly different from one another. The Kaplan books just want to sell you more Kaplan products. And they have an odd habit of referring everything the "Kaplan method." As in: 1 + 1 = ? Now take 1 and add it to one to get 2! Now you know the Kaplan method for addition. The funniest though is the Princeton Review book which is really angry. I'm wondering if someone from the company that makes the GRE ran over a dog belonging to the editor of the Princeton Review. For a book about preparing you for the GRE they keep criticizing how the GRE is set up, "Can you believe it's 4 hours long?!"
Of course I feel less Chinese after Joanna told me she new someone who memorized the dictionary in an attempt to study for this test. I've been doing flash cards but I'm not memorizing any dictionary. I've also definitely started to hit the point of diminishing returns. I keep getting about the same percent of questions right. Mostly now I'm just trying to shore up my math, vocab, and spelling a little and do a few more practice tests.
One of the hardest parts about the GRE is its length. You start with two 30 minute essays, then there are five sections of either verbal or math questions, being 30-35 minutes long each. That's about three hours 45 minutes before you count in breaks. Even on some shorter practice tests, the longest I did was three hours, by the end it's hard to care if you are getting the questions right or not, you just want it to be over. Well there's only a little more than two weeks left and then I'll finally be done with it.
Of course I feel less Chinese after Joanna told me she new someone who memorized the dictionary in an attempt to study for this test. I've been doing flash cards but I'm not memorizing any dictionary. I've also definitely started to hit the point of diminishing returns. I keep getting about the same percent of questions right. Mostly now I'm just trying to shore up my math, vocab, and spelling a little and do a few more practice tests.
One of the hardest parts about the GRE is its length. You start with two 30 minute essays, then there are five sections of either verbal or math questions, being 30-35 minutes long each. That's about three hours 45 minutes before you count in breaks. Even on some shorter practice tests, the longest I did was three hours, by the end it's hard to care if you are getting the questions right or not, you just want it to be over. Well there's only a little more than two weeks left and then I'll finally be done with it.
