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PSY 597 GRE STUDY STRATEGIES
Test Anxiety Before the Test
1. Become as familiar as possible with the directions and types of questions included in the test.
The better you understand the kinds of questions you will encounter, the less reason you will
have to be anxious about them.
2. Practice under timed conditions.
3. Increase your skills if you feel you need more work in some areas.
Test Anxiety During the Test
1. Before beginning, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and visualize yourself proceeding through
the test and doing well. You can do this exercise between test sections, too.
2. Focus on the individual test questions one at a time. As much as possible, resist any urge to
evaluate your performance as you go along. Just answer each question as best you can.
3. Keep in mind that you can do very well on the test without answering every question in each
section correctly.
Verbal
Antonyms
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
These are generally confined to nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
Look for the word that is most nearly opposite to the given word.
Try to define words precisely.
Make up a sentence using the given word to help establish its meaning.
Look for possible second meanings before choosing an answer.
Use your knowledge of prefixes and suffixes to help define words you don’t know.
Analogies
1. Establish a relationship between the given pair before reading the answer choices.
2. Consider relationships of kind, size, spatial contiguity, or degree.
3. Read all of the options. If more than one seems correct, try to state the relationship
more precisely.
4. Check to see that you haven’t overlooked a possible second meaning for one of the two
words.
5. Never decide on the best answer without reading all of the answer choices.
Sentence Completions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Read the incomplete sentence carefully.
Look for key words or phrases.
Complete the blank(s) with your own words; see if any options are like yours.
Pay attention to grammatical cues.
If there are two blanks, be sure that both parts of your answer choice fits logically and
stylistically into the sentence.
6. After choosing an answer, read the sentence through again to see if it makes sense.
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Materials composed and revised by Eric Chubb and Jennifer Ramer for the Behavioral Analysis Training System in Fall 2001
Reading Comprehension
1. Read the passage closely, and then proceed to the questions.
OR
Skim the passage, and then reread the passage closely as you answer the questions.
You may want to try it both ways with sample questions to see what works best for you.
2. Answer questions based on the content of the passage.
3. Separate main ideas from supporting ideas.
4. Separate the author’s ideas from information being presented.
5. Ask yourself…
 What is this about?
 What are the key points?
 How does the main idea relate to other ideas in the passage?
 What words define relationships among ideas?
Quantitative
Quantitative Comparison
1. Avoid extensive computation if possible. Try to estimate the answer.
2. Consider all kinds of numbers before deciding. If under some conditions, column A is
greater that column B and for others, column B is greater that column A, click on “if the
relationship cannot be determined from the information given,” and go to the next item.
3. Geometric figures may not be drawn to scale. Comparisons should be made based on
knowledge of mathematics rather than appearance.
Problem Solving – Discrete Quantitative
1.
2.
3.
4.
Determine what is given and what is being asked.
Scan all options before answering a question.
Scan options to decide the level of approximation required.
Avoid long computations. Use reasoning instead, when possible.
Problem Solving – Data Interpretation
1. Scan the set of data to see what it is about.
2. Try to make visual comparisons and estimate products and quotients rather than
perform computations.
3. Answer questions only on the basis of the data given.
Analytical
Analytical Reasoning
1. Do not introduce new assumptions.
2. Each condition is worded to be as clear as possible. There will be no attempt to mislead
you.
3. Pay attention to words such as only, exactly, never, always, must, can, and cannot.
4. Draw simple diagrams to show relationships.
5. Consider each question separately from the other questions in a group.
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Materials composed and revised by Eric Chubb and Jennifer Ramer for the Behavioral Analysis Training System in Fall 2001
Logical Reasoning
1. Determine…
 What is specifically stated.
 What can be deduced.
 What is stated that is not supported.
2. Consider the strength or weakness of the argument as presented, irrespective of any
opinions you might hold about the information presented.
3. Be sure you know what the question asks.
4. Watch for cases that ask for negative responses.
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Materials composed and revised by Eric Chubb and Jennifer Ramer for the Behavioral Analysis Training System in Fall 2001