GRE

Our Approach to the GRE

We look at the test from four different angles: test-related content, strategies, pacing, and anxiety. A pre-test and an in-depth consultation help us determine where you’ll need the most support in each of these areas. Based on that, we’ll create a tutoring plan that will enable you to maximize your strengths and fill in any gaps.

There’s one other aspect that may impact your performance on the test! The GRE is an online test, and that’s a different experience from a pen and paper test. Your tutor will outline the challenges and teach you strategies to mitigate them.

The GRE Test Sections

The analytical writing section consists of two essays and is always at the beginning of the GRE. You’ll be allowed 30 minutes for each composition.

• Analyze an Issue: You’ll be presented with a statement about a general interest issue and asked to offer your perspective. There are several potential sets of instructions to give your essay a focus, but all of them test your ability to write clearly and critically.
• Analyze an Argument: For this assessment, you’ll compose a response to a short passage that lays out an argument. Your essay should analyze the quality of the argument.

The verbal reasoning sections of the test contain three types of questions: reading comprehension, text completion, and sentence equivalence.

• Reading Comprehension: These questions follow a reading passage that may be one to five paragraphs long. The text is dense, and there are various styles of questions that will test your higher level reading skills.
• Text Completion: Each of these one to five-sentence passages will include one to three blanks. Your job is to choose answers (single words or phrases) that will best fill in the blanks. Sounds easy enough, but the vocabulary is difficult, and you cannot earn partial credit; in other words, if you fill in one of the blanks incorrectly, the entire question will be marked wrong.
• Sentence Equivalence: More fill-in-the-blanks! For these questions, you have to choose two words that could complete the given sentence. The sentence’s meaning should remain the same with either word. As with Text Completion the vocabulary is challenging, and you have to understand the nuances in meaning.

The quantitative reasoning sections on the GRE offer a mix of the following content: arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. The good news is that it’s pretty much high school level math. What kicks it up to GRE level are the four question structures.

• Regular Multiple Choice: Your standard choose-an-answer multiple choice.
• Multiple Choice with One or More Correct Answers: Multiple choice 2.0. There might be one correct choice, or there may be many!
• Numeric Entry: No choices here; you must enter your own answer.
• Quantitative Comparison: Compare two quantities and then choose which statements describe the comparison.

Getting Started

We’ll get the ball rolling with a conversation to learn about your goals and to get a handle on your learning style. We’ll also have you complete a diagnostic pre-test to help us target your strengths and weaknesses. Contact us to set up both of these steps!

All of this information will help us find a best-fit tutor and establish a tutoring timeline. Your director will keep in touch throughout, and you can always reach out with questions!

Why Nurturing Wisdom?

Not only do we know the GRE, we know test-taking, and we know how students learn. Your tutor will adjust and fine-tune from session to session based on your progress and goals. You’ll see why #alwayslearning is our motto!

We’ll do our best to make sessions convenient to your schedule and location, whether that means meeting on campus mid-day, in the office after work, or at home in the evening. If you need guidance writing application essays, we can help with that, too!

Online Tutoring

If you live outside of the Chicagoland area, we can still help! We love working one-on-one with students online to help them achieve their goals. Contact us to learn more!