Have you ever wondered how confusing English language can be at times?
Choosing the word that fits best for your purposes is often not an easy task especially when two words sound the same.
Take a look at these two sentences:.
The council voted in favor of the funding proposal.
The police counseled the authorities on the funding proposal.
Are you sure which one is right?
There are a bounty of words in the English language that look or sound the same but have very different meanings.
For instance, affect and effect or imminent and eminent. It’s very easy to get confused with words that are similar in pronunciation, spelling or meaning.
On the GRE, you are provided with a basic text editor without an auto correction feature. Hence, you won’t even know that you are incorrectly spelling a word unless you know the correct word.
To help avoid such blunders we have created a list of the most commonly misused/confused GRE words of all time. So this should help you the next time when you want to prescribe a remedy to someone but you instead proscribe. This is hands down the most extensive, and the most useful list of misused GRE words ever. So, make sure you save this for future use.
The Analytical Writing section has been the most ignored section on the GRE for a long time now. Do you know why?
No, it is not because it is not very important, nor is it because it is just too easy to score high on the AWA. It is because, there is nobody to tell you how important the AWA is, and more importantly, how easy it is to crack it, if you know exactly what to do. Yes, there are a few tips that tell you what to do and what not to do, but nowhere on the internet will you find an advanced guide for the AWA.
It is not just the students who ignore the analytical writing section. Most test prep companies just give out a few tips on how to write the AWA and expect you to get a decent score. But at CrunchPrep, we strive for perfection. We don’t want you to settle for anything less than a perfect score on what is the most neglected section on the GRE.
And that is why, we at CrunchPrep, have created a complete, and advanced guide that breaks down the steps you need to take to score a perfect 6.0 on the Analytical Writing Section.
Here’s what you will learn in The Advanced Guide to GRE Analytical Writing:
Every so often when I’m writing the GRE essays, I’ll think: Should I really be writing so much?
I tend to get carried away. And when that happens, it would be great to know if all this extra writing is actually helping me score better or hurting my AWA score. Of course, I want to impress the essay graders, but I want to do it the right way.
Students often ask me, how long their GRE essays should be because there is no concrete information out there about the “perfect” length of a GRE essay, and even if there is, much of that data is conflicting.
Some say essays aren’t graded mostly on length but the higher grades for a longer essay is a mere correlation between essay length and grades.
When it comes to the Analytical Writing section, essay length is very important, so if you are planning to get a perfect score, you might as well do it right.
But before we come down to the ideal length for an essay, let’s first crush this shocking myth that has been around for sometime:
“[A] quotation is a handy thing to have about, saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself, always a laborious business.” – A.A. Milne
Chances are you too know a few famous quotes, but you probably don’t use them. I know so, because I’m guilty of neglecting quotes on the GRE.
So, why should you use essay quotes on the GRE? To start with, the right use of quotes in essays augments the power of your arguments and makes your essays appear more convincing. Plus, essays with quotes tend to score better than essays without them, because of the initial impact the use of quotes create on the reader, and help strengthen your point.
But we need to exercise prudence. Only use quotes as is, if you are convinced that paraphrasing would lower the impact or change the meaning of the original author’s words or when the argument could not be better expressed or said more succinctly.
Here is how you make sure you are doing it right.
There’s a beautiful quote from the movie ‘Life is Beautiful’ that says “Nothing is more necessary than the unnecessary.” It’s funny how it can be applied to your GRE exam as well.
Most students underestimate the importance of the scratch paper on the GRE exam. It might seem unnecessary to worry about something as trivial as the scratch paper, especially when there are other important things to take care of during the test. But why do you need a scratch paper in the first place? Because, trying to do more than one step mentally, without writing anything down, will end up taking more time and will lead to lots of errors.
On the other hand, the scratch paper can be vital for you to score higher on the GRE, as it helps you calculate better, avoid or reduce mistakes, save precious time, and at the end of the day, do well on the test. Using the scratch paper in an organized way will keep you calmer and more focused than you would otherwise be.
The GRE Essay section sounds a bit intimidating, right?
Well, a perfect score on the GRE Essay section would need knowledge of obscure vocabulary, impeccable writing skills, and torrents of practice. But hang on for a second; because the GRE essay is more than just a score. It holds a lot more importance than you think. No. I’m not talking about the importance of language or coherence or logic; but the importance of the first ever section that you are going to face on test day.
I want to address some common confusion about the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) portion of the GRE exam. The AWA section involves two essays, and you get 30 minutes for each essay. And if you finish writing your first essay in 20 minutes, you don’t get 40 minutes for the second essay. If you aren’t new to the GRE format, you’d probably know that the GRE begins with the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) or the GRE Essay section. But, many of you underestimate its importance. You probably think that the GRE essay section is not nearly as consequential as the other sections. Yes, the essays are not part of your total GRE score and are instead scored on a separate scale out of 6.0 in increment of 0.5. Agreed; from the admissions point of view, a difference of 0.5 – 1 point on the GRE Essay doesn’t make or break your chances of getting into your dream school. A 5.0 is almost as good as the 6.0, and unless you score below 4.0 and you are applying to the top schools, you won’t be hurting your chances.
