MSinUS: Part 1— GRE, TOEFL, IELTS
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Once you decided your list of universities (ballpark), start preparing for particular exams. I’ll just provide useful links which answer cliche questions instead of repeating them. Instead, I’ll tell what I’d done so you can take some useful pointers from my journey.
GRE
Exam Structure
Quant/Maths: 40 questions (20+20)
English/Verbal: 40 questions (20+20)
One surprise section: Can be Quant or Verbal
AWA/Essays: 2 (scaled out of 6)
Q. How many months it’ll take to crack GRE?
It depends on individual. In my case, I prepared for 10hrs/week for 4 months and 20hrs/week during last month. So, a total of ~250hrs preparation (including mock tests).
Q. Any preparation strategy?
- Write free mock test from Manhattan (from here) and get base score
- Prepare vocabulary from Magoosh app (common and basic lists would suffice. Incase you have time, have a look at advance list)
- Practice different sections from Manhattan 5lb (I found this book to be very helpful and bought it)
- Write 2 free mock tests provided by ETS (one during the preparation, one during the last week before the final exam)
- Practice essay skeletons during the final week
In most cases, you can observe a +10 points at the final score from your base score. If not, make sure you practice more. This is what I had done. Make tweaks accordingly.
Note: During GRE exam, you will have an opportunity to send your score card to 4 universities free of cost (usually it costs $20/university to report score card during application). So, make sure to prepare a list of universities you are planning to apply before.
Useful Websites: Magoosh, Manhattan, Princeton, GreEdge (Read blog posts posted in these websites or check out their YouTube channels. That info would be more than enough)
TOEFL/IELTS
Q. TOEFL vs IELTS: Which one to chose?
It depends on which universities you are applying for. A rule of thumb is “TOEFL for US and Canada, IELTS for Europe and Australia” but remember it’s just a thumb rule. Also, the preparation style is similar, so just start preparing instead of spending too much time researching. If you are not sure, just give TOEFL.
Q. Preparation
It takes an average of 15days to 1month (with 2–3hrs/day) to get a good score in TOEFL as it’s more of a skill based exam. I personally felt TOEFL easier compared to GRE but it might become trickier because of speaking and listening sections.
Some YouTube Playlists (Just explore till you get good ones)
- https://www.youtube.com/c/TOEFLsuccess/playlists
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgvzSOyWe-U&list=PLoDjs_CkjI66XZ8sDqClffaFfEz4gEux3
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAAqo3NMrq8&list=PLOtkhEcw4B4B3sxfBC-F2HEcgNajsrDIC
Q. Is coaching necessary?
Absolutely not. Irrespective of your background, I strongly believe that one can crack these exams with enough dedication and practice. Make sure you spend enough time practicing. There are tons of online material available for free. My sincere advice is not to spend too much money on this
Incase you feel a bit anxious, try subscribing for some mock series (check Magoosh etc; but remember these are costly) and practice.
General Points:
- One advantage with TOEFL is, you can select the universities for which you want to send your test score when you are paying fee (unlike GRE where you have to select during exam)
- Give more importance to TOEFL/IELTS than GRE. Universities know that a mediocre applicant might have great GRE score or a great applicant might have mediocre GRE and thus had reduced it’s importance (2021 admits might understand it better). But as TOEFL/IELTS is a language exam, it is mandatory for everyone to get a minimum score (also few assistanceships depend purely on TOEFL score, you can observe directly from universities website)
- There’s no a one-goodscore-for-all. One might be elated with a 310 but another might not be satisfied with a 330. So, check based on your university previous GRE averages.