It's My Birthday! Part II

Today I went out to lunch with my boyfriend and a two of my best friends to a Japanese restaurant and for dinner my parents made burgers, corn, and mushroom ravioli. That is my birthday.

And, on my birthday, I did a lot of GRE studying. Hooray and ugh at the same time.

I'm essentially done with the verbal section of the Barron's book. Here's how I did on the Reading Comprehension Exercises:
A: 17/20
B: 18/20
C: 15/20
D: 16/20
E: 17/20

Fairly consistent, I'd say. I also finished the Word Lists! Now that's an accomplishment in itself. 9 days and 3,500 words separated into 50 word lists containing 70 words each. Yep. Here's the results of the ones I finished late last night:
#47: 13/15
#48: 14/15
#49: 14/15
#50: 14/15

After doing a but of tallying, I figured that this is how I fared on the tests:
Number of tests where I got a certain score:
10/15: 2
11/15: 2
12/15: 4
13/15: 13
14/15: 21
15/15: 8

After doing a some math, I figured that the average of all of those tests is a 13.46 out of 15, which is equivalent to 89.73%, but it's important to keep in mind that the tests did not test every word that is in the Master Word List. Not bad, though, in consideration. And, though this isn't really reliable, it's just interesting to look at: 3160.55 words. That's the number of words I should know by now that was in the Master Word List, according to the percentage that I got for the tests.

I wonder if the headaches I've been getting recently have to do with any of this.

I skimmed quickly over the section in the Barron's book on "Basic Word Parts", including "Common Prefixes". "Common Roots and Stems", and "Common Suffixes". My thoughts are that it's a little precarious to try to apply this method to words I don't know because there is still a good chance that the word actually doesn't mean anything near what the parts of it says it means. I'll keep them in mind. Loosely.

Thought that I will elaborate on perhaps another day: the analytical writing section is FREAKIN ME OUT. That's all for now on that matter.

For now I can put the Barron's GRE prep book aside until I start up math work. It's resting on top of the ETS book right now. Oh, so many pages...

I started on the Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE right after I put aside the Barron's book. The Princeton book is pretty much what I expect it to be: wordy, a lot of examples almost to the point of being too much, concentrating on approach and "how to crack" questions, and a dash of humor. Why do I expect that from Princeton? Because I was thinking that in their attempt to teach a person of... hmmm... "lesser mind" (dare I say?) who bought the book because he or she must consider him or her self incapable of tackling the GRE straight on with no preparation, Princeton would "dumb it down" and teach slow. Still, it's Princeton and that almost requires over analyzing and wordiness. Whatever. The book is still useful.

I'm on page 134. I skipped a lot of the blahblahblah, even though I do know that I'm going to go back and read it because I'm that pathetic.

Here's how I fared on the "drills" which I finished already:
Analogies Drill, Page 39: 9/9
Analogies Drill, Page 45: 10/10 (one of them I was a little off on, but I knew there was a relationship, which was the point of the exercise)
Analogies Practice Set, Page 51: 9/10
Sentence Completion Drills, Pages 60-61: (Pg 61): 5/7 (I dislike the approach)
Text Completion Question Example, Page 72: 3/3
Sentence Completions Practice Set, Page 77: 9/10 (the one I got wrong is the one I changed last second) on the regular fill-ins, 7/10 on the text completion questions. 16/20 as a whole.

I also started working on "The Hit Parade" groups (ummm...word lists. That is just so much simpler, but okay). The answer keys to the GRE Hit Parade Exercises for Groups 1-4 is located on page 151, for those who are trying to find it. Following the Hit Parade is "Beyond the Hit Parade" which is composed of two groups of words with no practice exercises, but are apparently still important to know. Princeton. Just put them in with the others. Just. Duh.

77 words + 76 words + 78 words + 72 words = The Hit Parade Groups, respectively. Princeton, why are you randomly assigning words to unequal groups? I don't get it. It's not even separated alphabetically! It's just divided up bizarrely.

52 words + 78 words = Beyond the Hit Parade Groups 1 & 2.

All in all, the Princeton books offers 433 words and their definitions.

This is what the Princeton book says on the Hit Parade on Page 119:

"The Hit Parade
You should start your vocabulary work by studying the Hit Parade, which is a list we've compiled by some of the most frequently tested words on the GRE. We put together this list by analyzing released GREs with out computers, as we keep tabs on the test to make sure that these words are still popular with ETS. At the very least, answer choices that contain Hit Parade words make very good guesses on questions for which you don't know the answer.

Learning the Hit Parade will give you a feel for the level of vocabulary that ETS likes to test. Then it will be easier to spot other possible GRE words in your everyday life. Each word on the Hit Parade is followed by a part of speech and a brief definition for the word. Some of the words on this list may have other definitions as well, but the definitions we have given are the ones most likely to appear on the GRE.

We've broken the Hit Parade down into four groups of about 75 words each. Don't try to learn all four groups of words at once - word with one list at a time. Write the words and their definitions down in a notebook or on flashcards. it is very important to write them down yourself since this will help you remember them. Just glancing through the lists printed in this book won't be nearly as effective; you need to make these words your own. After each group of words, there is a set of exercises consisting of a definition quiz, a matching quiz, and some GRE questions utilizing words from that group. Don't do these right away. Spend some time studying and learning the words first, then use the exercises as a way to test yourself. If you still have difficulty with the questions, go back and work on those words some more before moving on to the next group.

Now get to work!"

I'll take Barron's 3,500-Word Master Work List. Thanks.

It's My Birthday!

Today is my 2nd palindrome birthday! Hooray! Yes, I will still be studying for the GRE. The birthday-related activities for today include going out to lunch with my boyfriend and one or two close friends and eating cheeseburgers/quesadillas made by my mom for dinner (I requested this as my birthday dinner, opposed to the usual pasta birthday dinner I like...craving burgers lately!). I already got my big present: this laptop. It's a combination Christmas-birthday-graduation present. And that's just fine with me! It's lovely and I love it.

Other activities planned for today arre studying for the GRE and packing for North Carolina. My family and I are driving down. Driving. It's a 12-hour drive. My dad has decided that we are leaving at 3AM. WHAT?

The reason why I am slightly irritated about leaving at that time shouldn't be because I want to spend the time on the road studying and leaving at 3AM cuts into major study time. It really shouldn't.

Anywho, today my boyfriend I am went to Barnes and Noble and not only did I get a present from him, which was Alton Brown's Good Eats: The Early Years (AMAZING), but I got to peek into Sparknotes' GRE prep book. It's not bad. I like that they inject humor into studying. I'd say that even though the 400-word pullout is helpful, I don't think it's as helpful as the 3,500 Master Word List I have in my lap right now (thanks, Barrons). I'm almost done studying it, too, or at least I'm almost done finishing studying it the first time. I do have to go back over words.

Here's a progress report:
On the Word Lists:
#30: 13/15 (Day 6)
#31: 13/15 (Day 6)
#32: 13/15 (Day 6)
#33: 14/15 (Day 6)
#34: 13/15 (Day 7)
#35: 14/15 (Day 7)
#36: 14/15 (Day 7)
#37: 14/15 (Day 8)
#38: 13/15 (Day 8)
#39: 11/15 (Day 8)
#40: 13/15 (Day 9)
#41: 15/15 (Day 9)
#42: 10/15 (Day 9)
#43: 13/15 (Day 9)
#44: 14/15 (Day 9)
#45: 13/15 (Day 9)
#46: 14/15 (Day 9)

Sentence Completion Exercises:
Exercise B: 14/20
Exercise C: 17/20

Analogy Exercises:
Exercise B: 18/20
Exercise C; 18/20
Exercise D: 17/20
Exercise E: 13/20

Antonym Exercises:
Exercise C: 13/20
Exercise D: 14/20
Exercise E: 13/20

I included all the finished Analogy and Antonym exercises because I can't remember if I mentioned them or not. I get the feeling that I did already, though.