GRE

[UncaBuffalo]

Okay, I decided I might go back to school for the fall semester, so I wandered in and took the GRE 'cold'.  I scored substantially lower than I should have.  This was partially due to NOT knowing that the computer-based test won't let you review your answers (so I did NOT spend as much time on some questions as I should have...thought I could go back after the 'easy' questions...).   Mostly it was because I hadn't done any studying in a couple of years, so wasn't in 'test-mode'.  :/

Anyway, here's the question:  I scored high enough that I should be able to get into the program I want, but wondered if it's worth studying up and re-taking the test for other (fellowships?  grants?  ) purposes...

[NucEng for Hire]

The GRE is intended to test you in a manner in which studying "material" does not substantially improve your score. That being said, some improvement in score can be made by becoming more familiar with the test structure, which it appears you could benefit from in a retest. I might suggest using one of the more basic GRE prep guides that carry top ratings on Amazon; it will get you familiar with the structure and some good test-taking techniques - anything more than that won't get you a substantial return on investment.

Those fellowships are pretty gravy, so it may be worth it.

[UncaBuffalo]

The GRE is intended to test you in a manner in which studying "material" does not substantially improve your score. That being said, some improvement in score can be made by becoming more familiar with the test structure, which it appears you could benefit from in a retest..

Yeah, I think they made the Verbal portion fairly 'study-proof'...you either have the vocabulary or you don't.  But I don't play with algebra equations or trig concepts every day, so thought I could probably do a bit better on the Math if I looked things over for a couple of weeks.
 

I might suggest using one of the more basic GRE prep guides that carry top ratings on Amazon; it will get you familiar with the structure and some good test-taking techniques - anything more than that won't get you a substantial return on investment.

It looks like the GRE website has some fairly good practice tests...I probably should have taken time to do them before I hit the real thing... 

Those fellowships are pretty gravy, so it may be worth it.

Thanks.  I will look into them!