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Ujjawal Madan shares some tips on preparing for and improving GRE scores.
Ujjawal Madan scored 330 in the GRE after preparing for three and half months for the program.
Improvement = (Efficiency of Study) *(Time).
According to Ujjawal Madan, he had a clear study plan that led to efficiency in time used and the resulting progress. For example, Ujjawal Madan studied many hours a day, six days per week, for nearly 100 days. Because of this systematic study plan, he noticed some steady progress in his scores.
It takes hard work and dedication — there are no quick fixes…
As Ujjawal Madan notes, there’s no substitute for hard work and commitment if you want to get high GRE scores. He explains that he started with a low score of 313, but because of putting a lot of work into studying, he added 24 points within a short time. Ujjawal Madan adds that although it’s an uphill effort to hit huge scores, it’s possible.
However, he explains that you should expect your improvement to be slow. That’s because it takes plenty of time and effort to increase your score by 15 points or more.
Real improvement is slow.
Ujjawal Madan adds that it’s impossible to reach 330 and more within 20 days if your score is around 320. You’ll take a long time to grasp the skills you want to learn.
GRE improvement is primarily a cycle of repeated practice, learning from mistakes, and refinement in one’s process. If you want your score to go up by 15 points or more, quick fixes and implementing strategies you don’t have to time to refine are just not a part of that equation. The real question is do you have the time and energy to commit to getting a higher score?
Keeping your morale up — comparison issue.
Ujjawal Madan observes that some publications about GRE tend to boast of people scoring 330 plus, but they’re mum about others scoring lower grades. He advises that you don’t have to compare yourself with those ‘high’ achievers because the average scores are 153Q and 151V, totaling 304, according to stats.
Ujjawal Madan says that whatever you see on the net concerning real scores doesn’t represent many people who don’t find it easy to get high grades. So, it would be better to ignore these comparisons.
You may also get a low score on the diagnostic test and feel that you’re not intelligent, according to the common belief about GRE scores. Ujjawal Madan explains that GRE isn’t about low or high IQ because some intelligent people flunk GRE.
So please don’t consider your score a reflection of how smart you are or assume that you can’t make big improvements. At the end of the day, it is a skill-based test, and if you acquire the skills and strengthen your reasoning and logic skills, I believe you can also succeed.
Strive for excellence and improvement, not a score
Some people also emphasize the idea of a target score. It could be 310, 320, and so on. According to Ujjawal Madan, a target score isn’t as critical as figuring out the amount of study time, committing to the time, and putting in the extra effort. He says you need to zero in on two things: improvement and excellence.Ujjawal Madan is currently an on-campus student in the MS in Analytics Program at Georgia Tech. He was born in New Delhi, India. At age three, his parents moved to Toronto, Canada, where Ujjawal Madan has lived for approximately 20 years. He wants to expand his data science skill-set and toolkit, seek opportunities to apply what he knows, and find new ways to solve high-impact problems.