Chapter 23

Ten Mistakes You Won’t Make (And Others Will)

In This Chapter

Avoiding the temptation to cheat

Building endurance and taking advantage of breaks to finish strong

Taking charge of what you can control and letting the rest fall into place

Testing with the clock (or your best bud)

Throughout this book, you discover techniques for doing your best on the GRE. I’m sorry to say, however, that you may encounter just as many pitfalls for messing up big time on the test. The good news is that this chapter can help you avoid those pitfalls. Take a few minutes to read through these mistakes now to see what crazy things people do to totally blow the exam. By becoming aware of these catastrophes, you may prevent them from happening to you.

Cheating

Cheating on the GRE is just plain stupid, so don’t even consider it. Apart from the ethical issues, cheating simply doesn’t work. When you get to the testing center, and before you begin your test, the proctors separate you from anything that you can possibly use to cheat, including your cellphone, wristwatch, water bottle, jacket, and hat. On top of that, you’re monitored by a camera while taking the test. Any semblance of privacy goes right out the window.

How would you cheat anyway? You can’t copy all those vocabulary words or write all the math formulas on anything accessible during the test. Besides, the GRE tests your critical-reasoning and problem-solving skills more than your memorization skills.

Those caught cheating can be banned from taking the test for up to ten years! In the world of education, that’s nearly a life sentence.

Running Out of Steam

The GRE tests your stamina as much as anything else. Most people aren’t able to maintain these levels of concentration for four straight hours, so they end up petering out. Through preparation and practice, you have a definite edge over the other test-takers.

Like practicing for a marathon, you must slowly build yourself up for the long GRE. Practice for a few hours at a time and stop when you get tired. Repeat this exercise, and eventually you’ll be able to go the full distance without fail. Don’t push yourself too hard, though, because you’ll burn yourself out. As they say in the weight room, “Train, don’t strain.”

Planning for Your Breaks

Some people don’t take advantage of the short breaks offered during the GRE. Be sure you don’t miss the opportunity to take a breather. You’re offered a short break (one- or ten- minute increments) between sections. If you don’t take these breaks, you’ll be sitting still for hours. Though your stamina may be good (because you practiced), you still want to stay hydrated, eat a power bar, and walk around every now and then to keep your mind clear. Don’t plan on studying during your breaks, though — the review of any GRE-prep materials during breaks is strictly forbidden.

Pack some water bottles and power bars to keep in a locker for your breaks. You won’t have time to go grab something. Don’t drink too much water, though — you can’t pause the test to run to the restroom.

Worrying about the Past Questions or Sections

When skipping a question or marking it for further review, let it go until the end of the section so you can focus on the other questions at hand. When you reach the end of the section (but before moving on to the next section or before the time expires), you may return to the questions you skipped or marked and check or change your answers.

When you move on to the next section, however, that’s it: You can’t go back to a previous section. You have no choice but to move forward, so don’t waste mental energy and focus on past questions you can do nothing about.

Although you can go back and change answers within each section, it’s not always a good idea unless you had serious doubts about your answer. Examinees tend to change more right answers to wrong answers than the other way around. Think twice and rule out all other choices before changing your answer.

Panicking over the Time Limit

Some test-takers fret over the clock. The key to success is to be aware of the clock while remaining calm. Practice working with a timer. As you become more accustomed to working with the clock during practice, you’ll eventually settle into a comfortable pace and be used to the timer on test day.

The mistakes you make while under pressure from the timer are different from the mistakes you make while relaxed. Practice with a timer to become aware of the timer-pressure mistakes and fix them before the test.

Rushing through the Questions

Some test-takers are so worried about finishing the test that they rush through it, taking shortcuts and making careless errors. As a result, they finish early then don’t have time to check all their work.

Because the easy questions are worth exactly as much as the hard questions, it makes sense to knock out the easy ones first. For the medium questions that you’re not so sure of, take advantage of the Mark for Review button available for each question. At the end of each section, you have a review screen that shows which questions aren’t answered and which are marked for review. You can jump straight to those questions to work them further.

Choking on the Essays

Choking, by definition (on the GRE), means getting stuck on something and becoming so flustered that you can’t focus on anything after that. Choking can happen at any point on the test, but because you can flag the multiple-choice questions and go back to them at the end of the section, you’re unlikely to choke on the questions.

Essays, however, are another story. On the GRE, you have to write two essays and you have only 30 minutes each to write them. What’s worse, they’re at the beginning of the test, so if you choke on one, you’re toast for the entire test. Of course, this won’t happen to you, because in Chapters 14 and 15, I guide you through writing two perfect essays, step by step, and making writer’s block something of the past.

Practice writing the essays! Like any skill, essay-writing takes practice, and you don’t want to be at the start of the learning curve on test day.

Fretting over the Hard Questions

The GRE contains some incredibly difficult questions. Most test-takers don’t get perfect scores, and you’re not expected to either. Do the best you can, score in the high percentiles, and get accepted to graduate school! No one expects a perfect score, so you shouldn’t either.

The GRE is only one of many parts of the application process. Your GPA, work experience, essays, and any other relevant character-building experience (such as playing sports, military service, volunteer work, or leadership training) also count toward your chances of admission.

Taking the Test with Your Best Friend

You and your buddy may be able to schedule your tests for the same time. Big mistake. Two of my students from the same class took the exam at the same time, side by side, and both told me afterward that the distraction was almost unbearable. Fortunately, they both scored well, but I wonder how different their results would have been if they’d tested separately. If you want to rely on your friend for support, study with him or plan a celebration afterwards, but don’t buddy up to take the test.

Changing Your Morning Routine

The GRE is stressful enough. The last thing you need to do is add more anxiety to the whole nerve-racking experience by changing your morning routine.

If you normally have one cup of coffee, should you have an extra cup for more energy or only half a cup to reduce anxiety? Should you have an omelet for more protein or just have toast to avoid the food crash later? Here’s a suggestion: Do what you normally do. It works every other day, and it’ll work just as well the day of the test. Don’t break routine.

If you’re tempted to try an energy drink or something unusual for an enhanced test-taking experience, try it first on a practice test! Make sure your new concoction doesn’t upset your stomach, give you a headache, or zone you out.