By Alicia Geigel

For those who are thinking about grad school, there are many things to consider and prepare for, one of them being some kind of grad school test, such as the GRE, GMAT, or LSAT. 

GRE

The GRE (Graduate Record Exam) is the most commonly required admission test for grad school and is a way to test your understanding of specific areas of study like critical thinking, analytical writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning skills.

GMAT

The GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) is necessary if you are looking into business school. The test is the standard for admission into graduate business school and is divided into four different sections: quantitative, integrated reasoning, verbal, and analytical writing assessment. Like the GRE, it is important to give yourself plenty of time to study prior to taking the exam. But if you don’t get the score you wanted, you can retake the GMAT (and most people do).

LSAT

The LSAT (Law School Admission Test) is designed to test students’ reasoning skills and is categorized into the following sections: reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, two logical reasoning sections, an unscored (experimental) section, and an unscored writing section. Given the fact that the LSAT is such a lengthy and challenging test, it is in your best interest to study long before you take the test, especially as retakes are typically discouraged.

Test Taking Tips:

1. Find your baseline: Just like it sounds, your baseline is considered to be the score you would receive on your desired test if you took it right at this moment. After establishing your baseline, you can figure out the areas you could perform well in and the ones you could show weakness in, and most importantly, how much time you need to bring up your score in those areas.
2. Gauge Your Learning Styles: Do you learn in small bursts with a short amount of time between each period of rest or do you need to warm up for a while before diving into the heavy part of studying? Determining what works for you will help the process of studying and learning go a lot easier for you!
3. Make Daily Goals: For example, you could dedicate your Tuesdays to focusing on statistics and Wednesdays to studying vocabulary. This will help to break up what you’re studying and build your skills piece by piece!
4. Avoid the Subjects You’re Good At: While it is never a bad thing to strengthen skills you already have in an area, it’s more important to practice subjects you are not good at. After all, it’s in your best interest to work on the subjects that really give you trouble so you can improve!

Having the knowledge of what you need to do beforehand, using the proper resources to help you study, and following test-taking tips that cater to you and your learning style are all ways to guarantee your success when it comes time to take the test. Good luck!