1.Understandthedirectionsforeachquestiontype.Learnthedirectionsforeachtypeofquestion.Thedirectionsinthisbookareverysimilartothoseontheactualtest.Understandingthedirectionsforeachquestiontypewillsaveyouvaluabletimeonthedayofthetest.
2.Takeyourtimewithquestionsatthebeginningofeachsection.Rememberthatquestionsatthebeginningofasectionaffectyourscoremorethanquestionsattheend.Beespeciallycarefulinchoosinganswerstoquestionsinthefirsthalfofboththequantitativeandverbalsections.Oncethecomputerdeterminesyourgeneralabilitylevelwiththeseinitialquestions,youwillbeunabletodramaticallyimproveyourscore,evenifyouanswermostofthequestionstowardtheendcorrectly.
3.Becompletelysureofeachanswerbeforeproceeding.WithaCAT,youmustanswereachquestionasitispresented.Youcannotskipadifficultquestionandreturntoitlaterasyoucanwithapaper-and-penciltest.Norcanyoureviewresponsestoquestionsthatyouhavealreadyanswered.Therefore,youmustbeconfidentaboutyouranswerbeforeyouconfirmitandproceedtothenextquestion.Ifyouarecompletelystumpedbyaquestion,eliminateasmanyanswerchoicesasyoucan,selectthebestanswerfromtheremainingchoices,andmoveon.
4.Paceyourself.Tofinishboththeverbalandquantitativesections,youwillneedtoestablishapacethatallowsyoutospendanaverageofjustunder2minutesperitem.Youwillneedtoworkbothquicklyandaccuratelytocompleteeachsectionwithinthe75-minutetimeconstraint.Youwillstillreceiveascore,evenifyoudonotcompleteallofthequestionsinasection.
5.Bementallypreparedtoreceiveamixofdifferentquestiontypeswithineachsection.Onthepaper-and-pencilGRE,questionsaretypicallygroupedbytype.Forexample,inthemathsection,datasufficiencyquestionsappeartogetherasagroup,followedbyproblem-solvingquestions.OntheGRECAT,however,thecomputermayselectoneofseveralquestionformats,dependingonwhetheryouansweredthepreviousquestionrightorwrong.Therefore,youmustbementallyreadytoswitchbackandforthbetweenquestionsthathaveverydifferentformats,bothinthequantitativesectionandintheverbalsection,tomaintainfocusduringthetest.
6.Usethescratchpaperprovidedatthetestcenter.Youwillnotbeallowedtobringanypaperorothermaterialsintothetestcenter,andsincethereisnotestbooklet,youwillhavenoopportunitytounderline,circle,orotherwisemakenotesonactualquestionsorproblems.Thetestcenterdoes,however,provideasmuchscratchpaperasyouneedtomakenotesduringthetest.Youmaywanttodevelopasimplesystemforrecordingwhichanswerchoicesyouhaveeliminatedorawayofnotingkeyinformationinareadingpassage.Usescratchpapertosolvemathproblems,drawdiagrams,andrecordanyotherinformationthathelpsyouworkaccuratelyandquickly.
