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Is GRE verbal reasoning part that important for non-native english speakers?

dato c - 2009-11-11 07:50:16 - Standards Testing

Although my English is pretty good, I'm really concerned about my upcoming GRE examination. Obviously, I won't be able to score as good as a native English speaker in verbal reasoning. My average score so far is 460-480 (in practice tests). I don't really expect to get more than 500. On the other hand, I've got best academic records on the entire course, competitive TOEFL score and a good chance to get a perfect (or at least almost perfect) score in GRE math reasoning part. However, since I'm applying for the world's top universities, such as MIT and Princeton, I'm really concerned about GRE verbal test. Do you think its so important that I should completely switch to memorizing as many new English words as I can?

Best Answer:

Your schools will certainly take into account that English isn't your first language, especially if the programs you are applying to are math related. There are SO many possible words they can put on the test that unless you've got a year to prepare, it's probably not worth your time to study. What could be helpful, though, is studying word roots/prefixes/suffixes, etc. That might give you some information to make good guesses, and won't take long. Lots of luck!

Answers:

Your schools will certainly take into account that English isn't your first language, especially if the programs you are applying to are math related. There are SO many possible words they can put on the test that unless you've got a year to prepare, it's probably not worth your time to study. What could be helpful, though, is studying word roots/prefixes/suffixes, etc. That might give you some information to make good guesses, and won't take long. Lots of luck!