Well I don't know what changes they're making to it, I took it back in May 2009.

I simply bought a GRE book that had some sample tests, basic math formulas you need to know (I was a math major from '94-'98 but forgot most of it in architecture school, so I hadn't had a math class in at least 11 years), and some vocab words to memorize. For the vocab stuff I just made some flashcards with words and definitions. Math I just tried to memorize some basic formulas.

I really could have studied harder I suppose, I ended up with a V 570 Q 660, which isn't awesome, but I think it's average for grad schools.

Mind you, I'd never get into the Ivies, so I didn't think paying a couple hundred bucks for private tutoring was worth it.

Three words: practice, practice, practice.

The thing that helped me most was the many, many timed practice tests I took from books. The material cannot be studied for (except in a general way), but the format and timing certainly can be "studied," over and over, in the form of repetition in conditions as close to the actual testing as possible.

Good luck!

I took the GRE last year and did horribly, even with the Kaplan book. It didn't help me brush up on my math skills as I thought it would. I've been out of undergrad for many years also.

I took Trig this past semester and taking Calculus right now as a pre-requisite to an MARCH I program, and I feel like these two classes, especially the Trig, have helped me a lot more than the GRE study books. I wish I had taken them before the GRE, or at least while I was studying for it.

If you know you need to take them as pre-reqs later, might as well take them now while you're studying for the GRE and kill two birds with one stone. I took both of these classes online through a community college. Some summer sessions are only 5 weeks.

As for Vocab and writing....flashcards help, but learn Latin roots. Buy a word roots book. Writing I think just takes many practice runs, make sure you know proper sentence structure etc. I think the GRE books are good for these two sections.

Right now I'm studying vocabulary. Grinding to learn as many words as I possibly can, and I'm planning to take the exam at least once before the format changes.

I'm just working through the Kaplan study books right now, up until I can plow through the "advanced" books easily. I figure, within a year, if I'm still not prepared I'll probably enroll in the Kaplan study course as well.

Study buddies help too.

Barrons book is known to be the best.

Math stuff is all easy once you understand the tricks, most of the quantitative comparisons should be no breezers (even though they look hard at first).

Most arch grad applicants do poorly on verbal (most use english as a second language) but excel on the math. Having a good verbal+essay score may set you apart. Study the top 1000 and 300 most frequently used words and it will definitely boost your score. Also, understand what they are looking for in the essay (covered in the guides).

Another good way to improve your vocab I found is to read British literature. It uses more difficult words than standard American literature that we are used to and will help improve your vocabulary. Plus its more enjoyable than cramming flashcards all day. Underline every word you don't know and look it up, the contextual background will cement your understanding of the term.

I probably wouldn't waste the money on an expensive test prep course as most architecture schools zoom in on the portfolio, and the GRE is more of a standard procedure they have to follow to make sure you are an educated individual. Don't spend too much time preparing for the exam- maybe an intense month and use the rest of the time to work on portfolio stuff. Also, get it done early, as many more schools will send you recruitment information if your scores are good- maybe even waive the application fee ;)

So does anyone know when the format of the test is actually changing? From what i've read it sounds as if they're making it more flexible, perhaps therefore, less ardous to prepare for.

I've been told either June or August of 2010. How credible this information is, I don't know.

It doesn't change until August of 2011.

i second the barrons book. i used it to refresh my math, make vocab flashcards that i reviewed on the bus to/from work every day, and took a bunch of the practice tests. i ended up improving my scores (in practice exams) a few hundred points from when i started studying (probably early october) to when i took the exam (late november/early december)

i've also heard that crossword puzzles can help with the verbal portions.

7709977009 - Do you have the name of the Latin roots book you used? Ive had a search on line for something link this and all i can find is the book "the latin in english" - i'm not sure how good it is?

Cheers!