ApexGRE
0Those of you who are preparing for the GRE have probably come across the price tag of a private tutor. You are not alone if the cost is a bit off-putting. Too often those put off by the price of a private GRE tutor attempt to achieve a cumulative 325+ score on their own. Some are successful. Many more are not. There is more to achieving a cumulative 325+ than what meets the eye.
We here at Apex have helped dozens of clients achieve a cumulative 325+ on the GRE. All of whom realized during their prep that the only way to achieve their goal is with help. Asking for help is a noble thing to do and, more often than not, those highly successful individuals you see attend a top-ten graduate program didn’t go it alone. They had help. Often, in the form of a private tutor.
But we are not here to convince you that a private tutor is the be-all and end-all to GRE studying. In this article, we break down whether you are one of those few who are able to achieve a cumulative 325+ GRE score without the support of a private tutor.
YES, you can! But…
To answer your question. Yes. It is possible to achieve a cumulative 325+ on the GRE without hiring a private GRE tutor. But just because one can doesn’t necessarily mean one should. What do we mean by this? Well, studying – as you are well aware – is stressful. Attempting to ‘go it alone’ is even more stressful.
Let’s assume you study 10 hours a week, and you notice practice exam after practice exam that you are not surpassing a cumulative 310 or 315. Sure, you can bump up the amount of hours you are studying, but this might just turn into a waste of time. You see, studying doesn’t always come down to the amount of hours you put into it. Achieving success on the GRE is highly dependent on your testing strategy. A strategy that even an extra 5 hours of studying won’t help you fix.
Your testing strategy is EVERYTHING
The testing strategy you choose to adopt is the one that can make, or break, your GRE goal. If you are determined to ‘go it alone’ and not hire a private GRE tutor, then watch videos where professionals can help break down different types of test taking strategies. If your strategy works for you, that is great! But often some test takers can’t seem to figure out what they are doing wrong, or they don’t know how to maximize their strategy for the greatest results. This is where a private tutor comes into play. They analyze your test taking strategy and tailor your prep to best suit who you are as a test taker.
The Pros and Cons
Weigh out the pros and cons. Studying, if you do it right, is time-consuming. GRE private tutors, if you choose a good one, are pricey. And while a private tutor may not reduce your studying time to 0.5 hours a week, what they can do is guide you towards your goal without having you waste your precious time. An excellent one-on-one GRE instructor has a keen eye, and is able to notice where you might be struggling – or excelling – without you ever knowing it. And while a private tutor may be pricey, at the end of the day achieving your goal of a cumulative 325+ GRE score will pay back the cost of a private tutor 10-fold. Don’t believe us? Getting a high GRE score can open doorways to top graduate programs and even future professional opportunities.
It comes down to statistics
Still wondering whether you can achieve a cumulative 325+ GRE score on your own? Only about 20% of the test takers achieve a cumulative 325+ score. And the majority of them utilize help in some form or another. We have found very few individuals who are able to achieve a cumulative 325+ purely on their own. And while it is possible, sometimes skill isn’t the only factor at play for achieving a cumulative 325+.
As we talked about earlier, strategy plays a huge factor in your abilities as does looking at things from a fresh perspective. If achieving a cumulative 325+ on the GRE was easy, well, then everyone would do it! But it is difficult for a reason. Graduate schools want to be sure that their students are up for the challenge of a Graduate program. And just like you won’t go through Graduate school all alone, why expect to go through the GRE studying experience all by yourself as well?
We here at ApexGRE pride ourselves on helping clients achieve a GRE score above a cumulative 325+. We often get clients coming to us who have found themselves plateauing around the 315 mark after attempting a cumulative 325+ on their own. We are able to develop a strategy with them. Keeping in mind their strengths and weaknesses. And because all of our tutors have scored above a cumulative 330 on the GRE and have years of tutoring experience behind them, we are well equipped to help any type of learner.
If you are interested in speaking with one of our GRE tutors, you can sign-up for a complimentary, 30-minute, consultation call. You can also learn more from our past clients who were able to achieve their cumulative 325+ score with us!
Contributor: Dana Coggio