Blogs On GRE

There are a few aspects that can greatly decrease your stress tolerance level:   1) Your sense of control:     If you feel as though you have no control of the situation, you are more likely to exhibit stress symptoms. While you are preparing for the GRE, keep in mind that you are the sole individual responsible for your success. It is up to you to prepare yourself and you have full control on the outcome of the situation; understanding this concept will help ease your stress as you will realize that you are not helpless. You have the ability to take charge.     2) Your attitude: A negative outlook will automatically translate itself into a negative stress. Stay positive throughout your preparation and try to focus on the good things in general. For example, instead of fearing failure, think about the great things that will come with your success; you’ll be able to get in the graduate school of your choice, you might be offered a scholarship – think about how proud success will make you. Work towards a positive goal and stay away from any negative thinking, whether related to the GRE or not. This is a life lesson in general and can be applied to all aspects of your life.     3) Your support network:     If you feel lonely and do not have any friends or family to help you out and share the journey with you, you are more likely to isolate yourself and keep your stress to yourself. However, if you share your thoughts, communicate with loved ones and make sure to have a strong support system to help you go through certain situations, you’ll be more confident and your stress will be reduced. For example, many surgeons refused to perform surgery on a patient who doesn’t have a good support system during the recovery phase – the people who surround you, the help you can get and the resources that are available to you all contribute to your success and can help you cope with stress and emotions better.     4) Your preparation:     Without adequate preparation and studying, you’ll most likely feel stressed out until the moment you get your score. If you work hard, study efficiently and cover all the material needed to pass the GRE,  you  have no reason to be stressed out or fear a negative outcome. No stress management technique can help you as much as being thoroughly prepared and feeling confident in your abilities can help you.     5) Your ability to cope: Not knowing how to handle your emotions and your stress will only make you more anxious. Thankfully, the next chapter will give you great tips on how to manage your stress! This is a great complement to having control over a situation. Knowing how to cope with a particular situation, gaining control over your emotions and being able to refocus your energy positively as demonstrated in the following chapter will help you say “no” to stress.     The good news is that you can act on these five factors in order to ensure your success.This blog is an excerpt from our Book:Conquer the GRE: Stress Management & A Perfect Study Plan

If your stress is not only arising during your study sessions, but is constantly manifesting itself throughout the day, you’ll need drastic techniques to keep you on the right path. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that GRE-related stress doesn’t start to dominate your entire life:     1) Get a massage:​ Massage therapy is a great way to make sure that your stress is being taken care of. Taking some time to relax and have your muscles rubbed and your knots detangled will ensure that you actually get some time to yourself and slow down every once in a while. Since massages are most often given in a quiet room with limited noise and interruptions, you’ll get the opportunity to rest and get a little bit of peace and quiet. It is also a well- known fact that stress often manifests itself physically, so the massage in itself will help you eliminate toxins and release tension in your body. If you have health insurance, you could possibly be eligible for a discount on massage therapy, so be sure to look into this.   2) Improve your diet:   If your diet is not already as healthy as possible, you should try to include healthy foods in all your meals. This will give you energy and help you focus, benefitting you in more ways than one. For example, you could start by cutting down on caffeinated and sugary foods. Limit your intake of coffee to one or two cups in the morning and avoid candy, desserts and other sources of sugar. Caffeine and sugar will prevent you from being completely focused on the task at hand and also lowers your immune system. Other ways of improving your diet can include eating the recommended daily portions of fruits and vegetables, drink plenty of water and eat 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 big ones. Following these steps is a great way to take care of your body (and your mind). Stress is less likely to affect you – or will affect you in a milder manner – if your body is in good shape and well-fed. Of course, if you are already eating a healthy diet, keep up the good work!         3) Take control of your study environment:   Make sure that you are studying in a place that is conducive to studying. Avoid clutter and unnecessary distraction. If you are studying at home, make sure your desk is neatly organized and you aren’t watching TV while working on your math problems. If you are studying at the library, on the other hand, make sure that you won’t be distracted by the other students coming and going. Having a proper environment to study will help you feel more in control, and will help you focus on studying rather than being stressed out.         4) Socialize:   You probably aren’t the only student at your school preparing for the GRE. Talking about the test and your study plans with other students in the same situation can help you feel better about the whole thing. You might also want to talk with people who have already taken the GRE and ask them if they have any tips for you. Making your GRE preparation a social activity will help you realize that you aren’t the only one going through this. Socializing can also help you get reassurance that you are on the right track, which can greatly ease your stress. Go for lunch with your group of friends – if any of them are also preparing for the GRE, you might be able to share tips and discuss the test. You might even want to start a study group with other students. Of course, socializing and forgetting about the GRE for a few hours can also help you clear your mind and reduce your stress: take an evening to go out with the girls or the boys and have some fun! Just be sure to not neglect your study in favor of socializing.         5) Learn to manage your time:   You probably are stressed mostly because you don’t think you have enough time to prepare – this is a stress factor for many students. It is also possible that you have other responsibilities outside of your GRE preparation, whether at home or at school. Learning how to manage your time properly will help you feel in control and get a handle on your stress, as you’ll be more confident in your ability to obtain a great score. Track your progress in a journal, schedule your study sessions in your day planner or even create a checklist of sections to cover that you can cross off one at a time as you prepare yourself for the test. These are all great ways to make sure that you are keeping track of what you need to do. Set aside some time to study everyday and make sure that you stick to your routine – this will make time management much more easier, as you’ll know exactly when you’ll have time to study and how much time you have. You can then plan your study sessions better and evaluate what you have to do in order to be ready for a certain date.       6) Don’t skip study sessions: If you’re stressed out, it can be very easy to go out with your friends or watch a movie instead of spending a few hours studying. Temptations are everywhere, but let’s face it – you can’t be successful if you don’t prepare yourself properly. If you’ve set up a schedule for yourself or are using a study plan (like the ones proposed in our book Conquer the GRE: Stress Management & A Perfect Study Plan) you’ll need to make sure that you are sticking to your plan and not skipping study sessions. Being prepared for the GRE is the only way you’ll be able to obtain the highest score possible.     This Blog is an excerpt from Conquer the GRE: Stress Management & A Perfect Study Plan by Vibrant Publishers . Study for GRE with our Test Prep Series.

It is important to realize that stress isn’t always necessarily a bad thing. Stress can be good up to the point where it interferes with your tasks. In other words, you could be under good stress, or under bad stress, depending on how this particular stress affects you. For example, if you are stressing out because you’re having a hard time with a particular section of the GRE, your stress could do two different things:     Push you to study harder, be motivated, and be even more prepared for the test Interfere with your study sessions by distracting your thoughts and preventing you from focusing on the task at hand   This is why we talk about good stress and bad stress. It can have a positive or negative impact on you, depending on how you manage it. While one will serve as a source of motivation (good stress), the other will interfere with the task at hand and distract you from the end goal (bad stress).     You certainly shouldn’t worry if you are experiencing good stress, which helps you focus and pushes you to work even harder to achieve your goals. For example, if you are a music student preparing for an audition, good stress could stimulate your performance. Good stress could push an athlete to train even harder, or a student to study longer. Good stress usually comes in short bursts and will help you get through a particular event – it is usually associated with adrenaline. Think about a mid-term exam; even if you’ve prepared yourself thoroughly for the evaluation, you may still experience a burst of anxiety or stress a few minutes before the exam. However, this quick stress response will help you pull through each and every question successfully. This is what good stress is; it has a positive impact on your life and daily activities and act as a motivator.     On the other hand, your normal bursts of stress could develop into bad stress, which will interfere with your daily life and will have a negative impact on the outcome of a situation. Bad stress is often associated with helplessness – when you feel as though you have no control. When you are suffering from bad stress, the simplest things often become a challenge. The following symptoms of stress will help you evaluate if your stress is crossing the line from good to bad.     Being unable to sleep Being constantly tired even when well rested Being short-tempered and getting irritated easily Being unfocused and forgetful Being more emotional than usual Having increasingly negative thoughts Using poor judgment Changing eating habits Getting sick more often Developing nervous habits such as nail biting     Depending on your situation, you may experience stress at different moments. For example, you could experience stress before an oral presentation at school, while preparing for an important exam or while waiting for your school acceptance letter. Stress affects each student in a different way and you’ll quickly discover that the most efficient stress management techniques depend on the ways you exhibit stress.     Knowing which stress symptoms you exhibit can also help you to realize when you need to take a step back and refocus your energy on studying rather than being nervous.     This Blog is an excerpt from Conquer the GRE: Stress Management & A Perfect Study Plan by Vibrant Publishers

This is a 4 Blog Series on GRE Stress Management. In this first blog we will help you list what could be the various causes of stress while preparing for your GRE exam.There are many factors that commonly contribute to stress. Maybe you have a test coming up, or you are scared of failing one of your classes for example. Whether it is from the pressure of daily life or academic responsibilities, you need to identify the source of your stress so that you can better understand it.   As an exercise, you can create a list of different things that you feel are contributing to your level of stress.   Do you have any responsibilities unrelated to your school life that may be pressuring you in some way and distracting you from studying? (Ex. Work, paying rent, car repairs – some college students may even have to care for a family member or have their own family to worry about) Do you have enough time to study for the GRE or are you last minute and need to take the test as soon as possible? Are you taking the GRE because it is necessary for your graduate school application or are you taking it simply to put your best foot forward? Is there a section on the GRE that feel might be problematic right from the start?   Asking these kinds of questions to yourself can help you establish a list of what may be your sources of stress. The examples below are common sources of stress for college students to inspire you to create your own:     Academic sources of stress: You put pressure on yourself to obtain the highest score possible. You are worrying that you may have to retake the test twice if your score isn’t adequate. You are afraid that your parents or family members may be disappointed if your score isn’t what is expected. You do not have the necessary support from teachers or tutors to study. You have other homework and exams to prepare for that are not related to the GRE. You are comparing yourself to friends who may have an easier time taking tests and studying. On the other hand, one of your friends may have failed the GRE, which is leading you to believe that you’ll end up in the same situation. You are scared that you may not be able to get in the graduate program of your choice if you don’t obtain a high score and do not have a back-up plan. You only have a few weeks left prior to your test date and don’t have enough time to cover all study materials. You aren’t comfortable writing essays and the writing section of the GRE is scaring you.     Non-academic sources of stress: You haven’t received the financial aid you were hoping for this semester and are counting your pennies to pay for expenses. Your boss has mentioned that he needs you for additional hours over the next few months. Your car broke down and you need to take transit for a little while, which is doubling your commute to school and work. Your parents are asking you to take care of your younger sibling while they go on vacation. You are an international student and having issues with your visa, or legal status in the country. Someone in your family may have fallen ill and not only you are concerned for his or her health, but you are left caring for that person and looking after him or her. You may be having problems with your boyfriend or girlfriend, which could interfere with your daily life.   In some cases, you might end up realizing that your stress doesn’t come from your academic life, but from pressures in your own life that interfere with studying. Other students may realize that they are putting tremendous amounts of pressure on themselves to succeed and that they are their own source of stress. Whatever the case may be, knowing where your stress comes from in general is a great starting point in order to better understand your stress and apply the necessary stress management techniques for better results.   What are the other things that cause you stress and how identifying them have helped you stay on track with your GRE prep plan. Let us know in the comments below.     This Blog is an excerpt from Conquer the GRE: Stress Management & A Perfect Study Plan by Vibrant Publishers