Americans! Has any of you taken this exam?

[MicroBalrog]

So, it appears that if I want to study in America for my MA and PHD, I need to take the GRE next year.

I can sign up even now - it's being administered by the Fullbright foundation in Israel.

But it seems that, while there are commercial courses available in Israel to help you prepare for GMAT, there's no equivalent courses to help you study for the GRE available in my country.

As such, I ask those of you who hold graduate degrees and study for them:

How hard is the GRE?

What good books or software are there out there to help you prepare for it?

[MicroBalrog]

Also, what mark should I aim for, to be accepted to a moderate-to-good US college or university?

I'm currently aiming for an MA in History, but English Studies will do in a pinch.

[mtnbkr]

Eh, I took the GMAT nearly 15 years ago.  IIRC, it was pretty close to the GRE and it wasn't hard at all.  I don't recall my numerical score, but I scored better than the top 5%, maybe the top 3%.  Don't take that as an indicator of my intelligence or ability, I tend to do very well on standardized tests. 

As for what score you'd need, I have no idea offhand.  It kind of varies based on your academic grades.  If you have excellent grades, your GRE/GMAT/SAT scores can be a bit lower, and vice versa.

Chris

[HankB]

It's been a couple of decades, but the basic GRE was pretty simple. The subject-related versions were a bit more challenging.

[roo_ster]

I took the LSAT, GRE, and GMAT.

GRE was the easiest to do well on*, by far.

Princeton Review publishes good materials to study from.

Like any standardized test, if you take it three times, studying before each test, you're likliest to maximize your scores.


* Do well on = end up in higher percentage of test takers

[MicroBalrog]

Someone asked about my marks:

My GPA [when translated into US terms] is overing around 3.2, though this may or may not change by the end of this year.

[El Tejon]

Straight forward for me and nothing I worried about.  I did very well on the GRE.

[Perd Hapley]

No, I has not taken that exam. 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.   

[Tuco]

The GRE was not difficult in 1989.

[member1313]

There are numerous resources online that can assist you in preparing for the GRE. The internet is your friend.

[Rudy Kohn]

I took the General GRE in Dec. 2005, I think.  It was not bad at all.
I think the hardest part was the part at the beginning where I had to write out the non-disclosure agreement in cursive. I hadn't written cursive in years.

But seriously, if you're literate and understand grammar and argument construction fairly well, you shouldn't have any problems.
Looking for internet resources is a good idea. There should be some practice exams somewhere.  Hopefully, free ones.  Run through a few of those, and you should be golden.

[RioShooter]

Has any of you taken this exam?

I don't think you'll do well on the grammar section.

[El Tejon]

Micro's first language is not English.  Oy veh!

[MicroBalrog]

Has any of you taken this exam?

I don't think you'll do well on the grammar section.

We all have tongue/keyboard slips, my friend.

Returning to the original subject, I've just taken a mock/simulation exam, and according to the simulator, I can/will/might get 650+ on each section (verbal actually slightly better than the numerical, so there).

I am not certain whether that's enough, so I'll be looking at taking a course before taking the test.

[Perd Hapley]

Returning to the original subject, I've just taken a mock/simulation exam, and according to the simulator, I can/will/might get 650+ on each section (verbal actually slightly better than the numerical, so there).

Oh, so you're a math dummy?     

[MicroBalrog]

Returning to the original subject, I've just taken a mock/simulation exam, and according to the simulator, I can/will/might get 650+ on each section (verbal actually slightly better than the numerical, so there).

Oh, so you're a math dummy?     

Yes.