Function – or structural – questions ask you to identify “why” the passage contains certain information or “how” the relevant passage is structured. These questions ask you to understand the author’s motives for presenting certain information in a particular manner. Here are two examples of a function question. The author’s discussion of the Hadron […]
As surprising as it sounds, the summer after MS1 year is the last one medical students will have free for awhile. The time after MS2 year is busy with USMLE Step 1/COMLEX Level 1 exams, and MS3/MS4 is generally taken as one monolithic block. For many students who desire to stay busy, research is both […]
You’ve made it. It’s GRE Test Day. You’re ready with your snack for the break, admission ticket, photo ID, and directions to the test center. You’re dressed in layers to make sure that you can adjust to any temperature, and you’re getting ready to go. You know you’re going to do a lot of math problems, […]
Each of the four modules of the IELTS is scored on a scale of 1.0 to 9.0, in half-point increments. These scores are then averaged together for the overall score. This overall score can either be a whole or half band. Each band corresponds to a global descriptor, summarizing each of the nine levels of […]
Flaw questions are another often-seen challenge on the LSAT. The central error in reasoning on LSAT flaw questions always comes down to the same thing: the evidence presented doesn’t logically lead to the conclusion. You can’t argue with the evidence itself, so don’t be distracted by answer choices that directly contradict what’s stated in the […]
The medical school application is your single best opportunity to convince a group of strangers that you would be an asset both to the school and to the medical profession. It’s your opportunity to show yourself as something more than grades and scores. Granted, every person who applies will have strengths and weaknesses. But it’s […]
Reading comprehension on the GRE has a number of question types you can expect to see on Test Day: Main Idea, Detail, Function, Vocab in Context, etc. These are slightly easier ones, but there are also some that tend to be a little harder: Inference, Application, and Logic questions. Logic’s a method of reasoning based on inference. The GRE has reading […]
GRE Reading Comprehension tests you ability to read a passage carefully, and no question type will test you ability to read closely more than the Structure of Ideas prompts on the test. On these questions, you will have to identify a passage’s main idea and understand how the passage is laid out, structurally. Although this sounds simple, […]
Data Sufficiency must be practiced every day. It’s like these questions use a part of your brain that is seldom employed for other purposes; much like a little-used muscle, you need to warm up and use it regularly or it won’t work well when needed. The Critical Thinking skills tapped by Data Sufficiency require regular […]
Probability, Combination, and Permutation questions are relatively rare on the GRE, but if you’re aiming for a high percentile in the Quantitative section you should spend some time familiarizing yourself with some of the more advanced concepts such as these. These types of probability questions are often found in multiple choice word problems, although it’s […]