{"id":10766,"date":"2017-10-04T19:16:49","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T19:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/?p=10766"},"modified":"2019-08-30T16:40:31","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T16:40:31","slug":"how-to-read-a-gre-explanation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/blog\/how-to-read-a-gre-explanation\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Read a GRE Explanation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? <\/i><\/b>Check out our upcoming courses here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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<\/i><\/b>If you\u2019re using the <\/span>5lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems<\/span><\/a>, you\u2019ve probably noticed that every single problem has a detailed explanation in the back of the book. They were written by our own Manhattan Prep instructors, who worked hard to keep them clear, realistic, and helpful. <\/span><\/p>\n

But you know what? I sometimes wish those explanations weren\u2019t in the book at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Picture this. You\u2019ve just spent two minutes working through a <\/span>tough GRE word problem<\/span><\/a>. You picked an answer, but you don\u2019t feel too sure about it. So you flip to the back of the book and check the explanation. The first thing you see is that you got the problem wrong. Aw, man. You start reading the GRE explanation, and the first line includes an equation. It doesn\u2019t look like the one you wrote on your paper, but it makes perfect sense now that you see it. \u201cOkay,\u201d you think to yourself, \u201cI get it.\u201d You skim the rest of the GRE explanation, which walks you through solving the equation. All done\u2014on to the next problem. <\/span><\/p>\n

If this sounds like your own study process, you\u2019re leaving points on the table. Why? Because you\u2019re training yourself to be satisfied with \u201cI get it.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI get it\u201d is your worst enemy when you\u2019re studying for the GRE. The GRE doesn\u2019t give you any points for understanding someone else\u2019s solution. You only get credit on the test if you can <\/span>come up with the solution entirely on your own<\/span><\/i>. When you passively read an explanation, you\u2019re getting better at understanding other people\u2019s solutions. But you aren\u2019t necessarily getting better at creating your own solutions from scratch. Here\u2019s how to train <\/span>that<\/span><\/i> skill instead. <\/span><\/p>\n

When you finish a problem, don\u2019t check whether you got it right.<\/b><\/h4>\n

This is going to be frustrating! You may find yourself flipping to the answer key without even meaning to. Try to keep yourself from doing that. Instead, turn the timer off, relax, and try the problem again from the beginning\u2014without looking at the answer. Take as much or as little time as you need. You can even \u201ccheat\u201d if you want to. If there\u2019s a vocabulary word in a problem that you don\u2019t know, Google it! If there\u2019s a geometry rule you didn\u2019t remember, look it up in your <\/span>Geometry Strategy Guide<\/span><\/a>! <\/span>Just don\u2019t look at the back of the book, no matter what. <\/b><\/p>\n

When you do this, you\u2019re not just \u201cgetting it.\u201d You\u2019re \u201cfiguring it out.\u201d And that\u2019s a skill that\u2019s critical on the GRE. Of course, there are some problems you won\u2019t be able to figure out on your own, even if you cheat! <\/span>To be honest, those aren\u2019t the best problems to focus on right now<\/b>. Spend most of your time and energy on the problems that are just a <\/span>little<\/span><\/i> too hard for you. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve done as much as you can on your own, it\u2019s finally time to look at the GRE explanation. Don\u2019t just read it from beginning to end. Instead, approach it in one of these two ways.<\/span><\/p>\n