GRE question?

has anyone taken the GRE test to get into grad schools? if you did, how hard was it and what study aids worked to help you improve your score?

I downloaded the study guide and went through it. It was enough. They have a giant PDF file that has sample math questions which was enough for me to remember all the stuff I forgot from high school. It took about 6 hours to go through, but I did every problem for practice.

For the reading part, you're screwed. It's insanely hard and there's no amount of preparation you can make for it. You either know a lot of big words or you don't. The articles they give you to read and the questions they ask you about those articles... well, here's a sample of what it was like:

They give you a science journal explaining mitochondrial reproduction in slime molds then ask you if the author likes Hondas or Chrysler.

If you're a decent writer, you'll probably do ok for the writing part, but it's very subjective since live people score it.

I took mine back when the three parts were verbal, quantitative, and analytical, but it was not anything difficult. The math section is easier than the SAT, and you should be fine on the "words and reading" section provided you actually did some college level reading. Pick up a couple of the practice books and take a look at the questions.