Interview with GRE Topper Ashwini Nene (340/340)

Studying abroad can be stressful, but acing your standardised tests can make things much smoother! Congratulations to Ashwini Nene, a fourth-year undergraduate engineering student from Mumbai, who achieved a perfect score of 340/340 on the new format of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)! This accomplishment is even more impressive considering she took the revised, supposedly tougher GRE.

Sneak Peek into Our Conversation with Ashwini Nene on Getting a Perfect 340 in the GRE

Image: Ashwini Nene

Yocket Reporter (YR): First and foremost, congratulations on a perfect score on the GRE. Tell me, how is the feeling overall?

Ashwini Nene (AN): (smiles) Thanks a lot! It feels great. I did not expect to score 340. As soon as the results were displayed, I could not believe it. I made sure, I’ll confirm the news once I receive the official GRE scorecard.

YR: Do you know anyone who has achieved this result?

AN: (Laughingly) No.

YR: How did you prepare for the GRE?

AN: I studied for three hours a day for the first 2 to 3 months. In the last month, I stretched my timings from 4 to 5 hours a day. I solved around 15 full-length GRE practice test with good analysis. I guess that was the key to the perfect score.

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YR: Which GRE sections were you weak at? How did you overcome it?

AN: I have loved mathematics since childhood, so that was not a big problem. Verbal was the weaker zone, especially GRE Reading Comprehension. I used to make a lot of mistakes because I never read the questions properly.

At times, I used to skip some of the content of the passage. Avoid such practices. The long passages can be annoying but if you read them well, you can easily ace them.

YR: Which books did you study for the GRE?

AN: Princeton Review, Kaplan, and Barrons. If solved completely, these books can fetch you a high score.

YR: Did you join any coaching classes for the GRE? If yes, how was the experience?

AN: I joined the KIC Education, Andheri branch. The mentors, teachers, and support staff are excellent there. Study material and practice tests helped me a lot. It all depends on how well you’ve studied.

If you falter anywhere, coaching will just monitor your progress and guide you. A student has to put in maximum effort from his/her side to expect some sort of guidance as well. Since I’ve scored full marks, I will get free counselling from KIC Education for my applications to universities abroad.

YR: Which universities have you reported your GRE score to?

AN: Well, I am optimistic, and thus I have chosen all the top universities. I have reported my scores to:

Cornell University
Columbia University
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
University of California at Berkeley

I am pretty unsure if I’ll make it to any of these top universities in the US (shrugs Ashwini). I have heard a lot about the University of Michigan, Ann Arbour (UMich), Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta (Georgia Tech), and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).

YR: I am sure you will, Miss Nene. What about your other credentials, AWA, academics, engineering college, and stream?

AN: Currently, I am in my 6th semester (third year) studying Computer Engineering at the Sardar Patel Institute of Technology (SPIT), Andheri. My aggregate percentage for the last 5 semesters is 73.9%. I scored 4.5 in AWA, which I think is pretty good enough for most universities.

YR: Which countries are you looking at for your Master/PhD course? And for which course?

AN: Well, I am certainly going to apply for a Computer Science course but my specialisation still needs to be decided. I have spoken to a couple of seniors after my GRE, and they have told me that specialisation is very important. I’ll surf through various online portals that offer guidance about MS in the US, take help from my counsellors at KIC, and constantly take advice from seniors and relatives abroad before deciding on the field. So, it cannot be an overnight call. I’ll start working towards my course and specialisation after the 6th-semester exam.

I am going to apply only to the United States of America (USA). From what I have read on many websites, like Yocket and Edulix, and from other seniors who have guided me, the application is a tough part and eats up a lot of time. It is best if you focus on one country and try to get admitted to the top school. The USA has some of the finest universities for Computer Science. So, I am going to stick to the States.

YR: Excellent! What are your interests and hobbies?

AN: (Ummm…) Well, I am an avid reader. So, my free time is pretty much occupied with reading. Since engineering is a very demanding course, it takes up most of the day. Hence, I am not so much into extracurricular activities. But yes, I’ve recently started learning Spanish, as I’ve got this eagerness to learn different languages.

YR: Do you have any internship offers after the third year of engineering?

AN: Yes, I’ve got a 2-month internship opportunity from Microsoft in the IT division. My work location will be Hyderabad, and training will begin as soon as the university exams are completed (mostly in June).

YR: One final question: What advice, tips, and tricks would you like to give to your juniors?

AN:

Verbal: Do not ignore the wordlist. Even though the new pattern has no analogies or antonyms, it is still very important to have a strong GRE vocabulary. Sentence Completion and, at times, RCs can be solved quickly if you know the meaning.

Practice a lot of questions. There is ample study material available online and offline. Read articles and newspapers. It helps to improve grammar when you come across new words and become habituated to long passages.
Quant: It is all about concepts and applications. I believe that if the concept is clear, a student can solve any possible question. Even average practice can fetch you 160/170 in quants. So, spend time on practice, understand the concepts, get used to the questions, and analyse your mistakes, if any.
AWA: Like many other students, I did not study it at the last minute. I wrote around 25 essays from the ETS pool of topics. It is very important to follow the pattern. Do not simply use big words. Logical writing is the key.

It is not easy to fool them by simply making it verbose. Understand the topic for 2 minutes, jot down all the points that you are going to argue/support, and then pen down the essay.

YR: It was great talking to you, Ashwini. Congratulations once again, and I am sure you will do very well in the rest of the journey to the US.

AN: Thank you, Yocket. Thanks a lot for your encouraging words!

Suggested: GRE Study Plan 6 Months

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