McNair Scholars Program

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Reference Materials

In an effort to better prepare you to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and for graduate school, we developed a program for sophomores to expand vocabulary. In the past, the number of words that they do not know has discouraged juniors who are preparing for the GRE. We hope to expand the number of vocabulary words students know by intervening at the sophomore level.

1. Word of the Day

Subscribe to a WORD OF THE DAY. Each day you will be sent a new vocabulary word by e-mail. Keep track of these words and their definitions using a WORD document or EXCEL spreadsheet. Spend time reviewing your list as the list grows longer. In order to subscribe to Word of the Day, visit this web site:

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/register.iphtml

You will be asked to provide your name and e-mail address. You will then be sent a confirmation which you need to reply to according to the directions provided. You can either click on the URL in the e-mail or reply with an e-mail.

2. Vocabulary Builder

In addition to the Word of the Day, check out the vocabulary builder:

http://www.m-w.com/

3. Pre and Post Assessment

We will administer a list of high frequency GRE words to determine your vocabulary level before beginning the program and again in the fall after the summer reading and Word of the Day projects are completed.

4. Other Reference Materials

We strongly recommend that you do additional reading. To expand your vocabulary, choose books from subject areas that you generally do not read from. Other reading lists from which to choose books are:

College Bound Reading List

American Library Association (ALA) Youth Adult Library Services Association

McNair Scholars Reading List

St. Scholastica's Recommended Reading from the Library Staff
(This list includes reviews of the books as well, which you can access on-line.)