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Many GRE mistakes come from a lack of strategy, not a lack of ability. The most common GRE mistakes include skipping a diagnostic test, memorizing tricks instead of learning core math and verbal concepts, ignoring timed practice, reviewing only correct answers, and going into test day with no pacing or guessing plan.
To avoid these GRE mistakes, start with a baseline test, learn core concepts, focus on understanding why you miss questions, practice under timed conditions, and refine a clear strategy for each section well before your official exam. Read on for a detailed breakdown of the most common GRE mistakes and how to avoid them.
Here are the topics we’ll cover:
- GRE Study Planning Mistakes: What Happens If You Skip a Diagnostic and Target Score?
- GRE Content Mistakes: Focusing on Tricks Instead of Core Math and Verbal Concepts
- GRE Practice Mistakes: Doing Random Questions with No Study Strategy and No Error Log
- GRE Timing Mistakes: Poor Pacing, Time Management, and Guessing Strategy
- GRE Verbal Mistakes: Common Reading Comprehension Errors
- GRE Quant Mistakes: Careless Errors, Misreading Questions, and Bad Setups
- How to Avoid Common GRE Mistakes on Test Day
- Read Carefully — Even Under Pressure
- What to Do If You Realize You’ve Made Major Mistakes on Test Day
- Key Takeaways
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What’s the biggest GRE mistake students make in the last week before the exam?
- Is it a mistake to focus only on my weaker section (Verbal or Quant) and ignore the stronger one?
- How soon should I retake the GRE if I realize I made major mistakes on test day?
- How can I tell if I’m improving or just repeating the same GRE mistakes?
- What’s Next?
GRE Study Planning Mistakes: What Happens If You Skip a Diagnostic and Target Score?
One of the most common GRE study plan errors happens at the very beginning of prep. Too often, students skip a diagnostic test and jump right into doing practice questions. Why isn’t this the best strategy?
First of all, a practice test gives you a baseline score, which is crucial for helping you structure your plans and your prep time. For example, your baseline will help you decide whether a 3-month GRE study plan or a 2-month GRE study plan is needed to reach your target score.
Secondly, without a diagnostic, it can be difficult to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses. As a result, you could end up spending too much time on comfortable topics — and not enough on the areas where you really need work.
Overall, when you skip a diagnostic:
- You cannot confidently identify priority topics.
- You underestimate the improvement you need to reach your target score.
- You distribute study time inefficiently.
- You struggle to measure real progress.
- Your studying lacks direction.
Simply put, your GRE prep needs to be pretty focused for you to reach your target score. Therefore, it’s best to take a full-length GRE diagnostic test before beginning your prep in earnest.
TTP PRO TIP:
Take a diagnostic to get your baseline score and anchor your study plan to real data.
Next, let’s discuss why relying on shortcuts instead of focusing on core math and verbal concepts can hold your score back.
GRE Content Mistakes: Focusing on Tricks Instead of Core Math and Verbal Concepts
You might think that you can “hack” your way to a good score on the GRE with tricks and shortcuts, but unfortunately, this isn’t the case. The truth is, there’s no substitute for taking the time to master core concepts. Shortcuts often fail because they’re tied to rote memorization or reliance on surface patterns.
For example, if you memorize a comprehensive list of common GRE vocab words, you should be good to go, right? Wrong! Memorizing vocabulary words without paying attention to context is a common cause of GRE Verbal mistakes. Knowing a definition without understanding tone, connotation, or usage often leads to wrong answers.
Similarly, simply memorizing common Quant formulas alone won’t work, because the correct approach depends on the specifics of each problem. Not only that, but many GRE Quant questions are conceptual and don’t need formulas at all. Without conceptual understanding, you could either misuse formulas or apply them when simpler reasoning is faster.
Other misguided strategies to avoid include:
- assuming answer patterns/connections (“If 2 answers are very close numerically, one
of them must be right.”)
- relying on memorized Quant procedures without fully analyzing the problem
(“This looks familiar, so I’ll use the same method as before.”).
An effective GRE prep plan focuses on teaching you core Quant and Verbal concepts. These help you determine why an approach works and when to use it.
TTP PRO TIP:
Memorized shortcuts tend to fail when the GRE presents familiar concepts in unfamiliar ways.
Understanding core concepts is essential, but how you practice them matters just as much. Let’s talk about potential GRE practice mistakes and how to avoid them.
GRE Practice Mistakes: Doing Random Questions with No Study Strategy and No Error Log
Not Having a Study Strategy
A common GRE practice mistake is jumping around between random questions or problem sets without a structured plan or strategy. This issue is especially common in GRE prep for beginners. This is rarely an effective plan. Random practice doesn’t teach concepts in a logical sequence, so you never build the foundation needed for more advanced topics.
On the other hand, a strong study plan teaches concepts from the ground up, introduces skills in the right order, and ensures that each new topic builds on previous knowledge. Therefore, whether you decide to go it alone or enroll in a prep class, you must have a solid study plan you can stick to.
TTP PRO TIP:
Without a structured plan, it’s tough to build the foundation you need for higher-level GRE concepts.
Not Keeping an Error Log
If you’re wondering why you keep getting GRE questions wrong, it might come down to whether you’re properly reviewing your mistakes. In fact, students who skip using a GRE error log often repeat the same mistakes week after week. This is because when you focus only on whether you got a question right, you miss out on essential data that can help you improve.
A strong GRE mistake log helps you track:
- the question type and concept tested
- why your initial choice was incorrect
- what to do differently next time
- whether your correct answers were lucky guesses
As a final note, remember that while it’s smart to devote extra time to your errors and weaker sections, it would be a mistake to ignore your stronger areas. Focusing only on weaknesses can cause your stronger section to decline without consistent practice. A strong study plan maintains momentum in both your strong and weaker areas.
TTP PRO TIP:
Serious GRE score improvement comes from reviewing your mistakes, not just doing more practice.
GRE Timing Mistakes: Poor Pacing, Time Management, and Guessing Strategy
Among all GRE mistakes, GRE timing mistakes are some of the most costly. Even with strong content knowledge, poor pacing decisions can significantly lower your score. In fact, if you’re wondering how to avoid silly mistakes in GRE Quant, being disciplined with pacing is one of the most effective ways, since rushed or inconsistent timing often leads to preventable errors.
Common GRE pacing mistakes include:
- spending too long on early questions
- having no plan for strategic guessing
- avoiding timed practice until late in prep
Here are some general pacing tips:
- Do frequent timed practice. It’s important to know how long you typically take to solve certain questions, especially those that take you the longest, so you can work to cut down your time.
- Learn how to mentally get a feel for about 1 minute, so that your internal clock “pings” when you’re getting low on time.
- Know when to move on. Almost all test-takers will encounter some problems that are just too difficult for them to solve. It’s critical that you don’t get behind on the clock, so if you’re stuck on a question, make an educated guess and mark it for review.
To avoid surprises on test day, make sure you’ve refined a clear strategy for each section. This includes how you’ll pace yourself, how you’ll guess, and how you’ll approach reading and problem-solving.
For more in-depth GRE time management tips, check out our article on GRE Quant timing strategies.
TTP PRO TIP:
Many “silly mistakes” in GRE Quant come from rushing, so aim for steady pacing and know when to move on.
To build a strong Verbal foundation, it’s a good idea to know about the specific mistakes the GRE is designed to exploit. Let’s discuss some of those now.
GRE Verbal Mistakes: Common Reading Comprehension Errors
GRE Reading Comprehension questions often include reasoning traps. Once you know what those traps look like, they’re much easier to avoid.
Here are some misguided strategies that lead to common Verbal errors:
Choosing Answers Without Support from the Passage
One of the most common GRE Verbal mistakes is choosing answers that sound reasonable or feel familiar, but that lack support from the passage.
Question writers intentionally include choices that trigger cognitive bias, such as:
- statements that seem generally true in the real world but are never mentioned in the passage
- conclusions that make sense logically but go beyond what the author actually states
- assumptions about human behavior, science, economics, etc., that feel right but aren’t supported by the passage
All of the information you need to answer any Verbal question is contained within the given context. Therefore, rely only on what the passage actually states or logically supports.
TTP PRO TIP:
If an answer feels right but isn’t explicitly supported by the passage, treat it as a red flag.
Pre-Thinking Answers
Pre-thinking means deciding in advance what word should fill the blank before looking at the answer choices. This can be a tempting strategy, especially for Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence, but it’s not a reliable one. Why? Well, one reason is that if you pre-think “the perfect word,” you narrow your options too early. As a result, you could miss answers that work but don’t match your pre-thought word.
For example, if you pre-think “confusing,” as you’re reading a sentence, you may overlook correct choices such as:
- opaque
- ambiguous
Furthermore, question writers anticipate that students will pre-think certain words! So, to make things tricky, they include:
- a tempting word that matches common predictions but doesn’t pair with any other choice
- a word that fits common predictions but breaks the sentence logic
Pre-thinking makes you vulnerable to both traps, so it’s best to consider all of the answer choices before mentally filling in the blanks.
TTP PRO TIP:
Pre-thinking makes you more likely to overlook correct answers that don’t match what you predicted.
GRE Quant Mistakes: Careless Errors, Misreading Questions, and Bad Setups
Many Quant mistakes stem from execution rather than math ability. In fact, careless mistakes on the GRE frequently occur during setup, not calculation.
Typical causes include:
- solving for the wrong variable
- answering the opposite of what is asked
- not reading carefully (“must be true” vs. “could be true”)
- overlooking constraints
- mistakes in mental math
- messy handwriting
Many of these mistakes can be solved by frequently referring back to the given information in a question. Strive to read everything carefully and methodically. This is easier said than done when you feel the clock ticking, but the more you practice, the more it will become second nature.
TTP PRO TIP:
Frequently confirm the given information in a question and make sure to answer what is actually being asked.
How to Avoid Common GRE Mistakes on Test Day
Avoid Cramming the Week Before Test Day
You’ve done the work, and now it’s time to trust in your preparation! Chances are, you’re not going to learn a bunch of new GRE material the day or week before the exam, so keep your studying relatively light. Of course, you can review flashcards, read over notes, and lightly review topics, but the last thing you want to do is cram for hours and hours right before the big day. If you do this, you could cloud your thinking and end up walking into the testing center tired and anxious.
So, in the week before the exam, keep studying a bit lighter. On top of that, you may want to plan a fun or relaxing activity with friends and family. Furthermore, remember to get plenty of sleep and eat a healthy breakfast. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is forgetting about your well-being and self-care.
Read Carefully — Even Under Pressure
We mentioned this above, but it’s worth repeating: many preventable careless mistakes on the GRE come from misreading small but critical details.
- identify what the question actually asks
- check whether it’s asking for a value, an expression, or a relationship
- watch for wording traps (“must be true” vs. “could be true”)
- confirm constraints before solving
These few seconds of care and caution can save you from making costly Verbal and Quant mistakes.
TTP PRO TIP:
A few extra seconds spent confirming what a question is truly asking can prevent GRE test-day mistakes.
What to Do If You Realize You’ve Made Major Mistakes on Test Day
First of all, don’t worry! You’re in good company. Many GRE students retake the exam before reaching their target scores. So, if your score isn’t what you had hoped for, a retake (or retakes!) is always an option. If your application timeline allows, it’s wise to build extra time into your prep plan for a potential retake.
How soon should you do a retake? Well, some students benefit from retaking the GRE as soon as the 21-day window allows — particularly if their score was fairly close to their target, they felt confident with the content, and believe their lower score was caused by test-day anxiety or fatigue. However, if your score gap is large because you felt weak in core concepts, or because your prep was unstructured and inconsistent, 3 weeks may not allow enough time for meaningful improvement.
TTP PRO TIP:
Whether you should retake quickly or wait depends on the root cause of your score drop, so reflect honestly before scheduling.
Key Takeaways
- Begin with a diagnostic test.
- Follow structured study plans.
- There is no substitute for learning core concepts.
- Maintain a GRE error log.
- Practice pacing intentionally.
- Refine guessing strategies early.
Happy studying!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What’s the biggest GRE mistake students make in the last week before the exam?
One of the biggest GRE mistakes students make in the final week is trying to cram for hours and hours each day. Instead, keep your review light. Last-minute cramming doesn’t meaningfully boost performance and can increase stress.
Is it a mistake to focus only on my weaker section (Verbal or Quant) and ignore the stronger one?
Yes, it would be a mistake to focus only on your weaker section. Neglecting practice in your stronger section can cause your stronger skills to decline.
How soon should I retake the GRE if I realize I made major mistakes on test day?
Well, it depends! If your score was far below your target because your study plan wasn’t structured or consistent, retaking in 21 days likely won’t lead to major improvement. However, if you prepared thoroughly and your score was only slightly lower due to test-day factors such as anxiety or fatigue, retaking as soon as you’re eligible can be a smart choice.
How can I tell if I’m improving or just repeating the same GRE mistakes?
You can tell you’re improving by tracking your work in a GRE error log and noting whether the same mistakes appear repeatedly.
What’s Next?
Interested in getting your GRE prep started on the right foot?
Check out our article How to Start Studying for the GRE: 5 Steps for Success.
