How to Study for the GRE Faster, Learn More, and Forget Less of What You Learn

Last Updated on April 24, 2023

It’s no secret that there is a ton to learn for the GRE, in terms of both content and skills, but if you’re like most test-takers, you’re probably preparing on a deadline. To compound matters, as time passes and you learn new things, it’s easy to forget some of what you learned earlier on in your prep.

In an ideal GRE preparation scenario, you’d maximize your rate of learning and minimize your rate of information loss.

In this article, I’ll go over some simple yet effective GRE study tips to help you learn faster, learn more, and forget less of what you learn while preparing for the GRE.

In an ideal GRE preparation scenario, you’d maximize your rate of learning and minimize your rate of information loss.

Let’s start with the key ingredient in your recipe for GRE success: active learning.

1. Make Active Learning Your Goal
2. Engage Your Brain by Taking Notes
3. Create Visual Memories
4. Don’t Underestimate the Value of Flash Cards
5. Use Mnemonics
6. Don’t Mistake Memorization for Understanding Concepts
7. Reflect on What You’ve Learned
8. Hold Yourself Accountable as You Read New Information
9. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition (Repetition!)
10.  Use Spaced Repetition to Accelerate Your GRE Study
11.  Alternate Quant and Verbal Study
12.  Solve a Wide Range of Realistic Practice Questions
13.  Regularly Answer Questions on Past Topics
14.  Quiz and Test Yourself Regularly to Improve Knowledge Retention
15.  Do One-Minute GRE Exercises at Every Opportunity
16.  Connect New GRE Content to Old
17.  Form a GRE Study Group
18.  Teach Others What You Know About the GRE
19.  Get Some Exercise
20.  Get Enough Sleep
21.  Don’t Study for the GRE When You’re Tired
22.  Stay Cool, Calm, and Collected When Preparing for the GRE

Make Active Learning Your Goal

Some methods of studying, if not paired with other strategies, are quite passive. Passive study methods include reading, watching videos, and reviewing PowerPoint slides. Think about it: How many times have you read a chapter only to realize that you can’t remember 80% of what you just read? How many GRE videos have you dutifully watched on YouTube only to discover the next day that you have little to no memory of the content they covered? 

Reading and watching videos, without engaging in other, concurrent forms of study, are weak learning tactics for the overwhelming majority of people. The reason that these are weak learning tactics is that they are passive forms of study.

In other words, your brain doesn’t have to work very hard to do them. When the brain doesn’t have to work hard while learning, relatively little knowledge is gained, and even less knowledge is retained.

So, when we stop at reading or watching a video, thinking we’ve done enough, we actually learn far less than we have the potential to learn, and we’ll probably remember only a fraction of what we’ve read or watched. 

Unfortunately, passive forms of study can provide you with a false sense of confidence in the effectiveness of your approach. Because your brain does not feel overly taxed during this type of study, you may feel that you are mastering the material, whether you actually are or not. Consequently, you may default to reading and watching videos as your primary (or sole) forms of learning. 

So, does this mean that reading and watching videos have no place in your GRE prep? I certainly wouldn’t go that far. In fact, reading a chapter on a GRE topic and watching videos that relate to that material can be potent mechanisms for learning — if you are an active participant in your learning instead of a passive bystander letting the information wash over you. 

The fact is, the more active you make your learning, the faster you’ll learn, the more you’ll learn, and the less you’ll forget. When preparing for the GRE, active learning is your goal. So, how exactly do you make your learning more active? Luckily, there are a number of research-supported strategies that you can employ.

TTP PRO TIP:

The more active you make your learning, the faster you’ll learn, the more you’ll learn, and the less you’ll forget.

Let’s start with one of the most basic active-learning techniques: taking notes.

Engage Your Brain by Taking Notes

I mentioned that reading and watching videos are, on their own, passive forms of learning. One simple way to transform them into active forms of learning is to take notes on key information as you read or watch videos.

Taking notes makes you a more active participant in your learning because the action of writing down a concept or principle requires that you state that concept or principle in your own words. Stating something in your own words makes you think more about its meaning. The more you have to think about what you’re learning, the more effective your learning will be. 

For example, say you are learning about the difference of squares: x² – y² = (x + y)(x – y). Don’t just read the formula and be done with it. Instead, engage your brain by taking meaningful notes. Write down the formula. Color-code your notes by writing the formula in red. Write an example in blue and any special cautions or issues in orange. Make your notes your own. 

Imagine that you’ve just completed a chapter in which you learned about the difference of squares. You correctly answered a number of quadratic equation questions, but you missed this one:

What is the value of (555² – 55²)/500 = ?

Now, let’s say that the reason you missed that question was because you didn’t recognize that a difference of squares is a key component of the question. You would add this problem to your notes on the difference of squares, in orange, as a “case study,” highlighting a particular application of the difference of squares formula that gave you trouble. 

Note-taking makes you a more active learner, allowing you to capture key points and examples and customize your learning, thereby making the material easier to retain over a longer period of time.

You’ll learn more in the moment and have something to review at a later date, creating the opportunity for repetition of learning, another important strategy that I’ll discuss later on. So, remember, if you only read, or only watch a video or presentation, you probably won’t retain much information. To retain a larger amount of material, you need to create memories that stick. Taking notes is one easy way to make memories stick.

TTP PRO TIP:

Color-code your notes to draw attention to key pieces of information and further engage your brain in the learning process.

Let’s look at another way to make memories stick: visualization.

Create Visual Memories

Another way to be more engaged during the learning process is to visualize what you’re learning. As you’re learning new material, try to create images in your brain of key bits of information.

For example, if you just learned that rate = distance / time, instead of merely reading that formula, try to create a photograph of it in your brain. Maybe you’ve written certain GRE vocabulary word into your notes, but you’re having trouble remembering the definition. Snap a photo with your mind of the word alongside its definition.

Taking a mental snapshot will engage more of your brain, helping you better retain what you learn. So, compile a mental photo album of GRE content as you study. You may be surprised by how well you recall that information later.

TTP PRO TIP:

Create mental photographs of key bits of information to better retain what you’re learning.

Yet another way to make your learning more active (and thus more effective) is by using flash cards.

Don’t Underestimate the Value of Flash Cards

The strategic use of flash cards can make a huge difference in the amount of information you learn and the speed with which you learn it. Flash cards are an especially useful tool for learning GRE vocabulary — a time-consuming and, for many students, frustrating task.

After you’ve taken notes, use your notes to create a set of flash cards. If you’re making flash cards for vocab words, you can include not only the definition of the word but also an original sentence that you’ve come up with to help you remember how the word is used. 

Creating flash cards provides you with yet another opportunity to think about the material you’ve learned and put that information into your own words, reinforcing what you’ve learned. Moreover, flash cards allow you to quickly and consistently review a word or concept, anytime, anywhere.

Do you have 5 minutes on the supermarket checkout line? Run through some flash cards. Fifteen minutes on the subway while commuting to work? Break out the flash cards and quiz yourself. Flash cards are a great way to get in short bursts of highly effective study time.

Some students like “old-fashioned” paper flash cards, while others prefer the digital version. Choose whichever format will be most comfortable for you, because you want to be sure to flip through your flash cards often. To create an added challenge for yourself, shuffle the deck before each use.

By reordering the cards each time you review them, you’ll make the material unpredictable. Your brain will have to work that much harder, and your knowledge retention will increase. 

As you can imagine, you’ll amass quite a collection of flash cards as you progress through your GRE prep. To help keep your review efficient, separate your flash cards into piles: one pile for concepts that you’ve mastered and another pile for concepts that you haven’t mastered yet. Clearly, you’ll want to flip through the “not mastered” pile more frequently than the “mastered” pile, but as we’ll see shortly, you won’t want to shelve the “mastered” pile for good.

TTP PRO TIP:

To create an added challenge and increase knowledge retention, shuffle your flash cards before each use.

Use Mnemonics

A mnemonic is a memory device that utilizes a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations to help you remember information. For example, when I taught physics, my students often had a hard time remembering the colors of visible light in the proper order (by wavelength). So, I introduced them to my good friend “ROY G BIV.” 

ROY G BIV is not an actual person. It’s a mnemonic to help one remember the wavelength-ordered colors of visible light: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. ROY G BIV helps make the order of these colors easy to recall.

You can use similar mnemonics for the GRE. For many years, students have been taught the basic order of mathematical operations as PEMDAS, which stands for Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction — or, as you may remember it, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.

You also may have heard of FANBOYS, the conjunctions For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. Without mnemonics for these concepts, would so many students be able to quickly commit them to memory?

The great thing about mnemonics is that no one but you has to understand them. For instance, in high school, I couldn’t remember how to solve “catch up and pass” rate questions.

So, I came up with a mnemonic: DDDDR, which stands for Delta Distance Divided by Delta Rate. Have a look at this GRE rate problem, and you’ll see why I still use that mnemonic to help me remember how to solve such problems.Creating your own mnemonics can help you better remember the rules and concepts you learn for the GRE.

That said, while memorization techniques such as mnemonics and visualization are valuable tools for your GRE toolkit, effective learning requires more than just memorizing formulas and concepts. If you want to truly master GRE material, you need to strive for a deeper understanding of the concepts you learn.

The great thing about mnemonics is that no one but you has to understand them.

Don’t Mistake Memorization for Understanding Concepts

Concepts such as the relationship between the length of a side of an equilateral triangle and the triangle’s height, the slots method for answering a combinations question, and using the strategy of looking for synonym pairs in Sentence Equivalence questions can be somewhat tricky to remember, and preparing for the GRE involves learning many such concepts.

While it may seem simple enough to remember them and keep them all straight the week you learn them, what about a month later, or two months later?

One approach is to push beyond memorizing concepts, formulas, and strategies to fully understanding what underlies them.

For example, if you understand that the height of an equilateral triangle is also the long leg of a 30-60-90 triangle, and that is why the height of an equilateral triangle is always √3/2 times the length of a side of the equilateral triangle, you will remember this relationship far more easily than you would if you simply memorized it. When you truly understand what underlies concepts, they become practically impossible to forget.

In fact, if you forgot the formula for the height of an equilateral triangle, for instance, but you understood how to derive it, you could simply derive it yourself rather than looking up the formula. After a while, derivation and recitation would become basically one and the same; if you weren’t sure about some detail of a formula or approach, you could confirm what is correct within seconds.

In general, the deeper your understanding of a concept, the clearer and more detailed that concept will be in your mind, and the more your memory of the concept will be self-supporting. So, whenever it is practical to do so, seek to understand what underlies GRE-related concepts.

When you truly understand what underlies concepts, they become practically impossible to forget.

Reflect on What You’ve Learned

After you read about a GRE topic and watched some videos on that topic, try to revisit, in your mind, what you learned. What was the essence of material you learned? Why are those concepts important? What connections can you make to other concepts you’ve learned or knowledge you have? 

Research shows that reflecting on what you’ve learned can help shore up your learning. This process doesn’t have to be a formal one. You could reflect while going for a walk or cooking dinner. Just a few minutes of reflection before you turn your mind to other things can help you better understand and retain the material from your study session.

TTP PRO TIP:

A few minutes of reflection before you turn your mind to other things can help you better understand and retain the material from your study session.

Just as important as reflecting on the material you’ve studied is holding yourself accountable while you’re studying. Let’s look at why.

Hold Yourself Accountable as You Read New Information

How many times have you looked at your weekly calendar to see the time of an upcoming meeting, and then forgotten the meeting time as soon as you closed your calendar and went on to the next task? The meeting time seemed easy enough to remember, but you did nothing but look at it to remember it. 

Instead of just passively looking at the meeting time, you could read it, and then ask yourself what time the meeting is as you close your calendar. If you can recall that the meeting is at 4 p.m., then you can conclude that you processed what you read and will remember it later on. To be even more certain, 30 seconds after you close your calendar, you could ask yourself again, “What time is the meeting?” By again recalling, “The meeting is at 4 p.m.,” you maximize the chances that you’ll remember the meeting time later. 

You can apply this technique to your GRE prep. When you read something, don’t simply let the information wash over you. Instead, regularly check in with yourself to ensure that you’re understanding and retaining what you read. Imagine that you have just read the definition of a vocabulary word you’ve never seen before.

Before you move on to the next word, pause and recite the definition from memory. After a little time has passed, recite the definition from memory again. By holding yourself accountable with this strategy, you can have greater confidence that you’re actually learning and not just seeing information.

Remember, you must be an active participant in your learning. If you hope to retain a large amount of GRE-related knowledge, you cannot take a passive approach.

TTP PRO TIP:

Regularly check in with yourself to ensure that you’re understanding and retaining what you read.

Related to holding yourself accountable is another important learning technique: repetition.

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition (Repetition!)

You may have noticed that repetition is a theme running throughout this article. The fact is, humans learn through exposure and repetition, and the GRE is no exception. The more time you spend with a GRE topic and the more often you study it, the better versed in it you’ll become and the better you’ll remember it. So, as you prepare, it’s essential that you consistently re-expose yourself to the GRE content you’ve previously learned.

Say you learn about the addition rule of probabilities on day 1 of your GRE prep. It would not be wise to wait until day 60 to review this rule  again. Instead, spend some time reviewing the addition rule of probabilities on day 3, day 8, and so on.

When you expose yourself to a topic over and over, you reactivate neural pathways to the part of your brain where that information is stored (and weaken competing pathways), making the information more easily accessible. That neural reactivation is crucial for keeping previously learned material fresh in your mind.

In short, repetition tells your brain, “Hey, this stuff is important!” Your brain is not designed to remember everything — or even most things. Can you imagine how overwhelming and energy-sapping it would be to remember every single sight, sound, taste, smell, and feeling you experienced each day? By design, your brain remembers only the most important stuff. So, you have to teach it what is important. Studying a topic multiple times, over multiple sittings, does just that.

TTP PRO TIP:

Consistently re-expose yourself to the GRE content you’ve previously learned in order to solidify it in your memory.

One method of repetition, in particular, is very useful for making new information stick. This method is called spaced repetition.

Use Spaced Repetition to Accelerate Your GRE Study

It turns out that we learn more effectively when we give our brains a little time in between when we initially learn something and when we review or recall that information. This process is called “spaced repetition,” and it has been shown to significantly improve learning. 

Say you study the topic of coordinate geometry for an hour, and then move on to a new topic, say, linear inequalities. You move through a few dissimilar GRE topics during that study session.

Over the course of a day or so, you start to forget some of what you learned about coordinate geometry. Now is the perfect time to restudy that topic. When you sit down for your next study session, you’ll find that you more quickly and easily attain the same level of competence that you attained in your study session just days earlier.

In fact, you’ll probably gain some new insights as you add to your knowledge base. Throughout the course of your GRE prep, you could study coordinate geometry five, six, or even seven different times, using spaced repetition to enhance your learning.

TTP PRO TIP:

Use spaced repetition to enhance learning and knowledge retention.

Alternate Quant and Verbal Study

We know that spaced repetition is helpful for memory and retention, so it’s no surprise that research has shown that alternating between studying dissimilar topics or concepts is beneficial for learning. 

You could alternate among a few different math topics, or if you wanted to mix things up further, between studying quant and verbal. For example, do an hour of quant and then take a break. Then do an hour of verbal and take a break.

Or, you may find that you better retain information if you do 30 minutes of quant, take a break, and then do 30 minutes of verbal. Over time, you’ll figure out what time intervals suit you best. 

The key is to avoid study fatigue; keep your brain stimulated and engaged by alternating study topics, and you’ll learn at maximum efficiency.

TTP PRO TIP:

To learn more efficiently and avoid study fatigue, alternate between quant and verbal, or between a few topics within quant or verbal, in a single study session.

Solve a Wide Range of Realistic Practice Questions

After you’ve read, watched videos, taken meaningful notes, quizzed yourself with flash cards, and used spaced repetition to enhance your learning, it’s critical to put your new knowledge to use. In putting your knowledge to use, your goal is to develop skill in correctly answering questions. In order to develop this skill, you must practice with a broad range of realistic GRE practice questions.

Answering practice questions forces you to bring forth stored information, and there is a strong relationship between the process of retrieving knowledge and the ability to recall that information at a later date.

Variation is key to this process; the more variation you see in a topic, the better versed in that topic you’ll become and the better prepared you’ll be to handle questions based on that topic in the future. For example, you might be able to easily use the slope-intercept form of a line, y = mx + b, to answer any question involving slopes or y-intercepts, but if you have not also practiced with questions that use the (equivalent) formula for the standard form of a line, Ax + By + C = 0, you might find yourself tripped up by a simple question about lines.

Additionally, you should practice other question types involving lines: intersecting lines, parallel lines, word problems using linear equations, linear growth problems, and so on. A single topic can extend well beyond the basics, so you need skill in answering a variety of questions on each topic. By practicing with a wide range of realistic questions, not only will you broaden your knowledge about a particular topic, but also you will see the various ways that a GRE question might involve that topic. 

Keep in mind that when you answer GRE practice questions, failure is the rule, not the exception. You will get questions wrong. There is no way around that fact. However, if you use your wrong answers to learn from your mistakes, you will enhance your knowledge and skill considerably. Each time you practice, you should feel a little better about the material. Aim to practice not until you get questions in a topic right but until you can’t get questions in that topic wrong.

TTP PRO TIP:

Aim to practice not until you get questions in a topic right but until you can’t get questions in that topic wrong.

You’ll also want to regularly practice with questions involving past topics.

Regularly Answer Questions on Past Topics

Most of the problem-solving skills you learn during GRE preparation are perishable, meaning that if you don’t regularly use them, you’ll lose them. So, it’s a smart strategy to regularly answer questions involving topics you previously studied. 

Let’s say that in the first month of your prep, you learned about linear and quadratic equations, inequalities and absolute values, and exponents and roots. In addition to reviewing flash cards on those topics so the information stays fresh, you need to periodically solve GRE-type questions using the information you’ve been reviewing.

So, on a regular basis, answer and review questions based on your “first month” topics, so that you can determine whether you’ve forgotten vital information or developed weaknesses in those topics. 

A solid strategy is to spend about one third of every study session reviewing prior material by solving problems from past topics. You’ll likely find that the more exposure you have to practice problems, the more both your accuracy and your speed in answering questions improves.

TTP PRO TIP:

Spend about one third of every study session reviewing prior material by solving problems from past topics.

Quiz and Test Yourself Regularly to Improve Knowledge Retention

So, you’re actively reading, watching videos, taking notes, making and reviewing flash cards, and solving realistic GRE practice questions. All of these activities will help improve your knowledge retention. However, there is a secret weapon that you can use in the fight against knowledge erosion: regularly quizzing and testing yourself. 

We know that the process of retrieving stored information (when solving practice questions, for example) strengthens learning. By raising the stakes during your practice, you can further strengthen your knowledge retention. One easy way to raise the stakes is to take quizzes and tests, which tend to evoke more stress than problem sets do. 

For example, to simulate the quant sections of the GRE, once a week, you could take a 40-question GRE quant quiz under realistic testing conditions. Because such a quiz will provide a closer approximation to test day than answering sets of questions will, your brain will have the opportunity to further strengthen what it has learned, and you’ll get valuable practice recalling information under stress, a skill all its own.

Of course, eventually, you should sit for full-length practice GRE exams, which are as close to the real deal as you can get.

TTP PRO TIP:

Regularly testing and quizzing yourself are powerful ways to enhance knowledge retention and strengthen your GRE skills.

Do One-Minute GRE Exercises at Every Opportunity

Think of all the minutes each day you waste engaging in mindless activities such as walking the dog, filling your car with gas, or brushing your teeth. Make a habit of quizzing yourself during these moments. You don’t necessarily have to bring out the flash cards; you can just mentally review a few items that require quick recall, such as the quadratic formula, the meaning of the word “attenuate,” or the volume of a right circular cylinder. Don’t underestimate the power of these free moments, which provide daily opportunities for reinforcing your knowledge and aiding your retention of tricky formulas, common GRE vocab, and other GRE must-knows.

TTP PRO TIP:

Use spare moments throughout the day to mentally review items that require quick recall, such as math formulas and vocabulary.

Connect New GRE Content to Old

Another great way to retain new information is to connect it to what you already know. Say you learned about patterns in units digits a week ago and today you’re learning about patterns in remainders. Pause for a moment or two to reflect on the similarities in how both problem types are solved. Making such a connection between GRE topics will help both topics stick in your mind.

Form a GRE Study Group

Chances are, there are many people near you who are also preparing for the GRE. Consider forming a study group and meet for coffee once a week to study together. Discuss GRE content, solve practice questions, and quiz each other.

Plenty of research has shown that peer learning is a powerful tool, so don’t be surprised if you remember a great deal more after these sessions than you remember on a typical day working alone. If meeting in person isn’t a possibility, you can also meet online using platforms such as Skype, Zoom, or Google Hangouts, to name a few.

TTP PRO TIP:

Leverage the power of peer learning by forming an in-person or online weekly study group with others preparing for the GRE.

Teach Others What You Know About the GRE

Research suggests that one of the best ways to learn and retain information is to teach it to others. Teach a family member, other GRE students, or even a pet! Once forced to explain GRE concepts, you may find some gaps in your learning that you wouldn’t have otherwise recognized.

Get Some Exercise

Believe it or not, many scientific studies have found that people who engage in physical exercise retain information more readily than those who don’t exercise. It’s easy to let exercise take a back seat when you’re busy with school or work on top of GRE preparation, but putting exercise a bit higher on the priority list could help you perform better in your studies. Additionally, exercise is a great way to blow off steam and reduce stress, and less stress will help you stay focused and motivated throughout your prep. So, do what you can to keep your brain and your body in top form.

KEY FACT:

People who engage in physical exercise retain information more readily than those who don’t exercise.

Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep is essential for brain health and memory. Unfortunately, people tend to severely underestimate how lack of sleep affects their mental performance. Resist the urge to burn the midnight oil. Instead, plan your day so that you can prepare for your GRE and still get an adequate amount of sleep, about seven to eight hours each night.

TTP PRO TIP:

Resist the urge to burn the midnight oil.

Don’t Study for the GRE When You’re Tired

Many people attend school or work full-time while preparing for the GRE, and with a busy schedule, it’s easy to wait until late at night to study for the GRE. Of course, as we just discussed, it’s tough to learn and retain information when your brain is tired. 

If your days are packed, try to get in some study time early each morning, when your brain is fresh. Get some coffee or water and spend two hours studying before you start the rest of your day. If you go to bed early and wake up early to study before the workday or school day begins, your brain and body will be well-rested and ready to soak up new information. 

There is also something satisfying about beginning the day by doing something for yourself, something that will help you grow and will have a positive impact on your future. By the time you get to work or school, you’ll have put in a good amount of GRE prep time, and you’ll have the sense of accomplishment to prove it!

TTP PRO TIP:

If your days are packed, wake up a little early each morning to get in a couple of hours of study time before you start the rest of your day.

Stay Cool, Calm, and Collected When Preparing for the GRE

One of the most valuable skills that anyone can master is managing stress and anxiety, two emotions that you definitely don’t want to feel while preparing for the GRE. When you’re feeling stressed or thinking negatively, learning and retaining information is very difficult. Enjoy your learning! Approach it with positivity. Try not to get upset if you’re not mastering GRE material as quickly as you’d like.

Getting upset is only going to further reduce the rate at which you learn and the amount of material you retain. Remember that making mistakes is an inevitable part of learning, and each mistake is an opportunity to improve your knowledge and skills. Put yourself in a positive state of mind while preparing for the GRE, and use whatever relaxation techniques you can to keep yourself in that state.

If you hone your ability to manage stress while you’re preparing for the GRE, you’ll be that much better able to manage stress on test day. If your level of GRE-related stress and anxiety feels difficult to manage, these essential strategies for combating GRE test anxiety can help.

Now that you know how to study for the GRE faster, learn more, and forget less of what you learn, you may want to check out this guide to scoring 330+ for more essential GRE study tips.

Happy studying!

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