How to Integrate Practice Tests into GRE Prep

Last Updated on March 15, 2024

If you’re prepping for the GRE, you’ve probably heard that taking full-length practice tests is a critical part of your preparation. This is sage advice. Students who take the GRE without ever having taken practice tests can find the experience difficult and end up with disappointing scores. Proper GRE preparation includes taking a sufficient number of practice tests before your actual GRE. Moreover, you want to be smart about when and how you use practice tests in your GRE preparation strategy.

Students who take the GRE without ever having taken practice tests can find the exam-day experience difficult.

Here are the topics we’ll cover:

First Things First: Get a Baseline Score
Treat Practice Tests Like The Real Thing
Analyze the Results of Your First Practice Test
Master the Material Before Taking More Practice Tests
Finish Your Prep With Weekly Practice Tests
- Analyze Your Results Between Practice Tests
- Assess Your GRE Readiness
Approach Test Day with Confidence
How To Incorporate Practice Tests: Key Takeaways
What’s Next?

So, how do you incorporate practice tests into your GRE prep to maximize your chances of performing at your best on test day? Let’s take a look.

First Things First: Get a Baseline Score

At the beginning of your GRE studies, you should take your first full-length practice GRE from the official ETS website. ETS, creators of the GRE, offers official full-length GRE practice tests through the POWERPREP^® features on their website; currently, one of the exams is free, and the second must be purchased (Note: ETS says more practice exams for the GRE format launched in September 2023 are coming soon). These tests simulate the actual GRE, allowing you to take your practice tests under the same time constraints as the GRE and receive a score report at the end of each test.

Note that you must choose the timed option for your practice test in order to receive a score, and it is to your advantage to do so. The score that you achieve on your first practice test will tell you how far you are from your target GRE score, thus helping you determine the length and intensity of GRE preparation necessary to reach your goal.

TTP PRO TIP:

Take an ETS practice test at the beginning of your GRE preparation to become familiar with the test and to get a baseline score.

Students sometimes feel that they should do rigorous prep prior to taking their first practice test, but remember, the objective of this initial test is to help you better understand your starting level of preparedness and to familiarize you with the format of the GRE. Thus, only minimal preparation is necessary prior to your first practice test.

You can use the free POWERPREP^® Test Preview Tool available on the ETS website to familiarize yourself with the test features and the types of questions you will see. Practice answering a few of each type of question to get your feet wet, but don’t go crazy with hours of practice questions. You want to gauge your current test-readiness with the practice test itself in order to get a sense of how to plan your GRE prep.

Once you are familiar with the structure of and directions for each of the question types and have gotten a little experience answering questions of each type, you will be ready to take your first practice test and get your baseline score.

Now, let’s discuss how to take your practice GREs, from the first to the last.

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Treat Practice Tests Like the Real Thing

When you take a practice GRE, it’s important that you replicate test-day conditions to the greatest degree possible, so that you can accustom yourself to the testing experience and get an accurate picture of how close you are to your score goal. Follow these guidelines to help achieve a realistic testing experience:

If you are taking the test at a test center, plan to go to the library and rent a private study room, or go to another quiet location to take the practice test. If you are taking the at-home GRE, take the practice test in the same location that you’ll take your test.
Do not skip any of the sections of the test. Yes, that means you must do the Analytical Writing task as well as all four Quant/Verbal sections.
Do not take any breaks or do anything, such as pause the exam and go for a walk, that you could not do on test day. It’s extremely important that you simulate test day in every way possible. Turn your cell phone off. Use only the on-screen calculator provided.
Do your scratch work with paper and pencil. If you are taking the at-home GRE, use the exact same whiteboard or clear sheet protector that you plan to use while taking the test.
Try to take your practice test on Saturday or Sunday morning, when your mind is fresh. It would not be a great idea to come home after working all day and sit down to take a practice GRE.

Remember, practice tests will not be an accurate gauge of your GRE readiness unless you adhere closely to actual GRE testing conditions when taking them. If you allow yourself to pause repeatedly or go over the allotted time for a section, your test results will not be optimal for devising an effective study strategy, whether you are just beginning your GRE preparation or you’re near the end of your prep and trying to pinpoint remaining weak areas.

For the same reason that a band rehearses on the stage where it will perform, and a wedding rehearsal is held before the ceremony, GRE test-takers should practice for the GRE in a realistic way in a realistic test environment.

TTP PRO TIP:

Take each practice GRE under testing conditions: no interruptions, no breaks, use only the on-screen calculator, use scratch paper, and take the test in its entirety.

Now that we’ve discussed how to take each test, let’s look at how to analyze the results of your first practice test.

Analyze the Results of Your First Practice Test

You took your first practice GRE. You’re off to a good start! Your goal now is to do a general analysis of where you stand. Are you 10 points from your target GRE score? 30 points? More? The score gap will give you a sense of how much time and energy you’ll likely need to invest in GRE study to reach your goal. Although you’ll carefully review all of the questions you answered on future practice tests, now is not the time to review each question. It’s difficult to draw useful conclusions about specific areas of strength and weakness from the results of one practice test. Instead, lay out your comprehensive study strategy.

Your GRE preparation time will depend on how far your baseline score is from your score goal, your learning style, your application deadlines, and your other daily commitments. A person with a full-time job may have to spread his or her study over a greater number of weeks than someone who has those hours free to devote to GRE prep. Similarly, someone who is 10 points from his or her score goal probably will need far less time to prepare than someone striving for a 35-point increase.

In determining how much time to set aside for GRE prep, you may find it useful to check out this article I wrote about creating a GRE study plan. Remember, every person is different, and you should not assume that you can follow someone else’s study plan and achieve that person’s score. If you’d like to learn more about how your test performance compares to that of other GRE test-takers, check out my article explaining GRE score percentiles.

Now that you’ve analyzed your baseline score and devised a study schedule, let’s discuss when to take the remaining full-length practice tests offered by ETS.

Master the Material Before Taking More Practice Tests

After your initial exam, it will be time to get to work on the targeted study and focused practice that is fundamental to GRE success.

At this point, your job is to master the material that appears on the GRE. Forget about taking additional practice tests until your GRE prep is nearly complete. Taking more practice tests before you master the material is a poor use of your time and a waste of the limited number of official practice tests available to you.

If you have not mastered functions, sequences, probability, and geometry, you can predict — without spending two hours on a full-length practice GRE — that you probably won’t fare well answering questions involving those concepts. Instead of using up precious practice exams when they aren’t of the greatest use to you, spend your time training. That is how you will make significant gains in your knowledge and skill, not taking more tests.

The time to use your remaining full-length tests is toward the end of your GRE prep. Let’s discuss that now.

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Finish Your Prep With Weekly Practice Tests

As you approach the end of your GRE prep, that is, once you have sufficiently mastered the content, strategies, and techniques necessary to earn a high GRE score, and after you have completed numerous practice questions to round out your study of each topic, a sound strategy is to begin taking weekly full-length practice tests.

If you follow the advice I’ve provided in this article, you will have official POWERPREP® practice exams remaining. At this point in your preparation, you should have about a month before your scheduled GRE date. Thus, you should take one full-length practice GRE every seven days or so.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of taking each of the remaining practice tests under the most realistic conditions possible. Doing so will give you a level of familiarity and comfort with the test that will take some of the pressure off when the time comes to take your actual GRE. Of course, you can’t take your practice exams at the test center, but taking the test according to GRE rules, in a quiet location away from home, can go a long way toward building the familiarity you need.

TTP PRO TIP:

During the last month of your GRE preparation, plan to take one practice test each week.

So, what should you do with the time between your remaining practice tests?

Analyze Your Results Between Practice Tests

Given that practice exams take about two hours each, you may feel tired after them. So, it’s probably a good idea to take a break and recharge after a practice test. Treat yourself to a stress-free lunch or a night out with friends or family.

Once you’re rested, your job is to perform a granular analysis of your test results. If you have not yet reached your score goal, what prevented you from doing so? Chances are there are specific concepts and skills that you have yet to fully master. You can use the results of your practice exams to pinpoint those concepts and skills, so you know which topics to revisit for further study.

Each official practice test will provide separate scores for Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning. (You can purchase an online scoring service for the Analytical Writing at the ETS website.) These are good, big-picture snapshots of your overall performance. However, you will get the most out of your test results by thoroughly analyzing each incorrectly answered question, and paying attention to any questions you answered correctly but struggled with in some way.

For example, let’s say that a practice GRE presented you with a total of four geometry questions:

Question 1: Circles (you answered correctly)

Question 2: Shaded region in a rectangle (you answered correctly)

Question 3: Cylinders (you answered correctly)

Question 4: Triangle inscribed in a circle (you answered incorrectly)

Spend the time analyzing why you got the first three questions correct. Your goal is to be able to correctly answer similar questions in the future. Study what you did.

Then, ask yourself why you didn’t arrive at the correct answer to the fourth question. Was there a pacing issue? Did you make a careless error or fall for a trap answer? Have you fully understood the content upon which the question is based? Then, go back and review inscribed shapes in circles to eliminate any lingering weaknesses in that area. Follow this process for all questions you answered incorrectly on the test.

It’s important to be honest with yourself in your review. For example, did you answer the question on cylinders correctly because of a lucky guess? If so, take the time to revisit cylinders as well.

You will be presented with a total of only 27 Quant and 27 Verbal questions on each practice test, so don’t take any questions for granted. Use every question to analyze your strengths and weaknesses. If, in analyzing your GRE practice tests, you determine that you’re getting many questions incorrect due to careless mistakes, you may find it helpful to read my article on how to improve your accuracy on the GRE.

You will be presented with a total of only 27 Quant and 27 Verbal questions on each practice test, so don’t take any questions for granted.

It’s important not to skimp on this essential work of fully reviewing each practice test and studying the material corresponding to your weak areas. Don’t be surprised if you need four or five days to do so. Remember, without working to patch gaps or weak points in your knowledge and skills, taking another practice test makes little sense. After all, you want to improve your performance from one test to the next. So, be honest with yourself; if you haven’t had time for sufficient study after your last practice test, make the time before you take another test.

Ideally, over the course of your final month of GRE preparation, you will improve from one practice exam to the next. However, if you don’t see this improvement right away, don’t panic! Continue to carefully analyze your mistakes and revisit weak areas. A methodical approach will be much more helpful than scrambling to relearn every topic.

If you have properly planned your GRE study schedule, keeping your application deadlines in mind, you will have plenty of time to take and analyze the remaining POWERPREP^® practice exams, revisiting any weak areas you uncover between tests, and you will have given yourself a time cushion for retaking your real GRE, in case your first GRE score doesn’t meet your goal.

So, you’ve worked hard and smart, and you’ve taken a sufficient number of GRE practice tests under realistic conditions. Does this automatically mean you’re ready to sit for the actual GRE?

Assess Your GRE Readiness

Many students set an arbitrary GRE test date and sit for the test regardless of whether they are fully prepared. This strategy makes little sense. The GRE is nearly impossible to trick: if you’re not ready, your score will reflect that. So, why spend your money and time taking the GRE before you have evidence that you’re prepared enough to earn a good score? You want to walk into the test center confident and prepared, not nervous and wishing you had studied for another month.

A much better strategy is to sit for the GRE once you have sufficient evidence that you’re prepared to earn a good score. Let’s assume that your last three GRE practice test scores were 270, 280, and 290. If your GRE is a week away, you must be honest with yourself about the chances that you’ll hit a 330 on test day. The average of these three practice GREs is 280. Why would you expect to go up 50 points on the real test?

If your GRE is scheduled, but you’re not quite ready to hit your target score, you have some options. First, you can reschedule your GRE for a later date when you’ll be better prepared. Second, you can take the GRE as scheduled and see how you do. Listen, you may just hit your target score, and even if you don’t, you can cancel your score and retake the test at a later date.

Keep in mind that a good percentage of GRE-takers sit for the exam more than once, and although you want to limit the number of times you take the GRE, sitting for it is good practice.

Approach Test Day with Confidence

It’s natural to feel nervous in the days leading up to your exam, but rest assured that if you follow the strategy I’ve outlined in this article, you will have plenty of realistic GRE testing under your belt, and thus you will know what to expect on test day. Try to relax, get plenty of sleep, and keep your GRE studying light in the days leading up to your test. You can check out this article I wrote for more strategies for the week before your GRE and test-day tips.

TTP PRO TIP:

In the final days leading up to your GRE, don’t overstudy: relax, sleep, and do only light studying.

How to Incorporate Practice Tests Into GRE Prep: Key Takeaways

In this article, we have discussed several key strategies to help you get the most out of taking GRE practice tests:

Start your GRE prep by taking an official full-length practice exam to establish your baseline score.
Take every practice test under as close to test conditions as you can.
Use the results of your first practice exam to determine how much time you need to reach your GRE score goal, then create a study schedule.
After your first practice test, focus on developing the content knowledge, skills, and strategies necessary to master the GRE.
After you’ve mastered the content and skills, use your remaining practice exams to identify weaknesses to address, assess your GRE readiness, and develop familiarity with the GRE experience.