| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
You can use your Graduate Record Exam (GRE) score to apply to graduate school, business school, or law school. Your GRE score is an important component of your application. To get a great score, you need a strong start when planning your GRE preparation. First, you’ll want to determine how much time you will need for studying and preparation. Then, you will need to develop an effective GRE study guide to keep on track. It is imperative that you create one that balances the demands of school, work, family, and friends with the added time commitment of preparing for the GRE.
In this article, we’ll look at the many issues to consider to create an effective GRE preparation guide. We’ll look at the impact of your GRE score goal, your baseline GRE score, your application deadline, and how much time you can commit to studying. Also, we will focus on how to begin your GRE preparation, how to find great study resources, and of course, the steps you need to take to advance toward your GRE score goal.
Here are the topics we’ll cover:
- Step #1: Hang Your Hat on Your GRE Target Score
- Step #2: Take a Practice Test to Determine Your Baseline
- Step #3: Develop Your GRE Prep Timeline
- Step #4: Create Your Study Schedule
- Step #5: Use the Best Prep Materials
- Step #6: Topical Learning Is the Way to Go!
- Step #7: Topical Practice Must Follow Topical Learning
- Step #8: Take Notes
- Step #9: Make Flashcards and Use Them
- Step #10: Alternate Your Prep Between Quant and Verbal
- Step #11: Ensure Your Study Plan Includes Mixed Problem Sets
- Step #12: Take Practice Exams at the End of Your Studying
- Key Takeaways
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What’s Next?
Let’s begin by discussing how to set your target GRE score.
Step #1: Hang Your Hat on Your GRE Target Score
Starting your GRE preparation without knowing your score goal is like starting a diet by saying “I want to lose weight.” Without a goal in mind, you are most likely doomed to failure, even before you start!
Your first task must be to determine your target score. Go to the websites of the schools or programs that interest you and find the GRE scores of accepted applicants. If your school of interest publishes a range of GRE scores rather than specific averages, it is best to aim for at least the middle of the range.
Additionally, you want to use your target score as a goal for increasing your chances of getting scholarships or assistantships. Your GRE score is an important determiner of getting these awards, so make sure you know the minimum GRE scoring criterion for qualifying. A great GRE score could be worth tens of thousands of dollars!
TTP PRO TIP:
Research the GRE scores of applicants who were accepted at the schools or programs you’re interested in.
Now that you have a target score, it’s time to take a practice test to establish your baseline.
Step #2: Take a Practice Test to Determine Your Baseline
Once you know your target score goal, you’ll need to know how close you are to hitting it. Thus, you’ll want to take an official practice GRE exam and use the result to see how far you are from your score goal. Make sure you take an official practice PowerPrep GRE exam, which you can get for free at ets.org. Additionally, you can purchase three additional exams for later use.
Be sure to first learn the basics of the GRE, such as the exam format, structure, and types of questions. But don’t spend a significant amount of time reviewing math formulas or reading a GRE prep book. The role of the practice test is just to provide a baseline score. It will also give you a sense of what the exam covers and how it presents questions.
TTP PRO TIP:
Take a practice GRE to determine your baseline score.
Now, let’s discuss how to take your first practice exam.
Take Your First Practice Exam Seriously
It’s important to take your practice exam seriously. You’ll be taking more practice exams later in your studying, but getting a realistic sense of your initial knowledge and skills is important. Thus, you want your score to be as accurate as possible.
First, ensure that your location reflects your test-day experience. Take your GRE in a quiet location, such as a library, if you intend to take your exam at a test center. If you plan to test at home, use the same location and equipment as you will on test day. Second, follow all test-day rules. For example, turn off your cell phone, use only the on-screen calculator if you need one, and use only the authorized amount of time for each section.
Once you’ve finished your exam, compare your practice exam score to your target score. The difference in the two scores will help you determine how much preparation time you may need.
TTP PRO TIP:
You’ll obtain an accurate baseline GRE score if you take the exam seriously.
Now that you know your starting point, let’s discuss how to develop your GRE prep timeline.
Step #3: Develop Your GRE Prep Timeline
From your GRE target score and your GRE baseline score, you know the point increase needed to close the gap. You can use this information to estimate how long you will need to study for the GRE.
Obviously, the farther you are from your score goal, the more you’ll need to prepare. In general, the vast majority of students studying for the GRE can expect to finish their prep in 3-6 months. Of course, there are many variables that come into play. These include how many hours you can commit each week to studying, your talent for learning new material, your test-taking skills, and the study materials you use to prepare for the exam.
After you have a sense of how much time you’ll need for your prep, approximate your best start date. Count backward about two months from your application deadline, and this will be your targeted GRE test date. (Note that you give yourself this 2-month cushion between your test date and your application deadline so that you can retake your test if your initial score is not satisfactory.) Now, back up another 3-6 months to determine your GRE study start date.
TTP PRO TIP:
To decide your GRE study start date, consider multiple factors, such as your score gap, your test date, and how many hours you can commit each week to studying.
Let’s now discuss creating a weekly study schedule.
Step #4: Create Your Study Schedule
Now that you’ve determined your GRE timeline, you must create a detailed study schedule. Keeping yourself accountable to your timeline will take every ounce of energy you’ve got, especially when you are in the throes of your prep and all you want to do is quit. It’s important to lock yourself into a schedule while your mind is clear and your motivation is high. So, grab a cup of coffee, get out your calendar, and create a weekly study schedule.
When creating this schedule, look at every commitment you have, both personal and professional. Then, carve out 15+ hours per week for dedicated studying. Perhaps you can study first thing in the morning, or maybe evenings work better for you. Consider an occasional lunch study session. And don’t overlook weekends, holidays, or even taking an occasional day off work. These are all the things you should consider when making your study schedule.
Be honest with yourself, and remind yourself that this brutal schedule is only temporary. Certainly, the payoff could be huge!
TTP PRO TIP:
Create a GRE study schedule that works for you, and make it realistic.
Next, let’s discuss choosing your GRE study materials.
Step #5: Use the Best Prep Materials
You’ve done it all. You’ve chosen an appropriate test date, allowed for a retake cushion, determined your target and baseline scores, and have your preparation timeline in place, along with your study schedule. Congratulations!
Now it’s time to get studying! Your first instinct might be to pick up a GRE study book and start doing practice problems. Resist the urge! You definitely will need something more robust for your Quant and Verbal GRE preparation.
Choosing the very best prep materials is critical to your success. You can check out GRE Prep Club or do a search for the best GRE prep materials on the web. When evaluating courses, look for a prep course with a detailed study plan, so you have a road map from beginning to end of your GRE studying. Once you find a few that sound like a good fit, try a free or low-cost trial, and then decide which one fits your unique needs.
TTP PRO TIP:
Research and try out GRE courses before deciding which course is right for you.
Next, let’s discuss some details of your GRE study plan.
Step #6: Topical Learning Is the Way to Go!
If you have read our other articles or taken a look at the Target Test Prep GRE course, you already know that we strongly recommend topical learning and practice. Topical learning is a must when studying GRE quant and GRE verbal.
To illustrate, when you’re first studying for the GRE, would it be beneficial to jump from a Reading Comprehension question in the Verbal section to a Statistics question in the Quant section? Of course not!
If you don’t spend sufficient time on any one topic, you’ll never fully learn it. You probably know that immersion is the best way to learn a foreign language, and it is also the best way to learn each of the many topics tested on the GRE. So, instead of jumping around, learn all you can about a single topic. Then, once you’ve mastered it, move to the next quant or verbal topic in your study plan.
TTP PRO TIP:
Topical learning is a must when learning GRE Quant and Verbal.
Of course, topical learning must be followed by topical practice to ensure your mastery. Let’s discuss.
Step #7: Topical Practice Must Follow Topical Learning
Once you’ve learned the material via topical learning, you must follow it with sufficient practice just on the topic you have just completed. If you don’t sufficiently practice, you may find yourself in the age-old cycle of “two steps forward and one step back.”
Similar to the old adage of “practice what you preach,” you must also “practice what you learn.” If you skip this all-important activity, by the time you get to the end of your GRE studying, you may realize that you have not retained all that much!
TTP PRO TIP:
After you study a topic, follow up with many practice questions.
Let’s look more closely at how topical learning and practice should work.
An Example of Topical Learning and Practice
Let’s say that you are learning about statistics. Initially, you learn all you can just about statistics. You study the mean, the median, the mode, the weighted average, the standard deviation, and the many statistical charts and graphs tested on the GRE. Once you have a good understanding of the statistics topical material, you move on to your topical practice.
Since statistics is an important GRE math topic, you’ll want to complete around 100+ practice questions just on statistics. Clearly, you won’t answer all 100 questions at once. Rather, you should divide them into sets of roughly 15 questions each. After each problem set, review your answers to get a handle on your strengths and weaknesses. Review your study material to fill in any knowledge gaps before going on to the next problem set.
After completing and reviewing the statistics practice questions, move to the next Quant or Verbal topic in your study plan.
TTP PRO TIP:
Topical practice is just as important as topical learning.
Next, let’s discuss the importance of taking notes as you study.
Step #8: Take Notes
Effective studying is almost an art form. While you can read about a GRE topic or watch a video, if you are not an active learner, you will have difficulty absorbing the material.
One of the best ways to become an active learner is to take notes! Putting an idea, a concept, or a formula in your own words allows you to master it more easily.
An added benefit is that your notes serve as review tools. They will act as an external hard drive for your brain and your study material. Rather than sifting through screens and more screens searching for a forgotten fact, you can flip through your notes quickly to find what you’re seeking. Remember, as you learn more and more, keeping everything at the forefront of your mind will be nearly impossible. Notes can act as an easy way to make recall quicker.
Taking notes is a great start for creating flashcards, another excellent study tool.
TTP PRO TIP:
As part of your active learning, take notes as you learn new material.
Let’s dig a little deeper into the importance of flashcards.
Step #9: Make Flashcards and Use Them
It only makes sense to make flashcards from your study notes. Using flashcards to highlight key formulas, concepts, and procedures is a phenomenal way to increase your efficiency and improve your test-taking skills.
Additionally, flashcards play a unique role in your GRE prep in that they are completely portable for “on-the-go” studying. You can review your flashcards while you’re waiting for an appointment or standing in line at the grocery store. Get a quick study session on the elevator or during a bus or train ride. Wherever and whenever you have some extra minutes, put them to use by flipping through your flashcards. That small effort will add up and pay big dividends!
No matter if you go traditional and create your flashcards by hand or if you use a flashcard app, you’ll find they save time and effort. They are especially useful for memorizing pesky math formulas or those seemingly endless lists of vocabulary words! In the TTP self-study GRE course, we have a flashcard study tool that contains premade flashcards, or you can build your own deck.
Because vocabulary is such an important part of the GRE Verbal section, you should build daily flashcard review into your study schedule.
TTP PRO TIP:
Make flashcard review a part of your daily study routine.
Next, let’s discuss how to master both Quant and Verbal topics.
Step #10: Alternate Your Prep Between Quant and Verbal
Imagine studying only math for 3 hours a day, every day, for 3 or 4 months. Or practicing only Reading Comprehension and memorizing vocabulary words for that same amount of time. A steady diet of either Quant or Verbal material for several months would not only be grueling but also counterproductive. If you studied Quant first and then Verbal, think about how much math you’d have forgotten by test day. Likewise, if you studied Verbal first, by test day you would risk having forgotten many of the vocabulary definitions you so assiduously memorized.
Remember, it’s not like you use much of the newly learned GRE material on a daily basis. Thus, if large amounts of time elapse between seeing the difference of squares formula or recalling the definition of words like ubiquitous or rancor, do you think you’ll be able to easily recall those items on test day?
We highly recommend that you alternate between GRE Quant and Verbal topics. For example, you might spend a week working through the Ratios chapter in Quant, and the next week you’d work on strengthening and weakening an argument in Verbal.
TTP PRO TIP:
Ensure that you alternate between Quant and Verbal topics.
After using topical learning to master each topic, it’s important to practice with mixed problem sets. Let’s discuss.
Step #11: Ensure Your Study Plan Includes Mixed Problem Sets
We know that topical learning and practice are important. However, the questions you encounter on the GRE will not be from just one topic but from a random array of topics. For example, math question 1 might be an algebraic factoring problem, while the next question might ask about the median of a set of data. You need to get your brain comfortable with moving seamlessly from one topic to the next. So, to prepare for the questions you’ll see on test day, you’ll need to add mixed problem sets to your study routine.
In addition to preparing you for test day, mixed problem sets are a great review tool, and they also allow you to start working on time management. For example, say it has been a month or so since you last studied linear equations, percents, and ratios. Completing a problem set of questions from those topics would be beneficial. Specifically, you could see whether any concepts have slipped through the cracks. Doing weekly mixed sets will keep you fresh in your learning to ensure that the material previously learned has not fallen by the wayside.
TTP PRO TIP:
Periodically completing mixed problem sets keeps your learning fresh and helps you get acclimated to how the GRE presents questions on test day.
Next, let’s discuss how to incorporate practice exams into your GRE prep.
Step #12: Take Practice Exams at the End of Your Studying
Your GRE prep is nearing its end. And that means you are getting close to test day. However, that is still one final all-important activity to accomplish. Specifically, you need to take the remaining PowerPrep exams, which you can purchase at ets.com. Taking these practice tests is critical. You’ll get a clear picture of where you stand and what will be the best way of preparing for the rigors of test day.
Treat each practice exam as though it were the real thing. Be sure you are well-rested and relaxed. Follow all test-day rules. Put yourself in the mindset that this is the real thing. Even if this stresses you a bit, realize that it’s better to be aware of this now while you still have time to minimize test-day anxiety.
After each test, spend as much time as you need to review the questions that you missed or the ones that you lucky-guessed. Identify the topics that need additional work, and spend time reviewing the relevant material. By the time you finish your final practice test, you should be hitting your target score and be ready for test day!
TTP PRO TIP:
Take the remaining PowerPrep exams at the end of your studying to identify last-minute knowledge gaps and prepare for the rigors of test day.
Key Takeaways
Prepping for the GRE is a huge undertaking, and you’ll need all the help you can get. In this article, we’ve presented you with 12 useful and actionable steps to help you plan your GMAT study.
- Hang Your Hat on Your GRE Target Score
- Take Practice Test to Determine Your Baseline
- Develop Your GRE Prep Timeline
- Create Your Study Schedule
- Use the Best Prep Materials
- Topical Learning Is the Way to Go!
- Topical Practice Must Follow Topical Learning
- Take Notes
- Make Flashcards and Use Them
- Alternate Your Prep Between Quant and Verbal
- Ensure Your Study Plan Includes Mixed Problem Sets
- Take Practice Exams at the End of Your Studying
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the best GRE study guide?
The best GRE study guide is the one that works for you! While there is no one best study guide, the 12 steps discussed in our article provide you with an avenue for creating one that will work for you.
What is the best way to study for the GRE?
Generally, there are two key items that are universally agreed upon. First, give yourself adequate time to prepare for the GRE. Second, use topical studying as your primary study tool.
How long should you study to take the GRE?
There are many variables that come into play that affect how long you’ll need to prepare for the GRE. These include your current knowledge level, your target score, how many hours you can devote each week to study, how easily you can learn new material, and your level of motivation and self-discipline to stay the course, even when studying is the last thing you want to do.
Is 2 months enough to study for GRE?
If you already have a firm grasp of most of the material that is tested on the GRE, there is no reason that you would need to study for more than 2 months. Of course, this depends on your target GRE score and how many hours you can commit to studying each week.
Is it hard to get a 300 on the GRE?
A GRE score of 300 is not in the stratosphere. If you were to score 150 on Verbal and 150 on Math, for a combined score of 300, your score percentiles would be 41st and 30th, respectively.
You might think that this indicates that a score of 300 is easy. However, keep in mind that the GRE is taken only by those who are looking to further their education beyond a bachelor’s degree, so you are already in a competitive test-taker pool. As a result, you shouldn’t think that a 300 score is a cakewalk. You still need to prepare seriously for the exam.
What’s Next?
By virtue of the fact that you have read through the material in this article, you’ve demonstrated both self-discipline and a commitment to excellence. There’s no doubt you want to earn as high a score as possible, so check out our article about scoring 330 on the GRE for tips for scoring in the highest GRE percentiles.
Good luck!
