Study for the GRE in two Months
Test-takers often ask us how much time is adequate for GRE preparation. The answer is not always straightforward. How to study for the GRE depends on what your current score is, and how much you want to achieve.
In this article, we will talk about how to study for the GRE within two months, making a GRE study plan, and what one can hope to achieve from it.
GRE Study Plan:
In very simplistic steps, these are the five main steps you need to follow in your GRE study plan:
First: Clarify Core Concepts
Second: Learn Skills, Strategies & Techniques
Third: Practice, Practice, Practice
Fourth: Improve Timings
Fifth: Build Stamina
In our experience with thousands of test-takers, we have realized that the most ideal time for preparation and studying for the GRE is between 2 to 3 months. The differences in the score can be huge, resulting in as much as improvement from 290 to 330.
So, if you have two months available for your GRE preparation, how will you build your GRE study plan?
It is very important that you do not pay attention to the generic preparation plans of GRE spread over the internet. These are mostly titled, “One-month GRE Study Guide,” “Two-month GRE Study Guide,” etc, where they give ALL test-takers one single formula to improve their score. However these do not take individual differences into account.
Thus, our recommendation will always be that test-takers build their GRE study guide according the following steps:
Step 1: Take a computer-based Diagnostic Test: This will give an idea about your current proficiency level and give you a diagnostic score.
Step 2: Estimate a Target Score that you want to achieve based on your profiles and the schools you want to pursue.
Step 3: Compare the difference between the two scores and then dedicate time accordingly to cover the gap.
We believe that each individual needs different preparation techniques, strategies and time to prepare for their GRE.
GRE Study Plan for two months:
Focus on Fundamental Concepts
Improving Quantitative Section:
If someone has a medical studies background or didn’t study basic mathematics for the last 10-15 years or never liked numbers, that student should first focus on learning and revising all the basic mathematics concepts required for the GRE exam and then work on strategies and then practice questions.
Strategy:
After learning the core concepts, the student should work on practicing those concepts from the real questions. For example, if a student has covered algebra concepts, then he or she should practice questions related to algebra. If algebra concepts are not clear, the student should not go to the next section. Moreover, after each practice session, students should give considerable time to review their weaknesses and then focus on improving them. Once a student gets a decent command of concepts, he or she should focus on mastering those concepts by practicing questions; starting from easy difficulty level to hard questions available on the Scholar Den platform.
Once you clarify the fundamental concepts, then you should go through lesson related quizzes and practice questions. Remember that once your concepts are clear, keep practicing as much as you can to familiarize yourself with every type of question on the GRE exam.
Improving Verbal Section:
Students with an engineering background and an over attachment to numbers on expense of reading enough broadly fall into this category. Being an avid reader greatly helps in your verbal score, but even if you’re not, hard work and practice would put you at par with the rest of the candidates. Hard work always beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
Strategy:
Start reading quality material (mentioned below) every night for 45 minutes at least for 6 months to improve reading comprehension.
Read passages from readtheory.org and make sure you reach grade 12 and maintain it till the test date.
Read passages from aldaily.com till the test date.
Practice all ETS Practice Questions
Practice all ETS big book reading comprehension passages.
Practice all Scholar Den Verbal Questions.
Good Reading Resources:
Finally, remember that preparation time also depends upon where you aspire to go. If it’s one of the programs where your GRE score will be really competitive, make sure you are giving yourself enough time to prepare for it as best you can.
However, preparing well within two months and improving is very much a possibility. Be consistent in your efforts and handwork, and devote at least 4-5 hours each day in preparing for your GRE. In addition to your GRE study plan, a schedule with timings will be beneficial to you.
Good luck!
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