Many GRE test-takers have this tendency to pick up a popular GRE book such as Barrons or Kaplan and start reading it from page 1. Slowly they keep on reading until a few days pass by, and they realize that they haven’t made any significant progress. Most of the time, it becomes so frustrating for them that they either decide to quit GRE or go and take the test with no preparation at all.
You cannot prepare for the GRE by reading a GRE book page by page. You must have a strategy.
In this Article
Always do the crucial topics first.
It is natural to open a book and go through it page by page topic by topic in a linear fashion. While there is no problem with this approach, the motivation to study for the GRE goes down with time. Moreover, some critical topics may come at the end of the book. This implies that when you start prepping for the GRE, you are super motivated, but at the same time, you focus a lot more on the more accessible topics since they come first in the book. Hence this approach does not work very well.
I would always suggest that initially spend some time going through the topics at random. For example, you can start by looking at geometry and statistics and later move randomly to other topics. Do not thoroughly read each chapter; just glance and do essential learning and questions associated with each item very quickly.
With this approach, you will be able to identify your most significant weaknesses and strengths on the GRE within the first 10-15 days of random skimming and to skip. After this initial exploration, you will be better prepared to focus on the most critical areas of the GRE test initially. Leave the topics of least concern for the end.
Use several books for your GRE preparation.
Many students ask me, “which is the best book for GRE preparation?” or “which book should we use for our GRE prep?”. My answer is that there is no single book that can adequately prepare you for the GRE. You must use multiple sources for your preparation, and if you use only one book, then you will be in for a nasty surprise on the test day.
This does not mean that you start preparing for the GRE test from all the twenty or more books available – use the ones that offer the right strategies, practice questions, and full-length mock exams.
Avoid conceptual & careless mistakes on the GRE.
Many GRE students are perfect when it comes to knowing the concepts – however, they make frequent calculation errors that lose them points on the GRE. I have seen Math wizards score less than 160 very often on the GRE test. Reason being that they simply cannot avoid making silly mistakes. Whether the error is careless or conceptual, in either case, you must identify it and work hard on improving it. Don’t move to the next topic unless you ensure that you have gotten rid of the problem you are having.
Give yourself frequent breaks.
Never try to study for the GRE test for many consecutive days. If you do that, you would know that after a week or so, you will start feeling burned out. I would strictly advise you not to study for the test for more than three days in a row; after three days, give yourself a break of 1-2 days in which you spend no more than 1 hour revisiting what you did recently.
The same applies to learning vocabulary. After doing 150-200 words, give your brain some rest during which you don’t learn new words. Instead, focus on revising the ones you have already done in the past. Make sure to maintain a separate list of words that you frequently tend to forget so that you can focus on them often.
Practice, practice, practice
Remember to keep practicing. The more you practice the GRE verbal and quantitative portions, the better off you would be. Throughout your preparation, keep track of your weaknesses. Now and then, focus more on them and don’t spend much time honing your strengths. Remember, the GRE is an adaptive exam; it may adapt to your weaknesses and give you an even stricter time doing well on the GRE test day.