OK, you are starting more or less from scratch, and you want to prepare for the GRE in 90 days. You need a strategic plan to organize yourself. I designed four different versions of the 90 Day Plan, and I need you to start with a little self-diagnosis. Which sounds most like you?
- 90 Day GRE Study Plan for Beginners: Help! Math and verbal both scare the living bejeebers out of me! I need all the help and support I can get! Help!
- 90 Day GRE Study Plan (Math Focused): I have a natural affinity with the verbal, but the math is far less intuitive for me. I would like to focus more there.
- 90 Day GRE Study Plan (Verbal Focused): Me a math nerd. Me think all math easy. Me have big verbal problems. One day, me will talk good.
- 90 Day GRE Study Plan for Advanced Students: I actually feel reasonably comfortable with math & verbal; if I took the test today, I’d get around 305-315 combined score. I’m interested in refining my understanding, and getting into the upper 320s region in the next twelve weeks.
90 Day GRE Study Plan (Verbal Focused)
Essential Materials:
- Magoosh GRE Prep
- ETS’s Official Guide to the GRE book (+ our free video explanations)
- ETS’s PowerPrep Software: If you are a Mac user that can’t use ETS’s Poweprep, or would prefer to take the practice test on paper, you can print out ETS’s practice test PDF (with video explanations here). Take note that the Poweprep software and the paper-based test have overlapping material, so it won’t be of much help to do both, unless you space them out far enough so that you won’t recognize the questions and answers! I recommend using the Poweprep software if you can, since taking the test on a computer is a better simulation of exam day conditions.
- Volumes 7 & 8 of the Manhattan GRE books. It’s an eight-volume set, so if you want extra math practice, feel free to buy some of the other volumes. Volumes 7 & 8 are used in this plan. One other purpose of getting these books is to get the code in the back, to register and get access to six GRE tests online.
- Subscribe to the Sunday New York Times (NYT), online or print
- Reading material: this may be any non-fiction scholarly book, history and social science preferable. You may also choose one of the recommended magazines: Scientific American, Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, National Geographic, The Economist. You are reading (a) to build your reading comprehension skills, (b) to refine your understanding of grammar and usage, and (c) to expand your vocabulary.
- a journal or notebook (yes, a physical hard copy item)
- Notecards
Supplemental/Optional Materials:
Any of the steps listed in the schedule for the materials below are purely for extra practice, so they are to be done as optional tasks if you have extra time.
- Nova’s GRE Math Prep Course: there is essentially no instruction in this book and the explanations are horrible: we only recommend this as a bank of challenging math problems.
- Any one volume of the Manhattan GRE books. It’s an eight-volume set, so buy as much as you think will help you and as you can afford. One of the purposes of getting one book is to get the code in the back, to register and get access to six GRE tests online.
- Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know: a good starting point for learning GRE vocabulary
- McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math: this book is for those struggling with the very basics of math, folks who are sheer panic over almost anything mathematical. If you are following this plan, you’re probably pretty confident in your math skills, so I’d recommend this book only if you’re really desperate for some extra practice material.
- Manhattan GRE 500 Essential Words Flash Card set — another good starting point for learning GRE vocabulary
- Quizlet.com: gives you online access to flashcards, making it easier, say, to quiz yourself on your mobile device
- WordSmart: very basic “level 1″ definition of words with simple sentences
- Dictionary.com: very good example sentences with definition
- Wordnik.com: provides a flood of example sentences
- Word Dynamo (Dictionary.com): give you little quizzes & games to add some variety to vocab learning
- Magoosh iPhone/Android app, for mobile practice
A note on learning GRE vocabulary: first of all, it’s important not only to learn the literal dictionary definition (the denotation), but also to understand the metaphorical use of the word in context (the connotation). For example, the word “opaque” literally means “not transparent”, but metaphorically it can means “hard to understand” or, describing a person, it can mean “thick-headed, stupid.” Ultimately, you should strive to learn both the denotation and the connotation of each word.
Nothing beats physical stacks of flashcards: You could have one pile for words whose denotation you are trying to master, another containing words for which you know the denotation but not the connotation, and a “done” stack that gets reviewed only rarely. Daily review of vocab is vital. I wrote this schedule recommending the Barron’s 1100 Words as a basic word list, but if you have another vocab list you would like use as your starting point, use that. DO NOT limit yourself to just the Barron’s words, or just the MGRE words. AS YOU READ and find more words you don’t know, look them up, make flash cards (including context), and mix them into your piles.
This 90-day plan is demands a manageable pace that must be followed diligently so things don’t get out of hand. It’s designed to have you improve as much as you can improve in a three month period. I have designed twelve weeks, assuming 1-2 hours for each of the five weekdays, and one 4-5 stint on the weekend (“Day Six”). If you would prefer to work on both weekend days, and free up some weeknight time, feel free to make those changes.
Also, as much as possible, get enough sleep during this month. REM sleep plays an important role in encoding long term memory, and in an eight hour period of sleep, the last hour has the most REM. If you are getting 7 hours/night instead of 8 hours/night, you are depriving your brain of one of its most powerful systems for learning and remembering. Caffeine and energy drinks will keep you feeling awake if you don’t get enough sleep, but they don’t do bupkis to replace the lost opportunity to encode more information into long term memory.
Abbreviations
OG = the ETS Official Guide to the GRE
MC = Multiple Choice math questions
MA = Multiple Answer math questions
NE = Numeric Entry math questions
QC = Quantitative Comparison math questions
DI = Data Interpretation
TC = Text Completion verbal question
SE = Sentence Equivalence verbal question
RC = Reading Comprehension verbal question
PA = Paragraph Argument
AWA = the Analytical Writing Assessment, the essay-writing section
Week One
Week One, Day One
1) Go to http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/about/content/, and read about the content of the GRE. Click on and read each sub-heading link.
2) In the OG,
Read Chapter 1, “Introducing the GRE revised General Test”
Read Chapter 2, “GRE Analytic Writing” (just the descriptions of the question, not all the sample material)
Read the introductory few pages of Chapter 3, “GRE Verbal Reasoning” (everything up to the sample questions)
Read the introductory few pages of Chapter 4, “GRE Quantitative Reasoning” (everything up to the sample questions)
3) In the OG, start skimming the GRE Math Review. Do the first two exercise sets (Arithmetic & Algebra) and correct your work right away.
4) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Overview”, the first three videos in that section
Week One, Day Two
1) Finish skimming the GRE Math Review. Do the last two exercise sets it contains (Geometry & Data Analysis) and check your work right away. If most of that material is obvious to you, and most of the questions easy, then this plan is the right plan for you. If more than a couple topics in the Math Review are difficult/confusing for you, consider whether this plan is the best for you.
2) Download and read the Magoosh GRE eBook.
3) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Overview”, the last three videos in that section
NOTE: As you finish each section of lesson videos, take the practice quiz at the end of the set.
NOTE: I am not assigning you any math videos. You may want to watch a couple of the strategy summary videos at the ends of sections, simply to verify that you understand everything covered. As you feel you need brush up on anything mathematical, feel free to dip into those videos.
4) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
For each Magoosh problem, after you submit your answer, on the next page which tells you whether you were right or wrong, there’s a video solution and below that a text summary. If you got the question right, skim the text summary to verify you got it right for the right reason. If you got the question wrong, see if you can figure out for yourself why the right answer is right. After thinking through it yourself, watch the video, taking notes in your journal about any concept or any aspect of the question type that was unclear to you
Week One, Day Three
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Sentence Equivalence”, the first three videos in that section
2) Download the Magoosh Complete Guide to GRE Vocabulary
Read carefully the section “Making Words Stick,” about learning vocabulary, and the section “Vocabulary in Context: Articles from Magazines and Newspapers.” Skim the rest of the book to get a sense of the layout and style. As you build vocab through this plan, periodically go back to this book to verify your understanding and to make connections to other words. The more ways you have of remembering a word, the more likely you are to remember it!
3) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
Week One, Day Four
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Sentence Equivalence”, the last three videos in that section
2) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
Week One, Day Five
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Reading Comprehension”, the first four videos in that section
In Verbal: under “Paragraph Argument”, the first three videos in that section
2) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
3 PA
3 RC
Week One, Day Six
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In AWA: all ten videos
2) Today, you are going to write four essays, half an hour each. You will write two Issue essays and two Argument essays.
For topics, go to the ETS GRE Issue Pool (http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool) and the ETS GRE Argument Pool (http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool). Figure out a way to pick topics at random (maybe you print the lists, cut it into slips of paper, and choose some at random). Write the essays in a word processing program.
Now that you have these essays, what do you do with them? If you have a friend or mentor who is a gifted writer, see if they would read the essays for you and critique them. If they are willing, you can show them the assessment criteria in the OG, and ask them to follow it. If you can’t convince anyone else to read it, you may try posting them on that same GMAT club forum, and see whether an expert there will critique your essay. Failing either of these options, at least you can set the essays aside, and in a couple days re-read them with the OG’s rubric beside you.
Week Two
Week Two, Day One
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Reading Comprehension”, up to “Difficult Passage – I”
In Math: under “Data Interpretation”, all four videos
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read Chapter 1
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the first 20 words. Some of these words naturally will overlap with the MGRE Flash Card words: cross-reference the Barron’s words with the alphabetical list of all 500 of the MGRE Flash Card words in MGRE, Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence. For each of the 20 Barron’s words, if the definition (denotation and connotation) is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word.
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
3 DI
Week Two, Day Two
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Reading Comprehension”, the last four videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read Chapter 2, up to and including Principle #3. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 TC
5 SE
Week Two, Day Three
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – No Shifts”, all four videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read to the end of Chapter 2, but don’t do the Problem Set today. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
Week Two, Day Four
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Sentence Shifts”, the first three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Do the “Chapter 2 Problem Set.”. Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 RC
3 PA
Week Two, Day Five
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Sentence Shifts”, up to “Multiple Shifts”
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read Chapter 3 and do the “Chapter 3 Problem Set.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
20 MC
Week Two, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to write two essays, half an hour each. You will write one Issue essay and one Argument essay.
For topics, go back to the topics from the ETS Issue Pool & Argument Pool. Again, choose topics at random. Write the essays in Word.
When done, share the essays with a trusted friend/mentor, or post in the GMAT forum, or set aside and critique it yourself with the OG rubric in a few days.
2) In the OG:
a) do the Verbal Reasoning Practice Sets 1-6
b) do the Quantitative Reasoning Practice Sets 1-4
Treat this as a mock GRE. You might even combine it with the two essays, and do consecutive batches 2-3 set without interruption, to simulate more effectively a real GRE. Set a timer for the time limits. Here are the time limits to observe:
OG Verbal Reasoning Set 1 = 9 minutes
OG Verbal Reasoning Set 2 = 10 minutes
OG Verbal Reasoning Set 3 = 9 minutes
OG Verbal Reasoning Set 4 = 10 minutes
OG Verbal Reasoning Set 5 = 10 minutes
OG Verbal Reasoning Set 6 = 10 minutes
OG Quantitative Reasoning Set 1 = 22 minutes
OG Quantitative Reasoning Set 2 = 23 minutes
OG Quantitative Reasoning Set 3 = 24 minutes
OG Quantitative Reasoning Set 4 = 11 minutes
After you are done, check all your answers. For any question you got right, skim the explanation to verify that you got it right for the right reason. For any question you got wrong, read the explanation thorough, taking notes in your journal on any concepts you didn’t understand and anything about the question format that psyched you out. If you still can’t make sense of the question after reading the explanation, email us at Magoosh.
If you are doing much better than expected on Verbal, or much worse than expected on Math, this might be a good time to consider whether you should switch to another version of the 3-month plan (see explanations of them at the top).
Week Three
Week Three, Day One
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Sentence Shifts”, the last three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read Chapter 4 and do the “Chapter 4 Problem Set.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
Week Three, Day Two
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Double Blanks”, the first three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read Chapter 5, but don’t do the Problem Set today. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10TE
5 SE
Week Three, Day Three
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Double Blanks”, the last two videos in that section
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Triple Blanks”, the first video in that section
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Do the “Chapter 5 Problem Set.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Read Chapter 6. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
3 PA
Week Three, Day Four
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Triple Blanks”, up to “One Sentence Triple Blanks”
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read Chapter 7 through the entire discussion of all the questions accompanying the “Model Short Passage Revisited.” Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 RC
3 DI
Week Three, Day Five
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Triple Blanks”, the last three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
In Ch. 7, read the “Model Long Passage Revisited” and the following pages of questions & explanations pertaining to it. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
20 MC
5 TC
Week Three, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to write four essays, half an hour each. You will write two Issue essays and two Argument essays.
For topics, go back to the topics from the ETS Issue Pool & Argument Pool. Again, choose topics at random. Write the essays in Word.
When done, share the essays with a trusted friend/mentor, or post in the GMAT forum, or set aside and critique it yourself with the OG rubric in a few days.
Week Four
You have already seen all the Magoosh Verbal videos at this point. In a few weeks, we will watch them a second time. In the “time slot” in which you would be watching those videos, I will have you work on challenging math problems from the NOVA’S book.
Week Four, Day One
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set A “Substitution” & Problem Set B “Substitution, QCs”. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
NOTE: The Math in the NOVA’S book is very challenging, and therefore serves well as practice for the mathematically ambitious students preparing for the GRE. The explanations in the NOVA’S book are not that good, and there are flaws in the answer key. If you get one of these questions wrong, check for any mistake, but if you can’t find one, you may be correct. If you are not sure, email us at Magoosh to ask.
The problem sets throughout the book, denoted by capital letters, are in alphabetical order and are found mostly at the ends of sections.
Also, do all the Nova questions timed. Count the number of problems in a problem set, multiply that number by 1.75, and round to the nearest whole number: that’s the number of minutes you should give yourself for the problem set.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Do Chapter 8 Problem Set, Passage A. When you are done, read thoroughly the solutions. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
3 PA
5 RC
Week Four, Day Two
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set C “Substitution” & Problem Set D “Defined Functions.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Do Chapter 8 Problem Set, Passage B. When you are done, read thoroughly the solutions. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 TC
5 SE
Week Four, Day Three
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set E “Number Theory,” #1-20. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Do Chapter 8 Problem Set, Passage C. When you are done, read thoroughly the solutions on. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
Week Four, Day Four
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set E “Number Theory,” #21-39. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Do Chapter 8 Problem Set, Passage D. When you are done, read thoroughly the solutions. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 RC
Week Four, Day Five
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set F, “QCs.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Do Chapter 8 Problem Set, Passage E. When you are done, read thoroughly the solutions. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 MC
5 NE
5 RC
Week Four, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to take the hard copy practice GRE in the OG, starting on p. 303.
For the two essay questions, write the essays in a word processing program. These essays you will either share with a trusted friend or mentor, or post in the online forums asking for feedback, or critique later with the OG rubric.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations in your journal.
Week Five
Week Five, Day One
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set G, “Hard QCs,” Problem Set H “Hard QCs,”, and Problem Set I “Geometry” #1-6. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Do Chapter 8 Problem Set, Passage F. When you are done, read thoroughly the solutions. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
20 MC
Week Five, Day Two
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set I, “Geometry,” #7-31. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Do Chapter 8 Problem Set, Passage G. When you are done, read thoroughly the solutions. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 TC
5 SE
Week Five, Day Three
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set I, “Geometry,” #32-56. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Start reading Chapter 9. Read up to and including the discussion of the first question type, “Strengthen the Conclusion.” Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
5 SE
Week Five, Day Four
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set I, “Geometry,” #57-81. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Finish reading Chapter 9, but you don’t have to do the Problem Set today. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 RC
Week Five, Day Five
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set I, “Geometry,” #82-106. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
In Ch. 9, do “ASP Practice Problems.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
3 DI
Week Five, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to take your first of the MGRE practice tests. Take the whole test, and then read & study the explanations, taking notes on whatever you got wrong — whatever about the concepts or the questions format was unclear.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations in your journal.
Week Six
Week Six, Day One
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set J, “Geometry,” Problem Set K “Coordinate Geometry,” and Problem Set L
“Elimination Strategies.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read approximately the first quarter of Chapter 10, a long chapter; stop at any convenient stopping point. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
20 MC
3 PA
Week Six, Day Two
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set M, “Inequalities.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read approximately another quarter of Chapter 10, stopping at any convenient stopping point. At this point, you should be about halfway through Ch. 10. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 TC
10 SE
Week Six, Day Three
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set N, “Fractions & Decimals.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read approximately another quarter of Chapter 10, stopping at any convenient stopping point. At this point, you should be about 75% through Ch. 10. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
Week Six, Day Four
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set O “Equations.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Finish reading Chapter 10. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 RC
3 DI
Week Six, Day Five
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set P “Averages,” and #1-5 of Problem Set Q “Ratios & Proportions.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 7: Reading Comprehension & Essays
Read the introductory pages to Appendix A, everything before the vocab list. Skim that vocab list. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 MC
5 MA
Week Six, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to take another one of the MGRE practice tests. Take the whole test, and then read & study the explanations, taking notes on whatever you got wrong — whatever about the concepts or the questions format was unclear.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations in your journal.
Week Seven
The beginning of this week is the halfway point in the three-month plan, so for the next three weeks, you watch each of the Magoosh verbal videos a second time.
Week Seven
Week Seven, Day One
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Overview”, the first three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
Read Chapter 1.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
3 PA
Week Seven, Day Two
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Overview “, the last three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
Start reading Chapter 2. Read through the section on “Pivot Words.” Do the “Drill: Sentence Analysis (Clues, Pivots, Fill-Ins).” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 TC
5 SE
Week Seven, Day Three
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Sentence Equivalence”, the first three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
In Ch. 2, read the section on “Double and Triple Blank Text Completions,” and do the “Drill: Sentence Analysis with Multiple Blanks.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
Week Seven, Day Four
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Sentence Equivalence”, the last three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
In Ch. 2, read the section “Traps to Avoid During Elimination,” and do the “Drill: Easy Questions.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 RC
Week Seven, Day Five
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Reading Compression”, the first four videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
In Ch. 2, do the “Drill: Medium Questions.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
20 MC
Week Seven, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to take another one of the MGRE practice tests. Take the whole test, and then read & study the explanations, taking notes on whatever you got wrong — whatever about the concepts or the questions format was unclear.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations in your journal.
Week Eight
Week Eight, Day One
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Reading Compression”, up to “Difficult Passages – I”
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
In Ch. 2, do the “Drill: Hard Questions.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
3 TC
3 SE
Week Eight, Day Two
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Reading Compression”, the last four videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
Begin reading Chapter 3. Read the first few pages up to the first drill, and do the “Drill: Sentence Analysis.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Then read the sections up to the second drill, and do the “Drill: Answer Choice Analysis.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 TC
5 SE
3 PA
Week Eight, Day Three
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – No Shift”, all four videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
In Ch. 3, read the final content sections, and do the “Drill: 20 Easy Questions.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
Week Eight, Day Four
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Sentence Shift”, the first three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
In Ch. 3, do the “Drill: 20 Medium Questions.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 RC
Week Eight, Day Five
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Sentence Shift”, up to “Multiple Shifts”
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
In Ch. 3, do the “Drill: 20 Hard Questions.” Read the full explanation of the answers. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 MC
10 NE
3 PA
Week Eight, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to take another one of the MGRE practice tests. Take the whole test, and then read & study the explanations, taking notes on whatever you got wrong — whatever about the concepts or the questions format was unclear.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations in your journal.
Week Nine
Week Nine, Day One
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Sentence Shift”, the last three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
Read Chapter Four. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
20 MC
Week Nine, Day Two
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Double Blanks”, the first three videos in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
Read Chapter 5. Make flash cards for any idioms that are unfamiliar to you, and drill these with your vocabulary flash cards over the next few weeks. Do the “Drill: Decoding Idioms.” Grade your work using the key, and go back to the chapter to figure out any you got wrong. Take notes in your journal on any concept or perspective or strategy that’s new to you.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 TC
5 SE
Week Nine, Day Three
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Double Blanks”, the last two videos in that section
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Triple Blanks”, the first video in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
In Appendix A, read through the “Root List: Part I.” Make flash cards for any roots that are unfamiliar to you, and drill these with your vocabulary flash cards over the next few weeks.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
Week Nine, Day Four
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Triple Blanks”, up to “One Sentence Triple Blank”
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
In Appendix A, read the “Part II: Prefixes.” Make flash cards for any prefix roots that are unfamiliar to you, and drill these with your vocabulary flash cards over the next few weeks.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 RC
Week Nine, Day Five
1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
In Verbal: under “Text Completion – Triple Blanks”, the last three video in that section
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
In Appendix A, read the “Part III: Suffixes.” Make flash cards for any suffix roots that are unfamiliar to you, and drill these with your vocabulary flash cards over the next few weeks.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
Week Nine, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to take another one of the MGRE practice tests. Take the whole test, and then read & study the explanations, taking notes on whatever you got wrong — whatever about the concepts or the questions format was unclear.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations in your journal.
Week Ten
At this point, you have seen all of the Magoosh verbal videos twice. As in Weeks 3-6, we are now going back to the challenging math problems in the NOVA’S book.
Week Ten
Week Ten, Day One
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set Q, “Ratios & Proportions,” #6-30. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE Volume 8: Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
Appendix B. At this point, you should have been studying the “500 Essential Words for the GRE” on for several weeks. If you feel really confident with the majority of those words, as well as with most of the Barron’s words, then start to work on flashcards for the “500 Advanced Words for the GRE.”
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
20 MC
Week Ten, Day Two
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set R, “Exponents & Roots” and Problem Set S, “Factoring.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
If you are making flash cards of the “500 Advanced Words”, continue to work on that. Otherwise, re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 TC
5 SE
5 RC
Week Ten, Day Three
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set T, “Algebraic Expressions” and #1-11 of Problem Set U, “Percents.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
If you are making flash cards of the “500 Advanced Words”, continue to work on that. Otherwise, re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
3 PA
3 DI
Week Ten, Day Four
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set U, “Percents,” #12-31. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
If you are making flash cards of the “500 Advanced Words”, continue to work on that. Otherwise, re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 RC
Week Ten, Day Five
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set V, “Graphs.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
If you are making flash cards of the “500 Advanced Words”, continue to work on that. Otherwise, re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
Week Ten, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to take another one of the MGRE practice tests. Take the whole test, and then read & study the explanations, taking notes on whatever you got wrong — whatever about the concepts or the questions format was unclear.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations in your journal.
Week Eleven
Week Eleven, Day One
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do #1-22 of Problem Set W, “Word Problems.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
Re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
20 MC
Week Eleven, Day Two
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set W, “Word Problems,” #23-32″ and Problem Set X, “Sequences & Series.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
Re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 TC
10 SE
Week Eleven, Day Three
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set Y, “Counting.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
Re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
3 PA
Week Eleven, Day Four
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set Z, “Probability & Statistics.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
Re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 RC
5 MC
Week Eleven, Day Five
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do #1-22 of Problem Set AA, “Permutations & Combinations.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
Re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
Week Eleven, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to take the last of the MGRE practice tests. Take the whole test, and then read & study the explanations, taking notes on whatever you got wrong — whatever about the concepts or the questions format was unclear.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations in your journal.
Week Twelve
Week Twelve, Day One
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set AA, “Permutations & Combinations,” #23-43. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
Re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 MC
10 MA
Week Twelve, Day Two
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set BB, “Functions.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
Re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
three good-sized article from The Economist, noting grammatical structures. Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 TC
5 SE
Week Twelve, Day Three
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do Problem Set CC, “Miscellaneous Problems.” Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) MGRE
Re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
3) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
4) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
5) In Magoosh, do the following problems
10 QC
5 RC
3 PA
Week Twelve, Day Four
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do the Diagnostic/Review Test, #1-15. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
Watch any 3-4 videos for an additional time
3) MGRE
Re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
4) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
5) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
6) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 RC
3 PA
Week Twelve, Day Five
1) In the NOVA’s GRE Prep Course book
Do the Diagnostic/Review Test, #16-30. Check your answers as soon as you finish.
2) In Magoosh, watch the following videos
Watch any 3-4 videos for an additional time
3) MGRE
Re-read any section and redo any drill/test in the MGRE books.
4) In Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know
Look over the what should be the last 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, and if it’s not already one of your MGRE Essential flash card words, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards
5) Read
Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up, and create a flash card for, any words you don’t know.
6) In Magoosh, do the following problems
5 MC
10 NE
Week Twelve, Day Six
1) Today, you are going to take the practice GRE available through the GRE PowerPrep software. Pay attention to any differences you notice between the MGRE tests and this one: this one is presumably much more representative of the real GMAT.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations in your journal.
At the end, copy the essays you wrote into a Word doc, and as before, these you will share with a trusted friend or mentor, or post in the online forums asking for feedback, or critique later with the OG rubric.
After Week 12: Concentrated Review
At this point, if you have been following the schedule, you should have done every question in both Magoosh at least once. For whatever days remain before the test, keep up work on GRE math and verbal. Some suggestions for what to do:
1) Through selecting question type & difficulty on the “Dashboard”, do Magoosh problems over again, and see how you do a second time.
3) Keep watching for an additional time 3-4 Magoosh lesson videos as needed, on whatever topics you feel you need to review
4) Keep reading your challenging material, to build vocabulary and acclimate your ear to eloquent style.
5) Keep drilling your vocab cards.
6) As needed, re-read any section of the MGRE books or re-do any problems from the NOVA’S book.
Day before the test:
1) No GRE preparation all day
2) Eat a large, healthy, leisurely dinner – no alcohol!
3) Go to bed earlier than usual.
Day of test
1) ABSOLUTELY NO LAST MINUTE GRE PREPARATION!
2) Eat a large breakfast, full of protein
3) Do relaxing, fun activities to pass time until the test
Bring to the test
1) A liter of water
2) Healthy energy-packed snacks (nuts, protein bar, etc.)
3) On breaks, make sure to get up, move & stretch – moving & stretching the large muscles of the body (legs & torso) will get oxygen flowing throughout, which will help keep you awake and keep you thinking clearly.
Any questions on this plan? Comment and let us know!
Hi Mike,
I am from Sri Lanka and my first language is not English. I took the GRE revised once and I was able to take 165 for the Quantitative section and just 133 for the verbal section. I am worried about my verbal score and I want to improve it up to 160. Do think if I work on this 90 days study plan (verbal focused) then it will work for me? last time I used to study Barrons and Kaplan. Thanks
Dear Gayan,
Here’s what I would recommend:
(1) follow this 90 study plan assiduously
(2) read challenging material in English every day. Force yourself to read all the way through a full article in magazine like the Economist or the New Yorker or Scientific American every day. Look up any vocab you don’t know
(3) Go through this blog and watch every vocab Wednesday video.
(4) download the Vocab ebook
http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/gre-vocabulary-ebook/
(5) don’t rely on Kaplan — see these reviews:
http://magoosh.com/gre/2013/2013-gre-book-reviews/
http://magoosh.com/gre/2013/the-best-gre-books-of-2013/
http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/manhattan-gre-book-review/
Do all this, and you will mostly get the greatest possible improvement in your verbal performance.
Mike
Hi Chris/Mike,
I have a target score of 330+. I can easily score 168-170 in quant, but am not able to take my score beyond 155 in verbal. I have been following Manhattan Prep books for strategies and ETS OG for full length practice tests. I need to improve my verbal score by about 5-10 points. I have signed up for your free trial and I found it to be pretty good. Can you suggest me how I can achieve my target score? What improvement shall I expect if I buy your premium plan?
Dear Shreyash,
Your target score is eminently achievable. Take advantage of all the Magoosh vocabulary resources —- among other things, go through this blog and watch all of Chris’ Vocab Wednesday videos. As I’m sure you know, each Magoosh practice GRE has its own video explanation, and watching those can enormously accelerate your learning. Probably you have already seen a few of Chris’ lesson videos — my friend Chris is a walking dictionary, so if you can tap into his suggestions, you will be in great shape. Finally, Magoosh provides individual email support for all its questions and all questions from official material, so this can help clarify those individual doubts that are not clearly explicated in one-size-fits-all prep guides.
Does all this make sense?
Mike
Hi Chris/Mike,
I have exactly 2 months for my GRE exam (CBT). I had taken it once(paper based) initially and not very satisfied with my score V – 142, Q – 150; T – 292
I intend to score somewhere in the range of 150 in Verbal and 160+ in Math.
I think Math is achievable as I’m practicing questions from GRE MATH PREP COURSE.
Verbal – sentence equivalence and RC is a concern.
Could you please let me know which study plan is the best for me if my exam is on Oct 27th. Also I am interested in purchasing the Magoosh GRE (Verbal) material. Will it help me to score in the desired range I have mentioned above? I am willing to work hardly these two months.
Pls help me with your advice.
Dear Lakshmi,
I would recommend this plan, Version C. And YES, the Magoosh GRE Verbal will definitely give you what you need to improve: see our score guarantee: http://gre.magoosh.com/score-guarantee.
BTW, a small grammar correction in your penultimate sentence:
Right, “I am willing to work *hard* these two months.” = what you meant
Wrong: “I am willing to work *hardly* these two months.” — the word “hardly” means “not much at all”, so this is actually the exact opposite of what you intended to say.
Does that make sense?
Mike
Hi, I am from Hong Kong and my first language is not English. I find myself extremely poor in verbal section. I think I will just get roughly around 10 percentile. Are there any good suggestions to international student, whose first language is not English, like me? I am diligent to spend double amount of time to study this section. Thank you very much.
Kenny
Hi Kenny,
The key is to take it slow by starting off by building your vocabulary. To do so, you will not simply want to memorize flashcards, though this can be helpful. You want to improve your reading ability and your ability to understand how words work in context. Time, Newsweek are good places to start. As you read articles reference words you do not know and underline phrases that are difficult to decode.
Over time, you will start to be more comfortable with complicated sentences and the vocab contained therein. Work your way up to more difficult news sources, such as nytimes.com or the Economist. Begin doing easier GRE questions. The Princeton Review is a good place to start.
Hopefully that should get you going for a month or two. Check back in then and let me know how you are doing.
Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks Chris.
That mean,
1. I should first concentrate in building my vocabulary memorizing flashcards and improving my reading ability by reading time and Newsweek.
2. After that I should work towards reading more complex passage like the nytimes and the Economist.
3. Then start doing easy GRE questions like the Princeton Review.
But how do I know when I should move forward from step 1 to step 2 and from step 2 to step 3?
Also, do you think the “90 Day GRE Study Plan (Verbal Focused)” suit me still?
Thanks so much.
Kenny
I’ll jump in here.
First of all, I will say — step #2 and step #3 are the same step — if you can fight your way through Economist articles, you are ready for GRE questions.
One thing I would say is: every day work on vocab, flashcards, and sources like Newsweek & Time. Right now, every week, once a week, force yourself to read one NYT article and one article from the Economist.
The first few times you do that, it will be a struggle. Over time, it will be easier, and you can increase the number of NYT and Economist articles.
When should you change entirely to steps #2 & #3? Well, in part it depends on your test date. I would say: plan to start steps #2 & #3, including this 90 day plan, about 90-100 days before the date of your test.
How does that sound?
Mike
Thanks Mike,
Yes, it is a huge struggle for me.
So, basically, I use time and newsweek to catch up the normal level of the Americans. And use the nytime and the Economist plus this 90 Day GRE Study Plan (Verbal Focused) to improve myself further toward “GRE level”, right?
P.S. I wish I visit this website way way way earlier.
Kenny
Yes, precisely, that’s my recommendation. Best of luck to you.
Mike
Wait, I have one more question about the plan for the verbal, math and premium. The verbal plan said it has over 350 verbal practice questions, while the premium said it has over 800 maths and verbal questions.
Does it mean 800 for maths and 800 for verbal?
Thanks.
Kenny
Kenny: No. Right now, we have over 350 Verbal and over 450 Math, for a total over 800. We are adding questions all the time, but those are our totals at the moment.
Mike
Hi guys, just after a bit of advice, I’m planning on taking the GRE in about 3 months and I’m trying to pick which plan to follow. I just finished my mathematics BSc in the UK and I’m about to start my MSci again in mathematics, I’m planning on applying for PhD programmes in the US hence I have to sit this GRE exam. I’ve never sat any sort of standardise testing so I’m not too sure how good I’ll be at it. From what I’ve seen from the maths (I’ve got the MGRE books) it’s relatively easy, but I don’t want to get complacent as I’m aiming for as high as possible here so I want to spend a fair bit of time on it. However for the verbal sections and the essay writing I’m going struggle, the fact that I haven’t had to write an essay in the past 4 years isn’t going help. I think this is the right plan for me, but I guess I just wanted to ask if you think I should be spending extra time on the maths on top what is allocated here?
Also what would you recommend for the toughest maths questions?
Iavor: Great questions. Yes, I definitely would recommend starting with this plan. I also would recommend: spend some time getting familiar with the QC questions and the strategies associated with them — they’re a shade different from traditional math questions. This plan actually includes plenty of advanced math practice, especially from the NOVA book, so you need not worry about getting complacent. This plan is designed for folks in your situation.
Mike
Mike, thank you for your quick response! I think I’ll definitely need to spend some time on the QC sections, as my first encounter with them was not a pleasant one. I’ll stick with this plan and hopefully get good score!
Thanks again,
Iavor
You’re quite welcome. Best of luck to you.
Mike
Hi, what does MGRE mean i this post? I am also looking for the best way to start with my vocabulary building.. I scored really low in my diagnostic test and I have booked my GRE date for Oct.. I had started GRE Barrons 3500 word list but its difficult to digest such a long list.. i also laid my hands on the dictionary at the end of word power made easy.. Can you please suggest best vocabulary learning method and which books are best for getting a good verbal score..
Dear K12G, First of all, MGRE means “Manhattan GRE”, publishers of one of the more respected print sources for GRE Prep. Their prep material is often reasonably good — in particular, they have a good GRE vocab flashcard set. For vocab, I would say: scour this blog for my friend & colleague Chris Lele’s post — every week, he posts a “Vocab Wednesday”, which I am sure you will find helpful, and he has written scores of posts in which he makes recommendations for learning vocab. I swear, Chris is a walking dictionary, so he’s an excellent source. Search this entire blog for his posts, all they way back to the beginning, and they will really help you.
Mike
Hi Mike,
I am writing gre on Oct 10th…started my prep one week back…I completed Conquering GRE Math by TMH and 250 essential manhattan flash cards….
Which book should i further do for strenthening my gre math and what are the strategies required for scoring high in GRE Verbal and AWA Section….
Vikram: As for books to strengthen GRE Math, I would suggest scouring this version of the plan, Version C — the NOVA book in particular has some very challenging problems. As for general strategies for Verbal and AWA, there’s no one-sentence magic bullet I can give. I would strongly recommend signing up for Magoosh: the lesson videos will give you abundant strategies in all parts of the test. You will also find invaluable tips in articles throughout this blog.
Mike
Thank you Mike
I have already completed Week 1, Day 1 of the 3 month plan. 
Earlier I had prepared from the princeton review (~2months). Looks like I never dwelled deep into the concepts in Verbal. I will try and follow the points in the study plan to the dot. Thanks for your suggestions again. Appreciated. Hope for the best is all I can say now!!
You’re quite welcome. Best of luck to you.
Mike
Hi Mike
I have subscribed to the Magoosh Material. I now see 356 Q’s in verbal and 476 in Math. Also I was hoping there would be practice tests?
Pls let me know your thoughts on my previous post too. Appreciated.
Akshay
Hi, Akshay
You can activate practice tests by:
1. Go to your Profile (upper right hand corner)
2. Turn on beta features
3. Go back to your dashboard
4. Click “Take a practice test” in the Quick Practice section.
I hope that helps!
Best,
Margarette
Thanks Margarette
No problem!
Hi Mike
Thanks for your detailed reply. I would like to work with the Magoosh material and will purchase the same by today or tomorrow max. I really need the score, trust me when i say “i really want to”. Previously I had referred princeton review, their math is decent but I don’t think their verbal material is that great. It just gives an overview on various concepts. Anyways, past is past.
I have a decent profile otherwise in terms of academics and extra curricular activities. I just don’t want GRE to be an impediment.
In the 90 day GRE plan that you suggested, could you pls tell me which of the 3 subversions I should try? I know this ispoon feeding
but I really want to make sure I got all the right materials this time and nail the exam and I want Magoosh to be empathetic to me 
Below is the link to the study plan you mentioned:
http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/90-day-gre-study-plan-for-advanced-students/
Which one of the 4 versions A, B, C or D do I need to choose?
Version C may be?
I want to focus a lot on Verbal but I don’t want to end up lagging in Math as I need to hone my skills in there too.
Also do you suggest I buy the new Barrons GRE book?
Looking forward to your response.
Thanks,
Akshay
Akshay — There are four 90 day plans, and for you, I recommend D: “Advanced.” That is the plan that will meet you where you are and challenge you to grow the most. As for the Barron’s book, see: http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/barron%E2%80%99s-new-gre-19th-edition-book-review/ I hope that helps.
Mike
Hi Chris/Mike
V – 144, Q – 156; T – 300
I have exactly 2 months for my GRE exam. I had taken it once initially (a week back) and not one bit satisfied with my score
I intend to score somewhere in the range of 150 in Verbal and 165+ in Math.
I think Math is achievable as I was able to score 165 in the power prep II. I lost a bit on co-ordinate geometry in the Main exam as I wasn’t well prepared in that section and I ended up getting 3-4 tricky Q’s from CG.
Verbal – sentence completion and RC is a concern.
1. Could you pls let me know which study plans is the best for me if my exam is on Aug 24th.
2. Also I am interested in purchasing the Magoosh GRE material. Will it help me to score in the desired range I have mentioned above? I am willing to work diligently these two months.
Pls help me with your valuable inputs.
Dear Ashkay: Your target scores are quite attainable. Yes, definitely, if you sign up for Magoosh and take advantage of what it has to offer over the next two months, I would be astounded if you didn’t score much higher than those targets. For you, I would recommend the “Advanced” three month plan — you will have to accelerate or eliminate some pieces to fit into your two month time frame. I am actually very excited for you — it’s quite clear to me that, with hard work and our help, you will be fabulously successful on your next GRE. I look forward to working with you.
Mike
Hi Mike,
I was taking a look at Quizlet and realized that there are already many public flashcard lists for GREs. Can you recommend any?
Thanks!
Hi Gaia,
As the GRE/Vocab guy, I’ll take this comment
.
There is no magic list of vocab words. Kaplan, Barron’s and The Princeton Review flashcards should work fine (many of the words overlap). As long as the definitions are clear to you, go ahead and use those flashcards.
Also, make sure to incorporate in-context reading with flashcards:
http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/reading-vocabulary-in-context-where-should-i-start/
Hope that helps!
I’m planning to take the GRE in late August. Should I get the Manhattan 2nd edition books or should I what till the 3rd edition books come out in June//July? Maybe just wait for the new verbal books and hope they improved?
If you don’t get at least one volume of a 2nd edition book right away, I would worry that you will wait too long to get access to their online tests, and not have sufficient time to practice them and integrate what you learn over the course of the 12 weeks. I would suggest: get one MGRE book now, to ensure access to the online tests, and maybe get some more volumes when the new editions become available.
Mike
@Mike
Its been a week since I started preparing with magoosh and this study plan. The sessions are very good and I will definitely recommend it to my friends. But, I would suggest you give the topics instead of page numbers to refer to topics in other books(MGRE, ETS etc). This thing is, I have the first edition of MGRE for RC and essays and I’m not able to follow the page numbers which you have given (I presume, its for the second edition).
Thanks and regards
Gauthaman
Hi, Gauthaman
Sorry for the late response! We’re currently working on updating the study plans, but it will take us a while to get through all of them. Thank you for the suggestion! Feel free to let us know if there’s anything else we can help you with.
Best,
Margarette
Hi Mike,
I haven’t purchased the NOVA’s prep book yet, because I have read the book review written by Chris, which says NOVA is good for practicing and improving math skills. And everything else sucks.lol. If so, does it mean that all the designated problem sets from NOVA in the 90 days’ plan (the verbal focused) are for math practicing?
Thanks for your help.
Best wishes,
Sunny
Sunny: The NOVA books are a good source of harder math practice problems, although as Chris says, the explanations are abysmal. The whole book looks like a bunch of hard math problems thrown together without particular care. Having said that, it still is one of the best sources of harder math practice problems for the GRE available, which it why we recommend it (with caveats) in this plan. Does that make sense?
Mike
Mike: Yeah, that’s sort of make sense. I’m pretty confident with my math skills any way (from an electrical engineering student’s perspective.lol) Thanks for your help Mike
By the way, I’ve just started my GRE journey with Magoosh since two days ago, and I can’t help to say that you guys as a team have done an excellent job!!! I’ve got lots of help and I will definitely spread the word to my friends!!!
Thank you!
Let us know however we can support you.
Mike
Well, the 6 MGRE practice tests are not bad. Here’s the thing — the revised GRE is still new enough that it’s a challenge in the test prep world. Most of the available books are far from adequate. See Chris’ book reviews: http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/new-gre-book-reviews/. We feel that, of the available computer-based practice test, the test you can get through Magoosh is very good, and the 6 MGRE tests are pretty good as well. Over time, test prep professionals will take the test, thereby learning more about it, and ETS will release more material — in the long run, all the test prep material will improve. Right now, I would say that folks preparing for the GRE who want a quantity of computer-based tests are lucky to have something as good as the MGRE tests available. How is that for a nuanced answer?
BTW, the one month study plan might be more germane to your situation. http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/1-month-gre-study-schedule/
Good luck on the GRE.
Mike
scored M: 160 & V:157 -> 760 & 560
more or less on the lower side of the practice test scores….the vocab was surprising not difficult at all compared to the word lists…..seems like it is good enough for even the best engineering schools so it is not terrible by any means…..
thx,
iop123
how accurate are the 6 MGRE practice tests? i am taking test in 2 weeks and my verbal 158-163 and math 161-165. my scores moved in the upward direction (1-6)…..good plan albeit only for people having 90 days…
thx,
iop123