Mike MᶜGarry

90 Day GRE Study Plan (Math Focused)

Bonus: This GRE study schedule is also available in a redesigned, printable version!

Magoosh GRE 90 Day GRE Study Plan Math Focused Google Docs

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 310-320 combined score. I’m interested in refining my understanding and getting into the 320s region in the next twelve weeks.

If you are choosing this plan, I will assume that you already can score above the 95th percentile in Verbal questions, and need review of the GRE math questions. If you don’t feel you can simply take excellence on the Verbal sections for granted, then I would suggest Plan A, for Beginners. You really will not lose anything by choosing the Beginner’s plan. The only reason to choose this plan is if you know all the Verbal so well that watching the Verbal video lessons would be a tedious waste of time for you.

Before you begin, check out some strategies for making the most of your study schedule. Do you need to adapt this study schedule to meet your needs? Check out this blog post for adjustment tips!

Essential Materials:

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.

  • Any of the volumes 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. This is not absolutely necessary, but it is recommended. You will have to find places in this schedule to “fit in” the extra reading, but it will help you. Nevertheless, we do not recommend the Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence book, because these rely on too much obscure 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. I assume that is relevant for you, since you are following this plan.
  • Quizlet.com: gives you online access to flashcards, making it easier, say, to quiz yourself on your mobile device
  • Vocabulary.com: provides conversational example sentences and 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

Bonus: Watch this video for tips on how to use Magoosh’s GRE study schedules.

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.

Daily review of vocab is vital. I wrote this schedule recommending the Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, but DO NOT limit yourself to just these words. AS YOU READ and find more words you don’t know, look them up, make flash cards (including context), and make your own flashcard decks. 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.

A note on the prep books: Don’t write in any of the test prep books, because for any of them, after a period of time you may want to go back and do a problem again that you haven’t seen for a while. You can only start it fresh if the page is free of your marks.

A note on repeating material: This schedule is fairly intensive, and if you follow it to the T, you will run out of practice questions or certain question types from the bank of 1000+ Magoosh questions around the end of Week 9. That’s okay. See the instructions on Week 10, Day 1. Review is vital if you want to really learn the information. Our students who make the largest score improvements often have answered every Magoosh question more than once.

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 2-3 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. Note: Many folks find that each day’s assignments take 2-3 hours, although times to complete them will vary for different students

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.

As you move through this plan, I will recommend that you also put into practice stress-reduction techniques. If you can practice these regularly, then you will be excellent shape by test day. These are four GMAT blogs, but everything here is just as relevant for the GRE:

1) Overcome Exam Anxiety: Breathe

2) Stress and Your Thoughts

3) Stress and Your Stories

4) Zen Boot Camp for Test-taking

 

A note about additional materials:

Magoosh contains all the information you need for wild success on the exam and many students have achieved spectacular results using nothing but Magoosh. Nevertheless, this plan recommends that you buy additional materials and use them, in addition to the Magoosh materials. Here’s why: These plans were structured with far-reaching pedagogical principles in mind, and a deep consideration for how the human brain learns. Most people cannot hear or read something just once and, from that single hearing, remember it completely and understand it fully.

At Magoosh, we are very ambitious for our students; we want them to learn as thoroughly and as masterfully as possible. We recommend using these additional resources to provide additional practice, alternative explanations, and extra review. Not every student will need or want additional materials, but for those who do, the books we recommend are the best for the overall goal of doing very well on the exam.

 

Week One

Week One, Day One

1) Go to ETS.org/gre, and read about the content of the GRE. Click on and read each sub-heading link.

2) In the Official Guide,

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 5, “GRE Quantitative Reasoning” (everything up to the sample questions)

3) Start reading through the GRE Math Review in the Official Guide, the entire Arithmetic section. Take notes in your journal on whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Arithmetic Exercises and correct your answers.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the first deck, Algebra.

5) In the Magoosh Lessons, watch

all 10 lessons in the “Intro to the GRE” module

 

Week One, Day Two

1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review in the Official Guide, the first Algebra section. Take notes in your journal on whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Algebra Exercises and correct your answers.

2) Download and start reading the Magoosh GRE eBook. Continue reading whenever you have the time over the course of the next two weeks.

3) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the first deck, Algebra.

4) In Magoosh, watch the following videos

skim the 10 lessons in the Writing section

 

Week One, Day Three

1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review: read the Geometry section. Take notes in your journal on whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Geometry Exercises and correct your answers.

2) Download the Magoosh GRE Math Formula eBook.

Read carefully the first section, “GRE Math Formulas: How to (Not) Use Them.” Right now, just skim the rest of the book, just to get a sense of what topics are covered. As you move through this plan, you will cover all of these. Use this for reinforcement and review: as you cover a particular math topic in the Magoosh lessons, read the corresponding part of this book to verify your understanding. By the end of this plan, you should know every section of this book.

3) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue reviewing cards from the first deck, Algebra.

4) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the first seven Math lessons

NOTE: in this plan, I am going to have you watch all the math videos, from start to end, in the first six weeks, and then the entire sequence again in the second half. Because you are professing verbal mastery by your choice of this plan, I will not assign any Verbal lesson videos as part of the plan. As you do Magoosh practice questions and get verbal questions incorrect, check out the related lessons for that question (links are below the Video Explanation & Text Explanation). Similarly, as you encounter uncertainty about anything verbal, check out the Verbal lesson videos as you have time.

4) In Magoosh, set up a practice session by clicking on the “Practice” link in the header. For Math, check off none of the subjects, set the difficulty to “adaptive”, the question pool to “unanswered”, the number of questions, the time to “no limit”, and the mode to “practice mode.” You are not entering a practice time beforehand, but keep a pace of 90 sec/question, or 30 minutes for 20 questions.

Do the following practice sets:

20 Multiple Choice math questions

Notice you are doing all topics from the get-go, whether you have already studied these or not. This means that you will make some mistakes at the beginning: see this post on a productive attitude toward making mistakes. If, after a week or so of practice, you find that there is simply too much new material for you, then narrow your studies to those topics you’re more actively studying plus one or two that you’re unfamiliar with. You should be constantly challenged. If you do narrow the topics of study, expand back to as wide a scope as possible as quickly as possible.

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, 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 Four

1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review: read the first half of the Data Analysis section. Take notes in your journal on whatever is unfamiliar.

2) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

3) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue reviewing cards from the first deck, Algebra.

4) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week One, Day Five

1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review, pp. 275-296. Take notes in your journal on whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Data Analysis Exercises (pp. 296-298) and correct your answers.

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 the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue reviewing cards from the first deck, Algebra.

4) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

4) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Quantitative Comparison math questions

 

Week One, Day Six

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

NOTE: as you finish a module, take the “quiz” at the end of the module. If you don’t pass, review the video explanations of the questions you missed as well as the material in the module, and keep taking the quiz until you pass.

2) Today, you are going to write two essays, half an hour each. You will write an Issue essay and an Argument essay.

For topics, go to the ETS GRE Issue Pool and the ETS GRE 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. Observe a strict 30 minute time limit.

Now that you have these essays, what do you do with them? If you have a friend or mentor who is a gifted writer, ask them to read the essays for you and critique them. If they are willing, you can show them the assessment criteria in the Official Guide, and ask them to follow it. If you can afford it, hire a writing coach or writing tutor: show that tutor the assessment criteria in the OG, and have them give you feedback. If you can’t afford a writing tutor and can’t convince anyone else to read it, you may try posting them on TheGradCafe, and see whether an expert there will critique your essay. Failing any of these options, at least you can set the essays aside, and in a couple days re-read them with the Official Guide’s rubric beside you. (Notice whatever route worked for you with these essays; you can repeat that will all the essays you write in the practice tests you take as part of this plan.)

3) In the Official Guide & McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math:

a) in Official Guide, do the Verbal Reasoning Practice Sets 1-6

b) in Official Guide, do the Quantitative Reasoning Practice Sets 1-4

c) in McGraw-Hill, do GRE Math Practice Section 1 (optional)

Follow strict time limits, to give you sense of the pace you need to keep on the GRE. Set a timer for the time limits. Here are the time limits to observe:

Official Guide Verbal Reasoning Set 1 = 12 minutes

Official Guide Verbal Reasoning Set 2 = 15 minutes

Official Guide Verbal Reasoning Set 3 = 12 minutes

Official Guide Verbal Reasoning Set 4 = 15 minutes

Official Guide Verbal Reasoning Set 5 = 14 minutes

Official Guide Verbal Reasoning Set 6 = 16 minutes

Official Guide Quantitative Reasoning Set 1 = 22 minutes

Official Guide Quantitative Reasoning Set 2 = 23 minutes

Official Guide Quantitative Reasoning Set 4 = 11 minutes

McGraw-Hill, GRE Math section = 35 minutes

In addition, this final math section is hard. If you want to challenge yourself, keep the time limit, but if you have been finding the other math challenging already, then I would suggest doing this section untimed.

Official Guide Quantitative Reasoning Set 3 (24 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. You can also watch the Magoosh Video Explanations of the OG practice questions.

If you are not doing as well as you thought in Verbal, or if your Math is much better than expected, 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 Two

Week Two, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Read Chapters 1-2

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master at least 20 words from the first deck.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the second deck, Fractions, Ratios, Percents. Review cards from the previous deck.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

(Some RC questions are stand-alone single questions with a short paragraph, and sometimes a group of two or three come with a longer passage. Make sure you finish all the questions associated with a passage on one sitting. This may mean that you do a couple more than 20 questions one time, and then a couple fewer the next time.)

 

Week Two, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Read Chapter 3 and do the exercises

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master at least 20 more words (about half a deck). Review the previous words.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the second deck, Fractions, Ratios, Percents. Review cards from the previous deck.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Two, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Read Chapter 4 and do the exercises

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master at least 20 more words (about half a deck). Review the previous words.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the second deck, Fractions, Ratios, Percents. Review cards from the previous deck.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6)In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Two, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Read Chapter 5 and do the exercises

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master at least 20 more words (about half a deck). Review the previous words.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the second deck, Fractions, Ratios, Percents. Review cards from the previous deck.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Quantitative Comparison math questions

 

Week Two, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Read Chapter 6 and do the exercises

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master at least 20 more words (about half a deck). Review the previous words.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the second deck, Fractions, Ratios, Percents. Review cards from the previous deck.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Two, Day Six

1) Today, you will take a mock GRE on Magoosh. At the heading at the top inside the Magoosh practice, select “Practice Test,” which will lead you to this page.

Make sure you have four hours of uninterrupted time set aside, and make sure you have writing implements and plenty of scratch paper.

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, watch the explanation video for the question, taking notes in your journal on any concepts you didn’t understand and anything about the question format that psyched you out.

Don’t attach great importance to the score on this test. You are still at the beginning of your studying. 🙂

 

Week Three

Week Three, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Read the intro to Part Three, and Ch. 7 through the section on Real Numbers; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the third deck, Geometry. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Three, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Read Chapter 7 up to the first set of “Practice Problems”; do the “Practice Problems” and check your answer; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the third deck, Geometry. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Three, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 7, read the Ch. 7 section on “Even & Odd Numbers”; take the “Number Properties Test 1″, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the third deck, Geometry. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

Improve your GRE score with Magoosh.

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Data Interpretation math questions

(As with some of the Reading Comprehension questions, the Data Interpretation questions come in batches, typically 2 or 3 questions, pertaining to the same graph or chart. Do all the questions in a set at once. This mean you may do a few more than 10 DI questions one time, and then during the next session in which you are doing DI questions, you will do a couple fewer.)

 

Week Three, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 7, do the “solved GRE Problems” and “GRE Practice Problems” (immediately after “”Number Properties Test 1”), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the third deck, Geometry. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Three, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 7, read up to and including the section on “Prime Numbers”; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the third deck, Geometry. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Three, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take one of the paper-based GREs in the back of the Official Guide, Practice Test #1, beginning on p. 303. For each of the essays, write the essay in a word-processing program on the computer, and keep a strict time limit. For the other sections, you can write the answers either in a word-processing program on the computer, or on paper: just don’t write in the book. Observe strict time-limits for each section.

This is still early in your practice, so you get a choice about how strictly you want to observe the structure of a whole GRE. You could chose to make it very GRE-like, with only a 1-minute break between sections, and only a 10-minute break between sections 3 and 4: that would be very rigorous. Or, you could be far more casual: do a couple sections, take a break and do something else for a while, then do a few more sections, etc. Right now, it is more important to get a feel for the layout of the sections and for the calibre of the questions. Building your test-taking stamina will come later.

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. You should also watch the Magoosh video explanations for the first practice test, at the bottom of that page.

 

Week Four

Week Four, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 7, read “GCD and LCM Revisited”, do the “Practice Problems” immediately following that, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the fourth deck, Number Properties I. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Four, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 7, take “Number Properties Test 2″, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the fourth deck, Number Properties I. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Quantitative Comparison math questions

 

Week Four, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 7, do the “solved GRE Problems” and “GRE Practice Problems” (immediately after “Number Properties Test 2″), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the fourth deck, Number Properties I. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Sentence Equivalence

 

Week Four, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Beginning reading Chapter 8, through all the Properties of Operations; do the “Practice Problems” immediately following, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the fourth deck, Number Properties I. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Data Interpretation math questions

 

Week Four, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, read the first part of the “Fractions” section, up to the examples following “Equivalent Fractions”; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the fourth deck, Number Properties I. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Reading Comprehension math questions

 

Week Four, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take the other of the paper-based GREs in the back of the Official Guide, Practice Test #2, beginning on p. 431. For each of the essays, write the essay in a word-processing program on the computer, and keep a strict time limit. For the other sections, you can write the answers either in a word-processing program on the computer, or on paper: just don’t write in the book. Observe strict time-limits for each section.

Once again, this is relatively early in your practice, so you get a choice about how strictly you want to observe the structure of a whole GRE. You could chose to make it very GRE-like, with only a 1-minute break between sections, and only a 10-minute break between sections 3 and 4: that would be very rigorous. Or, you could be far more casual: do a couple sections, take a break and do something else for a while, then do a few more sections, etc. Right now, it is more important to get a feel for the layout of the sections and for the calibre of the questions. Building your test-taking stamina will come later.

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. You should also watch the Magoosh video explanations for the second practice test.

 

Week Five

Week Five, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, finish reading the “Fractions,” section up to the “Practice Problems;” do the “Practice Problems”, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the fifth deck, Number Properties II. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Multiple Answer math questions

 

Week Five, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, begin reading the “Operations with Fractions” section, the sections on addition & subtraction of fractions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the fifth deck, Number Properties II. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Five, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, finish reading the section on “Operations with Fractions”, do the “Practice Problems”, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the fifth deck, Number Properties II. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Quantitative Comparison math questions

 

Week Five, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, read the section “Decimals,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the fifth deck, Number Properties II. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Sentence Equivalence verbal questions

 

Week Five, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, do the “Arithmetic Computation Test 1,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the fifth deck, Number Properties II. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Numerical Entry math questions

10 Data Interpretation math questions

 

Week Five, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take a full-length practice test, using the first of the six Manhattan GRE practice tests online.

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.

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.

 

Week Six

Week Six, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, do the “solved GRE Problems” on and “GRE Practice Problems” (immediately following “Arithmetic Computation Test 1”), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the sixth deck, Statistics and Probability. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Six, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, read the short “Word Problem” section, do the Practice Problems (Word Problems), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the sixth deck, Statistics and Probability. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Six, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, read a little more than half the section on “Ratios and Proportions”; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the sixth deck, Statistics and Probability. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Six, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

You should be about done with the Math lessons at this point. Watch any remaining Math video lessons.

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, finish reading the section “Ratios and Proportions”, do the “Practice Problems”, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the sixth deck, Statistics and Probability. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Quantitative Comparison math questions

 

Week Six, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Now, we are going to do the entire math sequence again from the top. Pay very close attention to what you retained from the first time through, and what you understand better this time around. Write about these distinctions in your journal through this second half.

re-watch first seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, read the “Motion and Work Problems” section, do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the sixth deck, Statistics and Probability. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Sentence Equivalence verbal questions

 

Week Six, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take a full-length practice test, using another of the six Manhattan GRE practice tests online.

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.

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.

 

Week Seven

Week Seven, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (Optional)

In Ch. 8, read the short sections “Percentage” and “Percentage Word Problems,” do both “Practice Problems” sets (one at the end of each section), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the seventh deck, Mixed Practice I. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Seven, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, read the section “Types of Average,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the seventh deck, Mixed Practice I. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Seven, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

NOTE: even though theoretically you took and passed every quiz, take each quiz again on this second pass through the videos. Ideally, you should pass most of these quizzes on the first try this time around.

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, read the section “Powers and Roots”; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the seventh deck, Mixed Practice I. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Multiple Answer math questions

 

Week Seven, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, read the short “Standard Deviation” section, do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; then read “Simple Probability” section, do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the seventh deck, Mixed Practice I. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Seven, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, do the “Arithmetic Computation Test 2,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the seventh deck, Mixed Practice I. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Quantitative Comparison math questions

10 Data Interpretation math questions

 

Week Seven, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take a full-length practice test, using another of the six Manhattan GRE practice tests online.

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.

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.

 

Week Eight

Week Eight, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, do the “solved GRE Problems” and “GRE Practice Problems” (immediately following “Arithmetic Computation Test 2”), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the eighth deck, Mixed Practice II. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Sentence Equivalence verbal questions

 

Week Eight, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Begin Chapter 9. Read the first sections, do the first “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; then, read the “Tables of Powers and Roots” and the section “Radical Expressions,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the eighth deck, Mixed Practice II. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Numeric Entry math questions

 

Week Eight, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, read the section “Operations with Radicals,” do the “Practice Problems” and then “Algebra Test I,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the eighth deck, Mixed Practice II. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Eight, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 8, do the “solved GRE Problems” and “GRE Practice Problems” (immediately following “Algebra Test I”), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the eighth deck, Mixed Practice II. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Eight, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Chapter 9, read all the short sections from “Translating Verbal Expressions into Algebraic Expressions” to “Division of Algebraic Expressions,” do the two sets of “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the eighth deck, Mixed Practice II. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Eight, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take a full-length practice test, using another of the six Manhattan GRE practice tests online.

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.

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.

 

Week Nine

Week Nine, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, read the sections “Algebraic Fractions” and “Factoring Algebraic Expression,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; then, read the section “Operations with Algebraic Fractions,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the ninth deck, Mixed Practice III. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Data Interpretation math questions

 

Week Nine, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, do the “Algebra Test 2,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the ninth deck, Mixed Practice III. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Reading comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Nine, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, do the “solved GRE Problems” and “GRE Practice Problems” (immediately following “Algebra Test 2”), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the ninth deck, Mixed Practice III. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Nine, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, read the five little sections from “Linear Equations” to “Equations with Radicals,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the ninth deck, Mixed Practice III. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text completion verbal questions

 

Week Nine, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, read the section “Systems of Linear Equations,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; then, read the tiny section “Linear Inequalities,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the ninth deck, Mixed Practice III. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Quantitative Comparison math questions

 

Week Nine, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take a full-length practice test, using another of the six Manhattan GRE practice tests online.

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.

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.

 

Week Ten

Week Ten, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, read the section “Quadratic Equations and Inequalities,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the tenth deck, Mixed Practice IV. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following:

At this point, you may have a pool of practice questions remaining. Over the subsequent days, do 20 questions a day for practice. First, select “incorrect” as your pool, and do the questions you got wrong to see how well you learned from your mistakes. Then, continue to do 20 questions a day and vary Math and Verbal as needed.

 

Week Ten, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, read the section “Functions,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; then, read a little more than half the section “Algebraic Word Problems,” take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the tenth deck, Mixed Practice IV. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Ten, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, finish reading the section “Algebraic Word Problems,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the tenth deck, Mixed Practice IV. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Ten, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, do the “Algebra Test 3,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the tenth deck, Mixed Practice IV. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Ten, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 9, do the “solved GRE Problems” and “GRE Practice Problems” (immediately following “Algebra Test 3”), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the tenth deck, Mixed Practice IV. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Ten, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take a full-length practice test, using the last of the six Manhattan GRE practice tests online.

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.

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.

 

Week Eleven

Week Eleven, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Begin Chapter 10. Read the section “Points, Lines, Angles,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; then read the section “Polygons,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the eleventh deck, Mixed Practice V. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Eleven, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 10, read the section “Triangles,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; read the section “Quadrilaterals,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the eleventh deck, Mixed Practice V. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Eleven, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 10, read the section “Perimeter and Area,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; read the section “Circles,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the eleventh deck, Mixed Practice V. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Eleven, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 10, read the section “Solid Geometry,” do the “Practice Problem,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; read the section “Coordinate Geometry,” do the “Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the eleventh deck, Mixed Practice V. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Eleven, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In Ch. 10, do the “Geometry Test,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the eleventh deck, Mixed Practice V. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Eleven, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take the first practice GRE available through PowerPrep Online.

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.

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.

 

Week Twelve

Week Twelve, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch next seven Math lessons

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

At the end of Ch. 10, do the “solved GRE Problems” and “GRE Practice Problems,” grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Start studying cards from the twelfth deck, Mixed Practice VI. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Twelve, Day Two

1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos

You should be finishing up the remaining videos in your second viewing of the entire Math Lesson sequence. Watch any remaining videos that you have not seen yet for the second time.

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In a 35 minute sitting, take GRE Math Practice Section 2; grade it right after, but you don’t have to check all the solutions tonight.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the twelfth deck, Mixed Practice VI. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Twelve, Day Three

1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos

Watch any 7 videos for an additional time

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Go over the solutions to GRE Math Practice Section 2. For questions you got right, skim the explanation, simply to verify that you got it right for the right reason, and that there’s nothing further about that topic you need to know. For questions you got wrong, read the explanation carefully, writing in your journal anything new you learn or anything you need to remember.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the twelfth deck, Mixed Practice VI. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Twelve, Day Four

1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos

Watch any 7 videos for an additional time

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

In a 35 minute sitting, take GRE Math Practice Section 3; grade it right after, but you don’t have to check all the solutions tonight.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the twelfth deck, Mixed Practice VI. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Twelve, Day Five

1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos

Watch any 7 videos for an additional time

2) In McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math (optional)

Go over the solutions to GRE Math Practice Section 3. For questions you got right, skim the explanation, simply to verify that you got it right for the right reason, and that there’s nothing further about that topic you need to know. For questions you got wrong, read the explanation carefully, writing in your journal anything new you learn or anything you need to remember.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend about 20 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) In the GRE Math Flashcards, spend 15 minutes. Continue studying cards from the twelfth deck, Mixed Practice VI. Review cards from the previous decks.

5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

6) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 questions; see Week 10, Day 1 for details.

 

Week Twelve, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take the second practice GRE available through PowerPrep Online.

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.

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.

 

After Week 12: Concentrated Review

At this point, if you have been following the schedule, you should have done every question in 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 a additional time 7 Magoosh lesson videos a day, 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) Re-read any topics in the McGraw-Hill’s Conquering the New GRE Math — any topics where you feel you would benefit from further review.

 

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.

Questions about this schedule? If you’re a Magoosh Premium GRE student, send us an email at [email protected]. Not a Magoosh student yet? Leave a comment on this post, and we’ll get back to you.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2012 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness. Looking for an older version of this study plan? You can find the previous version of this study plan (pre-June 2015) here. 🙂

Author

  • Mike MᶜGarry

    Mike served as a GMAT Expert at Magoosh, helping create hundreds of lesson videos and practice questions to help guide GMAT students to success. He was also featured as “member of the month” for over two years at GMAT Club. Mike holds an A.B. in Physics (graduating magna cum laude) and an M.T.S. in Religions of the World, both from Harvard. Beyond standardized testing, Mike has over 20 years of both private and public high school teaching experience specializing in math and physics. In his free time, Mike likes smashing foosballs into orbit, and despite having no obvious cranial deficiency, he insists on rooting for the NY Mets. Learn more about the GMAT through Mike’s Youtube video explanations and resources like What is a Good GMAT Score? and the GMAT Diagnostic Test.

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