Mike MᶜGarry

90 Day GRE Study Plan (Verbal Focused)

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

90 day study schedule - image by Magoosh

OK, you are starting more or less from scratch, and you want to prepare for the GRE in 90 days.  You need a GRE study schedule 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): Math is a piece of cake, but verbal is where I could really use some help.
  • 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.

90 Day GRE Study Plan Verbal Focused Google Docs
You should follow this plan if math is something that has always come easily to you, especially if you majored in something especially mathematical in college, such as Physics or Engineering.  This plan is a particularly good choice if you are a mathematical/techie type and English is not your first language.  This plan will focus on the Verbal lessons and, in lieu of watching Math lesson videos, which would be mostly review for you, it will include a good deal of higher level math practice.

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.

  • 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 skimming through the GRE Math Review in the Official Guide, the entire Arithmetic & Algebra section. Do the Arithmetic Exercises & Algebra Exercises and check your answers.  Presumably, these will be easy for you.

4) In the Magoosh Lessons, watch the first five lessons in the “Intro to the GRE” module

 

Week One, Day Two

1) Continue skimming through the GRE Math Review: the Geometry section & Data Analysis sections.  Do the Geometry Exercises & Data Analysis Exercises and check your answers. Again, these probably will not be unusually challenging for you.

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 Magoosh, watch the following videos

The remaining lessons in the “Intro to the GRE” module

 

Week One, Day Three

1) 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!

2) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the first five Math lessons in the General Math Strategies module

3) 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) In the Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions book, skim the first two chapters, paying the closest attention to pp. 14-39, which explains the types of questions in detail.

2) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the remaining Math lessons in the General Math Strategies module

3) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week One, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the all Math lessons in the Advanced QC Strategies module

NOTE: I wanted you to see these videos, just to get you familiar with the Quantitative Comparison question type, which is unique to the GRE.  These are the only math lessons I have assigned in this schedule: the rest of the assigned lessons are Verbal.  As you do practice problems, if you feel you need clarification or your are curious on my take on a particular mathematical idea, dip into the library of math lesson videos ala carte, as needed.   In particular, if a math questions in Magoosh makes you realize that you have more to understand about some concept, you might consider watching the “related lessons” for that question.

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 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 all 10 Videos in the Writing section

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 for each.

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 & the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

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 the MGRE 5-lb book, do the Math Diagnostic test (pp. 27-32)

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 Quantitative Reasoning Set 1 = 22 minutes

Official Guide Quantitative Reasoning Set 2 = 23 minutes

Official Guide Quantitative Reasoning Set 3 = 24 minutes

Official Guide Quantitative Reasoning Set 4 = 11 minutes

MGRE Math Diagnostic test = 35 minutes

In addition, look at these  last two sections  These are quite challenging verbal questions: if you want to challenge yourself, use the time limits, but if the medium questions were already challenging for you, I would recommend going through these untimed.

Official Guide Verbal Reasoning Set 5  (14 minutes)

Official Guide Verbal Reasoning Set 6  (16 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 performing at a high level in math, or if your verbal is much stronger than you 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 first four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 7, “Arithmetic,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

NOTE, in the practice sections of this MGRE book, the practice problems start at a very basic level.  In each chapter, my default recommendation will be to start a problem #20, so that you skip the very easy ones at the beginning of the section.  In each section, you may skim the first 20, to see if anything looks challenging or interesting, but the more challenging problems come in the second half of the problem set.  If the subject matter is one in which you don’t feel you have mastery, you can start earlier in the problem set, even at the beginning, to make sure you have all the basics of that topic.

NOTE: Do all the work from the Manhattan GRE book without touching a calculator.

NOTE: In the practice problems from the MGRE book and in the other math practice problems in other books, always check your answers.  Presumably, you will get the majority of the math practice questions correct.  When you do get a problem wrong, engage serious effort in understanding your mistake and guaranteeing that you will not repeat it.  If you are diligent in learning from your mistake, each problem you get wrong is a potential gold mine of possible improvements you could make to your understanding.

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

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

5) 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 four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 8, “Algebra,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck).

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Two, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 9, “Inequalities and Absolute Values,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Two, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 10, “Functions, Formulas, and Sequences,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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 four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 11, “Fractions and Decimals,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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 four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 12, “Percents,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Three, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 13, “Divisibility and Primes,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Three, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 14, “Exponents and Roots,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Multiple Choice math questions

10 Data Interpretation math questions

Improve your GRE score with Magoosh.

(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 four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 15, “Number Properties,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Three, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 16, “Word Problems,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Three, Day Six

1) In the GRE Math Flashcards,

Go through the cards in the first four decks: Algebra; Fractions, Ratios, and Percents; Geometry; and Number Properties I.  In all likelihood, most of the cards will be concepts you already know very well.  Review any cards that are less than completely familiar.

2) In the Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions

Skim Ch. 1-2: most of this material should be review at this point

In Ch. 3, do the three Reading Comprehension practice sets

In Ch. 4, do the three Text Completion practice sets

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 Four

Week Four, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 17, “Two-Variable Word Problems,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Four, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 18, “Rates and Work,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) 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 four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 19, ‘Variables-in-the-Choices Problems,’ do ALL the practice problems.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Sentence Equivalence

 

Week Four, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 20, “Ratios,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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 four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 21, “Averages, Weighted Averages, Median, and Mode,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Four, 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.

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

 

Week Five

Week Five, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 22, “Standard Deviation and Normal Distribution,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) 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 four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 23, “Probability, Combinatorics, and Overlapping Sets,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Five, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

At this point, you should near the end of the verbal lessons on the first pass.  Watch any remaining lessons.

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 24, “Data Interpretation,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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

As a break from Verbal lessons, watch any four Math videos about which you are curious

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 25, “Polygons and Rectangular Solids,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

I5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Sentence Equivalence verbal questions

 

Week Five, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch four more Math lessons about which you are curious.

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 26, “Circles and Cylinders,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Numerical Entry math questions

10 Data Interpretation math questions

 

Week Five, Day Six

1) In the GRE Math Flashcards,

Go through the cards in the next four decks: Number Properties II; Statistics and Probability; and Mixed Practice I-II.  In all likelihood, most of the cards will be concepts you already know very well.  Review any cards that are less than completely familiar.

2) In the Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions

In Ch. 5, do the three Sentence Equivalence practice sets

In Ch. 6, do the first Mixed Practice set.  Keep a strict 38 minute time limit.

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

In the Writing section, re-watch the four AWA Basics videos

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 27, “Triangles,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Six, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

In the Writing section, re-watch the two Issue Task videos

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 28, “Coordinate Geometry,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Six, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

In the Writing section, re-watch the two Issue Task videos

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 29, “Mixed Geometry,” do the practice problems starting at #20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Six, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Now, I will have you watch all the Verbal videos again.  This time through, pay close attention to what you remembered from before, and what you understand better this time around.

Re-watch the first four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 30, “Advanced Quant,” do the practice problems #1-20.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 30, “Advanced Quant,” do the practice problems #21-40.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Sentence Equivalence verbal questions

 

Week Six, 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.

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

 

Week Seven

Week Seven, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 30, “Advanced Quant,” do the practice problems #41-60.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Seven, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 33, “Math Practice Sections,” do the Math Practice Section 2: Medium Difficulty.  Keep a 35 minute time limit.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Seven, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Manhattan GRE 5-lb Book of Practice Problems:

In Chapter 33, “Math Practice Sections,” do the Math Practice Section 3: Hard Difficulty.  Keep a 35 minute time limit.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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 the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions book,

Do the Arithmetic practice problems, pp. 45-50.  Keep a strict 33 minute time limit.

NOTE: Do all the problems in this book without touching a calculator.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text Completion verbal questions

 

Week Seven, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions book,

Do the Algebra practice problems, pp. 67-72.  Keep a strict 30 minute time limit.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 Quantitative Comparison math questions

10 Data Interpretation math questions

 

Week Seven, Day Six

1) In the GRE Math Flashcards,

Go through the cards in the final four decks: Mixed Practice III – VI.  In all likelihood, most of the cards will be concepts you already know very well.  Review any cards that are less than completely familiar.

2) In the Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions

In Ch. 6, do the last two Mixed Practice sets.  Keep a strict 38 minute time limit for each.

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 the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions book,

Do the Geometry practice problems, pp. 87-92.  Keep a strict 23 minute time limit.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Sentence Equivalence verbal questions

 

Week Eight, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions book,

Do the Data Analysis practice problems #1-13, pp. 107-112.  Keep a strict 23 minute time limit.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) 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 the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions book,

Do the Data Analysis practice problems #14-26, pp. 113-117.  Keep a strict 23 minute time limit.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Reading Comprehension verbal questions

 

Week Eight, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions book,

Do the Mixed Practice Set #1, pp. 141-150.  Keep a strict 44 minute time limit.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Eight, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions book,

Do the Mixed Practice Set #2, pp. 173-182.  Keep a strict 44 minute time limit.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read

Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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 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 Nine

Week Nine, Day One

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions book,

Do the Mixed Practice Set #3, pp. 199-209.  Keep a strict 44 minute time limit.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) 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 the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the first 20 questions

NOTE: the “Problem Solving” Quantitative questions on the GMAT are five-choice multiple choice, identical in format to the GRE Multiple Choice questions.  Math on the GMAT is a shade harder than GRE math, so these questions will provide challenging practice.  No calculator is allowed on the GMAT Quantitative section, so all of these questions are meant to be done without a calculator.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Reading comprehension verbal questions

 

 

Week Nine, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the next 20 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

20 Multiple Choice math questions

 

Week Nine, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the next 20 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

20 Text completion verbal questions

 

Week Nine, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Re-watch the next four Verbal lessons

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the next 20 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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

At this point, you should around the end of the Verbal lessons on your second time through them.  Re-watch any remaining videos that you have seen only once so far.

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the next 20 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) You may have a large pool of Magoosh 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

At this point, you should have seen every Verbal video twice.  Just pick any four videos, Math or Verbal, and watch them.

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the next 20 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Ten, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the next 20 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Ten, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the next 20 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Ten, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the next 20 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the next 20 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Eleven, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the next 15 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Eleven, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 5.3, Problem Solving practice questions, the lastt 15 questions

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Eleven, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2)  In the GMAT Official Guide (any edition),

In section 3.1, the Diagnostic Test, do the 24 Problem Solving questions at the start of the test.

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Eleven, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2) Math Practice

Having exhausted several collections of practice problems, I will give you some challenging problems in the last days of the exam.  These will come from the Magoosh GMAT blog.

Magoosh GMAT Blog: Challenging Problems with Roots and Exponents

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2) Math Practice

Magoosh GMAT Blog: Challenging Coordinate Geometry practice problems

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Twelve, Day Two

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2) Math Practice

Magoosh GMAT Blog: Counting Practice Problems for the GMAT

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, master 20 more words (a bit less than half a deck). Spend 10-30 minutes reviewing previous decks.

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

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Twelve, Day Three

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2) Math Practice

Magoosh GMAT Blog: Circle Problems on the GMAT

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, spend 30 minutes reviewing mastered decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Twelve, Day Four

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2) Math Practice

Magoosh GMAT Blog: GMAT Practice Problems with Fractions and Decimals

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, spend 30 minutes reviewing mastered decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems

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

 

Week Twelve, Day Five

1) In Magoosh Video Lessons

Watch any four lesson videos, Math or Verbal

2) Math Practice

Magoosh GMAT Blog: practice problems on Sets and Geometry

3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, spend 30 minutes reviewing mastered decks.

4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles).  Look up and write down any words you don’t know.

5) 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 4 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) Review or redo any math problems you got wrong in earlier practice.  Notice how well you have learned from your mistakes.

 

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 the 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. 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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