You may have heard that there is no better way to practice for the GRE than by taking a mock exam, especially one written by ETS (the maker of the GRE). The extent to which this is true depends on how you use GRE books and resources like the ETS POWERPREP practice tests. Taking a test once, figuring out your score, and then hoping that your brain will avoid the same kinds of mistakes on the test is wishful thinking. Following the steps below will help you get the most out of your official ETS GRE practice test materials.
(And if you don’t yet have access to the major practice materials for this exam, you can access PowerPrep here or purchase The Official Guide to the GRE General Test on Amazon or at ETS’s online GRE Store.)
Trying to decide between buying the Powerprep Plus or sticking with the free material? Check out our quiz to see which option is better for you!
The ETS GRE Practice Test
ETS (the best source for the most accurate practice material) offers a few resources. In fact, they’ve added so many resources to their test-prep arsenal over the years that it can be difficult to keep track of which are the most up-to-date and which materials overlap with others!
But we’re going to make it easy for you. For 2020, here’s a list of the most up-to-date official GRE practice tests that have original content without significant overlap between them:
- The Official Guide to the GRE, 3rd Edition (2 paper tests) (PAID)
- Paper-Based Practice Test PDF, 2011 (FREE)
- Paper-Based Practice Test PDF, 2017 (FREE)
- POWERPREP Online Tests (FREE)
- POWERPREP PLUS Online Tests (PAID—3 tests each sold separately)
However, I realize that not all of you will be starting from scratch with your ETS GRE materials. The tests written by ETS are the best in terms of preparation. ETS creates the GRE you will see on test day, so it provides the best indicator of your score test day. However, some of the material on these tests overlap. If you’re wondering what materials the company has issued in the past few years overlap, or if it’s worth buying previous materials, here’s a quick guide to keep track:
Official GRE Practice Test Material Overlap
| Official GRE Practice Test Material | Year Published | Notes on Overlap/Original Content |
|---|---|---|
| Paper-Based Practice Test PDF, 2011 | 2011 | First edition of ETS paper-based practice test PDF. The questions do overlap with POWERPREP online. |
| Paper-Based Practice Test PDF, 2017 | 2017 | Subset of the material from POWERPREP online. |
Official Guide 1st Edition: Paper Test | 2010-2011 | Test also appears in OG2 and OG3. |
Official Guide 2nd Edition: 2 Paper Tests | 2012 | One test also appears in OG1 |
Official Guide 3rd Edition: 2 Paper Tests | 2017 | Both tests are the same as those in the 2nd edition. |
POWERPREP Online | 2012 | Contains two free online tests mimicking the computer-based GRE test. |
POWERPREP PLUS Online | 2017 | Entirely new material made up of three timed practice tests (each sold individually) that you take online, with explanations for the correct answers. |
Official GRE Guide Mobile App | 2013 | Questions on the mobile app overlap with OG2 and OG3. |
Official GRE Verbal Reasoning, Second Edition | 2014 | 150 real test questions from the Verbal Reasoning section. |
Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning, Second Edition | 2014 | 150 real test questions from the Quantitative Reasoning section. |
ScoreItNow Online Writing Practice (for Analytical Writing section) | Lets you write and submit two essays and receive score and feedback immediately, with 6 bonus topics included. |
Confusing, right? It’s best to do as much practice as possible, so you shouldn’t worry about overlapping material too much. However, you should keep the above distinctions in mind because if you see a question that you’ve seen previously, you may get the correct answer not because you knew how to do it, but because your brain may just have remembered the answer from last time!
Should I buy the ETS GRE POWERPREP PLUS online tests?
Ah, POWERPREP PLUS Online! These are three online tests that ETS added to its collection. Each test costs $39.95. Take careful note: There are three new tests, and they are each sold separately.
Are you debating whether or not to get the Powerprep Plus online tests from ETS? The answer depends on a number of factors, including your GRE test date and level of preparedness. Take this quiz to find out if Powerprep Plus is right for you!
Tips for studying with POWERPREP & The Official Guide
Review your answers
POWERPREP has gotten a lot better over the years. With the elimination of the CD from the third edition of the Official Guide, ETS has begun to include the correct answers and allow you to review them after you take the exam. Yup, this didn’t used to be the case! However, unless you’re using POWERPREP PLUS, you won’t get an explanation of why the correct answer is correct.
Figure out the question on your own
In a way, ETS’s decision not to include explanations can actually benefit you. Looking at an explanation can be harmful in a few ways. First off, many explanations seem more confusing than the actual question. Secondly, by relying on an explanation, you do not force yourself to really think through a question.
There are no explanations given with any of the free tests. Again, this will force you to really think through a problem. Of course the reality is, you will sometimes be stumped. If that happens…
Watch my free video explanations
If you can’t figure out a problem after trying to work it out on your own, check out my video explanations to many of the officially released practice questions here.
Find questions similar to POWERPREP and the Official Guide
Practice tests allow you to determine your strengths and weaknesses. Focus on your weaknesses by finding practice problems that test the concept with which you are struggling. Manhattan GRE and Magoosh are both great resources.
Take the tests multiple times
The PDF file is static so you the questions will not change. The POWERPREP test, however, differs slightly so that you will see a few new questions when you retake the test. Either way, if you space out enough time between tests, you shouldn’t remember too many questions. While the score will not be valid (it will probably be slightly inflated), taking an ETS test under timed conditions is the best way to prepare for test day.
Be sure to review questions, both mistakes and lucky guesses, the way enumerated above.
Additional ETS GRE practice content
A few years back, ETS released two guides—the Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions and the Quantitative Reasoning Questions. Surprisingly, the book did not get much fanfare, and even now the book seems to be languishing on Amazon—at least compared to most GRE prep books (which I strongly discourage using).
Yet, these books provide pages upon pages of excellent practice questions. Though these books do not contain actual tests, they are filled with practice sets, often ranked from “easy” to “hard”. These sets will expose you to yet more content by ETS. In fact, this material is the most recent so it arguably provides the material that is best aligned with material on today’s test.
A good way to use this material is as warm-up for a POWERPREP test. That way you can get the synapses firing before you have to take an actual practice test.
Other GRE practice
No mock test is the same as that provided by the ETS GRE practice test. Still, it is important to remember that some are better than others. Manhattan GRE provides six practice tests, all of which have challenging content.
Kaplan tests, judging from their book content, are a poor approximation of the real test. Princeton Review also contains questions that are suspect, too easy, or both. And those tests you find on-line…well, let’s put it this way. I ventured to a site that offered mock “GRE tests.” In the math section, almost every other question was a permutation/combination problem. On the actual test you only get one such question.
Magoosh has a variety of great GRE prep materials as well. We offer a free GRE practice test with answers and explanations, guided study schedules, and a GRE Prep book loaded with practice questions, answers, and a full-length test.
Anyhow, I hope this helps demystify and simplify what’s out there regarding official ETS practice material, along with other practice tests!
Hello, I have just taken power prep 2 test, in quant section I have corrected 21 answers. But my score was 147. Can you explain please.
Hi Toki!
The ETS scoring algorithm is a secret and it’s very hard to predict scores from raw data on the computer-based test, but I compared your percent correct to the score table that is located at the end of the Practice Book for the Paper-Based Test. A similar performance would have been a 148-151 on the practice-based test. This is an inexact comparison, since the paper-based and computer-based tests are so different, but it doesn’t seem too far off.
Dear Chris,
I know that one can pay for the registration of GRE via Paypal or, Visa, or Mastercard. However, can anyone make the payment for PowerPrep Plus ( 39.9$ each) tests via Paypal ? or, are these 2 tests needed to be bought via Visa or mastercard only?
I live in Bangladesh, and GRE registration fee can be paid via Visa, Mastercard or, Paypal from my country.
Hi Jamiul,
Please reach out to ETS directly to as about their payment requirements! They can provide you with the most up-to-date and accurate information 🙂
The article is very helpful but i have a question.
How many days before actual GRE exam should ets powerprep 2 be taken? I gave my ets powerprep2 5 days before my GRE. Should I give one more mock test between this period? I scored 317 in the ets powerprep2.
If you have an extra mock test you can take, and time to take it, it probably wouldn’t hurt to take another Powerprep test before test day. Powerprep is the most accurate mock test out there, so any Powerprep practice you can get can help you be nicely prepared for the real thing. Ideally, you should take at least one Powerprep in the week before the test, as you have. The only other limit I’d give you is to not take another Powerprep the day before the test. This is because it’s best not to study at all the day before you sit the exam. A good solid day of rest is the best thing to keep you focused once you’re in the test center.
If I have the first edition of ETS official guide to the GRE revised general test, is it worth buying the second edition?
Hi Elizabeth,
These books are practically the same! The only difference is that the 2nd edition has an additional practice test at the end, which could be helpful if you are looking for extra practice sources. However, since you already own the 1st edition, there is no real need to buy the second one.
We also have video explanations for most of the questions in both of the books. Check them out here: Videos for Revised GRE Official Guide
Hi,
I came to know that there are different versions of Verbal and Quantitative on the second sections. I attempted both tests and got my results. I wanted to ask about the questions that I did not get to do because the software gave me another set of questions. Where can I get those?
To my knowledge, there’s no way to unlock the “hidden” PowerPrep questions that you don’t see because of the computer-adaptive mode you’re in. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!
Hello,
I have the GRE ETS power prep 2.2 CD. Are the tests the same as if I were to install the POwerprep program from the ets website? I don’t have an external cd drive so I’m wondering if they’re different tests I’ll purchase one.
Thank you!
Hi Fatimah,
Yes, the content is similar. I would recommend checking out this post that discusses the overlap between the CDs and PowerPrep content available online a bit more!
I just gave ETS poerprep II timed test 2, and got a score of 156 on verbal. Bu i have only 13 and 8 questions correct in verbal section 1 and section 2 respectively. Is it possible or is there some fault ?
Hi Apoorv,
What a strange situation! I don’t think I’ve heard of issues like this before. The ETS scoring algorithm is a secret and it’s very hard to predict scores from raw data on the computer-based test, but I compared your percent correct to the score table that is located at the end of the Practice Book for the Paper-Based Test . A similar performance would have been a 151 on the practice-based test. This is an inexact comparison, since the paper-based and computer-based tests are so different and aren’t scored in the same way, but it is strange. I recommend that you try to contact ETS to see what might be going on!
Hi,
I’ve been practicing with ETS’ books and have been scoring anywhere from 164-168 on the verbal section. Today I took the free online test, and the questions seemed really odd (I still don’t understand why they’re the correct answers), and I scored a 157, which is a huge drop for me. I could have had an off day but I’m also wondering if there’s a difference between the practice test in the book and the online test. Any thoughts?
Hi there,
I know it’s frustrating to see different scores on different practice tests, but this is actually quite normal! The paper-based and computer-based tests are meant to be similar in terms of difficulty and score predictions, but there are a lot of things that could explain a drop in scores. It might be as simple as having difficulty in doing practice on paper and then transitioning to a computer screen. It is more difficult to read and understand text on a screen, which could explain the drop. You should also consider your testing environment, personal mood and attitude, and what you have learned recently. For example, many students see a score drop as they are perfecting their pacing strategy because it takes time to get used to it! Speaking of which, the pacing and test-taking strategy for a computer-based test might be different than that of a paper-based test. Check out this post for more information on pacing: https://magoosh.com/gre/2012/pacing-on-the-gre-verbal-sections/
Try not to be discouraged! Instead, use this as a learning opportunity and try to understand why the score was different and how you can improve. This could be great practice for the actual test–if you can identify why you think the score may have been lower, you can avoid similar issues on the actual test! 🙂
Do you have any recommendation for the best simulation GRE computer best test except PowerPrep 2?
Hi Stoni,
If you are looking for free online practice tests, then the Manhattan mock exam is a great choice!
If you become a Magoosh Premium member, you’ll also have access to realistic and high-quality practice tests, as well as our comprehensive GRE product 🙂
I have taken all the PowerPrep practice sections individually (I know, I know, I should have done a whole test at once) and have destroyed them: 20/20 on the last three quants, 19 or 20 on the verbals. I’m not worried about the verbal, but some online quant resources I’ve found have been way harder than PowerPrep. In particular, I took the Target Test Prep Diagnostic Test and scored only 26/40, and some of the challenge questions on Magoosh have flummoxed me. How much more should I be studying for my test in two weeks? Assuming I kill the first one, is the second quant section likely to be a lot harder than the PowerPrep samples were?
Hi Thomas,
Yes, if you do well on the first section, your second section will be harder. I would still recommend that you take a full practice exam to gauge where you stand. It’s hard to determine where you are without doing so. The PowerPrep is the best indicator, but external resources such as Magoosh are good gauges as well. In the final two weeks, you should be doing a combination of mock exams and targeted studying. Focus on the areas where you are the weakest, and review relevant lessons, as well as relevant practice problems. Keep your intensity high. Study hard, and good luck!
Hi,
I took the powerprep tests. I got 322 on timed test 1 and 311 on timed test 2. Is it supposed to happen?
Hi Anika,
It’s common to have variation between exams, but typically it will be a bit closer than what you experienced. However, what you experienced is not impossible. For example, perhaps the second exam had more concepts that you struggle with than your first exam did. You could have also made more careless errors and/or had pacing issues in the first half of the exam that led you to an easier second half. Given the large number of variables, variation in score is definitely possible. What I would recommend is going through both exams and identifying what caused your incorrect answers (e.g., specific concepts, testmaker traps), so you know how to address it! I hope this helps!
if I understood it correctly, the latest ETS book + CD (OG2 + CD2) contains all the information in the other three materials (PDF1, PDF2, OG1). I purchased the latest ETS book (OG2 + CD2). I wondering if I need to go through the other ETS releases.
I called GRE customer service to check on this. They tell me there actually isn’t any direct overlap between the current GRE books, PowerPrep, or the older PDFs. So if you get the other ETS releases, you should get 100% unique practice questions that can be used alongside PowerPrep and the PDFs linked in this post.
Hello Chris, I will be taking my GRE exam in 20 days and I am finding all of magoosh s material extremely helpful! I have just taken my first power prep practice test from ETS and scored 155 in verbal and 164 in quant. While I am happy with my quant score, verbal is tough for me since english is not my native language. Do you know if universities take this into account when evaluating an application?
I want to pursue a management engineering masters program in universities such as USC or Cornell, do you know if these scores are in range for that?
Thank you very much!
Hi Gonzalo,
While one answer is not true across all universities, a friend of mine who works for a prominent US university says they do take English-speaking status into account when looking at scores. I am not an admissions expert, but you can always reach out to those universities and ask for more information about their admissions procedures. They will be in the best position to tell you whether you should try to raise your scores or not. 🙂 Good luck!
hi sir
i have taken gre exam but i am not selected the university 4….but now would like to submit 2 university gre code…do i pay….
Hi there 🙂
Yes, you must pay $27 per score report to send your scores to universities after your exam date. Here’s what ETS says on its website (Sending Your Scores):
“After test day, you can order Additional Score Reports for a fee of US$27 per recipient. At that time, you can choose to send scores from your Most Recent, All or Any test administration from your reportable history. See Ordering Additional Score Reports.”
I hope this helps!
Is there anywhere we can find answers to any of the questions in the practice tests contained in the Powerprep II downloadable software? I took practice test 1 yesterday and I am trying to find explanations for the questions I got wrong. I have tried searching for the questions in the paper practice test PDFs so that I can find which videos to watch, but have not found any overlap at all with the test I took. I’m so confused about how this is supposed to work. Thank you!
Hi Debby,
It is hard to navigate the explanations we have because they are produced from a paper-based resource that is static. PowerPrep is dynamically mixed every time it is downloaded, so your question 1 is not the same as someone else’s question 1. The easiest way to find your answers/explanations is just via Google. If you search site:magoosh.com “[the first few words from the question]”, you’ll find our explanation video near the top of the results if we have one. If we don’t have one and you are a premium member, you can always write in to help@magoosh.com to get official GRE questions answered, too. 🙂
Hello, I just took the Powerprep practice test, and it is asking me to report my score and saying once I have viewed my score it cannot be cancelled, what exactly does that me? And will it harm me if I do poorly on this practice test? I am not sure if I should view or cancel my score as I don’t believe I did very well
Hi Kimberly,
Sorry for the late reply! The PowerPrep test does not actually report anything official–this is just to prepare you for what it will be like on test day when it DOES matter and get reported. You can do as well or poorly as you like on the practice test and it won’t be a permanent mark anywhere on your record, so don’t worry. 🙂
Hi Chris,
I was wondering does the GRE PowerPrep II’s difficulty reflect how the GRE is going to be when taking it? I want to be able to practice a mock GRE that clearly reflects the GRE’s difficulty.
At the moment, I am debating whether I should practice with the GRE PowerPrep II or the GRE Practice Test on the Magoosh website? Or would it be recommended to do both the GRE PowerPrep II with the two tests and the Magoosh’s GRE Practice Test?
Thanks so much all the wonderful content on the Magoosh website!
– Cece
Hi Cece,
Thanks for your message! And behalf of all of us here at Magoosh, you’re very welcome 😀 It’s excellent to hear that you’re enjoying our test prep materials!
Great questions! We’d recommend that you take the two PowerPrep exams from ETS, as well as 1 or 2 on Magoosh, depending on how much time you have for practice exams 🙂 The PowerPrep exams are free tests created by ETS, the same company that makes the GRE, so the questions are similar to the test, the adaptive nature of the test is similar, and the scoring algorithm is matches that of the actual test. For those reasons, they should give you the most accurate score prediction.
In terms of Magoosh practice tests, we usually recommend only taking 1-2 on our website and saving the other questions for more targeted practice. However, you’re always free to reset your questions and keep taking practice tests as many times as you like! You can learn more about our tests in this post on our GRE blog. For our tests, the score is predicted by getting feedback from previous users (i.e. their score on the actual GRE), comparing that to their performance on Magoosh practice problems (the number and difficulty of questions answered) and formulating a predicted score based on the correlation between these two things. We wrote about the process on this blog post. We are always tweaking and improving the score predictor so it is not entirely accurate.
Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi Chris,
I took my first powerprep test yesterday. Just wanted to mention here that the questions that appeared for the test was exactly the same as the pdf practice test questions.Even the order remained the same
So I seriously urge everyone to try powerprep first.If you had already gone through the pdf questions then powerprep may not be an actual indication of the level of preparation.
Hi asha
I am bhargavi .I am also writing Gre exam but i am not having stuff to read .Which power prep u prepared .you got same question ???
Is the instructions in GRE real test timed? I mean if i take time in reading them will it be subtracted from the total time allocated for that particular section?
Hey! I just completed giving my diagnostic in powerprep. The problem is i double clicked the cursor by mistake without seeing my scores at all. Is there any possibility to view it now?
Hi Chris,
Powerprep II, 2.2 available at ETS webpage and Powerprep II, 2.0 CD-ROM with 2nd edition has the same contents and smae practice tests?
what happens when I didn’t have time to do the last question, and it is left as “unseen”. Will I be deducted a mark for the unseen (therefore, unanswered) question?
Hi Peter 🙂
Great question! Technically, you are not penalized for questions that are left blank when you skip them, or questions that are wrong. This means that you won’t have points deducted from your score. However, if you leave a question blank, whether you read the question or left it as “unseen”, there is no chance that the question will benefit you. If you guess and its wrong, it won’t hurt your score, but if you guess and you are right, then it will benefit your score 🙂
If you want more detail about how scores are calculated, you can read about it on the ETS website:
“For the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures of the computer-based GRE revised General Test, the reported scores are based on the number of correct responses to all the questions included in the operational sections of the measure.
“The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures are section-level adaptive. This means the computer selects the second operational section of a measure based on your performance on the first section. Within each section, all questions contribute equally to the final score. For each of the two measures, a raw score is computed. The raw score is the number of questions you answered correctly.
“The raw score is converted to a scaled score through a process known as equating. The equating process accounts for minor variations in difficulty among the different test editions as well as the differences in difficulty introduced by the section-level adaptation. Thus a given scaled score for a particular measure reflects the same level of performance regardless of which second section was selected and when the test was taken.”
Hope this helps 🙂
I have taken the two test included with the CD (powerprep II) and have come away confused. On the 1st test my verbal score was 10 points lower then on the second test and my quantitative was 8 points lower on the second test. Has anyone noticed a difference in scores between the 1st and second test?
Naturally, I would like to keep both scores on the higher end. Is it simply a luck of the draw on what ?’s I get asked?
Hi Garry,
Yeah, it is luck of the draw to some extent (vocab words, math concepts you’re good at). Your mental state can also account for that discrepancy. Taking the test at night vs. the morning, for example, can have a major difference. My advice: figure out your weaknesses, and work at them.
Hope that helps!
Hi Chris,
First, thanks for all of the content on this site, it is super helpful!
I have taken several of the Manhattan Prep and ETS practice tests, but am consistently getting different results from each. For example, on my last ETS test I scored 169V/162Q but on the Manhattan Prep test taken the next day scored 164V/160Q. I have consistently lower scores on Manhattan Prep tests than ETS tests and was curious which test you thought was more accurate.
Also, I have encountered an issue with IE when attempting to access the POWERPREP software (with both the CD and the web version) and was curious if perhaps you were aware of the issue and knew of a potential workaround.
I would really appreciate any advice you could offer!
Sir, I have given 4 Practice test till now
3 from manhatten 1 from ETS POWERPREP II (software)
i got quant score to be all most same (158-160)
but
for VERBAL test I scored in first , second , third 149, 147 , 151 respectively
but in ETS verbal it was just 138
I am unable to judge, how they are scored…Help have GRE on 24 Aug 2016, I require 153 in verbal…
Already learned lots of vocab
The ETS GRE Verbal score is the one you should trust the most— it’s the real thing, after all. And most third-party unofficial GRE prep companies really have a hard time duplicating the real feel of the GRE Verbal section. This may sound like bad news, but don’t despair just yet– even with ETS, you can’t rely on just one score. I’d try to take at least two more ETS practice GRE Verbal sections, and go for three or more if you can. You can get more official Verbal practice through GRE PowerPrep or the official GRE books. You may find you get well above a 138 on your subsequent tests– you may have just gotten unlucky, or you may have been temporarily thrown off by the real ETS format, which is a bit different from Manhattan’s GRE Verbal.
If you’re still scoring far below your target score after your practice exams, I’ll be honest with you– you probably won’t be able to reach 153 in just a few days. But if you do fall short of the mark, definitely go for a retake. GRE Verbal can be mastered, especially with a good GRE Study plan.
Hi Chris,
Your videos are super helpful. I cant seem to find any explainations for the 2 practice tests which are on the included CD from the GRE revised boook 2nd edition. Do you have corresponding videos for these questions? I just completed practice test 1 on the CD.
Thanks!
Hi Haley,
This link should get you to those tests:
http://gre.magoosh.com/forum
Hope that helps!
Hi Chris,
I have take the tests from Power Prep of ETS. However, I found that, though my score in most of quants sections is same(mostly 165-167), the Verbal section is a bit of a mess(152 – 157). Is there any way I can know what could be my possible score in real test based on PP mocks.
Thanks!!
Hi Akhilesh,
I’d say the Power Prep mocks are about as accurate as you can get. The only real difference is the stress test day: some do better, others become unraveled. Many, though, do exactly the same.
Hope that helps!
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the reply! 🙂
I have also noticed that the sections in the tests are adaptive, with a sharp contrast in the 2nd set we get when we correct less than 12 and the one we get if we correct more than 13 in Set 1. This contrast in also reflected on the marks we get. Will this kind of disparity be present in the real tests or its just in the PP tests.
Thanks 🙂
Hi,
I’ll be writing the computer based GRE, will there be any use to practicing the paper based practice tests?
Also I have a powerprep II cd, but it just has a bunch of folders and I cant seem to find the test, what should I be doing?
Thanks!
Where can i get the solution of ETS power prep ?
Right here 🙂
I’ve recorded videos to every question in the power prep test as well as the official guide:
https://magoosh.com/gre/2013/explanation-videos-for-official-gre-material/
Hope that helps!
Hello,
Is there a grading scale I can use to grade the tests on offical guide 2? I want to find out what percentile I got.
hi all. im wondering if you can comment on the ets app that costs 20 in the apple store. it provides 300 questions to practice with. is there overlap of questions in this app with other officially released ets material and if so which ones? thanks for your help.
Hi Ellora,
Hmm…I can’t seem to find it in the Apples app stores. The only app I see by ETS is the one to the GRE General Guide. Do you know the exact name of the app? I’d love to get my hands on it 🙂
hello chris,
i wanted to ask that is there any difference between test material in powerprep II v2.0 , powerprep II v2.1 and powerprep II v3.1. please let me know soon.
Hiee Cris,
Just had a query regarding the powerprep. Does the powerprep change its set of questions? If yes how often is this change reflected?
Regards ,
Radhika Kini
Hi Radhika,
The powerprep test does not change questions. ETS may add a new test in the future (at least let’s hope so), but otherwise the tests contain the same question bank.
Hope that helps!
Hi Chris,
I have tried the link for PDF1 a few times and from different computers. The link appears to be outdated. Any clue on how to get to that PDF?
Thanks,
Maggie
Hi Maggie,
Hope this works!
http://web.archive.org/web/20110605194015/http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/practice_book_GRE_pb_revised_general_test.pdf
Just wanted to share my observations on Power Prep Test question. First PP does allow you to review your questions and show the correct answer. Second, there are 4 tests within each Test, ie it starts with medium level, if you get 13 or more correct, you will see the hard level.If you get 10 or less correct to will see easy level test and if you get between 11 and 12 correct you will see another medium level test (though it has some questions from easy and hard level). The equence of question within hard,easy,medium levels do not change, they show in same sequence.
cheers
Sajid,
That is indeed very helpful – we will make the necessary edits to reflect those changes. Thanks for your insights :).
Just in case someone also has troubles seeing how to review your answers: you go through the steps as if you are going to take the test again, and then you have the option to either ‘start test’ or ‘review answers’. Obviously, you select ‘review answers’ if that’s what you want to do.
Best of luck to all.
Hi Chris,
Can you please tell me where I can find the video explanations to the questions in powerprep II V1.0 and V2.0?
In a previous post you had mentioned that it’ll be up in a while (by Magoosh). Just thought I’ll post about it here. 🙂
Thanks.
Hi, Krishna
Unfortunately, because of the way Powerprep tests are produced, it would be very tough for us associate the questions with individual explanations accurately– what may have been question #14 for you may have been question #2 for someone else.
However, we do happen to have video explanations for the paper-based PDF test instead, which has a significant amount of overlap with Powerprep questions (and includes the answers to all of the questions at the end!). Because it’s a static document, it’s much easier for students to find the explanations to the questions they’re looking for. We have links to video explanations for both Powerprep II Test 1 (a close match to the 1st edition of the PDF) and Powerprep II Test 2 (a close match to the 2nd edition of the PDF) here: http://gre.magoosh.com/videos-for-revised-gre-paper-test
Does that help? Let me know! 🙂
Best,
Margarette
I’m just wondering if I would be able to know which questions I got wrong after I take the practice test via the PowerPrep? I just took it online, saw my score, and had no choice but to exit. I was hoping I would know where I went wrong so I could go through them like you mentioned above. Thanks!
Hi Krish,
Sadly, that is my fault, for communicating erroneous information :). Powerprep does not allow you to review questions, nor does it tell you which ones you answered incorrectly. I’ve amended this post, so you can see a way to still see the questions (and the correct answers) you encountered during the exam.
Quick question on the PDF tests: the ETS website says “Practice Book for the Paper-based GRE® revised General Test, Second Edition” …. “You’ll get the following: one full-length paper-based test…”
I downloaded this one. Where will I be able to find practice test #2 (pdf)?
Thank You!
Hi, Swami
We’ve fixed the post so that there are now two links, at the very top (“Two free PDF practice tests (here and here)”).
I hope that helps! 🙂
Best,
Margarette
Hey chris,
which powerprep test is closer to actual GRE…I found 2nd tougher than the 1st….!
That is a great question!
I don’t know if anyone can really answer that, besides ETS, but my gut tells me that the questions in the 2nd. reflect today’s test better. Perhaps today’s test is even tougher :(. Again, prep diligently, and with the best material, and you should be fine :).
Hi Chris,
I’ve got my GRE on the 24th of September. I was wondering when you reckon would be a good time to do the ETS Powerprep tests? Cheers!
Hi Sid,
Spacing them out by a couple of weeks is good. You should take the second Powerprep test about a week before the actual test.
Hope that helps!
what is the difference between POWERPREP II Version 1.0 and Version 2.0?
The first test in PowerPrep II Version 2.0 is the exact same test as PowerPrep II Version 1.0. The only difference is the second test in PowerPrep II Version 2.0 is new (PowerPrep II Version 1.0 only contains one test).
Hope that makes sense :).
Thanks!
Hello Chris,
Could you please tell me where I can find correct answers to questions in powerprep II V1.0 and V2.0?
Thanks,
Shubham
The correct answers to both tests should be found at the end of the paper-based doc (scroll to the very bottom). Of note, we are releasing my video explanations on youtube.com very soon :).
can any 1 guide me how t oprepare for new patterns and wht is de syllabus for that and also i want to take in dis september so give a plan plz i am totally confused
Hi Shiva,
If you mean what is the new pattern of the GRE, it changed last year. There are no new plans afoot for this year. Also, you can check out our study schedules here:
https://magoosh.com/gre/gre-study-guides-and-plans/
Hi Chris,
I just took the computer-based ETS Powerprep exam for the new GRE and received an estimated score of 640-740 range verbal and 750-800 math. Is that an accurate prediction?
I’m kind of psyched it’s my goal to score about 90th percentile or above in the math and verbal sections. I got a 780m last year but only a 510v. If that Powerprep test is legit, I’m just going to take my GRE asap and forget about it for the rest of my life.
Thanks!
Heath
Hi Heath,
For the most part, PowerPrep is an accurate predictor of our score. I guess the bad news is that after ETS did the necessary statistical calibrations it determined that students’ scores were on the low end of the range. Meaning you would score about 750, 640.
You can also take the second powerprep test to get a better idea of where you are scoring. But if it’s consistent you should take the test (though a little brush up on vocab couldn’t hurt :).
Hi Chris,
Thank you very much for these resources. They are helping me prepare for the exam. I do wonder though. I am wondering whether to take the Powerprep practice exam first, or do the ETS official questions first. Does the ETS book contain questions that are in the Powerprep exam? Or not? Some guidance is greatly appreciated, thank you so much.
Hi Alex,
So the questions in the ETS book do not overlap in any way with the questions found on the practice exam. Which is good news. You basically have access to two free tests.
Hope that helps dispel any confusion!
hii..
I just saw adithya’s question about 160+ score…I thought if someone gets 160, it means 30 questions are correct out of 40( from 2 sections that are to be evaluated) as there is 1 point scale. Am I wrong? Is it not the criteria for marking?
Hi Neha,
Intuitively that would make sense. But I don’t think the exact scoring works out like that. Nonetheless, I don’t think the actual scoring is too far so that is a pretty good rule of thumb.
could u please tell me how to derive if an essay is an issue type or argument type ? and then how do u proceed with each type?
Hi Adithya,
I think you will find these two links helpful:
https://magoosh.com/gre/2012/awa-issue-strategies/
https://magoosh.com/gre/2012/awa-argument-sample-essay-breakdown/
Let me know if that helps :).
out of 40 how many questions have to be correct to get a 160+ score in verbal and quants
Hi Adithya,
Actually, that’s a hard question to answer. Nobody really knows accept ETS. My guess is you can miss between 6-8 questions and still receive 160+. Again, this score may depend on which section you miss the questions on. Or it might not. I hope that ETS gives us a better sense of its arcane scoring process with the release of The Official guide this August.
Is there a way to include extra tests in powerprep? Or can you suggest powerprep like softwares?
Hi Praveen,
Unfortunately, there are no other Powerprep tests. The good news is that ETS will be releasing a new GRE guide Aug. 10th. Whether that offers any more Powerprep tests remains to be seen.
Hope that helps!
Hi Chris,
Please provide sample essays for AWA.
Hi Sony,
We currently have a sample essay for the Argument Task. And we just published one for the Issue task :).
https://magoosh.com/gre/2012/mock-awa-issue-essay/
Hi Chris,
I’m planning to take GRE in 3 months time. I’m a bit worried about the verbal section 🙁 will barrons 15th edition help ? or do i need to refer to any other book .Please Suggest.
the ETS’s Official Guide to the GRE book, just gives an overall idea on the new GRE correct? does it come with any practice test? and what about nova and manhattan GRE, are these book good for only verbal or math section also?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Newcomer,
Welcome to the world of GRE :). You’ve definitely come to the right place. To answer your question, I recommend clicking on ‘book reviews’ and ‘study plans’ at the top bar. This will take you to a plethora of posts devoted on the best resources for studying for each. Also, to really help with the Verbal, the Magoosh Vocab Ebook will be of great help. It will talk about the Do’s and Dont’s for studying for the GRE verbal section. Hope it helps :).
https://magoosh.com/gre/2012/gre-vocabulary-ebook/
hi there,
I took the Power prep I at the start of my prep and had got a range of 670-770 in Quant. Also, i took the Kaplan mock test and had got 91 percentile in Quant. I purchased Manhattan mock test series and i have taken two of the exam from that series.. in the first mock test i got 44 percentile in math and in the second i got 56 percentile. I am wondering what to conclude out of these scores. and is Manhattan mock test series hard in Quant? Could you comment.
Best
S
Powerprep II *
Hi Sun,
In general, Manhattan tests tend to be a little more difficult. So no need to worry :).
phew ! that’s some relief 🙂
Thanks for the prompt reply Chris. I wanted to check if the difficulty level is higher for both the sections or only in Quant ?
Best,
S
For the verbal they are similar, from what I’ve heard. That makes sense (as it is difficult to write verbal questions more difficult than those written by ETS). More difficult math questions, or simply more math questions that are difficult, can make the math test harder.
Nonetheless, let us know how you are actual score matches up with your MGRE mock test scores.
Thanks!
Thanks Chris !
Your blogs and responses are always helpful.
While reading one of your blogs i realised that there is only 1 Power prep practice test for GRE..i was under the impression that there are 2. Well i have taken one abt a few months back so not sure if i should take it again.
Also , i am struggling with RC, CR in Verbal and in Quant i struggle with answer choice D type questions (where the relationship) can’t be deteremined. In Quant i also run out of time in the 2nd section if i do well on the first one as i feel i get harder questions in the 2nd one.
Pls share some tips to handle these issues.
Best,
Sun
Hi Sun,
I’m happy that you find the blog helpful 🙂
Yes, there is only one power prep test for GRE. After a few months interval you should definitely be able to take the test again. I doubt you’ll remember any of the questions (and even if you do, you still have to answer them correctly :).
For timing on the math, here are a few posts that you may find helpful:
https://magoosh.com/gre/2011/5-general-strategies-for-scoring-well-on-the-revised-gre/
https://magoosh.com/gre/2011/save-time-on-gre-math-the-power-of-approximation/
Hope that helps 🙂
Chris, the first quantitative Discrete practice sets in the official ETS gre guide have the same number of questions that are actually on the quant section…would you say that they that a raw score from those tests would be concurrent with the raw scores of the free paper test gre? I know this may be a silly question, but I got excited when I did well on those questions and have been trying to figure a way of how reflective they are of what I’d do in the Quant section.
Great question (and it seems I missed this one – so sorry for the delay). I don’t know for sure, but I think the number of questions coincidence is just that. I don’t think the discrete practice sets correspond to an actual exam. Nonetheless, good job on doing well on them :).
hi Chris,
I love this site.. It has helped me a lot with my practice .
Can you please suggest some good books or websites where I read and practice AWA essays. I am not that good with argumentative essays and would appreciate the help.
Hi Sneha,
Glad Magoosh has been helpful :).
I recommend Barron’s for the AWA. Follow up by practicing essay from the essay question bank on gre.org.
And of course, look for more AWA posts from Magoosh!
Thanks Chris,
I appreciate the quick reply. I actually appreciate everyones help at Magoosh as you guys are always very quick to respond to my many questions from the paid GRE services.
Do you have any other good references for SE and Text Completions (aside from the Manhattan GRE website)? Looking at my Free Diagnostic Service from ETS, it seems that is what brought my score down to the mid-400’s. I seemed to get correct answers for level 3 and 4 reading comprehension questions, but barely got any correct answers for level 3 SE and Text Completion questions.
Hi KP,
Unfortunately, there really isn’t too much out there. Barron’s is definitely a drop in quality but if you are really starving for new TC and SE questions, it may be the best option.
BTW have you tried any of the ETS official materials, such as the online test? Those questions are as close to the real thing as you can get.
Hey Chris,
yep! I purchased the premium service last Sept. and have gone through about half of the verbal questions (including the SE and TC) in practice for the first time I took the exam. I will continue to work on them though. It’s just a double edged sword, because I want to utilize the magoosh questions after being able to attain some vocab. knowledge so that I can use the strategies you mention in the premium videos. I was holding off doing the magoosh questions since they are so close to the real thing as I believe that is the best practice and am nervous that if I run through them all; my only reason for getting them right on the second pass would be a result of memorization, rather than skill. But, either way, I appreciate your reply.
Thanks.
If vocab is the main problem that I’d recommend one of these three books:
1. Princeton Review Word Smart
2. Barron’s 1100 Words
Use these in conjunction with quizlet.com and that should boost your score. And don’t worry about redoing questions. With enough time interval in between it shouldn’t be much of a problem. The key is your brain is getting a workout by navigating the treacherous syntax to come up with words. Moreover, you’ll strengthen your vocabulary with repeated exposure to words.
Hope that helps 🙂
Hi Chris,
What if the main problem is quantitative reasoning? I bought Manhattan’s 8 book set and I’ve been through the first 6 books. When I took the first diagnostic about 2 months back, my quant score was 149. Six books in and a couple hundred questions later, my best quant score after 5 manhattan diagnostics is 152. I’m not too bad at math but it has definitely been a while. I’m one of those whose skill have atrophied. I still have months to study and at this point doing well on the test is almost as much personal as it is professional. I want a 700 quant score and this seems to be pretty easy for a lot of people. Nova’s GRE Math Prep Course should be in Monday. I’m hoping that will help. I’m not quite ready to give up and accept that my limit is just under 700. From the charts I’ve seen, it looks like I need a few more right to guarantee myself something over 700. Guaranteeing a few more is not going to be easy. Any advice? A novel about Newton or some other guy who was great at that sort of thing. I don’t know where to go from here.
Thanks,
John
Here is what I would recommend doing if I was your personal tutor:
1.Go through 25 problems you’ve missed in quant and identify a reason or reasons why you missed the problem.
2. Note any patterns that emerge. Careless errors, time crunch, lack of confidence with a certain question, long approach vs. quick solution, misinterpreting question.
3. Create a study schedule that addresses these weaknesses. Do relevant question types or simply do a problem set being mindful of certain tendencies (misreading the question, etc.).
Nova should give you plenty of practice questions. However it does not offer much in the way of strategy.
If you are struggling with any fundamentals and want a quick, but exhaustive review, I can think of no better prep than our lesson videos. You will also learn strategies to solving questions quickly. We also have close to 500 practice questions so you’ll get plenty of practice working on your weaknesses. And the direct video and text feedback will allow you to quickly make the tweaks to help you get your target score.
Let me know if you have any questions regarding the study plan/Magoosh/Manhattan GRE, etc. :).
As for inspirational stories, check out our testimonials page:
http://gre.magoosh.com/testimonials
KP need your help immediately, thanks!
deepakmagrawal@gmail.com
sure, post your question on here!
Hey Chris,
I took the GRE in Oct. and did great on the quant., but very bad on the verbal. I did use magoosh premium services, but was not able to complete all the practice questions. Likewise, I felt like the reason for my poor score was still vocabulary. Even thought I ran through all the magoosh lessons, without knowing vocab, I wasn’t able to utilize sentence structure, shifts, tense, and other strategies, since I couldn’t determine the idea of the sentence. I am taking your advice better this time, and was planning to utilize The Atlantic, New Yorker, and the recommended Best Series Books. In addition to this, I was thinking of buying the Manhattan reading comprehension/Essay book since you said the Sentence Equivalence was rushed and poorly made.
Did I also understand right that even if I just buy that book, I still have access to all five of the full practice tests?
Hi KP,
You bring up an excellent point – strategies can only take you so far. You do have to know vocabulary/twisted syntax. I think following the reading schedule is a great plan.
I’d also recommend Princeton Review Word Smart as a vocab reference. Wordnik.com is also a great resource for seeing how words are used in context.
Also, def. pick up the Manhattan GRE book or books wherever you feel you need the additional help. And yes, you’re right. You only need to buy one book to access all their tests. And the SE and Text Completions on their online tests are much better than those found in their book.
Good luck, and please don’t hesitate to ask me any more questions. I def. want to help you nail the verbal section this time around!
Magoosh is a professional new generation site, no doubt about that. It was a turning point to my score when I joined. Yes, I did my homework, but I should say it for those who have a good background in math: Magoosh is the right destination for practice and enlightenment.
A.A.
Thanks for the kudos!
I may also add that Magoosh is great for those whose background in quant is shaky or, though years of neglect, atrophied. Our lesson videos take you from the basics (fractions) to advanced combinations (ever heard of the Mississippi rule?).
Again, thanks for the positive buzz!
Hi Chris,
You have been so help full, so i hope you wont mind doing this one little favor 🙂
Could you please check the essays in this site (link given below). I just want to know if they are worth reading.
http://www.testpreppractice.net/GRE/awa-samples/gre-awa-essay-samples.html
Wow! I checked out the link and all I can say is I am appalled.
The people writing those essays struggle with the rudiments of style and structure. It is a crime that they dupe students into believing that they have even a modicum of ability. They can hardly write a sentence, let alone a GRE essay. A complete sham.
Thank you,
That saved a lot of time. 😉
I completed the Magoosh lessons and feel a lot more comfortable answering the practice questions. What more can I add, You guys rock!!