![\"GRE](\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2020\/07\/GRE-TOEFL-Combined-Study-Plan.jpg\")
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First, let’s talk about one very important point. If you can separate your studies, you should. Ideally, if you are going to take both the TOEFL and the GRE, you should do this:<\/p>\n
There are a few reasons for this. First, it is easier to focus on one test at a time. You will improve on the GRE more efficiently if you are only learning the GRE, so you don’t risk mixing it up with the TOEFL. Similarly, if you are focusing only on the TOEFL, you will make faster improvement on that test than you would if you were also learning about the GRE.<\/p>\n
Second, if your scores on the TOEFL are much lower than you need, then you may not be able to get admission to the school you want regardless of your GRE scores. In that case, taking the GRE immediately may just be a waste of money. It would be better to spend time improving your general English skills before taking the TOEFL a second time, and then<\/em> tackling the GRE.<\/p>\n And finally, it is easier to customize your study schedule if you separate your studies. For example, if you are going to study for the TOEFL first and then the GRE, you can simply choose the TOEFL study schedule<\/a> that is best for you, and then the GRE study schedule<\/a> that works best when the TOEFL schedule is done.<\/p>\n If you are going to take the GRE and the TOEFL near the same time, and you have no choice, then this schedule can help! For example, if it is June now and the only test dates that are open are in October, but applications deadlines are in November, then you will have no choice but to study both tests at the same time.<\/p>\n As I wrote above, it’s best to study the tests as separately as possible. That’s why you will not even start studying the TOEFL until week ten<\/strong>. The GRE is a large, difficult test that includes very advanced English reading and some extremely tricky math. Improving your score on such a difficult test can take time, which is why we start by learning only the GRE skills.<\/p>\n After a few months of studying the GRE, it will be time to change to studying the TOEFL for a few weeks. You will then switch back and forth, studying the GRE sometimes and the TOEFL sometimes, depending on which test you will take first.<\/p>\n Understand that this schedule is a template<\/strong>. You may want to change some parts. There are optional books, for example, that you can either use or ignore. It is your choice, depending on how much time you have to study every day and how much money you can spend on practice material.<\/p>\n We recommend starting without the optional material. If you then decide that you can actually do more than the minimum of the schedule, then you might purchase the optional material, too.<\/p>\n 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).\u00a0 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.”\u00a0 Ultimately, you should strive to learn both the denotation and the connotation of each word.<\/p>\n Daily review of vocabulary is vital. I wrote this schedule recommending the Magoosh\u2019s GRE Flashcards, but DO NOT limit yourself to just these words. AS YOU READ and find more words you don\u2019t 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 \u201cdone\u201d stack that gets reviewed only rarely.<\/p>\n The TOEFL parts of this plan are mostly designed to get you familiar with the TOEFL format<\/a> and question types, but with the ultimate aim of getting your TOEFL scores<\/a> to an acceptable level. That means some of the material focuses on academic English in general. But if you\u2019re concerned about your overall level of English, the weeks of TOEFL prep may not be enough. In that case, practice your English AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE during the GRE weeks. You will need to practice not only reading and writing, which are on the GRE, but also speaking and listening. You should use English every day<\/strong>, even if that means just talking to yourself in your head.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Magoosh offers TOEFL essay feedback to our premium subscribers. Those with a six-month Magoosh TOEFL subscription can get up to four of their essays scored. The one-month plan includes one scored essay. While we don’t strictly require the use of essay grading in our TOEFL study schedules, it can definitely be useful.<\/p>\n If you have just one essay credit, it’s good to use that credit in the first week of your study plan. That way you can check your Writing “baseline” and get some feedback on how you should improve over the course of your study schedule.<\/p>\n If you have four essay credits, it’s still get one essay scored at the beginning. However, from there, you should space your remaining essays evenly throughout the rest of your schedule. That way, you can periodically re-check your progress. And the feedback you receive can help you decide which Writing skills to focus on in a given week.\u00a0<\/p>\n 1) Go to ETS.org\/gre<\/a>, and read about the content of the GRE. Click on and read each sub-heading link.<\/p>\n 2) In the Official Guide,<\/p>\n 3) Start reading through the GRE Math Review in the Official Guide, the entire Arithmetic section. Take notes on whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Arithmetic Exercises and correct your answers.<\/p>\n 4) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 5) In the Magoosh Lessons, watch<\/p>\n 1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review in the Official Guide, the first Algebra section. Take notes on whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Algebra Exercises and correct your answers.<\/p>\n 2) Download and start reading the Magoosh GRE eBook.<\/a> Continue reading whenever you have the time over the course of the next two weeks.<\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 4) In Magoosh GRE, watch the following videos<\/p>\n 1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review: read the Geometry section. Take notes on whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Geometry Exercises and correct your answers.<\/p>\n 2) Download the Magoosh GRE Math Formula eBook<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 4) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n 5) In Magoosh GRE, 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 \u201cadaptive\u201d, the question pool to \u201cunanswered\u201d, the number of questions, the time to \u201cno limit\u201d, and the mode to \u201cpractice mode.” You are not entering a practice time beforehand, but keep a pace of 90 sec\/question, or 30 minutes for 20 questions.<\/p>\n Do the following practice sets:<\/p>\n Notice you are doing all topics from the start, whether you have already studied these or not. This means that you will make some mistakes at the beginning: see this post on a <\/em>productive attitude toward making mistakes<\/em><\/a>. 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.<\/em><\/p>\n For each Magoosh problem, after you submit your answer, on the next page which tells you whether you were right or wrong, there\u2019s 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 about any concept or any aspect of the question type that was unclear to you.<\/em><\/p>\n 1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review: read the first half of the Data Analysis section. Take notes on whatever is unfamiliar.<\/p>\n 2) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 4) In Magoosh GRE, do the following problems<\/p>\n 1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review, pp. 275-296. Take notes on whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Data Analysis Exercises (pp. 296-298) and correct your answers.<\/p>\n 2) Download the Magoosh Complete Guide to GRE Vocabulary<\/a><\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 4) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n 5) In Magoosh GRE, do the following problems<\/p>\n 1) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n As you finish math modules, take the quiz at the end of the module. Keep reviewing and retaking the quiz until you pass the quiz for the module.<\/p>\n 2) Today, you are going to write two essays, half an hour each. You will write an Issue essay and an Argument essay.<\/p>\n For topics, go to the ETS GRE Issue Pool<\/a> and the ETS GRE Argument Pool<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n 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 Official Guide to the GRE, and have them give you feedback. If you can\u2019t afford a writing tutor and can\u2019t convince anyone else to read it, you may try posting them on TheGradCafe<\/a>, 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\u2019s 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.)<\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Official Guide :<\/p>\n a) in GRE Official Guide, do the Ch. 4, Verbal Reasoning Practice Sets 1-4<\/p>\n b) in GRE Official Guide, do the Ch. 6, Quantitative Reasoning Practice Sets 1, 2, & 4<\/p>\n 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:<\/p>\n 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 through, taking notes on any concepts you didn\u2019t understand and anything about the question format that confused you.\u00a0 You can also watch the Magoosh Video Explanations of the Official Guide to the GRE practice questions<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n 2) In McGraw-Hill\u2019s Conquering the New GRE Math<\/em> (optional)<\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 4) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n 6) In Magoosh GRE, do the following problems<\/p>\n (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.)<\/p>\n 1) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n 2) In McGraw-Hill\u2019s Conquering the New GRE Math<\/em> (optional)<\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 4) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n 6) In Magoosh GRE, do the following problems<\/p>\n 1) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n 2) In McGraw-Hill\u2019s Conquering the New GRE Math<\/em> (optional)<\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 4) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 5) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up and write down any words you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n 6) In Magoosh GRE, do the following problems<\/p>\n 1) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n 2) In McGraw-Hill\u2019s Conquering the New GRE Math<\/em> (optional)<\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 4) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 5) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up and write down any words you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n 6) In Magoosh GRE, do the following problems<\/p>\n 1) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n 2) In McGraw-Hill\u2019s Conquering the New GRE Math<\/em> (optional)<\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 4) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 5) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up and write down any words you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n 6) In Magoosh GRE, do the following problems<\/p>\n 1) Today, you will take a mock GRE on Magoosh. At the heading at the top inside the Magoosh practice, select \u201cPractice Test,\u201d which will lead you to this page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Make sure you have four hours of uninterrupted time set aside, and make sure you have writing implements and plenty of scratch paper.<\/p>\n 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 on any concepts you didn\u2019t understand and anything about the question format that confused you.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t attach great importance to the score on this test. You are still at the beginning of your studying. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n 1) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n 2) In McGraw-Hill\u2019s Conquering the New GRE Math<\/em> (optional)<\/p>\n 3) In the GRE Vocabulary Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 4) In the GRE Math Flashcards<\/a><\/p>\n 5) Read 1-3 articles from your reading source of choice, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any words you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n 6) In Magoosh GRE, do the following problems<\/p>\n 1) In Magoosh GRE Video Lessons<\/p>\n 2) In McGraw-Hill\u2019s Conquering the New GRE Math<\/em> (optional)<\/p>\n![\"button](\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2015\/10\/IEFL-blog-buttons-3.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWho this schedule is for<\/h2>\n
How this schedule is structured<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nCustomizing this schedule<\/h2>\n
A note on vocabulary<\/h2>\n
Improving your English<\/h2>\n
![\"Download](\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2020\/01\/TOEFL_GRE-Study-Schedule-CTA-600x52.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMaterials:<\/h2>\n
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Supplemental\/Optional Materials:<\/h2>\n
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Using Magoosh’s TOEFL Essay Feedback Service In Your Study Schedule<\/h3>\n
Week One<\/h2>\n
Week One, Day One<\/h3>\n
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Week Two<\/h2>\n
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Week Two, Day Three<\/h3>\n
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Week Two, Day Four<\/h3>\n
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Week Two, Day Five<\/h3>\n
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Week Two, Day Six<\/h3>\n
Week Three<\/h2>\n
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Week Three, Day Two<\/h3>\n
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