How to make a GRE Study Plan for High GRE Score
After a long day at work/college, the mere thought of preparing for GRE is terrifying because you are left with no energy to do anything. The lack of preparation eventually leads to a lesser than expected GRE score. Most times, it is not because of the extra work load at office or pressure of coursework at college, it’s often because of lack of a proper GRE study plan.
Benjamin Franklin once said “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”, and quite rightly so. Without a proper GRE study plan, you will end up preparing in a haphazard fashion which is utterly unproductive.
Now you may ask: But where is the time for drafting an elaborate GRE study plan, when I’m busy with a hectic schedule?
Well, that is exactly what this article will provide you. All you need to know are your weaknesses and strengths.
P.S – Are you not sure of your strengths and weakness?
Don’t worry. All you need to do is click here and register to take a GRE diagnostic test. After completing your diagnostic test, note down your score, and come back here to get your GRE study plan. Based upon the results of your diagnostic test, determine the profile that best describes you, and start preparing accordingly. Take the diagnostic test now!
From the day of inception, we have found that proper planning has always helped students reach a High GRE Score. This GRE study plan might vary from person to person but ideally 15 weeks is sufficient even for a greenhorn to reach a high GRE score. You can proceed to glance through the GRE study plans and choose the one that is the best to address your weaknesses and your preparation needs.
Here is your GRE study plan, just choose your category and get started
| No | Category | Description | GRE Study Plan |
| 1 | Confident about Verbal (Preparing) | You feel fairly confident about the verbal section, have a good command over vocabulary, and have good reading habits | Click here |
| 2 | Confident about Verbal (Not Started Preparing) | Feel confident about the verbal section, but haven’t really started preparing anything, including developing vocabulary | Click here |
| 3 | Not confident of Verbal | Command over the language is poor. Need to work a lot on the vocabulary and reading skills | Click here |
| 4 | Confident about Quant (Preparing) | Feel confident about GRE Quant. Good at managing time and able to complete most questions on time. | Click here |
| 5 | Confident about Quant (Not Started Preparing) | Feel confident about GRE Quant, but need to improve speed and spruce up time- management. | Click here |
| 6 | Not confident of Quant | Can’t relate to certain topics and questions. Can’t answer all questions due to lack of time. | Click here |
Here are the categories in detail:
If Verbal section is troubling you, these are the 3 categories that any person would typically fall into, and the respective GRE study plan.
#Category 1: Confident about Verbal (Preparing)
Who are you?
You feel confident about the verbal section of GRE. You are able to comprehend RC, answer factual questions and your performance in Text Completion/Sentence Equivalence is decent. You have learned and mastered about 500-800 words and have reading habits.
The GRE study plan
| Week Number | GRE Study Plan |
| Week 1-4 | Click here |
| Week 5-8 | Click here |
| Week 9-10 | Click here |
| Week 11-12 | Click here |
Week 1-4: Developing Verbal Reasoning and Vocabulary
-
- Learn 25-30 new words every day and amass a reasonably strong vocabulary in the first 4 weeks. Always start with high priority words; do not study words in a random order.
- Now you can find the high priority words (words that have a high chance of being used in Sentence Equivalence or Text Completion) using WordBot list number 14 and 15 in the App. (These wordlist are available for free).
- Read 3-4 editorial articles each day from prominent online magazines and news-papers such as The Hindu, Economist, Wall Street Journal etc. Read editorial articles and get used to diverse topics and formal style of writing.
- During Week 3-4 Learn Tips and Techniques on cracking TC, SE, and RC questions from standard study material.
- Use these techniques while doing the following: (i) Practice 1-blank and 2-Blank TC questions (ii) Start with small and medium sized passages.
- Do not worry about speed. Focus on developing reasoning. For questions that you answered wrong, read the explanation and analyze to understand where you deviated in your reasoning or what/where you comprehended incorrectly.
Week 5-8: Fine-tuning reasoning and improving accuracy
- Learn 25-30 new words per day (focus on high priority words)
- Revise words learnt in the previous week. Learn synonyms of those words
- Continue reading the editorial articles and news-papers viz. The Hindu, Economist, Wall Street Journal etc
- (i) Continue Practice on SE question, and 1-blank and 2-Blank TC questions
(ii) Work on more small and medium sized passages - At this stage, your dependence on a dictionary should be low
- Use self-analysis to fine-tune your reasoning
- Learn tips on how to crack long RC passages. Practice RC with long passages as well as RC questions containing inferential questions
- Start preparing for AWA in this week
Week 9-10: Developing Time Management Strategy
-
- Take mock GRE style Verbal tests that contain TC, SE, and RC questions as like real GRE
- Start developing your timing strategy
- Also use this week to practice more questions of the type that you find difficult
- Write 3-4 AWA essays. Get them evaluated by an expert
- You may begin this phase a week earlier if you feel confident with the 3 question types and knowledge of words
Week 11-12: Preparing for the final test
- Take Full Length GRE style tests that contains all the 3 sections – AWA, Verbal, and Quant
- Also use this week to practice more questions of the type that you find difficult
- Do not forget to take the two PowerPrep tests that are available free at the ETS site
#Category 2: Confident about Verbal (Not Started Preparing)
Who are you?
You feel confident about the verbal section of GRE. You are able to comprehend RC passages, and answer factual questions in RC. Your performance in Text Completion/Sentence Equivalence is decent.
You have reading habit and are aware of regular words that one encounters in general reading, but have not learnt sufficient number of GRE words.
The GRE study plan
| Week Number | GRE Study Plan |
| Week 1-4 | Click here |
| Week 5-8 | Click here |
| Week 9-10 | Click here |
| Week 11-12 | Click here |
Week 1-4: Developing Verbal Reasoning and Vocabulary
- Learn 25-30 new words per day for the first 4 weeks and develop a sufficient vocabulary
- Focus on high priority words; do not study words in a random order. Now you can find the high priority words (words that have a high chance of being used in Sentence Equivalence or Text Completion) using Wordlist number 14 and 15, which are currently open in WordBot
- Read 3-4 editorial articles each day from prominent online magazines and news-papers such as The Hindu, Economist, Wall Street Journal etc
- During Week 3-4 Learn Tips and Techniques on cracking TC, SE, and RC questions from standard study material
- Use these techniques while doing the following:
(i) Practice 1-blank and 2-Blank TC questions
(ii) Start with small and medium sized passages - Do not worry about speed. Focus on developing reasoning. For questions that you got incorrect, read the explanation and analyze to understand where you deviated in your reasoning or what/where you comprehended incorrectly
Week 5-8: Fine-tuning reasoning and improving accuracy
- Continue to learn 25-30 new words per day (focus on high priority words)
- Revise words learnt in the previous week. Also learn synonyms of those words
- Continue reading the editorial articles and news-papers viz. The Hindu, Economist, Wall Street Journal etc
- (i) Continue Practice on SE, 1-blank and 2-Blank TC questions
(ii) Work on more small and medium sized passages - At this stage, your dependence on a dictionary should be low. Use self-analysis to fine-tune your reasoning
- Learn tips on how to crack long RC passages. Practice RC with long passages as well as RC questions containing inferential questions Start preparing for AWA
Understand the two types of essays. Read a couple of Sample essays. Write one Issue and one Argument. Get it evaluated by an expert.
If you’re falling short of time, you can focus more on medium sized passages and inferential questions and give less focus on long passages
Week 9-10: Developing Time Management Strategy
- Take mock GRE style Verbal tests that contain TC, SE, and RC questions as like real GRE
- Start developing your timing strategy
- Also use this week to practice more questions of the type that you find difficult
- Write 3-4 AWA essays. Get them evaluated by an expert
- You may begin this phase a week earlier if you feel confident with the 3 question types and knowledge of words
Week 11-12: Preparing for the final test
- Take Full Length GRE style tests that contains all the 3 sections – AWA, Verbal, and Quant.
- Also use this week to practice more questions of the type that you find difficult.
#Category 3: Not confident of Verbal
Who are you?
Your command over the English language needs improvement. You need to work a lot on vocabulary and do not have good reading habits.
View the GRE study planThe GRE study plan
| Week Number | GRE Study Plan |
| Week 1-4 | Click here |
| Week 5-8 | Click here |
| Week 9-10 | Click here |
| Week 11-12 | Click here |
Week 1-4: Developing Verbal Reasoning and Vocabulary
- In the first 2 weeks, practice single blank TC and SE questions. It is possible that you will find that many of the words you encounter are unknown. Do not worry about it
- Use a dictionary to understand the meaning of unknown words. Focus familiarizing on the sentence structure, extracting clues, and thus developing your reasoning
- If you feel your English skills are not strong enough and need support, you may avail mentoring/tutoring from a Verbal Expert to accelerate your preparation and boost your confidence
- Learn 25-30 new words per day for the first 4 weeks and develop a reasonably good vocabulary
- Focus on high priority words, i.e. words that have a high chance of being used in Sentence Equivalence or Text Completion. You can find the high priority words in the WordBot app. Currently WordBot list number 14 and 15 are open to all users
- Read 3-4 editorial articles each day from prominent online magazines and news-papers such as The Hindu, Economist, Wall Street Journal etc
- During Week 3-4 Learn Tips and Techniques on cracking TC, SE, and RC questions from standard study material
- Use these techniques while doing the following:
(i) Practice 1-blank and 2 Blank TC questions
(ii) Start with small and medium sized passages - Do not worry about speed. Focus on developing reasoning. For questions that you got incorrect, read the explanation, and analyze to understand where you deviated in your reasoning or what/where you comprehended incorrectly
Week 5-8: Fine-tuning reasoning and improving accuracy
- Continue to learn 25-30 new words per day (focus on high priority words)
- Revise words learnt in the previous week. Learn synonyms of those words
- Continue reading the editorial articles and news-papers viz. The Hindu, Economist, Wall Street Journal etc
- (i) Continue Practice on SE, 2-blank and 3 Blank TC questions
(ii) Work on more small and medium sized passages - At this stage, your dependence on a dictionary should be low. Use self-analysis to fine-tune your reasoning
- Learn tips on how to crack long RC passages. Practice RC with long passages as well as RC questions containing inferential questions. Start preparing for AWA.
- Understand the two types of essays. Read a couple of Sample essays. Write one Issue and one Argument. Get it evaluated by an expert.
- If you’re falling short of time, you can focus more on medium sized passages. You can also focus more on factual questions, main idea and purpose of the passage kind of question.
- You can skip difficult questions that are inferential
Week 9-10: Developing Time Management Strategy
- Take mock GRE style Verbal tests that contain TC, SE and RC questions as like real GRE.
- Start developing your timing strategy.
- Also use this week to practice more questions of the type that you find difficult.
- Write 3-4 AWA essays. Get them evaluated by an expert.
- You may begin this phase a week earlier if you feel confident with the 3 question types and knowledge of words
Week 11-12: Preparing for the final test
- Take Full Length GRE style tests that contains all the 3 sections – AWA, Verbal, and Quant. Make sure you take the two PowerPrep test available free at ETS site.
- Also use this week to practice more questions of the type that you find difficult.
- Practice single blank TC and SE questions. It is possible that you will find that many of the words are unknown. Do not worry about it. Use a dictionary to understand the meaning of unknown words. Focus familiarizing on the sentence structure, extracting clues, and thus developing your reasoning.
If Quant section is troubling you, these are the 3 categories available and the GRE study plan accordingly.
#Category 4: Confident about Quant (Preparing)
Who are you?
You are confident about GRE Quant. You’re good at managing time and able to complete most questions. You have already done some preparation.
View the GRE study planThe GRE study plan
| Week Number | GRE Study Plan |
| Week 1-4 | Click here |
| Week 5-7 | Click here |
| Week 8-10 | Click here |
| Week 11-12 | Click here |
Week 1-4: Brushing concepts and review tests on each topic
Arithmetic
Classification of Numbers – Number types and the number line; types of integers – prime numbers, odd and even integers and their properties; properties of integers such as divisibility, factorization, remainders; methods to find least common multiple (LCM) and highest common factor (HCF or GCD); prime factorization; arithmetic operations, absolute value, exponents and roots
Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages – Types of fractions – proper, improper, and mixed; operation on fractions, converting fractions to percentages and vice versa, estimation, rate; decimal representation
Ratios and Proportions – Ratios – Definition and their properties
Sequences – Sequences of numbers, arithmetic and geometric sequence
Algebra
Algebraic Expressions – setting up equations to solve word problems- how to convert statements to expressions; factoring and simplifying algebraic expressions
Functions – Functions and relations
Linear Inequalities – Solving linear inequalities; solving simultaneous inequalities
Linear and Quadratic Equations – Solving linear and quadratic equations – Factorizing equations; solving simultaneous equations
Rules of Exponents – Operations with exponents – Important rules
Geometry
Basic Geometry – Basic definitions – point, angle and angle measurement in degrees, line and line segment; types of lines – parallel and perpendicular lines, types of angles – acute, obtuse, and right angle; supplementary and complementary angles; angle bisector, altitude, and perpendicular bisector; angles formed by parallel and transversal lines
Triangles – Isosceles, equilateral, and right angled triangles; types of right triangles – 30°-60°-90° triangles, 45°-45°-90° triangles; Pythagorean theorem; congruent and similar figures; important properties of triangles
Circles – Basic definitions – radius, diameter, chord, secant, and tangent of a circle; chord properties, secant properties, and tangent properties
Polygons – Types of quadrilaterals – square, rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, and trapezium; their properties
Co-ordinate Geometry 1 – Co-ordinate axis (xy-plane) – basic definitions; how to graph line equation, intercepts and slopes of lines; types of line equations;
Co-ordinate Geometry 2 – including graphs of functions; circle and parabolic equations
Shaded Area – area, perimeter of two-dimensional figures
Solid Geometry – three-dimensional figures; volume, surface area of three-dimensional figures
Data Analysis
Permutation and Combination – counting methods – addition and multiplication principle; combination – formula to find the number of ways to choose ‘r’ objects out of ‘n’ distinct objects (nCr) , permutations – formula to find the number of ways to arrange ‘r’ objects out ‘n’ distinct objects (nPr), with and without repetition of objects
Probability – Basic definitions – experiment, outcome, sample space, and event; random variables; types of events – independent, mutually exclusive, sure event; elementary probability such as probabilities of compound events and independent events, conditional probability; odds
Statistics – include basic descriptive statistics, such as mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, interquartile range, quartiles and percentiles; box and whisker plot
Probability Distribution – random variables and frequency distributions, histograms; probability distributions; Discrete probability distribution; Continuous probability distribution – normal distributions
Data Interpretation
Interpretation of data in tables and graphs such as line graphs, bar graphs, pie-charts, and scatter plots
Applied Mathematics
The topic contains several examples applying the above concepts to solve real life word problems. The problems include,
Profit and Loss
Mixtures
Speed
Word Problems on Ages
Venn Diagram
Work and Efficiency
Week 5-7: Advanced practice – solve difficult problems on each topic
- Objective: Master questions of higher difficulty level
- You can also use this time to pay more attention to specific topics that you find a bit difficult
Week 8-10: Developing Time Management Strategy
-
- Take mock GRE style Quant tests that contain questions from various topics as like real GRE
- Start developing your timing strategy
- Also use this week to practice more questions of the type that you find difficult based on your performance in the test
Week 11-12: Developing mental and physical stamina for the 4 hour GRE test
- Take Full Length GRE style tests that contains all the 3 sections – AWA, Verbal and Quant
- Also use this week to practice/revise topics that you find difficult
#Category 5: Confident about Quant (Not Started Preparing)
Who are you?
You’re confident about GRE Quant, but have not started serious preparation. You also have the need to improve speed and work on your time management skills.
View the GRE study planThe GRE study plan
| Week Number | GRE Study Plan |
| Week 1-4 | Click here |
| Week 5-7 | Click here |
| Week 8-10 | Click here |
| Week 11-12 | Click here |
Week 1-4: Brushing concepts and review tests on each topic
Arithmetic
Classification of Numbers – Number types and the number line; types of integers – prime numbers, odd and even integers and their properties; properties of integers such as divisibility, factorization, remainders; methods to find least common multiple (LCM) and highest common factor (HCF or GCD); prime factorization; arithmetic operations, absolute value, exponents and roots.
Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages – Types of fractions – proper, improper, and mixed; operation on fractions, converting fractions to percentages and vice versa, estimation, rate; decimal representation
Ratios and Proportions – Ratios – Definition and their properties
Sequences – Sequences of numbers, arithmetic and geometric sequence
Algebra
Algebraic Expressions – setting up equations to solve word problems- how to convert statements to expressions; factoring and simplifying algebraic expressions
Functions – Functions and relations
Linear Inequalities – Solving linear inequalities; solving simultaneous inequalities
Linear and Quadratic Equations – Solving linear and quadratic equations – Factorizing equations; solving simultaneous equations
Rules of Exponents – Operations with exponents – Important rules
Geometry
Basic Geometry – Basic definitions – point, angle and angle measurement in degrees, line, and line segment; types of lines – parallel and perpendicular lines, types of angles – acute, obtuse, and right angle; supplementary and complementary angles; angle bisector, altitude, and perpendicular bisector; angles formed by parallel and transversal lines
Triangles – Isosceles, equilateral, and right angled triangles; types of right triangles – 30°-60°-90° triangles, 45°-45°-90° triangles; Pythagorean theorem; congruent and similar figures; important properties of triangles
Circles – Basic definitions – radius, diameter, chord, secant, and tangent of a circle; chord properties, secant properties, and tangent properties
Polygons – Types of quadrilaterals – square, rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, and trapezium; their properties
Co-ordinate Geometry 1 – Co-ordinate axis (xy-plane) – basic definitions; how to graph line equation, intercepts and slopes of lines; types of line equations;
Co-ordinate Geometry 2 – including graphs of functions; circle and parabolic equations
Shaded Area – area, perimeter of two-dimensional figures
Solid Geometry – three-dimensional figures; volume, surface area of three-dimensional figures
Data Analysis
Permutation and Combination – counting methods – addition and multiplication principle; combination – formula to find the number of ways to choose ‘r’ objects out ‘n’ distinct objects (nCr) , permutations – formula to find the number of ways to arrange ‘r’ objects out ‘n’ distinct objects (nPr), with and without repetition of objects
Probability – Basic definitions – experiment, outcome, sample space, and event; random variables; types of events – independent, mutually exclusive, sure event; elementary probability such as probabilities of compound events and independent events, conditional probability; odds
Statistics – include basic descriptive statistics, such as mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, interquartile range, quartiles and percentiles; box and whisker plot
Probability Distribution – random variables and frequency distributions, histograms; probability distributions; Discrete probability distribution; Continuous probability distribution – normal distributions
Data Interpretation
Interpretation of data in tables and graphs such as line graphs, bar graphs, pie-charts, and scatter plots
Applied Mathematics
The topic contains several examples applying the above concepts to solve real life word problems. The problems include,
Profit and Loss
Mixtures
Speed
Word Problems on Ages
Venn Diagram
Work and Efficiency
Week 5-7: Advanced practice – solve difficult problems on each topic. Objective: Master questions of higher difficulty level.
- You can also use this time to pay more attention to specific topics that you find a bit difficult
- If you’re running short of time, make sure you complete topics in Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry and DI in the first 4 weeks. Applied maths can be done in this period
Week 8-10: Developing Time Management Strategy
- Take mock GRE style Quant tests that contain questions from various topics as like real GRE
- Start developing your timing strategy
- Also use this week to practice more questions of the type that you find difficult based on your performance in the test
Week 11-12: Developing mental and physical stamina for the 4 hour GRE test
- Take Full Length GRE style tests that contains all the 3 sections – AWA, Verbal, and Quant
- Also use this week to practice/revise topics that you find difficult
#Category 6: Not confident of Quant
Who are you?
You can’t relate to certain topics and questions, but not confident with a good number of topics. You are not able to answer all questions due to lack of time.
View the GRE study planThe GRE study plan
| Week Number | GRE Study Plan |
| Week 1-4 | Click here |
| Week 5-7 | Click here |
| Week 8-10 | Click here |
| Week 11-12 | Click here |
Week 1-4: Brushing concepts and review tests on each topic
- If you feel discomfort in studying maths on your own, you may avail mentoring/tutoring from a Quant Expert to accelerate your preparation and boost your confidence
- You can solve difficult questions in Arithmetic – Algebra, Basic geometry. You can solve medium difficulty level problems in DI and DA and solve basic problems in Applied Mathematics
Arithmetic
Classification of Numbers – Number types and the number line; types of integers – prime numbers, odd and even integers and their properties; properties of integers such as divisibility, factorization, remainders; methods to find least common multiple (LCM) and highest common factor (HCF or GCD); prime factorization; arithmetic operations, absolute value, exponents and roots.
Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages – Types of fractions – proper, improper, and mixed; operation on fractions, converting fractions to percentages and vice versa, estimation, rate; decimal representation
Ratios and Proportions – Ratios – Definition and their properties
Sequences – Sequences of numbers, arithmetic and geometric sequence
Algebra
Algebraic Expressions – setting up equations to solve word problems- how to convert statements to expressions; factoring and simplifying algebraic expressions
Functions – Functions and relations
Linear Inequalities – Solving linear inequalities; solving simultaneous inequalities
Linear and Quadratic Equations – Solving linear and quadratic equations – Factorizing equations; solving simultaneous equations
Rules of Exponents – Operations with exponents – Important rules
Geometry
Basic Geometry – Basic definitions – point, angle and angle measurement in degrees, line and line segment; types of lines – parallel and perpendicular lines, types of angles – acute, obtuse, and right angle; supplementary and complementary angles; angle bisector, altitude, and perpendicular bisector; angles formed by parallel and transversal lines
Triangles – Isosceles, equilateral, and right angled triangles; types of right triangles – 30°-60°-90° triangles, 45°-45°-90° triangles; Pythagorean theorem; congruent and similar figures; important properties of triangles
Circles – Basic definitions – radius, diameter, chord, secant, and tangent of a circle; chord properties, secant properties, and tangent properties
Polygons – Types of quadrilaterals – square, rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, and trapezium; their properties
Co-ordinate Geometry 1 – Co-ordinate axis (xy-plane) – basic definitions; how to graph line equation, intercepts and slopes of lines; types of line equations;
Co-ordinate Geometry 2 – including graphs of functions; circle and parabolic equations.
Shaded Area – area, perimeter of two-dimensional figures
Solid Geometry – three-dimensional figures; volume, surface area of three-dimensional figures
You can avoid tough geometry topics such as solid geometry and lead to solve questions of medium difficulty level for topics that you find difficult.
Data Analysis
Permutation and Combination – counting methods – addition and multiplication principle; combination – formula to find the number of ways to choose ‘r’ objects out ‘n’ distinct objects (nCr) , permutations – formula to find the number of ways to arrange ‘r’ objects out ‘n’ distinct objects (nPr), with and without repetition of objects
Probability – Basic definitions – experiment, outcome, sample space, and event; random variables; types of events – independent, mutually exclusive, sure event; elementary probability such as probabilities of compound events and independent events, conditional probability; odds
Statistics – include basic descriptive statistics, such as mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, interquartile range, quartiles and percentiles; box and whisker plot
Probability Distribution – random variables and frequency distributions, histograms; probability distributions; Discrete probability distribution; Continuous probability distribution – normal distributions
If you are not very confident of this topic, you can just practice easy and medium difficulty level questions on this topic.
Data Interpretation
Interpretation of data in tables and graphs such as line graphs, bar graphs, pie-charts, and scatter plots
Applied Mathematics
The topic contains several examples applying the above concepts to solve real life word problems. The problems include,
Profit and Loss
Mixtures
Speed
Word Problems on Ages
Venn Diagram
Work and Efficiency
If you are not very confident of topics in this category, you can just practice easy and medium difficulty level questions on that topic.
Week 5-7: Advanced practice – solve difficult problems on each topic
- Objective : Master questions of higher difficulty level
- You can also use this time to pay more attention to specific topics that you find a bit difficult
- If you’re running short of time, make sure you complete topics in Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry and DI in the first 4 weeks. Applied Maths can be done in this period
Week 8-10: Developing Time Management Strategy
- Take mock GRE style Quant tests that contain questions from various topics like GRE
- Start developing your timing strategy
- Also use this week to practice more questions of the type that you find difficult based on your performance in the test
Week 11-12: Developing mental and physical stamina for the 4 hour GRE test. Take Full Length GRE style tests that contains all the 3 sections – AWA, Verbal, and Quant. Also use this week to practice/revise topics that you find difficult.
For more information and complete guidance for your GRE preparation, download the complete guide to GRE preparations.
