170 quant, 169 verbal, 5.

0 writing (first time) - My seven-week

study plan and some less common tips (self.GREhelp)
submitted 2 years ago * by dmahr
EDIT: Since this post was archived, I've received a number of
follow-up questions and requests for my studying tracking
spreadsheet and flashcards. Due to the character limit, I've
provided these in an updated post. The original post is below.
Hey all. I recently took the GRE for the first time and got a 170
Quantitative Reasoning, 169 Verbal Reasoning, and 5.0 Analytical
Writing in the computer-based test. For reference, I'm a native
English speaker from the US with an undergraduate background in
environmental science, working full-time about four years out from
college. I started studying about seven weeks before my test date,
and studied in two phases. In the first phase (weeks 1-4), I mostly
followed the Magoosh 1-month study plan and completed all of the
associated lesson videos and practice problems, as well as 13/20
vocab flashcards decks. In the second phase (weeks 5-7), I did
ETS/Manhattan/Magoosh practice problems, reviewed vocab flash
cards, and took five practice tests. I wrote up this study plan for a
friend, but I thought I'd share it here in case folks are interested.

Phase 1 (weeks 1-4): Topic review, video

lessons, vocab flashcards, general notes
ETS Official Guide section overviews (2nd Edition Chapters 2, 3,
and 5). This content largely overlaps with the Prepare for the
Test content on the ETS website. Since I hadn't taken a
standardized test in eight years, this was a good way to get back
into the groove and familiarize myself with the question types.
ETS Math Review (also in the Official Guide 2nd Edition, Chapter
7). I did this early on to refresh my memory on the different quant
topics, many of which I hadn't used in five or ten years. It's a good
place to start, but the exercises are smaller, discrete components of
typical GRE quant problems. I also looked through the Math
Conventions to familiarize myself.
Magoosh video lessons. I watched every video for both
quantitative and verbal following the 1-month study plan and took
notes about key points and strategies that I didn't immediately
remember. Some people on this subreddit don't like the videos or
the instructors, but I thought they do a great job as a refresher and
merit the $100 price. For the videos that were mostly review, I
 played them at 1.5x speed to save time. Those who struggle with
math or speak English as a second language might need additional
review for the quantitative or verbal sections, respectively.
General notes. As I said above, I took copious notes about less-
familiar topics and strategies while watching the Magoosh videos,
about 20 typed pages in all. At the start of each evening practice
session, I glanced through my old notes to refamiliarize myself with
the key points.
Magoosh practice problems. I did every Magoosh practice
problem (n=1,131) following the 1-month study plan, i.e. in the
"Custom Practice" mode. The problems are generally on the harder
side compared to the actual test, but they are excellent practice.
The ability to target specific topics, question types, and/or
difficulties is a HUGE advantage over practice problems from books.
For example, I needed to get faster at algebra and exponent
quantitative comparison problems, so one day I did twenty of those
for extra practice. For the harder problems, I always watched the
detailed explanation video even if I got it right in order to learn
shortcuts and faster problem solving approaches that save time. I
ended up with about 78% correct on both quant and verbal
problems after the first time through; not great, but I got better as
I went along.
Magoosh Vocabulary Flashcards. I mastered the first thirteen
Magoosh vocab decks (i.e. "Common" and "Basic") using the iOS
app. I think there are diminishing returns from learning the seven
"advanced" decks; in my opinion, the time and energy to learn 350
more words is better spent doing verbal multiple choice and
sentence equivalence practice problems.

Phase 2 (weeks 5-7): Practice tests, practice

problems, vocab review, condensed notes
ETS Paper Test 1: 161 quant, 167 verbal (Official Guide 2nd
Edition, Chapter 8). I did this practice test about three weeks before
my test date after finishing the Magoosh videos/problems but before
starting any of the secondary studying below. This was a great way
to get more comfortable with the structure of the test and identify
weak areas that needed further practice. For the problems I
struggled with and/or got wrong, I watched the associated Magoosh
explanation videos.
 Condensed notes. I condensed my 20 pages of general notes into
a four-page summary/cheat sheet. This strategy (which I first used
in college) is beneficial because the time and effort that goes into
making the summary helps commit the topics to memory. Also,
printing out the cheat sheet and associating certain information with
a physical location on a page helps memorization using the method
of loci or "memory palace" technique.
ETS Official Guide practice problems (2nd Edition Chapters 4
and 6). I did all ten practice sets in the Official Guide. It's important
to treat ETS practice problems like gold since they are most
representative of the problems that will be on the actual test. For
this reason, I chose to save these until after I finished the Magoosh
videos and problems, lest I "waste" a perfectly realistic practice
problem by attempting it before being familiar with the material. I
also completed each set of problems before looking at answers in
order to better simulate real test sections where I had to deal with
the anxiety of not knowing how well I was doing. For the problems I
struggled with and/or got wrong, I watched the associated Magoosh
explanation videos.
Vocab flashcard review. The biggest feature lacking from the
Magoosh flashcard app is the ability to reset individual decks for
later review. To get around this, I converted the PDF list of words,
definitions, and sentencesto tab-delimited text files that I practiced
in the Flashcards Deluxe iOS app. I really liked this app because I
could flag tough words as I reviewed the 13 "common" and "basic"
decks to quickly create a single combination deck consisting only of
flagged words. The app has a steep learning curve, but the
granularity of the feature set is without equal.
ETS PowerPrep Test 1: 164 quant, 166 verbal. I did this
practice test about two weeks before my test date. I did the
PowerPrep practice test in order to get comfortable with the
computer-based test in case there were any relevant differences I
should know about; there weren't any except the slightly shorter
length versus the paper tests and the scratch paper trick (see misc
tip #2 below).
ETS Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions. As with
the Official Guide practice problems, I saved these until after
Magoosh so I didn't waste the 100% real ETS questions when I
didn't know the topics. These quant questions are definitely harder
than most of the Official Guide problems, but they are excellent
 training for people aiming for high quant scores in the test. I also
timed myself during the mixed practice sets at the end to get a
sense of when I should skip a problem and come back.
ETS Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions. Same as above, I
saved these problems until after Magoosh so I didn't waste the
100% real ETS questions when I didn't know the topics. Again, I
timed myself during the mixed practice sets at the end.
ETS Paper Test 2: 167 quant, 166 verbal (ETS Official Guide 2nd
Edition, Chapter 9). I did this practice test about eight days before
my test date after finishing the practice problem sets in the three
ETS books. For the problems I struggled with and/or got wrong, I
watched the associated Magoosh explanation videos.
Manhattan 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems. In the last
week before my test date, I did four or five chapters of quant
practice problems from this book in some of my weaker topic areas.
The difficulty varies from much easier than the actual test to a bit
harder, so keep that in mind. Also, since I was using the first edition
I kept an eye on the errata that corrects mistakes in the book.
Manhattan Prep Free Practice Test: 166 quant, 164 verbal. I
did this practice test about five days before my test date. This was
definitely harder than the ETS practice tests, especially
vocab/verbal, but I'm glad I did it since there were some new vocab
words that I hadn't encountered in the Magoosh
problems/flashcards. I found that some of the questions were oddly
worded or more ambiguous than the ETS tests, but I suppose that's
the difference between real and imitation GRE problems.
Revisit Magoosh practice problems. I revisited all of the
Magoosh problems that I flagged or got incorrect the first time. This
was great practice and tremendously satisfying since I could see
how far I had come in the intervening 3-6 weeks. The ability to
rapidly go back to this subset of problems is another awesome and
unique feature of the Magoosh online system versus books.
ETS PowerPrep Test 2: 163 quant, 169 verbal. I did this last
practice test two days before my test date. I was a little bummed at
my lower quant score, but this was largely due to spending too
much time on a hard quant problem instead of marking it and going
back.

Test day
 I nailed my essays, the first quant section, and the first verbal
section. The second quant section, right after my 10-min break, was
really rough: I didn't even finish all of the problems before running
out of time. I thought this doomed me to a 155 or 160 quant score,
but I didn't panic and pressed on through another verbal and a final
quant. That second quant section must have been the experimental
section--thank goodness. Not panicking really saved me here

Misc tips
1. Time is the most valuable resource. Knowing shortcuts and
faster approaches saves time that can be used to check work or
revisit tricky problems--this is why it's worth watching the
explanation videos even when I got the problem right. It's also
important to take advantage of the ability in the revised GRE to skip
problems and come back later. This has the added benefit of seeing
a problem in a new light, which may reveal information or
approaches missed the first time through.
2. Set up scratch paper ahead of time. For the computer-based
GRE, the clock doesn't start until after the "Instructions" screen that
says whether the section is verbal or quantitative. Take this time to
set up scratch paper. For quant, I jotted down "1" through "20" over
four pages of scrap paper to have room for equations and drawings.
For verbal, I jotted down "1" through "20" on a single page with
three horizontal lines next to each to keep track when doing process
of elimination with 3-6 answer choices. Although this would only
take a few seconds at the start of each problem, that adds up to an
extra half minute over a whole section. I also felt like this routine
helped me mentally prepare for each section in a zen sort of way.
3. Don't over-study. I found that studying more than about 2 or 3
hours a day had diminishing returns since my brain could only
absorb so much information per day, even with plenty of sleep. I
usually did around 60 to 90 minutes of topic review (i.e. lesson
videos, flashcards) and 60 to 90 minutes of practice problems,
which was about as much as I could handle after an eight hour work
day.
4. Simulate test day faithfully. I read the ETS test day
information from the start to gain familiarity with the test center
rules so I could simulate that environment as closely as possible.
Since I was taking the computer-based GRE, I took computer-based
practice tests or stood up the book like a screen so I could practice
 copying equations and drawings to paper (over the course of 7
weeks, there were at least 20 or 30 quant practice problems that I
got wrong simply because I incorrectly transcribed an equation or
expression). I also didn't let myself drink water or go to the
bathroom during practice tests (except during the 10-minute
break). Making it as close to real as as possible prevented surprises
on test day.
5. Seek out scholarly/scientific reading to practice
comprehension. A number of test prep guides profess the
importance of reading relatively difficult writing, such as the New
York Times (Magazine), the New Yorker, The Atlantic, etc. While
these sources can improve one's vocabulary, I think that a larger
portion of GRE reading comprehension passages focus on
scholarly/scientific topics with competing theories rather than
politics or current events with more straightforward narratives. For
this reason, I would recommend reading more science-focused
journalism such as Nautilus (e.g. check out articles
on endosymbiotic theory, the Late Heavy Bombardment, the origins
of meteorology, or genetic sequence space). I think this is better
practice for digesting different interpretations of unfamiliar topics
than the aforementioned periodicals.
I hope that's helpful. I'll try to answer any questions that you have.
Good luck!