In the course of three weeks, you should have enough time to become familiar with the content and format of the GRE revised General Test. Three weeks is also ample time to attempt many practice questions, and to review hundreds, as well as learn quite a few new, vocabulary words. Although three weeks is a long time, it is not long enough to learn hundreds of new vocabulary words, especially if you are not as good at vocabulary as you would like to be.
During the course of the three weeks, you will practice using many practice questions that are available on MyGRETutor.com. Each of the weekly timetables that are provided as part of the three-week plan span 6 days. Numerous studies have shown that it is not advisable to cram for standardized tests, and that any memorization that you do will all be wasted; most well-developed standardized tests are very good at testing your knowledge rather than your memorization skills. Do not be tempted to rush through all of the tutorials and questions.
Expect to spend 2 hours each day, 6 days each week, for three whole weeks, for a total of approximately 36-40 hours of study time. Unlike the two week and one week study plans, the 36 hours that you spend during the three week plan should not only help you to become familiar with the GRE, but you should be able to significantly improve to the score that you would get if you were not to study.
During the first of the three weeks for this study plan, make it a goal to become familiar with all of the sections of the GRE revised general Test. Take your time. Be sure to read the tutorials fully, and get into the habit of not only doing the practice questions, but also reviewing them. During the first week, go over all of the tutorials, and utilize the practice questions that are offered at MyGRETutor.
In the first week, spend at least 6 days in preparing for the GRE revised test, spending 2 hours each day, for a total of 12 hours. Here is a sample plan for the first week of the three week plan:
During the first week of this study plan, to prepare for the math section of the GRE exam, concentrate on the arithmetic and algebra tutorials and questions. Look ONLY on these sections so that you don't swamp yourself with too much information in too short a time. Notice how the question material for the arithmetic and algebra sections is relatively straight-forward, but that does not mean that the questions are easy.
To prepare for the verbal section of the GRE test, during the first week of this study guide you will concentrate on the reading comprehension questions. You should become familiar with the three types of reading comprehension questions that appear on the exam. Also, strive to read quickly, critically and actively. Merely memorizing facts as you read will not do you much good, because the questions on the exam require you to interpret facts, infer from the passage's tone and style, and to understand how the provided piece of text might help contribute to a larger piece of work.
In the first week, after you have read the essay tutorials, also spend some time reviewing some of the tips on how to write well. Because you only have 30 minutes for each of the issue and argument writing tasks, you need to be insightful, concise, and clear. Also look over the provided pool of essay topics that are listed on the GRE website. On the day that you are slated to study the essay section, select some of the essay topics -- both issue and argument -- and brainstorm on some ideas and potential outlines for an essay. This is what you'll have to do during the real exam.
In the second week of this 3-week study plan, you will complete the tutorials, answer more practice questions, and, at the end, take a second GRE practice exam.
During the second week, spend at least 6 days preparing for the GRE. Spend 2 hours each day, for a total of 12 hours. Here is a sample plan for the second week of the three week plan:
In the second week of this study plan, you will continue to review the math topics that appear on the GRE revised test. If it has been a while since you have attempted math questions, you will want to be especially vigilant when you view the math tutorials. Of the three math topics that you are reviewing this week, geometry, data analysis, and quantitative comparison sections, quantitative analysis might be the most "odd," because it is unlike most other math questions that you have probably answered before.
Here are the two verbal question types that you will review/learn this week:
Become familiar with all of these verbal question types. As with the math section, attempt a fair share of verbal practice questions. These questions should help to solidify the concepts that you learned in the tutorials.
On day 3 of this week, study the essay tasks of the GRE test. Take several more sample issue and argument topics, and brainstorm on these -- and THEN also write several sample paragraphs. You'll do this on the real test, so this is ideal practice. Also focus on the style and organization that is required of good essays. The content of the essay is important, but the structure and your command of the English language are similarly as important.
In the third and final week leading up to the GRE revised test, you will continue to practice using the GRE practice questions available on MyGRETutor. Spend at least 5 days preparing for the GRE exam; spend 2 hours each day, for a total of 12 hours. Here is a sample plan for the third week of the three week plan:
During the third week, you will just be doing as many practice questions as possible. By this time, you may have seen several difficult questions. Notice how the difficult questions often require you to have a firm understanding of relatively easy concepts. Also, note that some of the harder math questions will require you to perform a series of steps, each of which in themselves is easy. It is knowing which steps to carry out and which information you should use that makes such questions difficult.
By now you will have noticed that your success on the verbal part of the GRE is based primarily on two things: your depth and breadth of your vocabulary and your ability to read critically and actively. By now you should have reviewed hundreds of words, and hopefully you have learned many new ones.
As was the case in week two of this study plan, practice on brainstorming and on writing sample paragraphs. There is only one way for you to prepare for the writing task of the GRE exam, and that is to practice, Practice, and PRACTICE. Writing is something that takes a very long time to perfect, and so get as much practice as possible. Luckily, the types of essays that are deserving of high scores are not necessarily complicated; instead good academic essays are brief, to the point, and precise.