2 Week Study Plan, Second Week

Plan for the Week

Having taken the first practice test at the end of the first week and having basically quickly skimmed over all of the tutorials, the best thing that you can do in the one week that you have left is to do as many practice questions as possible. Also, take one more practice test, and hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised that the second practice test is much easier than the first -- not because of the content, but because by now you should be familiar with the format.

You'll need to spend at least 5 days in preparing for the GRE, spending 2 hours each day, for a total of 10 hours. Here is a sample plan:

• Days 1-3: Continue to do practice questions in all of the sections, and refer to any of the tutorials pages if you have any questions. Don't rush through the practice questions, nor should you try to memorize them! Just as in the first week, take your time in doing the practice questions and be sure to understand the concept that the GRE is trying to test. Spend approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes each day doing practice questions. On each day, also visit the vocabulary section of the GRE, and by this time you can see new words AND you can review those words that you have already seen.
• Day 4: Take the second practice test. Again, do this under real test conditions, meaning that you should do the entire practice test in one sitting. This is how it is going to be when you take the actual GRE, so you should practice under realistic testing conditions.
• Day 5: Go over the second practice test, and, if time permits, quickly brush up on some of the topics that you had trouble with during the course of the two weeks. Don't worry about vocabulary words any more. It's too close to the test day to be learning new words. Instead, get a good night's rest before the test!

Week Study Plan for Math Component of GRE

When doing the math practice questions, be sure to notice the format of the questions. After having read the tutorials section, and while you are doing the practice questions, keep these ideas in mind:

• If at any time you find that you are doing a lengthy calculation, then STOP! The GRE will never require you to do long math problems. Instead, look for a shortcut. Can you simply the problem?
• Often-times, you can estimate the answer to eliminate several of the possible choices. This is an especially good tactic when you are running out of time. View the tutorials section on more information on how to estimate and, if necessary, how to guess.
• Learn how to use the provided paper that you'll get during the test. Don't scribble, and write legibly. Practice using only one or two pieces of paper when doing the math problems, and this should mimic real test conditions.
• For the Quantitative Analysis questions, learn how to spot tricks or how to know when NOT to choose choice E: The relationship cannot be determined. Review the tutorials section on quantitative analysis if you need to.

Week Study Plan for Verbal Component of GRE

Again, as is the case with the math section, do as many practice problems as you possible can. Don't try to memorize the problems, but just try to get a sense for the type of problems that you should expect on the verbal section of the GRE. Here are two additional tips:

• Two weeks is not enough time to learn how to do better on the reading comprehension questions, but in two weeks time you can do the practice questions and learn how to be an active reader. Don't just read the reading passages, but think about them and ask questions as you are reading. Doing this will help you focus your thoughts.
• Don't expect to learn many vocabulary words in two weeks; instead just try to get a sense of the caliber of words that you should expect to see on the test.

Week Study Plan for Essay Component of GRE

Did you know that all of the possible essay topics that are given on the GRE are actually available for you to view. Of course you can't memorize them, because there are too many, but you should take a look at these topics and try to come up with a few ideas for some of them. This should provide you with practice on how to quickly get ideas for an efficient issue or argument essay. Most importantly, remember that because you only have a short time during which you can compose your essays, try to write using simple, straight-forward English. Simple is better, especially if you are stressed and under a time limit!