3 Month GRE Study Guide

The majority of students spend between two and three months preparing for the GRE. Given we all struggle to sustain our attention and concentration for more than this long, such a duration makes perfect sense. Here is the perfect plan for those who can commit both the time and the cognitive resources necessary for a few months.
Unlike the other two weekly study guides – the one week and one month – this study guide has a range of two to three months. This buffer room allows those who have unpredictable schedules – or who simply cannot allocate enough hours each week – to choose the three-month plan. For those who have the time and/or simply want to be more aggressive, the study plan below can be shortened to two months. This study guide gives general goals by week.

Essential Materials

• Any Good GRE Prep courses in the market– Lessons and Practice Problems (optional)
• ETS’s Official Guide to the GRE, 2nd. Edition
• Barron’s 333 High Frequency words.
• ETS’s PowerPrep Software


If you would prefer to take the practice test on paper, you can print out ETS’s practice test PDF. Take note that the Poweprep software and the paper-based test have overlapping material, so it won’t be of much help to do both, unless you space them out far enough so that you won’t recognize the questions and answers! I recommend using the Powerprep software if you can, since taking the test on a computer is a better simulation of test day conditions. Also, PowerPrep 2.0 comes with two tests. The PDF is only one test, which overlaps with Test 2 from the PowerPrep 2.0 Software.

• Online GRE Flashcards. They’re free on most websites like vocabulary.com, quizlet.com, magoosh.com and you can use them on the web, on your iPhone/iPad or Android!
• vocabulary.com
• Index Cards (Quizlet.com)
• Stopwatch or Timer

Supplemental/Optional Materials:
• McGraw Hill Conquering the GRE Math (for those who need additional work on math fundamentals)
• Manhattan GRE (including 6 extra online practice tests)
• Nova’s Math Bible (for 160+ math scorers)

Weeks 1-2

Primary Goals:
Work your way through as many of \ Math and Verbal concepts as possible. An effective learning strategy is to follow up a chapter by practicing questions from the ETS Official Guide
Complete 100 practice questions each from Verbal and Math from any of the materials discussed above.
Determine which of the Manhattan GRE guides will help address your weaknesses (you only need to purchase one in order to access all of the 6 online tests)

Secondary Goals:
Read two articles from Scientific American/Atlantic Monthly/Economist. Find fifty words you do not know. Reference in Vocabulary.com or Word Smart and make flashcards (articles should be 4 – 15 pages).
Write a quick summary/review of one of the two articles you wrote, threading GRE words you learnt these two weeks (can come from any of the sources, e.g. lesson, questions, etc), and apply them where necessary.
Make your way through 10 words a day from your custom made GRE Flashcards. The goal should be 150 words after 15 days. For further context on how the words you are learning are used consult Vocabulary.com.
Use quizlet.com to quiz yourself on 200 vocabulary words from article.

Weeks 3-4

Primary Goals:
Finish watching all your concept learning from GRE Math review .
Take the Powerprep 2.0 Test 1 to assess your level.
Check your answers to review mistakes.
Use the test to identify areas in which you need more practice.
Practice 75 more questions for Verbal and 75 Math within ETS Official guides.
Work through the beginning of the ETS Official Guide 2nd. edition, and cover the easy and medium sections at the beginning of the book for both math and verbal.

Secondary Goals:
Continue working through vocabulary from GRE Flashcards, five a day, quizzing yourself on all the words you have learned up to this point.
Up your reading to two articles a week
Solidify fundamentals using any Manhattan GRE guide
Pick fifty words each week from the two articles (a total of four articles for each week)
Make sure you continue practicing problems from the McGraw-Hill Math if you are struggling with any fundamentals (fractions, exponents, etc.
For the high scorers, take a practice Manhattan GRE test, reviewing all your mistakes once you are done.

Weeks 5-6

Primary Goals:
Practice 175 more questions for Verbal and 175 Math within your GRE Prep course if you have any.
Work through the rest of the ETS Official Guide 2nd. edition questions up to the practice tests at the back of the book.

Secondary Goals:
Continue practicing vocabulary in the same manner described above.
Depending on your level, complete 100 math problems from the GMAT Official Guide (the higher the number, the harder the problem). You may also want to pick and choose based on your perceived areas of weakness.
If lower level math, focus more on Manhattan GRE math.
From the GMAT OG, do ten timed Reading Comprehension Passages. Time yourself on five Critical Reasoning questions each day.

Weeks 7-8

Primary Goals:
Customize practice sessions with your GRE Test Prep course product to target weaknesses. You should complete all of the verbal and all of the math questions.
Take both tests at the back of the Official Guide, including the AWA section.
Take the Powerprep 2.0 Test 2.
Make sure you are doing as many timed sections as possible from various sources. If you can’t work through an entire section, always have a stopwatch whenever you work through questions.

Secondary Goals:
Continue learning vocabulary as before. You should know at least 800 words by now, and should probably know even more from working with the GRE Official Guide .
Take a Manhattan GRE practice test. (Review mistakes).

For advanced Verbal students:
Do a timed verbal LSAT Reading Section each day and 5 Critical Reasoning questions. Try to determine why answers are wrong on your own.
Take no fewer than two Manhattan GRE on-line practice tests.
For advanced Math students:
Finish all Problem Solving questions in GMAT OG and Nova’s Math Bible.Also, go through College Board SAT book, and be able to complete every difficult problem (usually last 5-6 problems of each math section).
Take no more than two Manhattan GRE on-line practice tests.

Good luck!

Hi Soumya,
Could you please send Lsat verbal and math book links you mentioned about in teh last section

For advanced Verbal students:
Do a timed verbal LSAT Reading Section each day and 5 Critical Reasoning questions. Try to determine why answers are wrong on your own.
Take no fewer than two Manhattan GRE on-line practice tests.
For advanced Math students:
Finish all Problem Solving questions in GMAT OG and Nova’s Math Bible.Also, go through College Board SAT book, and be able to complete every difficult problem (usually last 5-6 problems of each math section).

Thanks in advance!!