When you're deep in the day-to-day grind of GRE prep, it’s easy to lose sight of whether you’re actually making progress. You might be putting in long hours and staying consistent, but without stepping back from time to time, it’s hard to tell how far you’ve really come. That’s why regularly monitoring your progress is a key part of staying motivated and focused.

As mentioned earlier, periodically taking full-length practice tests and carefully reviewing your mistakes gives you a clear picture of your development. Even a modest increase in your score can be the encouragement you need to stay on track. Often, we don’t realize how much we’ve improved until the hard data tells us. Test scores can reveal progress that isn't always obvious in day-to-day studying.

However, tracking your progress involves more than just watching your scores. It also means understanding why you’re making certain mistakes and what you can do to fix them. That’s where a GRE error log comes in.

An error log isn’t just a list of missed questions. It’s a tool for analyzing your thought process. Each time you answer a question incorrectly, take a moment to record the type of question it was, the answer you chose, the correct answer, and why you think you made the mistake. Was it a careless slip? A misinterpretation of the question? A gap in your knowledge? Over time, you’ll start to see patterns in your errors and better understand the assumptions that are leading you astray.

Think of the error log as a personal roadmap. It helps you see where you're going wrong and how to correct course. With consistent use, it can sharpen your focus, guide your future study sessions, and ultimately lead to better results.

By reviewing both your scores and your mistake patterns, you’ll turn vague feelings of progress into something you can measure, track, and build on.

Reach out to me with any questions about your GRE prep. Happy studying!

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep