Step 1: Familiarize yourself with the GRE Environment The first step of GRE preparation is understanding the test if you haven't done so already - See GRE FAQ for Details. This step is very important an often ignored by test takers. It is important that you understand how GRE works and why it is important for your Grad school application. Feel free to poke around the website of ETS. While you are there feel free to download the PowerPrep test. These are the test by the makers of GRE and contain real GRE questions. They are at any given point of time the best tool to evaluate your scores.

Step 2: Take a Diagnostic test After you have familiarized yourself with the GRE the next step is to take a diagnostic test to evaluate your current position. The Official GRE test might be the right weapon of choice. The main reason it is a good use is that you can see your starting point (now) and then compare it against the ending (taking GRE). Alternatively you can use any other computer adaptive tests:


PowerPrep GRE Practice Tests by ETS












ManhattanPrep GRE Practice Test













Kaplan GRE Practice Test














Princeton Review Free GRE Practice Test













GRE Prep Club Practice Test

• McGraw-Hill GRE Practice Test -
• Peterson’s GRE Practice Test - Note that this is not a free test.
  
• 4Tests.com GRE Practice Test
  
• My GRE Tutor Practice Tests -
  
• Testden GRE Practice Test
  
• GRE Guide Practice Tests
• myGREtest
  
• 800Score’s Test

Step 3: Outline your requirements and expectations Find out what GRE score you actually need. Just to give you an idea the current top 10 Grad schools require 330 plus GRE in the highly competitive departments. Most people are able to improve between 20 and 40 points - that should give you an estimate of what you can count on based on the diagnostic test you just took. You can check out the Current Average GRE Scores for US Universities.

Step 4: Identify your weaknessesTake a look at your practice test score and note the raw score distribution topic wise. This would enable you to identify the area where you might be particularly week. It is good practice to maintain an Excel file having your score distribution and how it changes over time. This tool might be particularly helpful in tracking improvements over time. You could use the following Format:

Topics	Test Name 1 and Date	Test Name 2 and Date	Test Name 3 and Date
	% Score	% Score	% Score
Algebra
Algebraic Expressions
Absolute Values/Modules
Arithmetic
Combinations
Coordinate Geometry
Counting Methods
Exponents/Roots/Decimals
Geometry

I highly urge you to make this file yourself. Its very important that you identify individual topic on the GRE and work on them, and making the excel file is a very important part of the process.

Step 5: Adopt a winning strategy You need to build up your toolkit and get some ammo for the GRE. You will need books or a course (online or in person) to refresh/learn fundamentals and then test taking strategies. You will also need GRE tests to practice those strategies and also evaluate your prep level. See these links for: Official GRE course reviews by GRE Prep Club, GRE Courses General User Reviews and Resources GRE Books reviews. If you need some motivation and need to find out more about other students who have been successful in the past have a look at GRE Experiences

Step 6: Polish your test taking skillsHere is the most common one I see - jumping into questions and tests completely unprepared and expecting results/miracles. GRE consists of several layers and it is important to master each one before moving on to the next - think of it as of Maslow's need hierarchy of needs. There is no use in satisfying your social needs before you can take care of basic needs such as safety and food. The same is here, if you don't know the underlying principles that GRE is testing (such as grammar, arithmetic, etc) there is no use in solving hundreds of questions or taking multiple GRE tests. This means that if English is not your native language, you should not work on the RC strategies if you can't understand half of the passage - you need to get comfortable reading long passages of text before moving on. To illustrate this principle, consider the following hierarchy for the GRE:





Step 7: Quantify your Improvement To do this you need to maintain a detailed error log. This error log can be used for tests as well as regular practice problems. Maintaining a detailed error log will help you identify your weaknesses and help map your study strategy. The error log would have a structure similar to Step 4 score log. It is very important that you do not spend too much time obsessing over your scores. The error log addresses the following issues:

• Time Management: You can monitor if you are spending enough time on questions. Conversely if you spend too much time you would have to rush through the final few questions which is undesirable.
  
• Question Management: You can also find out if you are effectively able to solve difficult problems. Although difficult problems are far less in number on the GRE but for a high score you need to perform well on these questions. You can also find out if you applied the best problem solving strategy for the easy questions
  
• SWOT Analysis: With en error log you can clearly identify your areas of strengths and weaknesses. These could be particular Question type or even a topic. For example you might be consistently scoring low on Numeric entry question or you might be scoring particularly low in Permutation Combination. Once you can identify your weaknesses you can proceed to work on them.

Step 8: Get the right Temperament There are many highs and lows of a GRE Prep. We all went through it. Sometimes we are able to solve quite difficult problems with relative ease and other times we might commit a silly error. It is part and parcel of the prep and you need to move on after learning from your mistakes. There a few key good attitudes that you can cultivate, these might help you in GRE and Grad School:

• Researching a topic on your own: It is very important that you take the pains to research a topic or a problem on your own. It is a very important character building step that would later enable you to solve tough problems.
  
• Asking for help from an Expert: There are places you might get stuck and you might not be able to find a solution without sacrificing a huge chunk of your prep time and resources. In those circumstances it might be a good idea to approach an expert. Experts are useful in helping you out of tough corners and can make your life easy. However your effort is the key ingredient in the test, hence use the power of experts but don't abuse it.
  
• Knowing when to give up: Sometimes a problem or a topic might be particularly difficult for you. If a particular topic is becoming a huge drain on your resources it would be advisable to abandon that topic and focus on others.
  
• Understanding the test and how it is scored: As we have stressed this before, understanding the GRE test is the key. Once you know what the test is looking for and what kind of questions it might through at you your prep becomes efficient and effective.