If you’re prepping for the GRE, you’ve probably heard that taking full-length practice tests is a critical part of your preparation. This is sage advice. Students who take the GRE without ever having taken practice tests can find the experience difficult and end up with disappointing scores. Proper GRE preparation includes taking a sufficient number of practice tests before your actual GRE. Moreover, you want to be smart about when and how you use practice tests in your GRE preparation strategy.

Students who take the GRE without ever having taken practice tests can find the exam-day experience difficult.

So, how do you incorporate practice tests into your GRE prep to maximize your chances of performing at your best on test day? Let’s take a look.


At the beginning of your GRE studies, you should take your first full-length practice GRE from the ETS website. The ETS, creators of the GRE, offer four official full-length GRE practice tests through the POWERPREP® features on their website; two of the exams are free and two must be purchased. These tests simulate the actual GRE, allowing you to take your practice tests under the same time constraints as the GRE and receive a score report at the end of each test.

Note that you must choose the timed option for your practice test in order to receive a score, and it is to your advantage to do so. The score that you achieve on your first practice test will tell you how far you are from your target GRE score, thus helping you determine the length and intensity of GRE preparation necessary to reach your goal.

Students sometimes feel that they should do rigorous prep prior to taking their first practice test, but remember, the objective of this initial test is to help you better understand your starting level of preparedness and to familiarize you with the format of the GRE. Thus, only minimal preparation is necessary prior to your first practice test. You can use the free POWERPREP® Test Preview Tool available on the ETS website to familiarize yourself with the test features and the types of questions you will see. Practice answering a few of each type of question to get your feet wet, but don’t go crazy with hours of completing practice questions. You want to gauge your current test-readiness with the practice test itself so you can get a sense of how to plan your GRE prep.

Once you are familiar with the structures of and directions for each of the question types and have gotten a little experience answering questions of each type, you will be ready to take your first practice test and get your baseline score.

Now, let’s discuss how to take your practice GREs, from the first to the last.


When you take a practice GRE, it’s important that you replicate test-day conditions to the greatest degree possible, so that you can accustom yourself to the testing experience and get an accurate picture of how close you are to your score goal. Follow these guidelines to help achieve a realistic testing experience:

• If you are taking the test at a test center, plan to go to the library and rent a private study room, or go to another quiet location to take the practice test. However, if you are taking the at-home GRE take the practice test in the same location that you’ll take your test.
• Do not skip any of the sections of the test. Yes, that means you must do the two Analytical Writing tasks as well as all four Quant/Verbal sections.
• Do not take any additional breaks or do anything that you could not do on test day (such as pause the exam and go for a walk). It’s extremely important that you simulate test day in every way possible. Turn your cell phone off. Use only the online calculator provided.
• Do your scratch work with paper and pencil. If you are taking the at-home GRE, then use the exact same whiteboard or clear sheet protector that you plan to use while taking that test.
• Try to take your practice test on Saturday or Sunday morning, when your mind is fresh. It would not be a great idea to come home after working all day and sit down to take a practice GRE.

Remember, practice tests will not be an accurate gauge of your GRE readiness unless you adhere closely to actual GRE testing conditions when taking them. If you allow yourself to pause repeatedly or go over the allotted time for a section, your test results will not be optimal for devising an effective study strategy, whether you are just beginning your GRE preparation or you’re near the end of your prep and trying to pinpoint remaining weak areas.

For the same reason that a band rehearses on the stage where it will perform and a wedding rehearsal is held before the ceremony, GRE test-takers should practice for the GRE in a realistic way in a realistic test environment (even if that environment happens to be your home).

Now that we’ve discussed how to take each test, let’s look at how to analyze the results of your first practice test.


You took your first practice GRE. You’re off to a good start! Your goal now is to do a general analysis of where you stand. Are you 50 points from your target GRE score? One hundred points? More? The score gap will give you a sense of how much time and energy you’ll likely need to invest in GRE study to reach your goal. Although you’ll carefully review all of the questions you answered on future practice tests, now is not the time to review each question. It’s difficult to draw useful conclusions about specific areas of strength and weakness from the results of one practice test. Instead, lay out your comprehensive study strategy.

Your GRE preparation time will depend on how far your baseline score is from your score goal, your learning style, your application deadlines, and your other daily commitments. A person with a full-time job may have to spread his or her study over a greater number of weeks than will someone who has those hours free to devote to GRE prep. Similarly, someone who is 50 points from his or her score goal probably will need far less time to prepare than someone striving for a 200-point increase. In determining how much time to set aside for GRE prep, you may find it useful to check out this article I wrote, which gives detailed advice on creating a GRE study plan. Remember, every person is different, and you should not assume that you can follow someone else’s study plan and achieve that person’s score. If you’d like to learn more about how your test performance compares to that of other GRE test-takers, check out my article explaining GRE score percentiles.

Now that you’ve analyzed your baseline score and devised a study schedule, let’s discuss when to take the remaining three full-length practice tests offered by ETS.


After your initial exam, it will be time to get to work on the targeted study and focused practice that is fundamental to GRE success.

At this point, your job is to master the material that appears on the GRE. Forget about taking additional practice tests until your GRE prep is nearly complete. Taking more practice tests before you master the material is a poor use of your time and a waste of the limited number of official practice tests you have at your disposal.

If you have not mastered functions, sequences, probability, and geometry, you can predict–without spending four hours on a full-length practice GRE–that you probably won’t fare well answering questions involving those concepts. Instead of using up precious practice exams when they aren’t of the greatest use to you, spend your time training. That is how you will make significant gains in your knowledge and skill, not through taking more tests.

The time to use your remaining full-length tests is toward the end of your GRE prep. Let’s discuss that now.