Your GRE score will almost certainly affect your graduate school candidacy and career path. A higher GRE score will make you more competitive for a top-tier graduate program. Furthermore, a higher score will affect your job prospects for internships or full-time work after graduation. While this should be enough motivation to get you to your score goal, it’s still easy to lose focus and motivation on the long road of preparing for the GRE.

This article will answer a question I hear often from GRE students, “How can I stay motivated for the GRE?,” by providing insights and tips about maintaining a high level of motivation during GRE preparation.

Let’s start by talking about how important it is to like what you’re doing.


Whether we’re talking about work, college, or studying for the GRE, one of the best ways to stay motivated is to enjoy what you’re doing. Attaining your goals becomes quite difficult if you don’t relish what you’re doing while working to reach them. To put it bluntly, if you enjoy your studying, you’ll be much more driven to study hard, which will give you a far better chance of attaining your target GRE score.

If you’re having trouble finding that enjoyment, seek to find ways to make your GRE prep enjoyable. For instance, you can make a game of seeing how high you can drive your accuracy when answering practice questions. Or you can have fun beating the traps the question writers put into the verbal questions. Also, you can seek to take interest in the Reading Comprehension passages.

Overall, by taking the attitude that you’re going to do your best to enjoy your GRE preparation and by looking for ways to make it fun, you’ll enjoy it at least somewhat and thus help it go well.

Also, keep in mind that not only will a high GRE score help you get into a top graduate program, but also the skills you learn will aid you in graduate school and in everyday life.

Let’s take a closer look at this idea.


The GRE skills you develop can play a significant role in your life. For example, you can become a better writer, a more confident decision-maker, and a more decisive thinker from your GRE knowledge.

Practicing Critical Reasoning questions will make you well-versed in logic and decision-making. With these skills honed, you can become “the smartest person in the room.”

The vocabulary words that you grudgingly memorize for GRE Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions will provide you with a rich source of words that will allow you to be a better communicator. As a result, you’ll write better, and you’ll converse better. People’s vocabulary use is an indication of their versatility, of their communication ability, and of their intelligence.

And what about Reading Comprehension? You’re going to have to read for the rest of your life. The ability to read complex material will hold you in good stead in your graduate studies. In fact, it’s considered a predictor of your success in both grad school and in virtually any career you pursue.

Getting proficient in GRE quant provides numerous advantages. Quant mastery increases your data-driven decision-making abilities, which are essential in both your professional and everyday life. A universe of opportunities can open up for you when your math and quantitative reasoning skills are sound.

So, instead of looking at GRE prep as a chore, stay positive! Look at your prep as an opportunity to better your skills and yourself. You can harness the opportunity to improve your GRE quant and GRE verbal skills, and thus improve many aspects of your life.


We often associate investments with equities, real estate, or enterprises. However, investing in yourself is one of the best investments you can make.

You are investing in yourself when you study for the GRE. You’re investing in your abilities, knowledge, and skills. Above all, the time and effort you put in are an investment in your future. Unfortunately, most people in the world will never have the chance to do what you are doing. Don’t let that chance pass you by.


While studying for the GRE, you may come across friends or colleagues who are dissatisfied with the GRE preparation process. You’ll see that they’re frustrated and have a negative attitude about studying for the GRE. Many of them may complain, “What does my score on this test have to do with my ability to succeed in graduate school?”

You’ll see that these individuals have most likely struggled with GRE preparation. They spend far too much time being angry at the GRE and far too little time actually studying for it. Don’t get pulled into this negativity. Rather, take the opposite approach and use your desire to succeed as your competitive advantage. If your competitors aren’t driven to study and you are, you’ll have a better chance of succeeding on the GRE and getting into your grad program of choice.

Now that we’ve covered some of the psychological factors involved in staying motivated, let’s talk about some practical ways to enhance your motivation.


You can use the following basic tactics to help you stay motivated during your GRE preparation.


Over the years, we have interacted with hundreds of students who have come to Target Test Prep practically ready to give up on the GRE. These students were often ready to quit because they started their GRE studying without any real plan in place. Then, after months of spinning their wheels, they were ready to give up on the GRE altogether.

So, when you start studying for the GRE, make sure you have study resources that will provide a detailed road map of where you are and where you want to go. For example, the TTP study plan is broken up into specific missions. Each mission has precise instructions on what needs to be done and in what order. Our students don’t have to think about what they need to study next, because they have that study plan. All they have to do is follow it. By having the comfort of a plan of action, it’s much easier to maintain a high level of motivation and keep on the path to your target GRE score.


It can be lonely studying for the GRE. If you’re lucky, you may have a coworker, friend, or relative studying for it, but usually that is not the case.

Feelings of loneliness and isolation can result in a lack of motivation. So, to stay motivated, talk to other GRE students regularly. If you reside in a large city, you could join a GRE meetup in which you attend weekly or monthly sessions with fellow GRE test-takers. You can become an active member on online GRE forums such as GRE Prep Club or the GRE subreddit, or even join an online GRE group on Whatsapp or Discord. You are more likely to stay motivated and focused if you surround yourself with other like-minded GRE test-takers.


I recommend studying for the GRE for at least two hours each weekday and four hours each weekend day. If you stick to that study schedule, it will amount to 18+ hours per week of GRE studying. However, fitting in this many study hours per week can be challenging. Thus, you need to be disciplined (more on that later) and create a study schedule for yourself.

You also should be sure to reward yourself for consistent studying. Allow yourself a cheat day now and then, when you do something fun and relaxing instead of studying. For example, go to the movies, treat yourself to a spa day, or spend time with your friends. Do anything to give your mind a break from GRE studying.