So, you’re actively reading, watching videos, taking notes, making and reviewing flash cards, and solving realistic GRE practice questions. All of these activities will help improve your knowledge retention. However, there is a secret weapon that you can use in the fight against knowledge erosion: regularly quizzing and testing yourself.

We know that the process of retrieving stored information (when solving practice questions, for example) strengthens learning. By raising the stakes during your practice, you can further strengthen your knowledge retention. One easy way to raise the stakes is to take quizzes and tests, which tend to evoke more stress than problem sets do.

For example, to simulate the quant sections of the GRE, once a week, you could take a 40-question GRE quant quiz under realistic testing conditions. Because such a quiz will provide a closer approximation to test day than answering sets of questions will, your brain will have the opportunity to further strengthen what it has learned, and you’ll get valuable practice recalling information under stress, a skill all its own.

Of course, eventually, you should sit for full-length practice GRE exams, which are as close to the real deal as you can get.

Key takeaway: Regularly testing and quizzing yourself are powerful ways to enhance knowledge retention and strengthen your GRE skills.

Happy Studying! ✨

Warmest regards,
Scott