I got a perfect score on the GRE, in person, first time taking it.

I am an engineer for a medium sized company. Two years after graduation from an Ivy. Decided to pursue a masters and possibly a JD after that, depending on how I'm feeling.

Materials Used:

Manhattan 5lb Book, 2nd Ed
Princeton Review 2021 Premium Prep
Kaplan 2020
Free Manhattan Prep Test
Official Guide to the GRE, 3rd Ed
Free PowerPrep Tests on ETS site

Vocab Prep:

Barron's High Frequency 4th Ed
Magoosh GRE Android App
Gregmat's Vocab lists

Discipline was what got me a perfect score from getting simply ok scores when I first started. I studied daily and was pretty diligent. Eight weeks of several hours a day almost every day. I was on a mission essentially.

Day of Exam:
Drive to test center next state over. I read too many anecdotal accounts of cheating accusations and technical errors with the at home software to jeopardize my efforts with the at home test. I also live in a crowded and noisy home. It is not a great environment for testing and I thrive in silence and in a foreign environment. I was in my element so much I didn't take the 10 minute break. I could've taken a second GRE if I needed too. YMMV.

Essays were relatable enough. I ran out of time for both, but I wrote 3 solid body paragraphs. Only managed two sentences for conclusions. Final Result: 5.5 AWA

Quant: Couple of long, 3 minutes or more problems. Almost all were done in 15-20 seconds though. The engineer background made short work of quant and so I barely spent any time in preparation for quant. Nothing stumped me. The experimental was in quant but I couldn't even tell which it was. I just powered through. Result: 170Q

Verbal: How I got 170 is beyond me. I definitely read one question that I was spilt between two and did a best guest. The craziest thing was I was using the last of the magoosh Advanced vocab that morning and a word I saw for the first time the day of the test was actually on the test as the correct answer. I was elated. Result: 170V

Hard work pays off. Yeah I have a good background but I did not start off with a 340. Not even close. Discipline is a good teacher. Spend your time wisely and invest in yourself.