Preparing for the GRE is a monumental task, so it’s necessary to have a great study plan in place to ensure that you can effectively push toward your target GRE score. The good news is that as long as you have a structured, organized, and well-thought-out plan, there is no reason why you cannot succeed on the GRE.

This article will walk you through all of the components that make up each of the two critical phases of GRE preparation in any thorough and effective GRE study plan: the learning phase and the practice-test phase. If you’ve asked yourself, “What is the best way to study for the GRE?,” this two-phase approach is it!

Let’s start by defining the two phases and why it’s critical to complete them in order.


Your GRE test prep should consist of two distinct phases: the learning phase and the practice-test phase. The first phase (the learning phase) consists of learning GRE quant and verbal topics through concept study and practice. The second phase (the practice-test phase) consists of practicing your acquired skills and knowledge by taking full-length practice exams.

You must keep these two phases separate. Besides initially taking a practice exam to get a baseline score, do not take any additional practice exams until you complete the entire learning phase of your study plan.

Waiting to take practice exams is very important. The data from those exams will be virtually meaningless unless you have already learned all you can from your GRE quant and verbal study. For example, let’s say you take a practice exam prior to learning geometry, and you get four geometry questions wrong. What does that actually tell you? Essentially what you already knew — you are not strong in geometry. No surprise there, because you have yet to learn about that topic!

If you want to ensure that you’re fully prepared to crush the GRE on test day, you’ll need a study strategy that involves learning GRE content first. Then you will refine your abilities with plenty of practice. So, let’s talk about study strategies for the first phase of your GRE preparation.


You’ve done your homework on your target schools and established a target score. You’ve completed your first full-length, official GRE practice test under realistic testing conditions to see how far you are from your target score. (If you haven’t already, read this post on how to get started with your GRE test prep.) You’re all set to begin your GRE preparation!

So, you may be asking yourself, “Now what?” Well, the first thing to consider is that GRE quant and verbal questions cover a wide variety of quantitative and verbal topics. There is no way to know which concepts will be tested on any given GRE. So, learning random GRE topics in a hit-or-miss fashion, without any order or logical progression, is not a productive or efficient study technique.

A topical approach, on the other hand, is a highly effective method for mastering all of the many topics and concepts you need to learn during the first phase of your GRE prep. Let’s discuss this strategy in detail.


By following a linear, topic-by-topic approach to GRE prep, you’ll be using the best method to ensure that you properly understand each GRE topic. You won’t waste time trying to learn advanced topics before you’ve mastered your core knowledge.

For example, do you think it would be useful to jump around from Reading Comprehension questions to one-blank Text Completion questions before you have mastered either of those topics? The short answer is NO. Similarly, would it be helpful to jump from Exponent questions to Quadratic questions to Probability questions before mastering those topics? Again, the answer is NO! Jumping around in such a way will not allow you to gain footing in any one quant or verbal topic. You will feel as though you’re treading water rather than moving forward smoothly and building your knowledge.

So, the structure of your GRE study plan should be to learn one topic at a time, and then practice questions just on that one topic before moving to the next one. Using this method, start with the fundamentals and work your way up to more advanced concepts.

The TTP GRE Study Plan, for example, begins with a chapter on foundational GRE quant skills, including rules on fractions and decimals, basic concepts of exponents and roots, PEMDAS, etc. These topics are presented in individual lessons followed by 2 to 3 questions based on each lesson. So, let’s say a student learns about PEMDAS. Immediately after learning that concept, he would be presented with 2 to 3 PEMDAS questions to ensure comprehension.

Also, following each chapter, students take a series of chapter tests based on the chapter just completed. These tests are broken up into easy, medium, and hard levels.

After each chapter test, detailed analytics are provided. Students can easily review the lessons that gave them issues on the chapter test. Using that data, students can strengthen any weak areas before they move to the next test. Finally, after all tests — easy, medium, and hard — have been completed and reviewed, the student moves to the next quant or verbal topic presented in the study plan.