For those who are determined and ambitious, the 30 day study guide plan is great, as long as you have the time to put in. Remember, this is an aggressive plan, and you will need to be able to dedicate, on average, 2-3 hours a day. Also, if you are an Algebra wizard or a vocabulary champion, feel free to skip the sections you know you don’t need to review: this guide can be customized to your strengths and weaknesses.

Essential Materials:

• The ETS Official GRE guide
• GRE Math Review.
• ETS’s PowerPrep 2.0 Software (Test 1 and Test 2)
If you would prefer to take the practice test on paper, you can print out ETS’s practice test PDF. Take note that the Poweprep software and the paper-based test have overlapping material, so it won’t be of much help to do both, unless you space them out far enough so that you won’t recognize the questions and answers! I recommend using the Powerprep software if you can, since taking the test on a computer is a better simulation of test day conditions. Also, PowerPrep 2.0 comes with two tests. The PDF is only one test, which overlaps with Test 2 from the PowerPrep 2.0 Software.
• Magoosh’s online GRE Flashcards. They’re free and you can use them on the web, on your iPhone/iPad or Android!
• Vocabulary.com
• Index Cards (Quizlet.com)
• Stopwatch or Timer
Supplemental/Optional Materials:
• One of the Manhattan GRE Guides (give access to on-line practice tests)
• GRE Prep companies like Magoosh, GRE Edge etc.

Week 1

Primary Goals:
• Brush up on math fundamentals
• Learn basics for approaching verbal questions
• Read two articles from recommended resources
• Learn 150 new words (Remember the importance of context)

Secondary Goals
Math
Do all of the Arithmetic, Percents, and Ratios problems and Powers and Roots Lessons from GRE Guide.
Go through every easy and medium question relating to Arithmetic, Percents, Ratios and Powers and Roots. Be able to answer each missed question accurately
Additional questions relating to the different concepts can be found in the GRE guide.

Verbal
Practice 30 Text Completion Questions at Easy to Medium Difficulty
Watch Reading Comp Lessons up to Wrong Answers – II.
Practice approximately 30+ questions from Reading Comp practice questions.
Make flashcards out of words you did not know, and reference vocabulary.com

Supplemental/Optional:
Read two articles from the New Yorker/Atlantic Monthly/Economist. Find fifty words you do not know. Reference in vocabulary.com and make flashcards on Quizlet.com (articles should be 4 – 15 pages).
Write a quick summary/review of one of the two articles you wrote, threading GRE words you learnt that week (can come from any of the sources, e.g. lesson, questions, etc) and apply them where appropriate. (Exercising your writing muscle will also hope with AWA).

Week 2

Primary Goals:
Learn 150 new vocabulary words while reviewing words from previous week.
Make sure you are confident in the lessons covered from week 1. Revisit whenever you feel you’ll need a refresher. Many concepts from this week will build off of last week.

Secondary Goals:
Work through Algebra, Coordinate Geometry, and Geometry concepts .
Try 100+ practice questions dealing with these concepts (yep, that’s at least 100. I told you this study plan is not for the meek!).
Complete 75+ questions from Text Completions, Sentence Equivalence, and Reading Comprehension.
Take PowerPrep 2.0 Test 1

Supplemental/Optional:
Read two articles. This time, make sure content is different. If you read something from science last week, focus on business. Or history, or social commentary. Write two reviews for this week. Remember to thread in any GRE vocabulary words you have learnt since beginning of this study guide.
Take Practice Test 1 from the GRE Official Guide 2nd. edition. Review your mistakes .Those who are very ambitious, or looking to score above 80%, also take a Manhattan GRE online practice test (these tend to be sightly more difficult than the actual GRE test).

Week 3

Primary Goals:
Complete all math modules except probability
Customize sessions to focus on areas where you need the most work
Learn 200 hundred new words for this week
Revisit lessons in which you struggled or in which you continue to miss questions, e.g. if you struggle with Data Interpretation and Paragraph Argument, make sure to re-watch lessons and then do follow-up questions

Secondary Goals:
Quiz yourself on vocabulary from the first two weeks. Total 300 words. Try 50 words at random. A passing rate is 80%.
Complete 150 math problems based on those areas in which you need the most practice
Complete another 75+ Verbal questions

Supplemental/Optional:
Read three articles – the more challenging the better. Make sure you are getting your vocabulary from here, as well as from practice questions. Attempt to use 25 GRE vocabulary words in a 3-page review and summary of all three articles.
Take a full-length PowerPrep Test (Test 1). For high scorers, take another Manhattan GRE practice test (two if you are very motivated).
Use Manhattan GRE/ETS Official Guide 2nd. edition for extra practice

Week 4

You are in the home stretch…you have done a good job getting this far, but now you need to really push full-steam ahead.

Primary Goals:
Feel confident in your approach to the different types of questions
Prepare yourself, as much as possible, for the high-pressure environment of the actual test
Start doing the hard questions (and very hard, if you’ve answered more than 70% of Manhattan GRE questions correctly)

Secondary Goals
Create mock tests from any prep companies you have bought, doing 20 questions at a time for a mock verbal section. Get your timer and give yourself 35 minutes. Even if you’ve seen questions before it doesn’t matter. Do them again.
Take a total of 4 mock verbal sections. Try to do at least two of them back to back with alternating math sections.
For math you will want to do 25 questions, giving yourself a total of 40 minutes per section. You will want to do at least four timed sections. If possible see if you can do six

At the end of each section tabulate your score to see how you are doing
Learn 150 new words. You can review every Magoosh vocabulary blog post, and make sure you know all the words (They are very useful)
Take a final vocabulary quiz, testing yourself on 600 words you’ve learnt
Take PowerPrep 2.0 Test 2
Supplemental/Optional
For the high achievers take another Manhattan GRE test
Recommendations:
Get a good night’s sleep before the test.

Do your best to follow this list, and you will improve dramatically in a very short time. Again, if you can’t commit the hours to this study plan, you may want to consider postponing your test.