Studying For Real Life People
As a broke CNA and a mother of a rambunctious toddler, I've done my absolute best to maximize my time and minimize my costs to study for this godforsaken test. This is what I did as someone with not a ton of time nor energy.
Overview of the Graduate Record Examination's Structure
To start any conversation about the GRE, we have to start with the fact that it is an adaptive test. Think of it like a video game. Imagine that Level 1 is the easiest, and Level 2 is the most difficult. The first section you'll do will be a mix of Level 3-4 problems with some Level 2 and Level 5 problems mixed in. The test will see how you do with problems, and it takes into account the levels of said problems. Level 5 questions are harder, but they unlock better score bonuses. Level 1 questions are easier, but they have no bonuses.
Note that the GRE was updated September 22, 2023. The old version was longer, had more sections, and included breaks.
The new version comes in at a slim two hours and removes a few sections:
There is one essay, and the quant section is divided into two parts—and so is the verbal reasoning (reading/vocabulary) section.
When taking the computer test, the essay appears first. After that, the first section of verbal reasoning is presented and then the first section of quantitative reasoning is next. Once the first sections are completed, the test adapts to what it knows about you from the first few sections and presents the second verbal and then the second quant section.
If you have extra time, you may review answers. Extra time does not carry over from one section to the next.
Is the GRE Hard?
Yes.
I would consider myself a fairly intelligent person. I graduated from the College of William & Mary with a 3.4 GPA in Kinesiology & Health Sciences with a concentration in Premedical Studies after obtaining my associates from an early college program that I attended instead of high school for my junior and senior year.
Now, I am dogshit at math, always have been. I'm well aware of this weakness, and I was terrified of the quant section. Shaking-in-my-boots terrified. I blame my middle school algebra teacher who broke her arm at the beginning of the semester, and my school decided to replace her with a revolving door of substitute teachers that knew little to nothing on the subject. I learned nothing. There was one substitute teacher that did not suck and is the only reason I have the awareness of how bad I am at math who was there for two very short sessions. Thank you, Mrs. I-Forgot-Your-Name!
However, I'm a decent, well-read writer, so I was not worried about the essay or the verbal section.
Study Materials
For a good overview of content to assess your weak points, I recommend the GRE Ninja Tutoring course, free on YouTube. This helped me highlight what I needed to study. And in my case, that was all of it.
Another good resource for an overview of concepts and to help you highlight your weak points is the official GRE Math Review from ETS. If one of the questions does not make sense, and you're looking to review an explanation, take a screenshot and use Google's image search. Someone out there will have completed a detailed explanation.
I've also made some Knowt cards on what to memorize as there is no formula sheet.
So, now you know what concepts you need to study. Where can you study them from? I have tried to remain faithful to ETS resources. The ETS Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions book an Appendix A in the back with a fantastic overview of the concepts, a great bang for your buck on time. Note that this book is the first edition—two more have come out in the meantime. However, the only meaningful change of the test is the structure, not the content. This means the concepts and practice questions in this book are still useful.
Notably, though, it's my opinion that these practice questions were more difficult than the test itself. I felt the test was more similar to The Official Guide to the GRE which I mention in more detail below.
Once you're completing practice sets, start timing yourself to see how you'll do with the time constraints of the real GRE:
If you'd like more for free, Reddit has a very popular post about the GRE Big Book: Practicing to Take the General Test from 1996.
From there, I'd recommend checking out the official practice tests from the ETS site. It offers two for free!
Now, if you're looking to spend money on something, I'd shoot for The Official Guide to the GRE.
This book is available at a plethora of sellers, including secondhand ones like ThriftBooks. I am a frugal, frugal person, so this is what I would recommend. In my case, however, I did not want to wait for shipping, so I used a gift card to buy it for an egregious $45 at Barnes & Noble.
If you're broke like me, don't underestimate the power of your public library and torrenting via sites like Library Genesis, as well. At the time of my posting this, LibGen is down, but it comes and goes! Always worth looking into!
Anyway, this book sorts the first few problem sets of each section in order of difficulty. It allows you to gauge where you're sitting and if you're capable of handling easy, medium, or hard problems. If you are aiming for a middle-of-the-road score and can get all the easy questions, most if not all the medium, and some of the hard questions, you're probably going to achieve your goal. If you're aiming for ivy league (over a 160), brush up on the most difficult sets you can get your hands on, like this book and the ETS Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions. I definitely found this book to be closer to the actual thing.
There is a calculator available on screen, but it sucks. It sucks more than any dirty joke you can think of, and certainly more than your mom's vacuum.
Notably, there is no squared or nth power button. The interface is clunky. You can use the computer's keyboard to type instead of clicking the numbers, but that is its only redeeming quality. You can't use the computer keyboard's operations keys, though.
Study mental math tips (Magoosh's GRE Math Tricks: Doubling and Halving, Dividing by 5, Squaring, and Percents!). See what others recommend regarding the calculator (Magoosh's GRE Calculator Tips You Need to Know in 2024!). This is the extent of what I used Magoosh for. I'm sure the free flashcards and other videos are great, though.
Study your exponent rules, PEMDAS, and algebra. Simplify and solve as much as you can before touching that sad excuse for an abacus.
Taking the Test; What to Expect
Before registering for the test, I recommend applying for a fee reduction. Submitting the application was easy, and the response was within a few business days.
I also recommend researching what type of score your program looks for. In my case, the essay should be anywhere from a 3.5 to a 4.5, quant should be around a 151, and verbal should be around a 153. This will help you manage your study goals. If your program admits for average scores of 140, there is no need to torture yourself with the most difficult questions you can find in the resources above.
Flip through this practice test to show you what to expect from the paper-pencil test. However, it should be noted that the test is not offered in this format unless necessary for the student's special accommodations. It may also be offered in this format for some areas where the computer-based exam is not available, like in certain U.S. territories.
The computer-based test can be taken at home or at a formal testing center. When researching which would be best for me, I came across some stories about students whose scores were cancelled after taking it at home. I made the decision to register for an in-person test after learning that because there is no way I will torment myself for two hours just to have said agony count for absolutely nothing. My mom watched my child while my husband went to work, and I got a full tank of gas from Sam's Club. By the way, you can get a discounted membership through Groupon!
At my testing center—which I drove a little over an hour for—I was able to go in, see the office, and use the bathrooms before I started. This was an essential step as I possess nervous bowels.
To check in, I presented my ID, signed a form, received a key to stash my things in a locker, presented my glasses for inspection, got wanded for metal, signed a test book, received my scratch paper and pencils from the proctor, and started the test.
It was not like the SAT where the test is administered via synchronous session. I started twenty minutes before my official time slot, probably because the testing center had open computers.
The test is presented in this order: essay, verbal section I, quant section I, verbal section II, and quant section II. Between sections, there are screens that inform you that you are moving to the next section. Sitting idle on these screens did not count towards my time limit for the section before or after it. The computer had the option to hide the timer which I did not do. The countdown blinked a few times to notify me of the five-minute mark.
At the end, you will be asked if you want to report your scores. this appears before you get a change to see your unofficial scores. Unless you're absolutely positive that a lukewarm corpse would have done better than you, I suggest report them. Otherwise, you've wasted your time and money to stress yourself out for no reason.
Once you've decided to report them, you will have the option to report your scores to two entities: your undergraduate college/university and prospective graduate colleges/universities (up to four). The fees to send your scores to the schools you want to attend are included in the test fee you paid when you registered, so if you know, it sure seems like a good deal.
My Test Results
I'm sure you're all wondering how I did.
First, to add some context, ETS has a table to show scores and percentiles.
Second, it is important to bear in mind what your target score for your program will be when studying. My target score was not very high! Hop off the sack!
Third, bear in mind that I studied very casually—an hour or so a week—for a few months before I got serious. Because I was having a hard time with motivation and time, I just decided to impose a deadline on myself and register for the test. I got serious about my preparation ten days before my test date. Is this the wisest move? Probably not. Did it get my butt in gear to study quant? Absolutely.
I barely studied for the verbal section and the essay. That doesn't mean you should assume that everything will be fine without studying, though. I was a huge nerd for my English and literature classes in high school, and I took pre-AP courses as a freshman and sophomore. For my junior and senior years of high school, I went to college instead at an early college program. I had literature and composition classes taught by college professors at seventeen and eighteen years old, and I adored these classes. In fact, in my composition class, I was a lead editor. During my undergraduate studies, I took medical terminology which helped bolster my already expansive background in word parts (roots, prefixes, suffixes) and fancy schmancy vocabulary. I also have the gift of being a naturally rapid reader.
All I did was look over that section of the The Official Guide to the GRE, drill some vocabulary cards (Barron's 333, Manhattan's 1,000, Kaplan's 52, and my personal set) after my toddler went to bed, time I typically spend watching Reels, and that's about it.
Without further ado, my official scores:
5.0 analytical
151 quant
158 verbal
The official scores rarely change from the unofficial scores. If they do, it's usually by a point or two. In my case, my score did not change
Study Suggestions
So, what do I recommend you do?
Memorize those formulas. Practice writing them out on a blank piece of paper from nothing—no prompts, no hints, just your brain and a blank sheet of paper.
Before you start the test, write them out on your scratch paper. See why I told you to practice? You don't want to have to search your mind's archives in the moment with the clock ticking down. Nerves will confuse you. Do yourself a favor and have a formula regurgitation session before you even start to cross your wires.
The test calculator is trash, absolute trash. Do not rely on it. Do as much math on your own as you can. Practice your mental math. Practice your techniques like long division, multiplying by large numbers, and memorize some fractions' decimal forms. Know your exponent rules, know PEMDAS, know all the things!
Make your mathematical skills instinct. When the timer starts to blink, your brain (if it's anything like mine) will start to stall. Practice as much as you can until techniques become second nature. There really isn't time to think. I was tearing through practice sets with eight to nine minutes to spare for questions I wanted to double-back to, and I still ran out of time on my first quant section to get into the last two questions.
On that note, get fast. I know this seems silly to point out for a timed test, but every second counts. The books I mentioned offer multiple questions per page, which is great, but you're only presented one question at a time on the computer-based test. Precious seconds will be spent clicking between questions.
Do more than I did for the essay section and the verbal section unless you, too, have a passion for the English language and literature as well as an inflated sense of ego on these subjects. Look over what a great essay looks like. Drill some vocabulary. Work on active reading.
Parting Thoughts
Assuming you've stayed with me this long, I'd like to thank you for considering the perspective of little ol' me.
I hope you got something useful from this post, even if it's just some links to some free textbooks.
Let me know how your test went! Let me know what tips you'd pass on to someone else!
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