WHAT'S INCLUDED:
A 24-day schedule of GRE
preparation
Free GRE flashcards, eBooks,
and other resources
A 20% off coupon for
Magoosh's GRE prep!
Table of Contents
Introduction
Your GRE Preparation Game Plan
Essential Study Materials
One-Month GRE Study Plan
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
GRE studying tips for any remaining days
Wait! I want to know more about how to prepare for the GRE in one month!
GRE Preparation Supplemental/Optional Materials
A Few Notes on GRE Study
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Introduction
This Magoosh One Month GRE Study Plan is designed for those of you who are wondering how to
study for the GRE in a short period of time on your own. How can you effectively prepare for the GRE
test at home when you have competing priorities—school, work, family, hobbies—all demanding your
time (and which are likely more tempting to indulge in)? The key is to commit yourself to an established
plan.
We’ve eliminated the guesswork by detailing below exactly what you should do every single day
to
get your highest GRE score in the one month you have before your GRE exam date, along with some
bonus GRE preparation tips. (If you think you need more or less time to study, Magoosh has lots of GRE
study options for you!)
We’re not going to beat around the bush: one month is not a lot of time to prepare for the GRE, but it is
doable if you follow this plan! Here’s how to prepare for the GRE in one month.
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Your GRE Preparation Game Plan
● Step 1: Take a practice test. Find out where you are compared to where you need to be. Taking
a practice GRE exam early on can also help you diagnose problem areas, figure out score goals,
and set priorities.
● Step 2: Get your foundations in place. Familiarize yourself with the test, its format, its question
types, and its scoring.
● Step 3: Set up your schedule. While we have everything you need to prep for the GRE in one
month, you’re the one who needs to decide when and how this fits in with your other priorities.
● Step 4: Practice daily. This includes work on both the GRE Quantitative section and the GRE
Verbal section, GRE vocabulary study, and lessons on GRE-specific strategies.
● Step 5: Test yourself. Complete daily practice questions on the concepts and strategies you’ve
just learned.
● Step 6: Prepare for the full exam. This includes the AWA (writing section)! How to do it?
Weekend essay writing practice and mock GRE practice tests, simulating real test conditions.
● Step 7: Mentally and physically prepare. Get enough sleep, perform confidence-boosting
exercises, and model healthy eating the days before the test.
This outline will guide you to GRE mastery over the next month. It’s a simple formula with proven
success!
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Essential Study Materials
1. Magoosh GRE Prep, including Magoosh GRE lessons and Magoosh GRE practice
2. ETS’s Official Guide to the GRE book: If you already own a 2nd edition of the Official Guide,
don’t feel you have to buy the 3rd edition.
3. ETS’s Free PowerPrep Tests: When you’re done, we offer video explanations here. I highly
recommend using PowerPrep Online if you can, since taking the test on a computer is a good
simulation of exam day conditions.
4. A journal or notebook (yes, a physical hard copy item)
5. Magoosh’s online GRE Flashcards. They’re free and you can use them on the web, on your
iPhone/iPad or Android.
6. Notecards (or Quizlet.com)
7. Magoosh’s GRE Complete Guide: This comprehensive, web-based guide to the GRE gives you
the quick but very helpful overview you need to understand this test. You’ll see how the GRE is
designed and scored, what skills it tests, how to find and use the best GRE prep, and how to
prepare for the GRE’s different sections.
8. A Guide to GRE Practice Test Resources: This page includes instructions on where to find good
full-length GRE practice exams, and how to take practice tests and incorporate them into your
studies. This page also has links to Magoosh’s free GRE diagnostic quizzes.
9. Before you get started, Magoosh’s GRE expert Chris has some tips for how to use this schedule.
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One-Month GRE Study Plan
If you want to sign up for Magoosh today, use this coupon code at checkout for 20% off!
Week 1
* Tasks marked with an asterisk indicate that this resource is only available to Magoosh students—sign
up here for a free trial!
Week 1, Day 1
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ General Introduction to the GRE: 6 minutes
○ What’s on the GRE?: 5 minutes
○ Intro–Math Section Breakdown: 3 minutes
○ Intro—Verbal Section Breakdown: 4 minutes
○ Intro—Scoring Range: 2 minutes
○ Intro—Computer Adaptive Testing: 2 minutes
○ Intro—Skipping Questions and Pacing: 8 minutes
○ Intro—Study Plans and Resources: 3 minutes
○ Intro—Stress Management: 8 minutes
○ Intro—Test Day: 4 minutes
○ Math—Intro to GRE Math: 5 minutes
○ Math—Mental Math: GRE Estimation: 4 minutes *
○ Math—Mental Math: Dividing by 5: 2 minutes *
○ Math–Mental Math: Doubling and Halving: 6 minutes *
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○ Math—Mental Math: Squaring Shortcuts: 12 minutes *
○ Verbal—Intro to Text Completions: 4 minutes
○ Verbal—Elimination Method: 6 minutes *
○ Verbal—Understanding the Sentence: 4 minutes
If the content in the video is new to you or relatively unclear, take notes on it in your journal. If the
content is very familiar, feel free to click ahead to the summary at the end, just to verify that you
understand it all.
Week 1, Day 2
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Number Sense: 10 minutes
○ Math—The Use and Abuse of Formulas: 2 minutes *
○ Math—Learn From Your Mistakes: 4 minutes *
○ Math–Intro to Quantitative Comparison: 13 minutes
○ Math—QC Strategies—Estimation: 10 minutes *
○ Math—QC Strategies—Matching Operations: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Properties of Real Numbers: 8 minutes *
○ Math—Positive and Negative Numbers I: 6 minutes *
○ Math—Mental Math, Addition, and Subtraction: 6 minutes
○ Math— Positive and Negative Numbers II: 10 minutes *
○ Verbal—Difficult Words: 9 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 10 Multiple Choice Questions: 19 minutes *
○ 15 Quantitative Comparison Questions: 18 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
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NOTE: If you are close to finishing a module you want to finish, feel free to move a lesson or two up a
day or back a day so you can finish the module. As long as you are reading these average numbers,
some give-and-take is fine. Also, when you get to the end of a module, take the quiz, and keep
reviewing until you pass the quiz.
Notice you are doing ALL topics from the get-go, whether you have already studied these or not.
This means that you will make some mistakes at the beginning: see this post on a
productive
attitude toward making mistakes
. If, after a week or so of practice, you find that there is simply too
much new material for you, then narrow your studies to those topics you’re more actively studying
plus one or two that you’re unfamiliar with. You should be constantly challenged. If you do narrow
the topics of study, expand back to as wide a scope as possible as quickly as possible.
NOTE: For all math, you will be doing mixed practice. The temptation is to work on what you are
studying at the moment, but that fails to simulate real test conditions. You don’t really understand a
concept until you can answer a question about it in mixed practice. At the beginning, we know you
will make mistakes on topics that you haven’t studied in depth yet, and that’s OK. See this post on
having a productive attitude toward mistakes. If you make mistakes at the beginning and study them
well, that will prime your mind for deeper understanding when you learn more about those concepts
in the lessons.
Week 1, Day 3
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Order of Operations: 11 minutes *
○ Math—Intro to Decimals: 11 minutes
○ Math—Rounding: 6 minutes *
○ Math—Multiples of 10: 9 minutes *
○ Math—Intro to Fractions: 11 minutes
○ Math—Conversions: Fractions and Decimals: 8 minutes *
○ Math—Fraction Properties I: 8 minutes
○ Math—Comparing Fractions I: 10 minutes *
○ Math—Comparing Fractions II (Advanced): 10 minutes *
○ Math—Operations with Fractions: 8 minutes *
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○ Verbal—Simplifying Complex Sentences: 6 minutes
○ Verbal—Testing the Answer Choices: 3 minutes *
○ Quiz: Text Completion Overview: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—Intro to No Shift Sentences: 3 minutes
○ Verbal—Cause and Effect: 5 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
○ 17 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
NOTE: If each day’s work is taking a long time, trim the number of questions in each section, rather
than cutting one question type completely. If you must, reduce quantities, but always retain the
diversity in your practice.
Week 1, Day 4
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Fraction Properties II: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Mixed Numerals and Improper Fractions: 10 minutes *
○ Math—Operations with Proportions: 6 minutes *
○ Math—Word Problems with Fractions: 3 minutes
○ Quiz: Arithmetic and Fractions: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Intro to Percents: 5 minutes
○ Math—Working with Percents: 3 minutes *
○ Math—Number Sense and Percents: 4 minutes *
○ Math—Percent Increases and Decreases: 10 minutes *
○ Math—Sequential Percent Changes: 6 minutes
○ Math—Simple and Compound Interest: 13 minutes *
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○ Verbal—Elaboration Sentence: 4 minutes *
○ Verbal—Apposition: 2 minutes
○ Verbal—Intro to Sentence Shifts: 4 minutes
○ Quiz: Text Completion—No Shifts: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—More Reversers: 2 minutes
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 10 Multiple Choice Questions: 19 minutes *
○ 15 Quantitative Comparison Questions: 18 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 1, Day 5
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Intro to Ratios: 9 minutes
○ Math—Combining Ratios: 11 minutes *
○ Math—Ratios and Rates: 6 minutes *
○ Quiz: Percents and Ratios: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Divisibility: 10 minutes *
○ Math—Divisibility Rules: 8 minutes
○ Math—Multiples: 8 minutes *
○ Math—Prime Numbers: 6 minutes *
○ Math—Prime Factorization: 8 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Counting Factors of Large Numbers: 12 minutes *
○ Math—Squares of Integers: 5 minutes *
○ Verbal—Double Shifts: 3 minutes
○ Verbal-Time Shifts: 4 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Shifts in Perception: 2 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Multiple Shifts: 4 minutes *
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● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Bonus: Download and start reading the Magoosh GRE eBook. Continue reading whenever you have
the time over the course of the next two weeks.
Week 1, Day 6
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Greatest Common Factor: 5 minutes *
○ Math—Least Common Multiple: 9 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) GCD LCM Formula: 5 minutes *
○ Math—Even and Odd Integers: 10 minutes *
○ Math—Testing Cases: 5 minutes *
○ Writing—Intro to Analytical Writing Section (AWA): 5 minutes
○ Writing—Essay Organization: 3 minutes *
○ Writing—Writing Tips: 12 minutes *
○ Writing—Time Management: 4 minutes
○ Writing—Intro to Issue Task: 7 minutes
○ Writing—Issue Task Example: 12 minutes *
○ Writing—Intro to Argument Task: 3 minutes
○ Writing—Logical Fallacies: 9 minutes
○ Writing—Argument Task Brainstorming: 6 minutes *
○ Writing—Argument Task Example: 9 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 1 Issue Task Essay: 30 minutes *
○ 1 Argument Task Essay: 30 minutes *
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Today, you are going to write two essays, half an hour each. You will write one Issue essay and one
Argument essay.
The good news is that any prompt that you could possibly see test day is already on the ETS website:
the pool of possible Issue prompts and the pool of the possible Argument prompts.
For each essay, you can choose the essay prompt at random from the respective pool, or you might
want to choose an essay topic that seems challenging to you. Write the essay in a word processing
program. If you can turn off the spell check all the better–you won’t have the luxury of spell check test
day. For each essay, hold yourself to a strict 30 time limit.
Now that you have these essays, what do you do with them? If you have a friend or mentor who is a
gifted writer, ask them to read the essays for you and critique them. If they are willing, you can show
them the assessment criteria in the Official Guide, and ask them to follow it. If you can afford it, hire a
writing coach or writing tutor: show that tutor the assessment criteria in the OG, and have them give
you feedback. If you can’t afford a writing tutor and can’t convince anyone else to read it, you may try
posting them on TheGradCafe, and see whether an expert there will critique your essay. Failing any of
these options, at least you can set the essays aside, and in a couple days re-read them with the Official
Guide’s rubric beside you.
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Week 2
Week 2, Day 1
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Consecutive Integers: 9 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Remainders: 11 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Integer Properties Strategies: 6 minutes *
○ Quiz: Integer Properties: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Intro to Algebra: 7 minutes
○ Math—Simplifying Expressions: 6 minutes *
○ Math—Multiplying Expressions: 7 minutes *
○ Math—FOIL Method: 8 minutes
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Factoring—GFC: 5 minutes *
○ Math—Factoring: Difference of Two Squares: 12 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Factoring—Quadratics: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—False Contrast: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—Deviating From the Norm: 5 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Reverse Apposition: 2 minutes *
○ Quiz: Text Completion—Sentence Shifts: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—Intro to Double Blank Sentences: 7 minutes
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 2, Day 2
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Factoring—Combined: 4 minutes
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Advanced Numerical Factoring: 7 minutes *
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○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Factoring—Rational Expressions: 5 minutes *
○ Basic Equation Solving: 6 minutes *
○ Math—Eliminating Fractions: 9 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Quadratic Equations: 8 minutes *
○ Math—Two Equations, Two Unknowns—1: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Two Equations, Two Unknowns—II: 10 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—System—Number of Solutions: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Three Equations with Three Unknowns: 9 minutes *
○ Verbal—Multiple Sentences: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—Relationship Between Blanks: 3 minutes *
○ Verbal—Back to Back Blanks: 5 minutes *
○ Verbal—Other Blank is the Clue: 5 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 10 Multiple Choice Questions: 19 minutes *
○ 15 Quantitative Comparison Questions: 18 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 2, Day 3
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Absolute Value Equations: 10 minutes
○ Math—Function Notation: 12 minutes *
○ Math—Strange Operators: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Inequalities—I: 13 minutes *
○ Math—Inequalities—II: 11 minutes *
○ Math—Absolute Value Inequalities: 9 minutes *
○ Math—Simplifying with Substitutions: 5 minutes *
○ Quiz: Algebra, Equations, and Inequalities: 7 minutes *
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○ Math—Intro to Word Problems: 1 minute
○ Math—Assigning Variables: 9 minutes
○ Math—Writing Equations: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Advanced Double Blanks: 5 minutes *
○ Quiz: Text Completion—Double Blanks: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—Intro to Triple Blank Sentences: 4 minutes
○ Verbal—Long Triple Blank Sentences: 5 minutes *
○ Verbal—Beware of Counterintuitive Choices: 3 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 2, Day 4
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Number of Variables: 8 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Age Questions: 5 minutes *
○ Math—Intro to Motion Questions: 9 minutes
○ Math—Average Speed: 10 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Multiple Traveler Questions: 9 minutes *
○ Math—Shrinking and Expanding Gaps: 12 minutes *
○ Math—Work Questions: 9 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Growth and Decay: 4 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Mixture Questions: 10 minutes *
○ Math—Intro to Sets and Venn Diagrams: 9 minutes
○ Verbal—One Sentence Triple Blank: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Advanced Triple Blanks: 9 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Hidden Clues: 3 minutes *
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○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Multiple Word Answers: 4 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 10 Multiple Choice Questions: 19 minutes *
○ 15 Quantitative Comparison Questions: 18 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 2, Day 5
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Double Matrix Method: 9 minutes
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Three Criteria Venn Diagrams: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Intro to Sequences: 7 minutes
○ Math—Arithmetic Sequences: 8 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Recursive Sequences: 10 minutes *
○ Math—Inclusive Counting: 4 minutes *
○ Math—Sums of Sequences: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Backsolving: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Picking Numbers: 13 minutes *
○ Verbal—Working Backwards: 6 minutes *
○ Quiz: Text Completion–Triple Blanks: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal–Intro to Sentence Equivalence: 3 minutes
○ Verbal—Synonymous Sentences I: 4 minutes *
○ Verbal—Synonymous Sentences II: 4 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
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○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 2, Day 6
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 1 Essay (start a practice test and skip other sections) *
○ 1 Essay (start a practice test and skip other sections) *
1) Today, you are going to write two essays, half an hour each. You will write one Issue essay and one
Argument essay.
For topics, go back to the topic pools on the ETS website, and pick a topic. Write the essays in Word.
When done, share the essays with a trusted friend/mentor, or post in TheGradCafe, or set aside and
critique it yourself with the Official Guide rubric in a few days.
2) In the Official Guide:
a) do the Verbal Reasoning Practice Sets 1-6
b) do the Quantitative Reasoning Practice Sets 1-4
Treat this as a mock GRE. You might even combine it with the two essays, and do consecutive batches
2-3 sets without interruption, to simulate more effectively a real GRE. Set a timer for the time limits.
Here are the time limits to observe:
Verbal Reasoning Set 1 = 9 minutes
Verbal Reasoning Set 2 = 10 minutes
Verbal Reasoning Set 3 = 9 minutes
Verbal Reasoning Set 4 = 10 minutes
Verbal Reasoning Set 5 = 10 minutes
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Verbal Reasoning Set 6 = 10 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning Set 1 = 22 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning Set 2 = 23 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning Set 3 = 24 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning Set 4 = 11 minutes
After you are done, check all your answers. For any question you got right, skim the explanation to
verify that you got it right for the right reason. For any question you got wrong, read the explanation
thorough, taking notes in your journal on any concepts you didn’t understand and anything about the
question format that psyched you out. If you still can’t make sense of the question after reading the
explanation, email us at Magoosh.
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Week 3
Week 3, Day 1
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Quiz: Word Problems: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Intro to Exponents: 9 minutes
○ Math—Exponential Growth: 8 minutes *
○ Math—Law of Exponents—I: 12 minutes *
○ Math—Negative Exponents: 11 minutes *
○ Math—Law of Exponents—II: 10 minutes *
○ Math—Units Digit Questions: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Square Roots: 14 minutes *
○ Math—Other Roots: 11 minutes *
○ Math—Properties of Roots: 4 minutes *
○ Verbal—Read Carefully—I: 2 minutes
○ Verbal—Read Carefully—II: 2 minutes *
○ Verbal—Difficult Words in Sentence Equivalence: 4 minutes *
○ Quiz: Sentence Equivalence: 7 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 10 Multiple Answer Questions *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 3, Day 2
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Simplifying Roots: 7 minutes
○ Math—Operations with Roots: 12 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Equations with Square Roots: 9 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Fractional Exponents: 7 minutes *
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○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Exponential Equations: 6 minutes *
○ Math—Rationalizing: 13 minutes *
○ Math—Working with Formulas: 10 minutes *
○ Quiz: Powers and Roots: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Lines and Angles: 16 minutes *
○ Math—Triangles—Part I: 11 minutes *
○ Math—Assumptions & Estimation: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—Flashcards: 4 minutes
○ Verbal—Word Roots: 11 minutes
○ Verbal—Mnemonics: 8 minutes
○ Verbal—Reading in Context: 10 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 10 Multiple Choice Questions: 19 minutes *
○ 15 Quantitative Comparison Questions: 18 minutes *
○ 10 Multiple Answer Questions *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 3, Day 3
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Geometry Strategies—Part I: 3 minutes
○ Math—Triangles—Part II: 14 minutes *
○ Math—Right Triangles: 13 minutes *
○ Math—Similar Triangles: 11 minutes *
○ Math—Special Right Triangles: 11 minutes *
○ Math—Quadrilaterals: 17 minutes *
○ Math—Area of Quadrilaterals: 6 minutes *
○ Math—Polygons: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Regular Polygons: 7 minutes *
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○ Math—Circles: 6 minutes *
○ Verbal—Active Usage: 8 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Vocabulary Games: 8 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—The Thesaurus: 3 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Vocabulary in Questions: 2 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 10 Numeric Entry Questions: 19 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 3, Day 4
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Circle Properties: 12 minutes
○ Math—Circles, Arcs, and Sectors: 6 minutes *
○ Math—Volume and Surface Area: 12 minutes *
○ Math—Units of Measurement: 8 minutes *
○ Math—Geometry Strategies—Part II: 4 minutes *
○ Quiz: Geometry: 7 minutes *
○ Math—The Coordinate Plane: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Graphing Lines: 5 minutes *
○ Math—Vertical and Horizontal Lines: 9 minutes *
○ Math—Slope: 16 minutes *
○ Math—Intercepts: 6 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Obscure Vocabulary: 3 minutes *
○ Verbal—Improving Verbal Score: 8 minutes *
○ Verbal—Intro to Reading Comprehension: 8 minutes
○ Verbal—The Short Passage: 8 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
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○ 10 Multiple Choice Questions: 19 minutes *
○ 15 Quantitative Comparison Questions: 18 minutes *
○ 10 Numeric Entry Questions: 19 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 3, Day 5
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—Slope-Intercept Form: 7 minutes
○ Math—Writing Equations of Lines: 11 minutes *
○ Math—Distance Between Two Points: 8 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Lesson: Math—Reflections in the x-y Plane: 9 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Graphs of Quadratics: 7 minutes *
○ Quiz: Coordinate Geometry: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Mean, Median, Mode: 9 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—More on Mean and Median: 4 minutes *
○ Math—Weighted Averages I: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Weighted Averages II (Advanced): 8 minutes *
○ Math—Range and Standard Deviation: 16 minutes *
○ Verbal—Active Reading: 17 minutes *
○ Verbal—How to Answer a GRE Question: 8 minutes *
○ Verbal—Answer Traps: 12 minutes *
○ Verbal—Primary Purpose: 7 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
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○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 3, Day 6
Take a full-length practice test. If you’re not a Magoosh student, you can use the free GRE practice
exam on our site!
For the two essay questions, write the essays in a word processing program. These essays you will
either share with a trusted friend or mentor, or post in the online forums asking for feedback, or critique
later with the Official Guide rubric.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between
sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your
sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and
what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations
in your journal.
You can take a short break when you are done, but before too long, grade the entire thing while it is
still fresh in your mind. Study the solutions for any problems you got wrong, and right observations in
your journal.
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Week 4
Week 4, Day 1
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—More Standard Deviation: 17 minutes
○ Math—Normal Distribution: 11 minutes *
○ Math—Quartiles and Boxplots: 13 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—More on Boxplots: 5 minutes *
○ Math—Percentiles: 9 minutes *
○ Quiz: Statistics: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Introduction to Counting: 4 minutes
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Fundamental Counting Principle: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—FCP with Restrictions: 4 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Factorial Notation: 4 minutes *
○ Verbal—Inference Questions: 9 minutes *
○ Verbal—Detail Questions: 5 minutes *
○ Verbal—Vocabulary-In-Context: 5 minutes *
○ Verbal—Select the Sentence: 3 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 4, Day 2
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Alternative Methods: 9 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Counting with Identical Items: 6 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Eliminating Repetition: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Combinations: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—When to Use Combinations: 9 minutes *
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○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Calculating Combinations: 10 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Permutations and Combinations: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Counting Strategies: 3 minutes *
○ Quiz: Counting: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Intro to Probability: 5 minutes
○ Math—Complementary Events and Simple Rules: 3 minutes *
○ Math—Multiple Answer Questions: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Multiple Answer Questions—Inference: 8 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Structure Questions: 5 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Advanced Question Types: 6 minutes *
○ Quiz: Reading Comprehension: 7 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 10 Multiple Choice Questions: 19 minutes *
○ 15 Quantitative Comparison Questions: 18 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 4, Day 3
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Mutually Exclusive Events: 2 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Probability of Event A OR Event B: 3 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Examples of the OR Rules: 2 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Independent Events: 6 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Examples of the AND Rule: 4 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Generalized AND Rule: 3 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Examples of Generalized AND Rule: 7 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Binomial Situation: 8 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Analyzing Questions: 8 minutes
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○ Verbal—Elements of the Argument: 6 minutes
○ Verbal—Weakening the Argument: 14 minutes *
○ Verbal—Strengthening the Argument: 5 minutes *
○ Verbal—Assumption Questions: 9 minutes *
○ Verbal—Wrong Answer Choices: 6 minutes *
○ Verbal—The Paradox Argument: 4 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Bold-Faced Arguments: 13 minutes *
○ Verbal—Don’t Forget the Conclusion: 4 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Eliminating All the Answers: 6 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Verbal—Numbers vs. Percents: 3 minutes
○ Quiz: Paragraph Argument: 7 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Sentence Equivalence Questions: 8 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 4, Day 4
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Using Counting Techniques: 5 minutes *
○ Math—Listing vs. Counting vs. Probability Rules: 6 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—General Probability Strategies: 4 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Guessing Strategies: 5 minutes *
○ Quiz: Probability: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Intro to Data Interpretation: 2 minutes *
○ Math—Data Interpretation Strategy: 8 minutes *
○ Math—Types of DI Graphs: 12 minutes *
○ Math—Scatter Plots: 10 minutes *
○ (OPTIONAL) Math—Unconventional Graphs: 10 minutes *
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○ Quiz: Data Interpretation: 7 minutes *
○ Math—QC Questions & Inequalities: 12 minutes *
○ Math—Lesson of Your Choice: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Lesson of Your Choice: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—Lesson of Your Choice: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—Lesson of Your Choice: 7 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 10 Multiple Choice Questions: 19 minutes *
○ 15 Quantitative Comparison Questions: 18 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 4, Day 5
● Watch the following lesson videos:
○ Math—QC Strategies—Picking Numbers: 18 minutes
○ Math—QC Questions & Algebra: 10 minutes *
○ Math—QC Questions & Geometry: 15 minutes *
○ Math—QC Questions & Integer Properties: 9 minutes *
○ Math—Summary of QC Strategies: 4 minutes *
○ Quiz: Advanced QC Strategies: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Lesson of Your Choice: 7 minutes *
○ Math—Lesson of Your Choice: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—Lesson of Your Choice: 7 minutes *
○ Verbal—Lesson of Your Choice: 7 minutes *
● Do the following practice questions:
○ 20 Multiple Choice Questions: 38 minutes *
○ 3 Data Interpretation Questions: 4 minutes *
○ 10 Text Completion Questions: 10 minutes *
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○ 10 Reading Comprehension Questions: 17 minutes *
Bonus: Using Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, begin and master a new deck, if possible. Spend 10 – 30
minutes reviewing previous decks, completing any that are started but not yet mastered.
Week 4, Day 6
Take a full-length practice test. *
Today, you are going to take the PowerPrep test on your computer.
As much as possible, try to mimic the GRE conditions. Give yourself relatively short breaks in between
sections. Only eat the kinds of snacks that you are planning to bring to the real GRE. Note how your
sleep the night before affects your work. Note how what you had for dinner the previous night and
what you had to eat earlier that day affects your energy level and concentration. Write any observations
in your journal.
At the end, copy the essays you wrote into a Word doc, and as before, these you will share with a
trusted friend or mentor, or post in the online forums asking for feedback, or critique later with the
Official Guide rubric. Give yourself a short break when the test is done, and then check all your work,
studying carefully the questions you got wrong.As always, try to mimic the GRE conditions.
At the end, copy the essays you wrote into a Word doc, and as before, these you will share with a
trusted friend or mentor, or post in the online forums asking for feedback, or critique later with the
Official Guide rubric. Give yourself a short break when the test is done, and then check all your work,
studying carefully the questions you got wrong.
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GRE studying tips for any remaining days
● Keep working on GRE math and verbal every day. Need suggestions for how to stay focused?
Read on!
● Keep watching 10-12 Magoosh videos a day. Go back and re-watch any videos in which you
think you need to learn the topic more thoroughly.
● You should have answered most of the Magoosh questions at this point; you can finish any
remaining questions. You can try again Magoosh questions that you have already answered,
and see if you do better on the question the second time around.
● Keep drilling your stack of vocab cards every day.
● There’s a second PowerPrep test you can take on the computer. There’s also another paper
GRE in the back of the OG: even if you don’t take that under “test like” conditions, it still would
be good to work through all the problems.
Day Before the GRE Exam:
1. No GRE preparation all day
2. Eat a large, healthy, leisurely dinner – no alcohol!
3. Go to bed earlier than usual.
Day of the GRE:
1. ABSOLUTELY NO LAST MINUTE GRE PREPARATION!
2. Eat a large breakfast, full of protein.
3. Do relaxing, fun activities to pass the time until the test.
Bring to the GRE test:
1. A liter of water
2. Healthy energy-packed snacks (nuts, protein bar, etc.)
3. On breaks, make sure to get up, move & stretch – moving & stretching the large muscles of the
body (legs & torso) will get oxygen flowing throughout, which will help keep you awake and
keep you thinking clearly.
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Wait! I want to know more about how to prepare for the GRE
in one month!
Not done yet? Fabulous! We have even more suggestions for how to boost your GRE score in a month.
Check out the resources below to get that score sky-high.
GRE Preparation Supplemental/Optional Materials
● PowerPrep PLUS. At $39.99 each, these two tests are pricey; make use of the free PowerPrep
tests before you invest in these!
● The books of official questions: The Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions and
The Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions. If you are need more high quality
practice questions, these are excellent sources!
● Easy magazines: Time
, Newsweek
, Scientific American
(start low…but not too low; these
magazines are still filled with decent content)
● Difficult magazines: The Atlantic
, The New Yorker
, The Economist
● Vocabulary.com: provides conversational example sentences and a flood of example sentences
● Dictionary.com: gives you little quizzes & games to add some variety to vocab learning
● Magoosh GRE Prep App on iPhone or Android, for mobile practice
● One volume of the Manhattan GRE series: if you know one area or question type is particularly
difficult for you, and you can fit some outside reading into this already intense schedule, then it
might be worthwhile to buy one volume of this 8-volume set. Any one volume would also give
you access to their online resources, including one free practice test.
A Few Notes on GRE Study
A note on learning GRE vocabulary
: first of all, it’s important not only to learn the literal dictionary
definition (the denotation), but also to understand the metaphorical use of the word in context (the
connotation). For example, the word “opaque” literally means “not transparent”, but metaphorically it
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can means “hard to understand” or, describing a person, it can mean “thick-headed, stupid.” Ultimately,
you should strive to learn both the denotation and the connotation of each word.
Daily review of vocab is vital.
I wrote this schedule recommending the Magoosh’s GRE Flashcards, but
DO NOT limit yourself to just these words. As you read and find more words you don’t know, look them
up, make flashcards (including context), and make your own flashcard decks. You could have one pile
for words whose denotation you are trying to master, another containing words for which you know the
denotation but not the connotation, and a “done” stack that gets reviewed only rarely.
A note on the prep books:
Don’t write in any of the test prep books, because for any of them, after a
period of time you may want to go back and do a problem again that you haven’t seen for a while. You
can only start it fresh if the page is free of your marks.
This one-month plan is a furiously intense pace, designed to have a person improve as much as
possible in a month’s time. It’s not your high school level, 30 minutes a night study plan; this is the big
league, graduate school level. I have designed four weeks, assuming 2-4 hours for each of the five
weekdays, and one 5-6 stint on the weekend (“Day Six”). If you would prefer to work on both weekend
days, and free up some weeknight time, feel free to make those changes. Note: Many folks find that
each day’s assignments take 2-4 hours, although times to complete them will vary for different
students. It is possible that a day’s assignments will take significantly longer, and you may have to
devote longer weekend sessions to finishing the week’s work.
Also, as much as possible, get enough sleep during this month. REM sleep plays an important role in
encoding long term memory, and in an eight hour period of sleep, the last hour has the most REM. If
you are getting 7 hours/night instead of 8 hours/night, you are depriving your brain of one of its most
powerful systems for learning and remembering. Caffeine and energy drinks will keep you feeling
awake if you don’t get enough sleep, but they don’t do bupkis to replace the lost opportunity to encode
more information into long term memory.
A note about additional materials:
Magoosh contains all the information test takers need for wild success on the exam so they can get the
school admission letters they want. Many students have achieved spectacular results using nothing but
Magoosh—no GRE tutors, no extra books required. Nevertheless, we are recommending that you
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obtain additional materials and use them, in addition to the Magoosh materials. Here’s why: These
plans were structured with far-reaching pedagogical principles in mind, and a deep consideration for
how the human brain learns. Most people cannot hear or read something just once and, from that
single hearing, remember it completely and understand it fully.
At Magoosh, we are very ambitious for our students; we want them to learn as thoroughly and as
masterfully as possible. We recommend using these additional resources to provide additional practice,
alternative explanations, and extra review. Not every student will need or want additional materials, but
for those who do, the books we recommend are the best for the overall goal of doing very well on the
exam and getting your target scores.
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