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90 Day GRE Study Plan for Beginners

By MIKE on March 5, 2012 in Study Guides and Plans

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OK, you are starting more or less from scratch, and you want to prepare for the GRE in 90 days. You need a

strategic plan to organize yourself. I designed four different versions of the 90 Day Plan, and I need you to

Elizabeth just scored a 339. See how. Click here



start with a little self-diagnosis. Which sounds most like you?

90 Day GRE Study Plan for Beginners: Help! Math and verbal both scare the living bejeebers out

of me! I need all the help and support I can get! Help!

90 Day GRE Study Plan (Math Focused): I have a natural affinity with the verbal, but the math is far less

intuitive for me. I would like to focus more there.

90 Day GRE Study Plan (Verbal Focused): Me a math nerd. Me think all math easy. Me have big verbal

problems. One day, me will talk good.

90 Day GRE Study Plan for Advanced Students: I actually feel reasonably comfortable with math & verbal;

if I took the test today, Id get around 600-650. Im interested in refining my understanding, and getting

into the upper 700s region in the next twelve weeks.

90 Day GRE Study Plan for Beginners

Essential Materials:

Magoosh GRE Prep

ETSs Official Guide to the GRE book (+ our free video explanations)

ETSs PowerPrep Software: If you are a Mac user that cant use ETSs Poweprep, or would prefer to take

the practice test on paper, you can print out ETSs practice test PDF (with video explanations here).

Take note that the Poweprep software and the paper-based test have overlapping material, so it wont be

of much help to do both, unless you space them out far enough so that you wont recognize the

questions and answers! I recommend using the Poweprep software if you can, since taking the test on a

computer is a better simulation of exam day conditions.

Subscribe to the Sunday New York Times (NYT), online or print

Reading material: this may be any non-fiction scholarly book, history and social science preferable. You

may also choose one of the recommended magazines: Scientific American, Atlantic Monthly, The New

Yorker, National Geographic, The Economist. You are reading (a) to build your reading comprehension

skills, (b) to refine your understanding of grammar and usage, and (c) to expand your vocabulary.

a journal or notebook (yes, a physical hard copy item)

Notecards

Supplemental/Optional Materials:

Any of the steps listed in the schedule for the materials below are purely for extra practice, so they are to be

done as optional tasks if you have extra time.

Any one volume of the Manhattan GRE books. Its an eight-volume set, so buy as much as you think will

help you and as you can afford. One of the purposes of getting one book is to get the code in the back,

to register and get access to six GRE tests online.

Barrons 1100 Words You Need to Know: a good starting point for learning GRE vocabulary

McGraw-Hills Conquering the New GRE Math: this book is for those struggling with the very basics of

math, folks who are sheer panic over almost anything mathematical. I assume that is relevant for you,

since you are following this plan.

Manhattan GRE 500 Essential Words Flash Card set another good starting point for learning GRE

vocabulary

Quizlet.com: gives you online access to flashcards, making it easier, say, to quiz yourself on your mobile

device

WordSmart: very basic level 1 definition of words with simple sentences

Dictionary.com: very good example sentences with definition

Wordnik.com: provides a flood of example sentences

Word Dynamo (Dictionary.com): give you little quizzes & games to add some variety to vocab learning

Magoosh iPhone/Android app, for mobile practice



A note on learning GRE vocabulary: first of all, its 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 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.

Nothing beats physical stacks of flashcards: 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. Daily review of vocab is vital. I wrote this schedule recommending the

Barrons 1100 Words as a basic word list, but if you have another vocab list you would like use as your starting

point, use that. DO NOT limit yourself to just the Barrons words, or just the MGRE words. AS YOU READ and

find more words you dont know, look them up, make flash cards (including context), and mix them into your

piles.

A note on the prep books: Dont 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 havent seen for a while. You can only

start it fresh if the page is free of your marks.

This 90-day plan is demands a manageable pace that must be followed diligently so things dont get out of

hand. Its designed to have you improve as much as you can improve in a three month period. I have designed

twelve weeks, assuming 1-2 hours for each of the five weekdays, and one 4-5 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.

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 dont get enough sleep,

but they dont do bupkis to replace the lost opportunity to encode more information into long term memory.

Abbreviations

OG = the ETS Official Guide to the GRE

MC = Multiple Choice math questions

MA = Multiple Answer math questions

NE = Numeric Entry math questions

QC = Quantitative Comparison math questions

TC = Text Completion verbal question

SE = Sentence Equivalence verbal question

RC = Reading Comprehension verbal question

AWA = the Analytical Writing Assessment, the essay-writing section

MGRE = Manhattan GRE

Week One



Week One, Day One

1) Go to http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/about/content/, and read about the content of the GRE. Click

on and read each sub-heading link.

2) In the OG,

Read Chapter 1, Introducing the GRE revised General Test

Read Chapter 2, GRE Analytic Writing (just the descriptions of the question, not all the sample material)

Read the introductory few pages of Chapter 3, GRE Verbal Reasoning (everything up to the sample questions)

Read the introductory few pages of Chapter 4, GRE Quantitative Reasoning (everything up to the sample

questions)

3) Start reading through the GRE Math Review, the entire Arithmetic section. Take notes in your journal on

whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Arithmetic Exercises and correct your answers.

4) In Magoosh, watch the following videos

In Math: under Integer Properties, the first two videos in that section

Week One, Day Two

1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review, the first half of the Algebra section. Take notes in your

journal on whatever is unfamiliar.

2) Download and read the Magoosh GRE eBook.


In Math: under Integer Properties, up to Squares of Integers

4) In Magoosh, do the following problems

10 MC

For each Magoosh problem, after you submit your answer, on the next page which tells you whether you were

right or wrong, theres a video solution and below that a text summary. If you got the question right, skim

the text summary to verify you got it right for the right reason. If you got the question wrong, see if you can

figure out for yourself why the right answer is right. After thinking through it yourself, watch the video, taking

notes in your journal about any concept or any aspect of the question type that was unclear to you

Week One, Day Three

1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review: finish the Algebra section. Take notes in your journal on

whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Algebra Exercises and correct your answers.

2) Download the Magoosh GRE Math Formula eBook.

Read carefully the first section, GRE Math Formulas: How to (Not) Use Them. Right now, just skim the rest of

the book, just to get a sense of what topics are covered. As you move through this plan, you will cover all of

these. Use this for reinforcement and review: as you cover a particular math topic in the Magoosh lessons,

read the corresponding part of this book to verify your understanding. By the end of this plan, you should know



every section of this book.


In Math: under Integer Properties, up to GCD LCM Rule


10 MC

Week One, Day Four

1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review: read the first half of the Data Analysis section. Take notes

in your journal on whatever is unfamiliar.


In Math: under Integer Properties, the last two videos in that section

In Math: under Arithmetic and Fractions, the first video in that section


10 QC

Week One, Day Five

1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review: read the first half of the Data Analysis section. Take notes

in your journal on whatever is unfamiliar.

2) Download the Magoosh Complete Guide to GRE Vocabulary

Read carefully the section Making Words Stick, about learning vocabulary, and the section Vocabulary in

Context: Articles from Magazines and Newspapers. Skim the rest of the book to get a sense of the layout and

style. As you build vocab through this plan, periodically go back to this book to verify your understanding and to

make connections to other words. The more ways you have of remembering a word, the more likely you are to

remember it!


In Math: under Integer Properties, the last two videos in that section

NOTE: As you finish each section of lesson videos, take the practice quiz at the end of the set.

In Math: under Arithmetic and Fractions, the first video in that section


10 QC

Week One, Day Six

1) Continue reading through the GRE Math Review, pp. 275-296. Take notes in your journal on whatever is



unfamiliar. Do the Data Analysis Exercises (pp. 296-298) and correct your answers.


In AWA: all ten videos

3) Today, you are going to write four essays, half an hour each. You will write two Issue essays and two

Argument essays.

For topics, go to the ETS GRE Issue Pool

(http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool) and the ETS GRE Argument Pool

(http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool). Figure out a way to pick

topics at random (maybe you print the lists, cut it into slips of paper, and choose some at random). Write the

essays in a word processing program.

Now that you have these essays, what do you do with them? If you have a friend or mentor who is a gifted

writer, see if they would read the essays for you and critique them. If they are willing, you can show them the

assessment criteria in the OG, and ask them to follow it. If you cant convince anyone else to read it, you may

try posting them on that same GRE club forum, and see whether an expert there will critique your essay.

Failing either of these options, at least you can set the essays aside, and in a couple days re-read them with

the OGs rubric beside you.

Week Two

Week Two, Day One


In Math: under Arithmetic and Fractions, up to Multiples of 10

2) In McGraw-Hills Conquering the New GRE Math

read Chapters 1-2

3) In Barrons 1100 Words You Need to Know

Look over the first 20 words (in Barrons or whatever vocab source you are using). For each one, if the

definition (both denotation and connotation) is not immediately obvious to you, make a flashcard for the word.

Review your flashcards

4) Read

three good-sized article from the Sunday NYT, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down any

words you dont know.


10 MC

Week Two, Day Two


In Verbal: under Text Completion Overview, all six videos




read Chapter 3 and do the exercises


Look over the next 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to you, make a

flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards

4) Read




5 TC

5 SE

Week Two, Day Three


In Math: under Arithmetic and Fractions, the last six videos in that section






4) Read

Your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up and write down any words you dont

know.


10 QC

Week Two, Day Four


In Verbal: under Text Completion No Shifts, all four videos








4) Read


know.


5 RC

Week Two, Day Five


In Math: under Percents and Ratios, the first four videos in that section






4) Read


know.


20 MC

Week Two, Day Six

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 topics from the ETS Issue Pool & Argument Pool. Again, choose topics at random.

Write the essays in Word.

When done, share the essays with a trusted friend/mentor, or post in the GMAT forum, or set aside and critique

it yourself with the OG rubric in a few days.

2) In the OG & McGraw-Hills Conquering the New GRE Math:

a) in OG, do the Verbal Reasoning Practice Sets 1-6

b) in OG, do the Quantitative Reasoning Practice Sets 1-4

c) in McGraw-Hill, do GRE Math Practice Section 1



Treat this as a mock GRE. You might even combine it with the two essays, and do consecutive batches 2-3 set

without interruption, to simulate more effectively a real GRE. Set a timer for the time limits. Here are the time

limits to observe:

OG Verbal Reasoning Set 1 = 9 minutes






OG Quantitative Reasoning Set 1 = 22 minutes




McGraw-Hill, GRE Math section = 35 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 didnt understand and anything about the question format that

psyched you out. If you still cant make sense of the question after reading the explanation, email us at

Magoosh.

If you are doing much better than expected on either Math or Verbal, this might be a good time to consider

whether you should switch to another version of the 3-month plan (see explanations of them at the top).

Week Three

Week Three, Day One


In Math: under Percents and Ratios, the last four videos in that section


read the intro to Part Three, and Ch. 7 through the section on Real Numbers; take notes in your journal on

anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read




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10 MC

Week Three, Day Two


In Verbal: under RC videos, the first six videos


read Chapter 7 up to the first set of Practice Problems; do the Practice Problems and check your answer;

take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read




10 TC

5 SE

Week Three, Day Three


In Math: under Algebra, Equations, Inequalities, the first four videos in that section


In Ch. 7, read the Ch. 7 section on Even & Odd Numbers; take the Number Properties Test 1, grade yourself,

and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read


know.


10 QC



Week Three, Day Four


In Verbal: under RC videos, the last five videos


In Ch. 7, do the solved GRE Problems and GRE Practice Problems (immediately after Number Properties Test

1), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read


know.


5 RC

Week Three, Day Five


In Math: under Algebra, etc, up to Factoring Rational Expressions


In Ch. 7, read up to and including the section on Prime Numbers; take notes in your journal on anything new

or unfamiliar.




4) Read


know.


20 MC

Week Three, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to write four essays, half an hour each. You will write two Issue essays and two

Argument essays.



For topics, go back to the topics from the ETS Issue Pool & Argument Pool. Again, choose topics at random.

Write the essays in Word.

When done, share the essays with a trusted friend/mentor, or post in the GMAT forum, or set aside and critique

it yourself with the OG rubric in a few days.

Week Four

Week Four, Day One


In Math: under Algebra, etc, up to Three Equations with Three Unknowns


In Ch. 7, read GCD and LCM Revisited, do the Practice Problems immediately following that, grade yourself,





4) Read




10 MC

Week Four, Day Two


In Verbal: under SE videos, the six videos of that section


In Ch. 7, take Number Properties Test 2, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on





4) Read






5 TC

5 SE

Week Four, Day Three


In Math: under Algebra, etc, up to Working with Formulas


In Ch. 7, do the solved GRE Problems and GRE Practice Problems (immediately after Number Properties Test

2), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read your chosen reading material (one chapter, or a few articles). Look up and write down any words you

dont know.

5) In Magoosh, do 10 QC

Week Four, Day Four


In Verbal: in Text Completion Sentence Shifts, the first four videos


Beginning reading Chapter 8, through all the Properties of Operations; do the Practice Problems immediately

following, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.





dont know.

5) In Magoosh, do 10 RC

Week Four, Day Five


In Math: under Algebra, etc, the last five videos in that section




In Ch. 8, read the first part of the Fractions section, up to the examples following Equivalent Fractions; take

notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.



flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards.


dont know.

5) In Magoosh, do the following problems: 5 MC, 5 NE

Week Four, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take the hard copy practice GRE at the back of the OG.

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 OG

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.

Week Five

Week Five, Day One


In Math: under Word Problems, the first three videos in that section


In Ch. 8, finish reading the Fractions, section up to the Practice Problems; do the Practice Problems, grade

yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read three good-sized article from the Sunday NYT, noting grammatical structures. Look up and write down

any words you dont know.

5) In Magoosh, do 20 MC.

Week Five, Day Two




In Verbal: in Text Completion Sentence Shifts, the last five videos


In Ch. 8, begin reading the Operations with Fractions section, the sections on addition & subtraction of

fractions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.






5) In Magoosh, do the following problems: 10 TC, 5 SE

Week Five, Day Three


In Math: under Word Problems, up to Age Questions


In Ch. 8, finish reading the section on Operations with Fractions, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself,






dont know.

5) In Magoosh, do 10 QC.

Week Five, Day Four


In Verbal: in Text Completion Double Blanks, all five videos in that section


In Ch. 8, read the section Decimals, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take






dont know.



5) In Magoosh, do 5 RC.

Week Five, Day Five


In Math: under Word Problems, up to Shrinking and Expanding Gaps


In Ch. 8, do the Arithmetic Computation Test 1, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your

journal on anything new or unfamiliar.





dont know.


Week Five, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take your first of the MGRE practice tests. Take the whole test, and then read &

study the explanations, taking notes on whatever you got wrong whatever about the concepts or the

questions format was unclear.





Week Six

Week Six, Day One


In Math: under Word Problems, up to Three Criteria Venn Diagrams


In Ch. 8, do the solved GRE Problems on and GRE Practice Problems (immediately following Arithmetic

Computation Test 1), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or

unfamiliar.






4) Read




Week Six, Day Two

1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos:

In Verbal: in Text Completion Tripe Blanks, the first four videos in that section


In Ch. 8, read the short Word Problem section, do the Practice Problems (Word Problems), grade yourself, and

read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.






5) In Magoosh, do the following problems:

10 TC

10 SE

Week Six, Day Three


In Math: under Word Problems, up to Growth Tables


In Ch. 8, read a little more than half the section on Ratios and Proportions; take notes in your journal on






dont know.


10 QC



Week Six, Day Four

1) In Magoosh, watch the following videos:

In Verbal: in Text Completion Tripe Blanks, the last three videos in that section.


In Ch. 8, finish reading the section Ratios and Proportions, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and





4) Read


know.


10 RC

Week Six, Day Five


In Math: under Word Problems, the last four videos in that section


In Ch. 8, read the Motion and Work Problems section, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the

solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.





dont know.


5 MC

5MA

Week Six, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take another one of the MGRE practice tests. Take the whole test, and then read &









Week Seven

Week Seven, Day One


In Math: under Power and Roots, the first five videos in the section


In Ch. 8, read the short sections Percentage and Percentage Word Problems, do both Practice Problems

sets (one at the end of each section), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on





4) Read




10 MC

Week Seven, Day Two


In Math: under Power and Roots, up to Simplifying Roots


In Ch. 8, read the section Types of Average, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the










5 TC

5 SE

Week Seven, Day Three


In Math: under Power and Roots, the last four videos in the section


In Ch. 8, read the section Powers and Roots; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.





dont know.


10 QC

Week Seven, Day Four


In Math: under Coordinate Geometry, the first four videos in the section


In Ch. 8, read the short Standard Deviation section, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the

solutions; then read Simple Probability section, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the






dont know.


5 RC

Week Seven, Day Five




In Math: under Coordinate Geometry, the last five videos in the section


In Ch. 8, do the Arithmetic Computation Test 2, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your

journal on anything new or unfamiliar.





dont know.


20 MC

Week Seven, Day Six








Week Eight

Week Eight, Day One


In Math: under Geometry, the first four videos in the section


In Ch. 8, do the solved GRE Problems and GRE Practice Problems (immediately following Arithmetic

Computation Test 2), grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or

unfamiliar.




4) Read






10 MC

Week Eight, Day Two


In Math: under Geometry, up to Polygons


Begin Chapter 9. Read the first sections, do the first Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the

solutions; then, read the Tables of Powers and Roots and the section Radical Expressions, do the Practice

Problems, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read




10 TC

5 SE

Week Eight, Day Three


In Math: under Geometry, up to Circle Properties


In Ch. 9, read the section Operations with Radicals, do the Practice Problems and then Algebra Test I,

grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read


know.


10 QC



Week Eight, Day Four


In Math: under Geometry, the last three videos in the section


In Ch. 8, do the solved GRE Problems and GRE Practice Problems (immediately following Algebra Test I),





4) Read


know.


5 RC

Week Eight, Day Five


In Math: under Statistics, all five videos in the section


In Chapter 9, read all the short sections from Translating Verbal Expressions into Algebraic Expressions to

Division of Algebraic Expressions, do the two sets of Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the





4) Read


know.


5 MC

10 NE



Week Eight, Day Six








Week Nine

Week Nine, Day One


In Math: under Counting, the first four videos in the section


In Ch. 9, read the sections Algebraic Fractions and Factoring Algebraic Expression, do the Practice

Problems, grade yourself, and read the solutions; then, read the section Operations with Algebraic Fractions,

do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new

or unfamiliar.




4) Read




20 MC

Week Nine, Day Two


In Math: under Counting, up to MISSISSIPPI rule


In Ch. 9, do the Algebra Test 2, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything

new or unfamiliar.






4) Read




5 TC

5 SE

Week Nine, Day Three


In Math: under Counting, the last four videos in the section


In Ch. 9, do the solved GRE Problems and GRE Practice Problems (immediately following Algebra Test 2),





4) Read


know.


10 QC

Week Nine, Day Four


In Math: under Probability, the first three videos in the section


In Ch. 9, read the five little sections from Linear Equations to Equations with Radicals, do the Practice

Problems, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read




know.


10 RC

Week Nine, Day Five


In Math: under Probability, up to Determining Independence


In Ch. 9, read the section Systems of Linear Equations, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read

the solutions; then, read the tiny section Linear Inequalities, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and





4) Read


know.


10 MC

Week Nine, Day Six








Week Ten

Week Ten, Day One


In Math: under Probability, the last four videos in that section




In Ch. 9, read the section Quadratic Equations and Inequalities, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself,





4) Read




20 MC

Week Ten, Day Two


At this point, you should be done with all the Magoosh lesson videos. Keep up a pace of watching 4-5 videos a

day, watching whatever videos you decide you need to see a second time.


In Ch. 9, read the section Functions, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the solutions; then,

read a little more than half the section Algebraic Word Problems, take notes in your journal on anything new or

unfamiliar.




4) Read




10 TC

5 SE

Week Ten, Day Three


Watch any 4-5 videos for a second time




In Ch. 9, finish reading the section Algebraic Word Problems, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and





4) Read


know.


10 QC

Week Ten, Day Four




In Ch. 9, do the Algebra Test 3, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on anything

new or unfamiliar.




4) Read


know.


5 RC

Week Ten, Day Five




In Ch. 9, do the solved GRE Problems and GRE Practice Problems (immediately following Algebra Test 3),







4) Read


know.


10 MC

Week Ten, Day Six








Week Eleven

Week Eleven, Day One


Watch any 4-5 videos for a second or third time


Begin Chapter 10. Read the section Points, Lines, Angles, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and

read the solutions; then read the section Polygons, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the





4) Read




20 MC

Week Eleven, Day Two






In Ch. 10, read the section Triangles, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the solutions; read

the section Quadrilaterals, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in

your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read




10 TC

10 SE

Week Eleven, Day Three




In Ch. 10, read the section Perimeter and Area, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the

solutions; read the section Circles, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take





4) Read


know.


10 QC

Week Eleven, Day Four






In Ch. 10, read the section Solid Geometry, do the Practice Problem, grade yourself, and read the solutions;

read the section Coordinate Geometry, do the Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the solutions;

take notes in your journal on anything new or unfamiliar.




4) Read


know.


10 RC

Week Eleven, Day Five




In Ch. 10, do the Geometry Test, grade yourself, and read the solutions; take notes in your journal on





4) Read


know.


10 MC

Week Eleven, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take the last of the MGRE practice tests. Take the whole test, and then read &









Week Twelve

Week Twelve, Day One


Watch any 4-5 videos for an additional time


At the end of Ch. 10, do the solved GRE Problems and GRE Practice Problems, grade yourself, and read the





4) Read




10 MC

10 MA

Week Twelve, Day Two




In a 35 minute sitting, take GRE Math Practice Section 2; grade it right after, but you dont have to check all

the solutions tonight.




4) Read






5 TC

5 SE

Week Twelve, Day Three




Go over the solutions to GRE Math Practice Section 2. For questions you got right, skim the explanation, simply

to verify that you got it right for the right reason, and that theres nothing further about that topic you need to

know. For questions you got wrong, read the explanation carefully, writing in your journal anything new you

learn or anything you need to remember.




4) Read


know.


10 QC

Week Twelve, Day Four




In a 35 minute sitting, take GRE Math Practice Section 3; grade it right after, but you dont have to check all

the solutions tonight.




4) Read


know.


5 RC



Week Twelve, Day Five




Go over the solutions to GRE Math Practice Section 3. For questions you got right, skim the explanation, simply

to verify that you got it right for the right reason, and that theres nothing further about that topic you need to

know. For questions you got wrong, read the explanation carefully, writing in your journal anything new you

learn or anything you need to remember.


Look over the what should be the last 20 words. For each one, if the definition is not immediately obvious to

you, make a flashcard for the word. Review your flashcards

4) Read


know.


5 MC

10 NE

Week Twelve, Day Six

1) Today, you are going to take the practice GRE available through the GRE PowerPrep software. Pay attention

to any differences you notice between the MGRE tests and this one: this one is presumably much more

representative of the real GMAT.





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 OG rubric.

After Week 12: Concentrated Review

At this point, if you have been following the schedule, you should have done every question in both Magoosh at

least once. For whatever days remain before the test, keep up work on GRE math and verbal. Some

suggestions for what to do:

1) Through selecting question type & difficulty on the Dashboard, do Magoosh problems over again, and see

how you do a second time.



3) Keep watching for a additional time 4-5 Magoosh lesson videos a day, on whatever topics you feel you need

to review

4) Keep reading your challenging material, to build vocabulary and acclimate your ear to eloquent style.

5) Keep drilling your vocab cards.

6) Re-read any topics in the McGraw-Hills Conquering the New GRE Math any topics where you feel you

would benefit from further review.

Day before the test:

1) No GRE preparation all day

2) Eat a large, healthy, leisurely dinner no alcohol!

3) Go to bed earlier than usual.

Day of test

1) ABSOLUTELY NO LAST MINUTE GRE PREPARATION!

2) Eat a large breakfast, full of protein

3) Do relaxing, fun activities to pass time until the test

Bring to the 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.

Any questions on this plan? Just leave us a comment!

By the way, students who use Magoosh GRE improve their scores on average by 8 points on the new scale (150

points on the old scale.) Click here to learn more.

About the Author

Mike McGarry is a Content Developer for Magoosh with over 20 years of teaching experience. He enjoys

hitting foosballs into orbit, and despite having no obvious cranial deficiency, he insists on rooting for the NY

Mets.

Novas GRE Prep Course Book Review



90 Day GRE Study Plan (Math Focused)

61 Responses to 90 Day GRE Study Plan for Beginners

1.

ShingShing September 1, 2012 at 9:10 am #

Im so glad I found Magoosh right after I registered the test on December 15. Every parts well-

organized and clear to follow at first glance.

After finishing a diagnostic test, I found my V n Q are both weak in different ways at the moment.

One issue is Im a slow reader and thinker and have to go back and forth on the reading in order to

finish all the questions, which would really hurt my V score. For the Q part, a decent amount of

multiple choices felt easy since I kept some of the essentials in mind from SAT and college, but I had

no clue where to start on some questions.

I dont wanna take the test more than twice. Im only working part-time for the next four months,

so with the right plan and enough hours, I believe aiming high on both V n Q aint impractical. Right

now, Im thinking about two approaches that I could see myself get the most out of the process:

1. Combine the 30 Day Plan and 90 Day Plan for Beginner OR 2. Combine the 1 Month Plan and 90

Day (verbal focused) in the first month to walk through all the nuts and bolts; then find my

weaknesses and continue working on the rest for next two months.

Id like to hear your advice on which plan will help me the most. Thx

Mike September 2, 2012 at 12:49 pm #

ShingShing I would say: stick with one plan at the beginning. I would recommend: just

move through this plan, Version A, as thoroughly as possible. If you finish it early, or if you

find you everything is too easy and you want more challenging material, then borrow

resources from the other 90 day plans.

Does that make sense?

Mike


Thanks, Mike; it does make sense. I just finished the first weeks plan in just three days

two plans per day, so far so good. Also I have a few more questions regarding the

schedule:

1. Im terrible on hard words and unfortunately most vocabulary books dont usually

work for me. Instead I just take notes and absorb new words from various articles and

essays I read everyday. I was wondering if theres any substitute for the Barrons book;

or can I continue reading NYT articles and the Best American series and create my own

words list from those resources?

2. Since I could finish a week plan in just three days (which probably wont always be the

case), how and when do I know I could or need to borrow resources from other 90 day



plans? and which one(s).

3. Im thinking about apply a program for interdisciplinary research in psychology and

education, so am i supposed to put more weight on Verbal? Or are Verbal and Quant

equally important.

Mike September 3, 2012 at 9:11 pm #

Dear ShingShing:

1) I would say: from the Barrons book make flash cards, and drill those cards

every single day. Also, read NYT & Time & Newsweek and make vocab card from

those sources also. Drill your whole stack of cards every day. If you can find a

tutor who can have live conversations with you using large vocabulary words, that

would be excellent as well. Also, follow Chris series, Vocab Wednesday go

back through the blog and watch every single one of those, taking notes.

2) & 3) For psychology & education, Quant & Verbal are equally important, but it

sounds as if the Verbal is more of a challenge for you. I would say: look at plan

(B), verbal focus, get the MGRE verbal books recommended there, and start

working through them along with this plan.

Does all that make sense?

Mike


Yes, this is super helpful, Mike! My memory is heavily relying on visual/sound

materials so talking with someone might be a great option.

The only thing Im confused right now is, did you mean to look at the Verbal

Focused plan which is Plan C from the plan list above? Instead of the plan

(B). So i could double the practice on Verbal section by combining the Plan A

for beginners and only the Verbal part in the Plan C(verbal focused).

Mike September 4, 2012 at 11:15 am #

Yes, Im sorry, I meant Plan (C) Verbal Focus thats the plan to focus

on helping folks build their verbal skills.

Mike

ShingShing September 4, 2012 at 9:14 pm #

No problem. Thank you, Mike!

Mike September 5, 2012 at 10:11 am #



You are quite welcome.

Mike

2.

Jen August 10, 2012 at 4:03 pm #

I love using Magoosh. I actually look forward to coming home from work to prep. I need to buy the

ETS Guide, though, and Im not sure which one. I followed the link above to Amazon and it displays

the red covered book. But, I did some searching around and there is also a second edition with a

purple covered book. Which one should I buy? I do have a mac, but my tech savvy friend said he

can make the PowerPrep II program function using yet another program.

Mike August 10, 2012 at 5:08 pm #

Im delighted to hear that you find Magoosh both enjoyable and helpful. The GRE OG you

want is the purple one, the 2nd edition of the revised GRE OG. This one:

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Revised-General-CD-ROM-

Second/dp/007179123X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344643592&sr=1-

1&keywords=gre+official+guide Thats the most up-to-date one. Good luck getting the

PowerPrep working its great that you have a tech saavy friend!

Mike

3.

Nick July 31, 2012 at 5:13 pm #

Mike,

I am signing up for the Magoosh premium account but I had one question about your study guide

before making the purchase. What are the MGRE practice tests that you reference throughout your

study guide? Are these GRE practice tests that are available through Magoosh if you have an

account?

Margarette July 31, 2012 at 5:26 pm #

Hi, Nick

The MGRE practice tests are Manhattan GREs online practice tests, which you can get access

to if you buy any one of their books. We explain a bit more about them here:

http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/manhattan-gre-book-review/.

I hope that helps! Feel free to let us know if you have any other questions .

Best,

Margarette

4.

Misha July 18, 2012 at 9:33 am #



Hi, Mike!

Today I registered in Magoosh-GRE and I have some question about your schedule:

1) can you explain how should I start reading journals? I read somewhere that you say: Read

some Articles And Take Your Notes. what do you mean? what kind of note should I take? what

should I do with that notes then? how would it help me? how much time is it better to spend on

journals? Please, make it clear for me.

2) when you say for example do 10 MC problems in Week1/Day2, how should I adjust another

Settings in Practice Session? should I select all subjects for that day or just select subjects which

Ive studied? Is it better to use it in practice mode or quiz mode or both?

3) I think my writing is terrible. How can I improve it in these 90 days?

Im sorry for these massive and chaotic questions, but in fact they are my problems.

thanks for you excellent product, Ill try to utilize its all advantages.

Mike July 20, 2012 at 10:20 am #

Dear Misha:

1) For your first question, see

http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/introduction-to-gmat-reading-comprehension/

2) for your second question, practice all subjects everyday, NOT only what you just have

studied. For my logic on this recommendation, see:

http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-study-approaches-systematic-vs-random/

3) First of all, you may find these posts helpful:

http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/the-directions-for-the-gmat-awa/

http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-awa-strategies/

http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/typical-flaws-in-awa-prompts/

This is a tricky one, because its hard to find good feedback on essays. At Magoosh, we are

not in the business of giving feedback on essays. Sometimes you can post your essay on

gmatclub or BTG and get some feedback there. If you really want to make major

improvements, I would suggest hiring a writing tutor and getting essay feedback from that

person. Keep in mind, though: if the rest of your GMAT is strong, a mediocre AWA score is

not going to make any difference. The AWA is by far the least important part of the GMAT

overall.

Does all this make sense?

Mike

5.

Vandana July 13, 2012 at 10:50 am #

Hello,

I have recently joined the group. I must say the videos are excellent!! I have booked my GRE on

the sept 18th, Therefore going through the listed study plans. I was quite confused with the

following steps. Kindly help

2) In the OG, ( I went through this, what do u mean by pp. 1-9 ???



Read pp. 1-9

Read pp. 11-17, 25-31

Read pp. 43-46

Read pp. 107-109

3) Start reading through the GRE Math Review, pp. 207-221. Take notes in your journal on

whatever is unfamiliar. Do the Arithmetic Exercises (pp. 219-220) and correct your answers.

and also in the third step GRE Math Review.. Are u referring to the PDF provided on the ETS site???

I do not understand the Arithmetic Exercises part.. which one are u referring to?

Mike July 14, 2012 at 5:54 am #

Vandana: Those beginning sections (pp. 1-9, 11-17, 25-31, 43-46, 107-109) are just

designed to introduce you to the structure of the GMAT some of that information might be

unnecessary if you are already familiar with the structure of the test. Just to be clear, all of

these page numbers refer to the OG12 (this plan was created before the OG13 was

published). The Arithmetic Exercises are in the OG, at the end of the first section of the Math

Review - again, the page numbers might be slightly different in the OG13. Does this make

sense?

Mike

6.

Sarah July 9, 2012 at 10:42 pm #

Hi Mike, Im a Mac user. How can I download and print out the practice test, or otherwise best deal

with the fact that I cant use the typi

90 day gre study plan for beginners _ magoosh gre blog

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