GRE FAQs
How long will it usually take to prepare for GRE?
This is a common question that many students face. I would like to shed some light on this through this article. While it varies from student to student and there is no one right answer, but still there are a few things which can be generalized. For most students, with an average of about 2 to 3 hours per day, we have estimated that it takes about 2 to 3 months to prepare for the GRE, which comes to about 150 to 200 hours of time. This includes learning time and also full-length tests. The course structure that we have designed includes about 12 learning sessions of about 3 hours each; so 36 hours for Quant and 36 hours for Verbal. So in total of 72 hours, the learning is achieved. Add about another 72 hours of practice and thus in about 144 hours, you can finish the learning and practice. After that, you can start the full length tests. Let’s say you give about 10 full-length tests. That amounts to another 35 hours.
When should we start?
The best time to start preparing for the GRE is in the third year of undergraduate studies. It is also the best time to write it. You can thus start in the 5th or 6th semester. In the 7th semester, you will focus on your application. To avoid giving the GRE during that time. This plan is for those students who want to fly immediately after their Bachelors. Of course, if you want to go for Master’s after a year or two, you can even give the GRE in the final year. However since the score is valid for 5 years, you can give it in the 3rd year as well.
How to prepare the words?
It is true that we need to know a lot of words for the GRE. But the question here is where and how to prepare? These are some questions which haunt many students. The best way to prepare vocabulary is while doing sentences. You will not only understand the meaning but also the way the words are used in sentences. Another thing which we have inculcated in our material and which is very useful is to try to connect images with each word. It is a well-proven fact we remember much better when the thing to be learned is associated with visuals. Ergo, we use this strategy in our Vocabulary building modules. Another important thing strategy is to always make sentences for every new word. Don’t just memorize the meaning as it will be of no use in the exam if you are not familiar with its usage.
How many words to prepare?
Well, there are many lists out there but we follow ETS more closely. If you follow them, you will find that there are about 1000 to 1500 most common words which ETS uses in their material and tests. We have made our Vocab builder module based on these words. Apart from these, you can, of course, do the other popular word lists in the market. More time you give to this, the better you get. So for vocab building, if you start well in time.
-Mr. Ankur Rupani
Head Trainer and Counselor
