Are you looking to make to the master’s courses abroad? Are you trying to score 320+ in GRE? Is it possible to score 320+ in GRE in just 30 days? How much time should I spend in a day to score 320+? What are the important topics I should focus on to get that magical 320+ score?
If you are also pondering over these questions, you are at the right place. Here is your ultimate guide to preparing in the best possible way for the next GRE test. Here we are sharing with you a few very important strategies that can boost your overall speed and accuracy. If you are aiming to have a crack at GRE in 2019 and want to score 320+, you must read this important GRE guide.
Also Read: Is Magoosh Effective for GRE Preparation?
What is GRE, and how is its structure?
The GRE is one of the world’s most famous and widely accepted tests for graduate admissions in business and graduate schools across the globe. Educational Testing Service (ETS) conducts the GRE test
GRE is conducted as a Computer Based Test (CBT) at various test centers at major cities in India
GRE tests your analytical skills than your technical knowledge and comprises of 3 sections, including Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing Assessment.
- Quantitative Reasoning: This section includes questions of high-school level in six topics, including Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Applied Mathematics, Data Analysis, and Data Interpretation.
If we go with the analysis and data of the most important and targeted part(s) of Quantitative Reasoning, Arithmetic and Geometry comes at the top. After these two, Data Interpretation is the vital aspect according to the aspirants. Applied Mathematics, Algebra and Data Analysis are believed to be a little easy portion, and hence aspirants spend relatively less time on these.
You will have to answer 20 questions in the Quantitative Reasoning section within 35 minutes.
- Verbal Section: Verbal section of GRE is designed to test your comprehensive writing skills. Basically, you have to find out the relationships between two or more parts of a particular sentence. The verbal section comprises of topics like reading comprehension, analogies, antonyms, vocabulary, and sentence completion.
Three broad types of questions covered in the verbal section are Text Completion, Sentence Equivalent and Reading Comprehension.
Reading Comprehension is the most focused part of GRE Verbal part as it comprises of 10 out of 20 questions covered in the Verbal.
You have to answer 20 questions in 30 minutes in the verbal section of GRE.
- Analytical Writing Assessment: Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) is an essential but sometimes overlooked part of GRE preparation. This section is designed to test the analytical writing skills and critical thinking ability of a candidate.
You will have to form a convincing theory and it’s up to you, how you coherently and persuasively defend your approach throughout a few paragraphs. You get an hour to frame two different essays, i.e. Issue-Based Essay and Argument-Based Essay.
Issue-Based Essay is based on daily-life issues. You will have to give your views and thoughts on a given situation. And more importantly, you will have to back your ideas with sound reasoning.
Argument-Based Essay asks you to pick a particular side (for/against) and then back your choice by writing a sound theory.
How much time you have to spend every day to score 320+ in 30 days
Daily average time for GRE preparation varies according to different factors, including the target score, your level of preparation, your natural learning speed, and most importantly, your determination towards the GRE preparation.
According to some legit data, most candidates required at least 45 to 90 days to breach that 320 mark. But there is enough number of students who did that in just 30 days! Yes! They did it! But HOW? What they did differently? How did they prepare within those important 30 days? Did they spend hours and hours for preparation?
The answers to these questions are pretty simple. They did nothing but smart work. They didn’t spend long hours every day to get 320+ GRE score.
You will be surprised to know the average time spent by the candidates who breached the 320 marks is 2.5 hours per day. Yes! That’s it! 180 minutes every day! That sounds simple enough!
But you have to keep one thing in mind that proper and systemic plan makes all the difference. If you have those 180 minutes every day for GRE preparation, you have to make sure those 180 minutes are completely devoted to GRE only. You are not wasting even a few seconds in other unnecessary or irrelevant stuff.
Smart Study Plan for Proper GRE Preparation:
Step 1: Before doing that, you should take a GRE diagnostic test to check your strength and weakness.
Step 2: Take topic-wise tests to see how much prepared you are for each section. Follow it with full-length tests. Full-length GRE tests are very close to the pattern and difficulty level of the actual GRE tests.
How to divide those 2.5 hours smartly to make them as productive as possible?
- 1 hour 15 minutes for Quantitative: Take 45-60 minutes to take a test on each topic. Then follow it with a test for 20-30 minutes. After the test, review your performance carefully and honestly and keep a track on your progress.
- 1 hour 15 minutes for Verbal section: Spend approx. half of these 1 hour 15 minutes on Reading Comprehension and then learn 20-30 words a day to improve your GRE vocabulary.
Step 3: Keep improving your knowledge of Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA). Good AWA scores make a lot of difference in GRE tests.
Step 4: Once you are done with all the topics and sections, take different mock tests and 3 to 5 full-length online practice tests to understand correctly about the pattern, features and timing of the GRE before you finally face the REAL TEST.
Top Mistakes to Avoid if You’re Looking to Score 320+ in GRE
- Not prioritizing high-yield topics:
Most top scorers spend more than 60% of their time on learning and practising the tricky topics like Geometry, Applied Mathematics and Data Analysis! However, that’s not the best thing to do. If you have a tight schedule, you should focus more on topics having higher representation like Algebra, Arithmetic and Geometry.
You should spend the remaining time in practising. And you have to ensure that you are prioritizing to practice the hard topics rather than sticking to the easy ones.
- Making careless mistakes:
Careless mistakes are the significant difference between a perfect score line and the “almost perfect score line”. Sometimes students make easily avoidable mistakes in an attempt to rush through the questions. Always take care of signs, calculation and some other little things. Double-check all the steps, choose only one answer in a Multiple Selection Question, round off correctly, especially in Numeric Entry Question.
- Don’t fall prey to trick questions:
GRE quants are especially designed to test how aware and alert you are. Trounce these trick questions by prioritizing the topics like Geometry, Permutations & Combinations, Sequences and Probability.
- Forgetting the Formulae:
Suppose you are sitting to solve a question; you know you can solve it. But ONLY IF YOU COULD RACK YOUR BRAIN AND RECALL THE FORMULA! That must be a heart-breaking moment! If you want to avoid something like that, you should prepare a separate formula book so that you can update and revise all the necessary formulae regularly.
- Focusing too much on a question:
Spending too much time on a question is also a common mistake made by the GRE aspirants. If you think a particular question is taking more time than expected, you can flag it to remove and shift your focus on other questions. You can come back to the flagged question once you are done with others.
- Some other important TRICKS:
- Don’t waste too much time on easy questions or the questions you can’t solve at all.
- You can try and attempt all the questions as there is no negative marking in GRE.
- Always keep a track on the background timer as you won’t be allowed to wear the watch.
- Familiarize yourself with some available tools like an on-screen calculator.
- Get proper sound sleep a night before the examination.
Now that you got what you were looking for. Your journey of GRE preparation should be a lot smoother now. Keep this guide accessible if you think it can be helpful for you. Hopefully, it can help you to prepare for the next GRE examination. Give your best, try to spend your time and energy in the right direction and rock through that magical 320!
If you are serious about scoring 320+ in GRE, you should give Magoosh a try. You can at least have a look at the 7-day risk-free trial offer. Good Luck!
