Choose the right study material
Many students when preparing choose one book and stick to it. While there are many great books in the market, you have not mastered GRE if you finish one of them. Even if you start with one book, use other material as well to supplement it.
The other problem is that with the introduction of the web and smartphone, the preparation material available to you is abundant. It is easy to lose yourself trying to do everything. So instead choose your material and prepare.
Start simple, it will help you understand the concepts and once you have got a hang of it, work your way up to more advanced material. Do not try to do everything at the same time. In the end you will not have covered much. We would recommend you to start with the official ETS GRE guide.
Also remember, when it comes to practice test material, make sure you take the right practice tests – preferably the official ones! If you take random tests, chances are that your results are not accurate thus messing with analysing where you stand.
Also, Don’t be a serial test taker!
The key is to understand when and how often these GRE practice tests should be taken. Exhausting them all at once as soon as you have started your GRE perpetration, for instance, is counterproductive.
. Create a study plan
Depending on you exam date, create a plan accordingly.
Your study plan needs to take into account the number of weeks you have left for the GRE test, your current GRE preparation level, and your target GRE score. Once you have the plan, you take a printout of it and stick it next to your study desk so you can look at it while studying (and get motivated too!).
Once you have a concrete study plan you will feel charged up to complete it. It is the most simple and pain free way for you to start taking action!
Not sure how to make a detailed GRE study plan?
Then you can mail us at CrackVerbal and we will help you with a custom GRE study plan.
Build your mental stamina
The GRE is 3 hours and 45 minutes long. You have 1 minute between sections and a 10 minute break after three sections.
In long tests like these, it is very likely that by the middle of the test your concentration will begin to flag and the one minute between sections gives you barely enough time to catch your breath.
So it is important to develop your endurance with sufficient preparation beforehand. Usually you begin practice with blocks of questions in the same category. It is easy to get caught up in it, but mastering concepts is only half the battle.
Once you reach a level of comfort with the different sections individually, the next step will be to take full length practice tests.
Schedule them in regular intervals over the last 2 weeks before the exam and identify the areas which take up most of your time. These are the areas which will probably tire you out the most.
Monitor the time closely and work on improving your speed.
Here are some practical tips on how to stay focussed during your GRE test:
-> To be able to focus for a longer time, it’s important to keep up your energy levels. Try to avoid junk food or anything that contains a lot of sugar or artificial sweeteners before the exam.
-> Your posture plays a vital role on your energy levels. So sit up straight and avoid shallow breathing.
-> You should practice the test under the same conditions you will take the test. So if you have booked a morning slot then practice taking your GRE mocks tests around the same time as you would on the actual test day.