GoodluckontheGRE!Ifyouhaveanyfeedback,pleaseleaveusacommentontheMagooshGREBlog23MonthGREStudyGuide(WeeklySchedule) post.*Note:The23MonthGREStudyGuidewasupdatedonAugust14,2014.Ifyoudliketocontinuetousetheoriginalversion,youcanfindithere.Frommyexperience,themajorityofstudentsspendbetweentwoandthreemonthspreparingfortheGRE.Givenweallstruggletosustainourattentionandconcentrationformorethanthislong,suchadurationmakesperfectsense.Afterall,lifesinevitablebumpsanddistractionsarefarmorelikelytoderailyouduringasixmonthsstudyingfortheGREthatyouarebetteroffgivingityouralloveraperiodof2to3months.Hereistheperfectplanforthosewhocancommitboththetimeandthecognitiveresourcesnecessaryforafewmonths.Unlikemyothertwoweeklystudyguidestheoneweekandonemonththisstudyguidehasarangeoftwotothreemonths.Thiswiggleroomallowsthosewhohaveunpredictableschedulesorwhosimplycannotallocateenoughhourseachweektochoosethethreemonthplan.Forthosewhohavethetimeand/orsimplywanttobemoreaggressive,thestudyplanbelowcanbeshortenedtotwomonths.Forthelayoutbelow,however,Iwilluse8weeks.Youcanslowdownorspeedupaccordingly.Thisstudyguidegivesgeneralgoalsbyweekandrequiresabout2to3hoursofstudyingperdayifyoudpreferamorespecificversion,withdailyinstructions,Idrecommendoneoftheseother3monthschedulesinstead: 90DayDailyStudyPlanforBeginners 90DayDailyStudyPlan( MathFocused) 90DayDailyStudyPlan(VerbalFocused) 90DayDailyStudyPlanforAdvancedStudentsFinally,ifEnglishisnotyourfirstlanguage,andyouarestrugglingtolearnvocabularywhiletryingtowrapyourheadaroundacademicproseyoumaywanttoconsidermysixmonthplan.Thebottomlineisthatyouwillneedacompetitivescore.Thosestudentsatleastthosewhopostedtheirscoresontheblogwillwanttoreconsiderthe23monthplaniftheirverbalscoreisstillinthe140rangeorbelow.Youshoulddoyourbesttoatleastgetintothemid150sinverbal.Ofcourse,achievingthisfeatwillrequirethesixmonthplan.EssentialMaterials: MagooshGREPrepLessonsandPracticeProblems ETSsOfficialGuidetotheGRE ,2nd.edition ETSsPowerPrepSoftware Ifyouwouldprefertotakethepracticetestonpaper,youcanprintoutETSspracticetestPDF .TakenotethatthePowerprepsoftwareandthepaperbasedtesthaveoverlappingmaterial,soitwontbeofmuchhelptodoboth,unlessyouspacethemoutfarenoughsothatyouwontrecognizethequestionsandanswers!IrecommendusingthePowerprepsoftwareifyoucan,sincetakingthetestonacomputerisabettersimulationoftestdayconditions.Also,PowerPrep2.0comeswithtwotests.ThePDFisonlyonetest,whichoverlapswithTest2fromthePowerPrep2.0Software. MagooshsonlineGREFlashcardsandGREVocabularyBuilder .Theyrefreeandyoucanusethemontheweb,onyouriPhone/iPadorAndroid! Vocabulary.com IndexCards( Quizlet.com) StopwatchorTimerStronglyRecommendedMaterials: ETSsOfficialGREQuantitativeReasoningPracticeQuestions(Thesequestionsaretoughgreatpracticefor160+mathscorers) ETSsOfficialGREVerbalReasoningPracticeQuestionsSupplemental/OptionalMaterials:Note:Thesematerialsarenotextensivelybrokendownwithintheschedule,astheyareoptional. McGrawHillConqueringtheGREMath(forthosewhoneedadditionalworkonmathfundamentals) ManhattanGRE (for6extraonlinepracticetests) LSAT10ActualTests(Onlyfor160+verbalscorers)ANoteonMaterials:MagooshcontainsalltheinformationyouneedforwildsuccessontheexamandmanystudentshaveachievedspectacularresultsusingnothingbutMagoosh.Nevertheless,thisplanrecommendsthatyoubuyadditionalmaterialsandusethem,inadditiontotheMagooshmaterials. Hereswhy:Theseplanswerestructuredwithfarreachingpedagogicalprinciplesinmind,andadeepconsiderationforhowthehumanbrainlearns.Mostpeoplecannothearorreadsomethingjustonceand,fromthatsinglehearing,rememberitcompletelyandunderstanditfully. AtMagoosh,weareveryambitiousforourstudentswewantthemtolearnasthoroughlyandasmasterfullyaspossible.Werecommendusingtheseadditionalresourcestoprovideadditionalpractice,alternativeexplanations,andextrareview.Noteverystudentwillneedorwantadditionalmaterials,butforthosewhodo,thebookswerecommendarethebestfortheoverallgoalofdoingverywellontheexam.PrimaryGoals: WorkyourwaythroughasmanyofMagooshsMathandVerbalVideoLessonsaspossible(Aimformorethanhalf!).Aneffectivelearningstrategyistofollowupavideobypracticingquestionsthatrelatetotheconceptdiscussedinthevideo.Dontsimplywatchhoursoflessonvideoswithoutdoingquestions.Youwillquicklyforgetwhatyoulearn,unlessyoudopracticequestionstobackupthoseconcepts.Forinstance,ifyouwatchafewlessonvideosonexponents,makesureyoucompletethequizthataccompanieseachmodule.(UsingtheMcGrawHillbookwillgiveyouevenmorepracticewiththefundamentals). Wherenecessary,workthroughpracticeproblemsintheETSOfficialGuideorthetwoETSpracticequestionguides,ifyouneedtoreinforceagivenconcept.Itisokaytoskiparoundinthesebookslookingforrelevantquestions. Complete100MagooshpracticequestionseachfromVerbalandMath(thiscanincludequizquestionsthatcomeafterthelessonvideos). DeterminewhichoftheManhattanGREguideswillhelpaddressyourweaknesses(youonlyneedtopurchaseoneinordertoaccessallofthe6onlinetests,andthemathguidestendtobebetterthantheverbalones).SecondaryGoals: DeterminewhichoftheManhattanGREguideswillhelpaddressyourweaknesses(youonlyneedtopurchaseoneinordertoaccessallofthe6onlinetests) ReadtwoarticlesfromTheNewYorker /AtlanticMonthly/Economist/ALDaily.Findfiftywordsyoudonotknow.ReferenceinVocabulary.com(articlesshouldbe415pages). Writeaquicksummary/reviewofoneofthetwoarticlesyouwrote,threadingGREwordsyouvelearnedthesetwoweeks(cancomefromanyofthesources,e.g.lesson,questions,etc),andapplythemwherenecessary. Makeyourwaythrough10wordsadayfromMagooshGREFlashcards.Thegoalshouldbe150wordsafter15days.ForfurthercontextonhowthewordsyouarelearningareusedconsultVocabulary.com. Usequizlet.comtoquizyourselfon200vocabularywordsfromarticlesandcontinuetoquizyourselfwithMagooshGREFlashcards.PrimaryGoals: FinishwatchingallvideolessonswithinMagoosh TakethePowerprep2.0Test1toassessyourlevel. Checkyouranswerstoreviewmistakes.WatchexplanationvideosinMagooshforums. Usethetesttoidentifyareasinwhichyouneedmorepractice. Practice75morequestionsforVerbaland75MathwithinMagoosh. WorkthroughthebeginningoftheETSOfficialGuide2nd.edition,andcovertheeasyandmediumsectionsatthebeginningofthebookforbothmathandverbal.SecondaryGoals: ContinueworkingthroughvocabularyfromMagooshGREFlashcards,fiveaday,quizzingyourselfonallthewordsyouhavelearneduptothispoint.DontforgettousetheVocabularyBuilder! Upyourreadingtotwoarticlesaweek SolidifyfundamentalsusingMagooshandanyManhattanGREguide Pickfiftywordseachweekfromthetwoarticles(atotaloffourarticlesforeachweek) MakesureyoucontinuepracticingproblemsfromtheMcGrawHillMathifyouarestrugglingwithanyfundamentals(fractions,exponents,etc.) Ifyouarestrongwithmathconcepts,thenmovedirectlytotheETSOfficialQuantitativeguide,workingthroughspecificproblemtypescontainedtowardsthebeginningofthebook. Forthehighscorers,takeapracticeManhattanGREtest,reviewingallyourmistakesonceyouaredone. InsteadoftheMGREtests(orinadditionto),workthroughthepracticesetsintheOfficialVerbalandQuantitativequestionguides.PrimaryGoals: Practice175morequestionsforVerbaland175MathwithinMagoosh. WorkthroughtherestoftheETSOfficialGuide2nd.editionquestionsuptothepracticetestsatthebackofthebook. ReturntoanyMagooshlessonvideosinwhichyouneedarefresherSecondaryGoals: Continuepracticingvocabularyinthesamemannerdescribedabove. WorkthroughmuchofTheOfficialGREquestionguides(verbalandquantitative).Workonspecificsectionsanddoatleastonepracticesetforeach. Dependingonyourlevel,completeallthemathproblemsfromtheOfficialGREQuantitativeQuestionsGuide(thehigherthenumber,thehardertheproblem).Youmayalsowanttopickandchoosebasedonyourperceivedareasofweakness. Iflowerlevelmath,focusmoreonManhattanGREmathandeasylevelMagooshquestions. Justforadvancedverballearners,dosomereadingpassagesandparagraphassumptions(LogicalReasoningintheLSATguides).Doonetimedtest,notincludinggamessection.PrimaryGoals: CustomizepracticesessionswithinMagooshproducttotargetweaknesses.Youshouldcompletealloftheverbalandallofthemathquestions. TakebothtestsatthebackoftheOfficialGuide,includingtheAWAsection. TakethePowerprep2.0Test2. Makesureyouaredoingasmanytimedsectionsaspossiblefromvarioussources.Ifyoucantworkthroughanentiresection,alwayshaveastopwatchwheneveryouworkthroughquestions.SecondaryGoals: Continuelearningvocabularyasbefore.Youshouldknowatleast800wordsbynow,andshouldprobablyknowevenmorefromworkingwiththeGREOfficialGuideandMagooshproduct TakeaManhattanGREpracticetest.(Reviewmistakes). ForadvancedVerbalstudents: DoatimedverbalLSATReadingSectioneachdayand5CriticalReasoningquestions.Trytodeterminewhyanswersarewrongonyourown. TakenofewerthantwoManhattanGREonlinepracticetests. ForadvancedMathstudents: FinishtwoManhattanGREonlinetests(focusingjustonthemathsections).Goodluck!Payless&testhigher.Clickhereformoreinformation.