GRE Study Plan for 2 Months—Week-Wise Break Up

Meta: If you only have 2 months to prepare for the GRE, here’s the detailed study plan you need. This will tell you what to do each day so that you’re ready when the real GRE comes along.

Most experts tend to recommend a period of 4 to 6 months to reserve for a GRE review schedule. That way, a student isn’t overly burdened with GRE daily tasks, and there’s ample time for their current studies or work.

But what if you only have 2 months for your GRE review? Perhaps you’re one of those people who prefer a short but intensive time for study, instead of a longer review time frame. Some people prefer a shorter study time frame because they’re not sure that they’re able to retain what they’ve learned 6 months ago.

If you only have 2 months for GRE review because of your unfortunate tendency to procrastinate, you have a serious problem. You will have to get rid of that nasty habit because you will want to stick to a firm schedule when you have so little time to study for the GRE.

It’s true that if you’re unable to do scheduled tasks for a day or a week, you can catch up on the succeeding days and weeks by adding the undone work to your current schedule. But if you keep on not meeting your quota of tasks—that can be disastrous.

So, buckle up, and take your GRE review seriously. The 8-week plan we have for you have been prepared by experts with at least 10 years of tutoring GRE test-takers, and this plan has worked for plenty of people before.

Required Study Materials

The first step to any kind of review for any type of test is to gather the proper study materials. You have to make sure your study materials contain the lessons you need that will cover the entire breadth of the whole GRE test.

For the GRE, your best bet is to get as much review resources you can obtain from the ETS. The ETS is the same group that also administers the GRE, so they’re naturally the foremost experts on the topic. Often, the study materials they offer have been created by the very same people who actually created the GRE test in the first place.

What we will cover?

ETS Website

Visit the ETS GRE website, and then bookmark it. That’s because you’ll most likely return to this site to check out the GRE information you need.

Read up on everything about the GRE, and especially on how you ought to prepare for the test. Download every free GRE resource they offer, and seriously consider getting all the paid options as well.

ETS Big Book

This is the monster book prepared by the ETS, that offers you 27 past copies of the GRE tests. What this means for you is that you’re getting the actual questions that have been asked before, and it’s very likely that similar questions will be asked again. These are the best practice questions and practice tests you can use since they’re not just approximations of the real GRE questions.

It’s highly recommended that you go with the eBook version of this since you can always use a handy tablet or even your smartphone to read it. The paperback copy is a bit too bulky, even if you can find one. It’s out of print, and even if you do find one, you’ll also find the price for it a bit too unreasonable.

ETS PowerPrep GRE Tests

While these may not be as historical as the GRE tests in the Big Book, these PowerPrep GRE tests are better practice options than any alternative. That’s because these practice tests were created by the very same people who also created the actual GRE tests.

You can (actually, you must) download 2 GRE practice tests for free. These practice tests are invaluable in giving you a very fair idea of what you’re in for when you take the real GRE. Also, you can use them as your diagnostic tools, as they can help you identify GRE topics for which you still need improvement.

There are 3 additional GRE practice tests available, which you can get for about $40 each. Cough up the money and get these tests, as you’ll need them too.

ETS Super Power Pack

There are 3 bools in the ETS Super Power Pack, and it’s recommended that you get at least the 2017 edition. That set takes into account the crucial changes made for the GRE in 2016. The books include the official Guide to the GRE (3^rd edition), the Official GRE Quantitative Practice Questions (2^nd edition), and the Official GRE Verbal Practice Questions (2^nd edition).

These books are also crucial since you get almost 600 GRE practice questions to work on. The practice questions cover all the possible topics that may come up in the GRE.

Manhattan Prep 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems

While the verbal section here is barely adequate, you’ll get a lot of use from their excellent chapters on various math topics. You can the math questions here to help hone your math skills.

Supplementary Resources

While the core study materials are must-have items, you may as well get these extra study materials. These can help you in various ways. These include apps, online videos, and a planner to help you monitor your review progress.

Math games: arithmetic, times tables, mental math (for Android)
Mental Math Cards Challenge (for iPhone)
Vince Kotchian Test Prep YouTube video channel
Any productivity planner or journal (such as the Intelligent Change Productivity Planner)

The 2-Month (8-Week) Study Plan

Okay, first of all, set aside 8 weeks for your review, and start it on a Monday. Try to relax on the weekend before, though use that time to secure all your study materials.

While the 8-week study plan may seem a bit rigorous, it doesn’t actually force you to study from sunup to sundown. It’s not a bootcamp.

With just 2 months for your study review, you’ll have to put in about 3 hours of work daily, though on Sundays the plan does cut the daily workload to just 2 hours.

It’s best that you develop some discipline so that you can stick to the plan. Now is not the time to indulge your tendency to procrastinate. Still, if you were unable to finish tasks meant for one week, you can do them over the course of the next few weeks (in addition to the tasks meant for those weeks as well).

Additional Notes

Here are some tips that should help explain certain instructions:

When the plan says “Answer 60 math questions”, that means you should aim for 60 solved Start first with the official ETS materials. Don’t get stuck on a particular question. Just skip the question if you’re unable to figure it out after a couple of minutes. Later on, you’ll get instructions about reading up on the detailed explanations if a particular math topic is fuzzy for you.
For some weeks, you may have to “answer sentence equivalence” or “answer text completion on reading comprehension” questions. In this plan, you should start with the questions in the ETS Super Power Pack books first. Whether you get the answer right or not, check out the explanations for getting the right answer.
When it’s time to “answer critical reasoning questions”, work on the ETS Big Book questions in the “analytical” sections. When you’re done with these questions, transition to the critical reasoning questions found in the ETS Power Pack.

Daily Tasks

These tasks, combined, take about an hour or so.

Study at least 20 vocabulary words.
Warm up with 5 minutes of the math game apps.
Check out the verbal sections in the ETS Big Book, and read a long reading passage.
Brainstorm and think about2of theIssue Topics from the ETS website.
Brainstorm and think about 2 of theArgument Topics from the ETS website.
Check out the ETS Math Review on the ETS site, and learn about the math concepts you need to know about. You need to finish these items as quickly as you can.
Watch at least 1 or 2 videos from the Vince YouTube channel.
At the end of the day, note down your completed and uncompleted tasks.

Now we start with the break down of the tasks assigned for each week. It will be up to you to schedule these tasks throughout each week.

Week 1

Answer 60 math questions, starting with the ones in the ETS Big Book. You can spread out these questions over the whole week, meaning you can do maybe 10 or 12 questions each day.
Get the ETS verbal book, and read the essay chapter.
Answer 8 sentence equivalence questions from the ETS books.
Answer 8 text completion questions from the ETS books.
Using any of the Issue topics prompts from the ETS, write your issue essay. This comes with a 45-minute time limit,so use your smartphone to time yourself.

Week 2

Use any ETS prompt to write an argument essay. Again, this has a 45-minute time limit,
Answer 8 sentence equivalence questions from the ETS books.
Answer 8 text completion questions from the ETS books.
Answer16 reading comprehension questions from the ETS books.
Try to solve 60 ETS math problems, and check out the detailed explanations especially if you get the answer wrong.
Answer at least 10 questions from these particular Manhattan Prep 5-lb book chapters: Chapter 7, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 14, and Chapter 20. That’s a total of at least 50 questions. You’re aiming to complete at least ¾ of each chapter, so you can spread out the questions over the course of the 12-week plan.
At the end of the week (ideally on Saturday), take the ETS PowerPrep Online Test 1. Do this under realistic conditions, meaning you need to set the time limits accordingly.
On Sunday, correct your test and note which questions you got wrong. These questions will indicate which areas will require more work, and you should try to do more than the minimum for these areas.

Week 3

Answer 8 sentence equivalence questions from the ETS books.
Answer 8 text completion questions from the ETS books.
Answer 16 reading comprehension questions from the ETS books.
Answer 4 ETS critical reasoning questions from the ETS Big Book. Use the passages which come with only a single associated question for each passage.
Try to answer 60 ETS math problems.
Answer at least 10 questions from these particular Manhattan Prep 5-lb book chapters: Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 17, and Chapter 28. Again, you’re aiming to finish at least ¾ of the questions for each chapter.

Week 4

Answer 8 sentence equivalence questions from the ETS books.
Answer 8 text completion questions from the ETS books.
Answer16 reading comprehension questions from the ETS books.
Answer 4 ETS critical reasoning questions from the ETS Big Book. Use the passages which come with only a single associated question for each passage.
Try to answer 60 ETS math problems.
Answer at least 10 questions from these particular Manhattan Prep 5-lb book chapters: Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, and Chapter 25. Again, you’re aiming to finish at least ¾ of the questions for each chapter.
On Saturday, take the PowerPrep Online Test 2 under realistic conditions.
On Sunday, check out your test and note your wrong answers.

Week 5

Answer 8 sentence equivalence questions from the ETS books.
Answer 8 text completion questions from the ETS books.
Answer 16 reading comprehension questions from the ETS books.
Answer 4 ETS critical reasoning questions from the ETS Big Book. Use the passages which come with only a single associated question for each passage.
Try to answer 60 ETS math problems.
Answer at least 10 questions from these particular Manhattan Prep 5-lb book chapters: Chapter 16, Chapter 26, Chapter 27, and Chapter 29. Again, you’re aiming to finish at least ¾ of the questions for each chapter.
On Saturday, take the PowerPrep Plus Test 1.
On Sunday, correct your test and note which questions you got wrong.

Week 6

Answer 8 sentence equivalence questions from the ETS books.
Answer 8 text completion questions from the ETS books.
Answer 16 reading comprehension questions from the ETS books.
Answer 4 ETS critical reasoning questions from the ETS Big Book. Use the passages which come with only a single associated question for each passage.
Try to answer 45 ETS math problems.
Answer at least 10 questions from these particular Manhattan Prep 5-lb book chapters: Chapter 18 and Chapter 19. Again, you’re aiming to finish at least ¾ of the questions for each chapter.
On Saturday, redo 2 of the verbal and 2 of the math sections from the first 2 PowerPrep Online Tests (1 and 2). You can either do the questions you were unable to finish, or do the questions that gave you the most trouble before.
On Sunday, check your test answers and note which questions still give you problems.

Week 7

Answer 8 sentence equivalence questions from the ETS books.
Answer 8 text completion questions from the ETS books.
Answer 16 reading comprehension questions from the ETS books.
Answer 4 ETS critical reasoning questions from the ETS Big Book. Use the passages which come with only a single associated question for each passage.
Try to answer 60 ETS math problems.
On Saturday, tackle the PowerPrep Plus Test 2.
On Sunday, check your test, and note what you got wrong.

Week 8

Answer 8 sentence equivalence questions from the ETS books.
Answer 8 text completion questions from the ETS books.
Answer 16 reading comprehension questions from the ETS books.
Answer 4 ETS critical reasoning questions from the ETS Big Book. Use the passages which come with only a single associated question for each passage.
Try to answer 60 ETS math problems.
On Saturday, tackle the last PowerPrep Online Test 3.
On Sunday, correct these portions of the test. You now have a clearer idea of how you’ll do in the actual test.

Ideally, your last test should give you a score you’re happy with. You may spend maybe a day on a problem or two that still give you problems, but at this point you’re just about done.

Conclusion

After the last practice test (PowerPrep Plus Test 3), you should have an accurate of how you will do in the real GRE. Take some time off for a few days, get a good night’s rest right before the GRE test day, and do your best in the actual GRE!