1st attempt today 160 Q 161 V, advice from here?

GRE General
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Hi everyone! I just took my first GRE exam today. I got an unofficial score of 160 Q 161 V. The order was QVQVQ. Although I’ve been studying for a few months I’m actually quite new to GregMAT and I’ve only been using it for the past 2 weeks. I want to thank Greg and everyone here for making such a friendly supportive environment. I would love to attend the actual classes live but because I live in Australia the time zone difference is quite prohibitive =(

I was wondering what the best way forward is for me. My goal is to score 165 or above in both sections. How should I approach studying from now? Should I follow the 2 month plan or focus on certain areas? Thanks everyone!

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wait for your diagnostic and then tackle your weakness . After getting your diagnostic and reviewing it you can then customize the two months plan to work on your shortcoming rather than doing everything. Great score btw!!! :tada:

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Hi! I think we’re on the same boat! I also just discovered GregMat <1mo before my scheduled test. I took the GRE for the first time a month ago and scored a 160Q 162V. I decided to take it again after the 21-day period and got a 161Q 166V! In the 3-4 weeks before my 2nd test, I did the ff.:

  • Rest!!! Can’t stress this enough. I feel like I got burnt out taking too many sets and practice tests weeks before the test. I did zero GRE for a week after my 1st test to reset my brain.

  • I really drilled down on my foundations. Verbal - Vocab 500 words/day using Greg’s and Magoosh list, plugged into Anki. By the end of the 2 week period, I made sure I’m able to quickly define every word. Spaced repetition really, really goes a long way. I breezed through SE and TC, and even had extra ~5min time left to review, because I felt sure of my vocab. (To give context: I’m not a native speaker, but I read 30-40 books/year and took a humanities minor)

  • I also focused on my Quant foundation. Honestly, I skipped this process the first time around and jumped immediately to answering practice problems… Bad decision. Knowing it’s my foundation pulling me down, I pored through Greg’s Quant Concept series 2 weeks leading up to my 2nd exam. I think it really helped me identify conceptual shortcuts and just in general gave me more confidence in my processes.

I still wish I did better in Quant, but at this point I think it’s best for me to let go and focus on the rest of my grad school apps. Hope this helps!!! Good luck!

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Thank you my Russian friend! I will do that, it certainly sounds like a much more effective way to move forward.

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Wow! 30-40 books a year! You are very well read!!

Thanks, I’ll certainly be doing that. Foundations for quant are absolutely crucial thats for sure, and I also definitely have some more words to learn for verbal.

Congratulations on your score. It must be difficult especially for a non-native English speaker. Best of luck on your grad school apps!