Hi Guys
Just wanted to ask for some advice. I took the GRE today, and I sucked really bad: 154V/149Q. I had a bad day is an understatement. To-date, I have had the following results:
Actual GRE 1 (March): V153/Q153
Actual GRE 2 (June): V154/Q149
OG Guide prep test 1: Q151/V151
PP1: 151/151
There seems to be a (not very good) pattern… so I wanted to ask what everyone thinks about how I should improve? I think I really struggle with holding it together on exam day, and sticking to the processes. I just panic and look at the page like a dumb dumb.
I completed about 20 days of the one month plan in between Actual GRE 1 and Actual GRE 2, and well, seemed to have actually gone down, so I am a little bit of a special case! Not sure what to do now; go back to basics and start afresh with the two month, or something else? Any advice greatly appreciated!
Cheers
H
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Hi! I know it can be so discouraging! Your comment made me laugh; I also stare at my screen and panic like a dumb dumb sometimes 
Looking at your scores, it seems like you need a lot more work on your foundational skills, especially for quant. I’ve been following GregMat’s 2-month plan and it’s much much much more in-depth than his 1-month plan. Especially for quant concepts, he goes step by step and goes back to the basics for each topic from the GRE Math Review guide to ensure that you build a really good foundation before moving on to all the tips/tricks/strategies for test-taking. So, I highly recommend starting afresh with the 2-month plan because it’s quite different from the one-month one and better for beginners.
Another tip I have for verbal is to really try to force yourself to use the strategies that Greg recommends, such as the math strategy and the block of 4. Don’t worry about timing yourself at first. For example, for TC and SE, really try to force yourself to fill in the blank using those strategies before actually looking at the answer choices. Even if it takes you much longer to do so, DO IT!! If you force yourself to use those strategies for every single question, I am confident that your score will rise significantly!
In the past, I listened to his strategies but never took them to heart, so my scores were also staying stagnant no matter how much I practiced. Once I forced myself (especially for verbal) to practice using them for every question, my unofficial verbal score has raised a lot! Don’t fret, you got this! I believe in you 
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Hey! Thank so much for the advice - good to know I am not the only one staring at ETS material like a dumb dumb!
Yeah, the verbal, I guess I didn’t really practice the techniques and in the exam, I kinda did the whole panic/look blankly/go with what sounds right and voila, 154!
The quant concepts, I really thought I had a good understanding of, but you’re absolutely right, I probably don’t and have way overestimated my understanding. I will look to befriend the 5lb book, the big book and the two month plan. I do not have time to do this as a two month plan now, so will likely spread it across four or five. Given my current scores and generally ability, cannot say for certain that it won’t take up two three decades; if it does, I will post an update here in 30 years.
How far along are you and have you seen significant improvement in both quant and verbal, or was verbal the only area that you only really needed to step up on?
Cheers
H