Retaking GRE (Terrified!)

GRE General
1

Hello all,

The last time I took the GRE was about 14 months ago. I got 157Q 169V. The truth is, I hardly worked for the V scores, I am just fortunate to be good at it. By contrast, I worked my ass off for the Q and found that a really poor return on the investment I made. I had to take time out to address some important things and honestly, I was pretty burned out and dissapointed. I considered giving up and have delayed coming back to the test ever since.

Looking back, I think I was working hard and not smart. This is a pretty common theme in my life and I am determined to not make the same mistake again. I used Target Test Prep and completed the entire math section, sinking hundreds of hours in. Some problems I know I had were (a) not keeping a good error log and (b) the program being so long that I had forgotten earlier material by test day. I also do not think their questions map particularly well onto ETS and they are light on strategies and techniques (taking a pure math approcah to things when sometimes there are ways to make the questions easier). But I could have worked that out had I spent any time at all on r/GRE or here. This was my fault and I take responsibility for it. I also think if I had kept a better error log and gone back to revisit earlier material, their course would have been fine.

I do not want to make the same mistakes again. Some things I know I need to do are
(1) Learn my times tables by heart as this speeds up calculations
(2) Improve my fundemental knowledge
(3) Keep a very detailed error log and revisit it every couple of days or so
(4) Constantly revise earlier materials (I would love advice on how to organise this - e.g., how often).

I have some questions.

First off - is improving my quant score even possible? I feel like I threw the kitchen sink at it last time and performed far below the programs I am interested would like. At an absolute minimum, I need 161Q and realistically, 165Q to distinguish myself. Is going from 157 to 161-165 actually possible? Has anyone here done it? I do not know anyone in real life who has taken the GRE and so I have no real data on this beyond “articles” on the internet that all conveniently end with a sales link. I am skepical, and if it cannot be done, I would prefer to give up now rather than invest hundreds of further hours.

Next - scheduling. I watched the intro video today where the idea of a personalised plan came up. I think it is pretty clear that Quant needs to be my focus but I also have a job and am doing research. Time is limited. How can I adapt the GregMat 2 month plan to say 3 hours a day? I do not have a set date for my test yet, it could be as late as July if needed. I just want to go in knowing I did the best I could and I do not mind how long that takes.

Last - how do I work smarter? Given that I need improve my foundation for sure (or develop a new one after 14 months off realistically), it seems like going through the GregMat 2 month plan is sensible. But I am also worried I will just default to “completing” the work without thinking it through. I have done this before! Does anyone have tips on how to work out an error log/how and when to revisit topics etc. How much time should be spent moving forward vs. checking I can still do something I learned a way back?

Thanks very much for reading and I appreciate any and all replies.

2

Greg did a class called ‘Being busy is not productive’ or something similar. It should be under Must watch video or you could even scroll down on the new content feed.

I’d watch that. I am in the same retaking bucket & that class personally provided me a roadmap to work.

3

That is very helpful advice, thank you.

I found the video and will watch it tomorrow.

4

Hey can we connect arnav.ghate@gmail.com

5

I believe you can definitely increase your Quant score. As you’ve already determined the need for a customized plan, I suggest starting with your recent diagnostic report. Delve into the specifics and pinpoint what needs improvement. Ask yourself: do you need to start from scratch, identify more patterns, or solve more questions on a particular topic? Be specific.

Maintain an error log and regularly revise and test what you’ve already learned. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that just because you’ve watched a lecture or two on a particular topic, you’ll be able to answer its questions in the exam. Instead, ensure your understanding by regularly testing what you’ve learned and improvising from there.(I used to do time practice at the end of each day for whatever topic I was learning , for eg, 10 question of a particular topic pasted on a doc and giving myself 1 min 30 sec per question and really see how much information was I able to absorb that day. This was in early 2020 so, the timing may differ now )

As for your verbal section, you’re already way above the average percentile. So, for that, you can mostly continue doing what you’re already doing.