How to Start Your GRE® Studies

So you have decided to take the GRE®.

Maybe you have been thinking about graduate school for a while. Maybe the decision happened last week. Maybe you are still not 100% sure. All of that is fine.

The good news: you do not need to have everything figured out before you begin. You do not need to know the test format inside and out. You do not need to buy a shelf full of prep books. You do not need a 12-week color-coded study plan on day one.

You just need to start.

And starting is simpler than most people think.

We have worked with thousands of GRE® students over the years. The ones who do best almost always share one thing in common. They did not wait until they felt ready. They started before they felt ready and figured it out as they went.

This post is for you if you are in that early stage. The "I just decided to do this, now what?" stage. We will walk through the first few steps so you can move forward with some clarity instead of guessing.

Take a practice test first

This is the most important thing you can do in your first week of prep.

Before you buy a course. Before you open a textbook. Before you watch a single YouTube video.

Take a practice test.

We know that sounds scary. It is supposed to be a little uncomfortable. You have not studied yet. You will probably score lower than you want. That is the whole point.

Think of it like stepping on a scale before starting a fitness plan. The number is not a judgment. It is a starting point. You need it so you can make smart decisions about what comes next.

Go to ets.org and look for the practice exam purchase page. Scroll to the bottom and find PowerPrep 2. It should be a free item. PowerPrep 1 does not give you a score, so make sure you grab PowerPrep 2.

Take it cold. Do not study first. Do not look up question types. Just sit down and take the test. Budget about two hours.

Your score will give you two section scores: one for quant and one for verbal. Each runs from 130 to 170. Those two numbers tell you exactly where to focus your energy.

If your quant score is much lower than your verbal, you know where to spend more time. If both are roughly the same, that tells you something too.

A lot of people skip this step because they want to study first and "do better" on the practice test. We get it. Nobody wants to see a low score. But that instinct can slow you down. Without a baseline, you are guessing at what you need. You might spend weeks studying quant when verbal is where you have the most room to grow.

Start with the data. The rest gets easier from there.

If taking a full practice test feels like too much right now, there is a GRE® mini quiz on ets.org. It is about 10 questions and takes 15 to 30 minutes. It can help you get a feel for the question types before committing to the full exam. But the baseline practice test is still the strongest recommendation we can make.

Get to know the sections

You do not need to become an expert on the test format right now. But it helps to have a general sense of what you are working with.

The GRE® has five sections.

The essay section comes first. You write one analytical writing response. This is not weighted in the same 130-170 scale as the other sections. It is scored separately, from 0 to 6.

The quant sections test math. There are two of them. The math covers concepts up through high school geometry. There is no calculus, no trigonometry. The questions come in several formats — some are standard multiple choice, some ask you to select multiple answers, and some are numeric entry where you type in your answer. The math itself is not the hard part for most people. It is working through problems efficiently under time pressure.

The verbal sections also come in pairs — two sections. They test reading, logic, and vocabulary. You will read passages and answer questions about them. You will evaluate arguments. And you will see vocabulary-based questions like text completion and sentence equivalence. If you have taken a standardized test with reading comprehension before, some of the format may feel familiar.

The full exam takes about two hours start to finish with no breaks between sections. You can take it in person at a test center or online at home.

Decide on a timeline

There is no single answer here. It depends on your starting score, your target score, how many hours a week you can put in, and what kind of foundation you are working with.

Some people study for two or three months. Others need six months or longer. We have worked with plenty of students who spent close to a year on their prep — not because they were doing anything wrong, but because they had more ground to cover or had a lot going on at work. That is completely fine. This is not a race.

Here is what we would suggest as a starting point. Do not lock yourself into a rigid deadline right away. Give yourself a rough target date for taking the exam, but be open to adjusting once you see how your practice scores are moving.

The worst thing you can do is rush through your prep to hit an arbitrary date. Taking the test before you are ready usually means taking it twice. That costs more money and more time than giving yourself a few extra weeks.

If you are working full-time, which most GRE® test-takers are, that is completely normal. You can do this while working. You just need a realistic plan.

Pick your study materials

You do not need much to start.

The foundation is official GRE® materials from ETS. These contain real questions written by the same people who write the actual exam. There is nothing closer to the real thing. You can find them on ets.org.

Beyond the official materials, your choice of resources comes down to three things: your learning style, your budget, and your timeline.

Here is what the data shows across roughly 10,000 study outcomes.

Free resources tend to take the longest — about 60 hours of study for each one-point gain on a section score. That means a 10-point gain (say, from 155 to 165 in quant) could take roughly 600 hours. Free plans can work. But you will need to assemble materials yourself and stay accountable on your own.

Books run $100 to $300 and tend to speed things up to about 50 hours per point gained. Manhattan Prep GRE® strategy guides are a solid recommendation if you learn well from reading. On a 10-point gain, you are looking at roughly 500 hours.

Digital self-paced courses run $300 to $1,000 and bring the average down to about 40 hours per point gained. Gregmat is the least expensive option. Magoosh sits in the middle. Target Test Prep is on the higher end. Most offer free trials, so you can try before you commit. On a 10-point gain, roughly 400 hours.

Live classes run $1,000 to $2,000 and average about 30 hours per point gained. You get a live instructor, the ability to ask questions in real time, and built-in accountability. Test Crackers is a smaller brand we have had good experience with. On a 10-point gain, roughly 300 hours.

Private tutoring runs $2,000 to $10,000 and averages about 20 hours per point gained. Everything is customized to your strengths and weaknesses. Ask your network for referrals and try to talk with at least three tutors before committing. On a 10-point gain, roughly 200 hours.

These are averages, not promises. You may be faster or slower. The point is that there are real tradeoffs between cost and time, and knowing those tradeoffs helps you make a better bet.

If you are not sure where to start, try the official materials first. Study for a couple of weeks. See how it goes. If things are clicking, keep going. If you are hitting a wall, that is when outside support tends to be most valuable. And you will be a better consumer of prep resources at that point because you will know exactly what you need help with.

Set a simple daily routine

You do not need to study four hours a day. Especially at the beginning.

For most people, 45 to 60 minutes a day is a great starting point. That is enough time to work through a set of practice problems, review what you got wrong, and make some notes. It is also sustainable.

Consistency matters more than volume. Studying an hour a day, five or six days a week, almost always beats studying four hours on Saturday and nothing the rest of the week. Your brain needs regular repetition to build the patterns.

Having said that, if you have 4 hours per day and can sustain it, by all means use that time.

Here is a simple structure to start with.

Spend the first 10 to 15 minutes reviewing something you studied the day before. This could be a few problems you got wrong, or a concept that felt shaky.

Then spend 25 to 30 minutes on new material. This could be a set of practice problems from the official materials, a chapter from a content review book, or a timed mini-set.

Finish with 5 to 10 minutes of reflection. What did you learn? What felt hard? What do you want to come back to tomorrow?

Nothing fancy. You can adjust as you go.

The key thing is to protect that time. Put it on your calendar. Treat it the way you would treat a meeting. If you leave it to "whenever I have time," it probably will not happen consistently. Life gets busy. Something can come up. But if Tuesday at 7 PM is study time, it is study time.

Do not compare yourself to others

This one matters more than most people realize.

The GRE® community online is loud. Reddit threads, forums, WhatsApp groups — they are full of people talking about 330+ scores and short study timelines. And it can be easy to feel like you are behind.

Here is the thing. Those stories are not representative. The people posting high score reports are a small fraction of test-takers. They are posting because the score is impressive and worth sharing. The people who scored a 310 after four months of studying are less likely to write a detailed post about it.

But a 310 might be a great score for your goals. It depends on what programs you are applying to. It depends on the rest of your profile.

And everyone starts from a different place. Someone with a quantitative background is going to have a different experience than someone who has not done math in ten years. Someone who reads constantly is going to find the verbal section more familiar. None of that says anything about how smart you are or how well you can do on the actual exam.

Work from your own baseline. Track your own progress. If you started at a 300 and you are at a 312 after six weeks, that is real progress. That is your quant climbing, your timing improving, your approach sharpening. It does not matter what some stranger on Reddit scored.

The only comparison that matters is you versus where you started.

You are ready to begin

Take a practice test. Learn the basics of the five sections. Set a rough timeline. Grab the official materials from ets.org. Block out some time each day. And ignore the noise.

You do not need permission to start. You do not need to feel ready. You just need to begin, and then keep showing up.

Want to learn even more?

We cover all of this in much more detail on Episode 1 of our podcast, where Isaac walks through each step and shares specific recommendations based on data from roughly 10,000 study outcomes.

For more tips and strategies for the GRE®, head to thegrestrategy.com.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to study for the GRE®?

It varies a lot. Some people study for two or three months. Others need six months to a year. It depends on your starting score, your target score, how many hours per week you can dedicate, and how much ground you need to cover. If you are starting with a strong quant background, you might need less time on that section. If the math feels rusty or you are balancing a demanding job, it is completely normal for it to take longer. The timeline that works is the one that lets you learn the material — not the one that looks good on a Reddit post.

Do I need to take a prep course?

Not necessarily. A lot of people do well with self-study using official GRE® materials from ETS. A course or tutor can be helpful if you are feeling stuck, if you have not studied math in a long time, or if you prefer more structure. The data shows that more structured resources tend to reduce total study hours, but they also cost more. It is a tradeoff, and the right answer depends on your situation.

What is a good GRE® score to aim for?

It depends on the programs you are targeting. GRE® section scores run from 130 to 170. Check the median scores for your target schools and use those as your goal. Some programs emphasize the quant score more heavily. Others weight both sections roughly equally. And remember that your GRE® score is only one part of the application. Admissions committees look at the full picture.

Can I study for the GRE® while working full-time?

Yes. Most people studying for the GRE® are working full-time. It is more about consistency than total hours. Forty-five to sixty minutes a day, five or six days a week, can produce real results over a few months. The key is protecting that time and treating it like any other commitment on your calendar.

What is the difference between PowerPrep 1 and PowerPrep 2?

Both are free practice tests from ETS. The key difference is that PowerPrep 1 does not give you a score. PowerPrep 2 does. Since you need that score to plan the next steps of your prep, we recommend starting with PowerPrep 2.

Should I take the GRE® at home or at a test center?

Both are valid options. Taking it at home is convenient and you are in a familiar environment. Taking it at a test center removes distractions and provides a more structured setting. It comes down to what you are most comfortable with. There are tradeoffs with each, but neither is inherently better.