The following is a proven plan to improve your quantitative skills. We have prepared a comprehensive GRE quantitative study plan to help you increase your score based on recommendations from global experts.
The GRE Math Study Plan Includes:
- Student categorization as per the diagnostic scores
- Quantitative Study Plan: Concept Building & Practice
- General Preparation Tips
Please use this step-by-step guide to identify which category of students you fall into and find out which resources to use and how much to focus on concept building, learning strategies and practicing questions in order to get the most out of your preparation.
1) Students categorization as per the diagnostic scores
The first essential step is to take a GRE Diagnostic test without preparation to analyze the student’s proficiency levels. We have categorized students into four as per their diagnostic scores. Each category has its own set of guidelines and recommended resources as per the GRE Quantitative Study Plan. Your initial score will determine which category you fall into, which will, in turn, help you plan your preparation and decide upon a test date accordingly.
CATEGORY I:
Diagnostic Scores: (160+)
Students with strong Mathematical background
CATEGORY II:
Diagnostic Scores: (157-159)
Students with good Mathematical background
CATEGORY III:
Diagnostic Scores: (150-156)
Students with average Mathematical background
CATEGORY IV:
Diagnostic Scores: (+130-149)
Students with weak Mathematical background
2) Quantitative Study Plan: Concept Building & Practice
CATEGORY I: (Q 160+)
Students with strong Mathematical background
Material: Scholar Den Only
If you fall into this category, you already have strong mathematical skills, and you do not need to work on concepts.
Step 1: Practice Questions
You must practice questions from Scholar Den Easy Level questions via custom practice. Based on your performance, you should either go back to your weak concepts or if there are no weak concepts, then you should do the medium-level questions. After you are done with the medium level questions, then you should review your mistakes and learn those weak areas again. After medium, you should focus on hard-level questions.
Step 2: Mocks
You must practice all practice questions from Scholar Den mocks to familiarize yourself with the type of questions you’ll find in the real GRE test.
After Scholarden, mocks you should do ETS paid mocks and if you have time, then go for ETS power prep 1 and PowerPrep II, the difficulty level would be easier than the real GRE, but it would help you with stamina building.
CATEGORY II: (157-159)
Students with good Mathematical background
Material: ETS + Scholar Den
If you fall into this category, you already have a good mathematics foundation and won’t need to build concepts from scratch.
Concept Building:
The first step during your GRE quantitative study plan is to learn concepts. For concepts, students should go through the ETS Math review book. Once you revised all the concepts, you just need to spend a considerable amount of time practicing and identifying any weak areas you might have. For that purpose, the recommended material is Scholar Den.
After that, start with Appendix A of the ETS quantitative book after you’re done with the diagnostic test. This section covers the entire syllabus of the GRE and is very easy to follow. For example, in Section 4, the book discusses histograms, relative frequency distributions, probability distributions, and normal distributions and relates all these concepts quite well. Therefore, Appendix A presents the gist of everything you might see in the test. Students who are already good at the material just need to review it once before they can dive into practice questions. Also, this overview is a great chance to identify any weak areas you might have quickly.
There are a total of 4 sections in the appendix, and you can be done with them in as little as 4 days. This is great for a quick review of all the concepts covered in the GRE. Additionally, it also features some practice questions for each concept discussed. You just need to spend a considerable amount of time to practice and identify your weak areas. For that purpose, the recommended material is Scholar Den.
Practice:
You must practice questions from Scholar Den Easy Level questions via custom practice. Based on your performance, you should either go back to your weak concepts or if there are no weak concepts, then you should do the medium-level questions. After you are done with the medium level questions, then you should review your mistakes and learn those weak areas again. After medium, you should focus on hard-level questions.
Step 2: Mocks
You must practice all practice questions from Scholar Den mocks to familiarize yourself with the type of questions you’ll find in the real GRE test.
After Scholarden, mocks you should do ETS paid mocks and if you have time, then go for ETS power prep 1 and PowerPrep II, the difficulty level would be easier than the real GRE, but it would help you with stamina building.
CATEGORY III: (150-156)
Students with Average Quant Background
Material: Scholar Den
Concept Building:
Students who have some gaps in mathematics concepts will generally fall into this category. These students should first focus on learning and revising all the basic mathematical concepts required for the GRE exam and then work on building strategies before finally diving into practice questions. For basic concept building, one of the best resources is Scholar Den. It’s highly recommended for concept building, too.
Practice:
You must focus on doing a lot of practice. Start with Scholar Den quiz questions, which are given at the end of every lesson.
After you are done with quizzes, you must do practice questions from Scholar Den Easy Level questions via custom practice. Based on your performance, you should either go back to your weak concepts or if there are no weak concepts, then you should do the medium-level questions. After you are done with the medium level questions, then you should review your mistakes and learn those weak areas again. After medium, you should focus on hard-level questions.
If you still need additional practice, then contact mentors at Scholar Den; they will guide you further about GRE Quant
CATEGORY IV:
Students with Weak Quant Background (+130-149)
Material: Scholar Den
Concept Buiding:
If you belong to this group, you will need to put in a lot of effort to aim for a competitive score in the quantitative section. This category is for students who are not from a mathematics-heavy field (e.g., medicine, humanities, etc.) or who never liked numbers much. Such students, like those of category 3, should first focus on learning and revising all the basic mathematics concepts required for the GRE exam, and then work on strategies and finally practice questions.
After learning the core concepts, students should work on learning strategies and then practice questions.
Practice:
You must focus on doing a lot of practice. Start with Scholar Den quiz questions, which are given at the end of every lesson.
After you are done with quizzes, you must do practice questions from Scholar Den Easy Level questions via custom practice. Based on your performance, you should either go back to your weak concepts or if there are no weak concepts, then you should do the medium-level questions. After you are done with the medium level questions, then you should review your mistakes and learn those weak areas again. After medium, you should focus on hard-level questions.
If you still need additional practice, then contact mentors at Scholar Den; they will guide you further with the GRE quantitative study plan.
3) General Preparation Tips
Once you have clarified the concepts and learned the strategies, it’s time to start practicing those concepts on real questions. For example, if you have covered algebra concepts, then you should move on to algebra practice questions. If you feel that your algebra concepts are not clear, then you should go back to them instead of simply moving on to the next section. Moreover, after each practice session, you should give some time to review your weaknesses and then focus on improving them. Once you get a decent hang of those concepts, you should focus on mastering them by practicing questions, starting from an easy difficulty level and then moving upwards from Scholar Den.
Scholar Den is listed as the main source for practice questions. The questions are tricky, just like the REAL GRE, and updated on a regular basis. Additionally, they have video explanations and analyses for the questions to help you review those questions and identify your mistakes. Remember that reviewing is very step important when working on improving your score.
If you are finding it difficult to get medium and hard-level questions correct, then we would recommend practicing medium and hard-level questions from Scholar Den.
Error Logs:
During the practice session, maintain an error log and identify your weak areas. Scholar Den Analytics will help you do this.
Identify topics that you need to work more on based on your error logs. Refer back to the recommended resources to master your concept and strategies for those topics. After every 2-3 weeks of practice, take a mock test to gauge your progress. It is important that you finish questions Scholar Den before you appear for the exam.
Mocks:
In the last three weeks before the test, try to attempt at least 10 mock exams from recommended resources such as Scholar Den, ETS, and Manhattan in that order. Make sure you attempt the complete mock during the last few days.
To practice Scholar Den questions, you should visit the Scholar Den Website.
You can also read the next article: What the GRE really measures?
