Students may feel the pressure of the GRE. To get a good score, you need to study. What does it mean? Do I need to study for two hours daily? How long do I need to study for the GRE?
Figuring out the right number of hours to study for the GRE will enable you to get a good score. In this way, you won’t have to over-study, which would save you time.
This article discusses step by step process for you to figure out how long to study for getting a good score in the GRE. Ideally, you should make a schedule to prepare for the exam.
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How Long Should a Student Study for the GRE?
The amount of time varies for the preparation. However, most of the students study a few hours every week for 1-3 months. This indicates that the number of hours for the exam may range approximately to 8 hours a month if you study two hours a week.
You may study for 120 hours, which refers to studying 10 hours a week for almost three months. It’s a broad range, and also it does not cover the different ways people adapt to prepare for the GRE. You may take practise test, get a knowhow about the various exam sections.
Read More: How to Study for Long Hours?
Go through the notes of school, and buy and read a GRE preparation book, or you can try all the techniques mentioned above.
Following steps will guide you about the preparation of the GRE.
Step 1: Determine Which Score You Should Aim for
Firstly, investigate the average GRE scores of the schools in which you wish to apply. You can search for this information on the Admissions page of the program.
However, not every school lists this detail. If this information is not available on the Admission page, you can contact your admission person to check the details.
Note down the information about the schools that you think will be suitable for you. The next step is to explore the highest scores for Verbal and Quantitative parts. You should add two more points to these scores to set your GRE score goal.
By setting the goal above the schools’ requirement for the GRE score, you can put in more effort. Imagine, your score slightly falls below your target. Yet, you may be able to make it to the school you wish to study as you set your target higher than the schools’ requirement in the first place.
Step 2: Practice GRE
This is an essential step for your preparation. Take a GRE to have an idea where do you stand. Students can download the software to have two official practice tests.
When you take the practice test, make sure there are no distractions around you. There will be an automatic marking for the Verbal and Quantitative Sections. Besides, you can check the scoring guide for the Analytical Writing Section.
Step 3: Get an Idea How Much Time You Need to Spend for the Preparation to Achieve Your Score Goal
Once, you have taken the practice test, make a comparison of these scores with your target scores. You need to carefully analyze the difference between your practice test score and your target score for Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning. Generally, for schools, Analytical Writing is not significant.
Following are the estimates as to roughly how many hours you should study to raise your score for achieving specific points. You can improve your score for each section by approximately 2.5 points, which means a total of 5 points.
- 5 points = 40 (forty) hours
- 10 points = 80 (eighty) hours
- 20 points = 160 (One hundred and Sixty) hours
- 30 points = 240 (two hundred and forty) hours
These are the estimated number of hours. However, the individual circumstances of students also matter when it comes to giving less or more time.
If you plan to improve your score over 30 points, perhaps, it is difficult. You need to give plenty of time to prepare for the exam. The purpose of GRE tests is to evaluate your knowledge that you gained while studying in school. It requires efforts and skills to score well above the average in the GRE.
If you plan to raise your score by 10 points, consider studying 80 hours.
Step 4: Make the Necessary Adjustment
If you feel you have already given plenty of hours for your preparation, you would want to spend another 15-20 hours for the development. Remember, hard work always pays off, and studying more may add to your confidence.
Note, how quickly you understand the new material. Do you tend to understand and retain the information for the first time you come across that? Or you feel you need to read and analyze it a few times before your grasp it?
If you are a quick learner, you may afford to reduce the number of hours by 15-25%. On the other hand, if you take longer to learn a new topic, you can increase the time by 15-25%.
If you use better preparation material, you will improve faster. If you prepare for unrealistic questions or the teaching material is not up to the mark, the chances of your progress will diminish. Therefore, you must use realistic material for preparation so that you could learn good techniques.
Final Word
Some students work hard and study long hours before appearing for the GRE test. On the other hand, others do not spend time to prepare for the exam. Nevertheless, the best strategy is to figure out how long you need to study.
Once, you know what the schools’ criteria for GRE score is, you will have an idea of how many points you need to achieve. Keep all the factors in mind, i.e. what is your pace of learning?
How much have you already studied? For which content, you need help? You should make a proper study schedule for better preparation.
