As the end of the semester gets closer, your advisees are hopefully finalizing their summer plans. For many students, this will involve preparing for the GRE. To ensure that they make the most of their time and put themselves in the best possible position to succeed, here are some tips to help your advisees formulate a summer study plan:
- Months 1 – 2: Set a target score, and then take a full-length practice test to provide a baseline score and to serve as a diagnostic tool. Use the results to determine what one’s greatest areas of opportunity are, and spend about 75% of study time focusing on these. Study plans should account for about 10 – 12 hours of time per week, and should be distributed over 5 – 6 days each week – no trying to cram on weekends (it doesn’t work for their final exams in school, and it won’t work for the GRE). The focus during this phase is two-fold: 1) Review any content with which they are rusty or unfamiliar, and 2) begin learning how to approach the test as the test-makers do: With an eye for what critical-thinking skill each problem is testing, and what strategy will allow them to tackle it efficiently.
- Months 2 – 3: Once students have mastered techniques to strengthen their areas of opportunity, they move into the 2 -4 week-long “mastery phase”. This is all about drilling, drilling, and drilling some more. Any pro athlete will tell you that his training is harder than his actual game, and the same standard applies to the GRE – since most students don’t have an infinite number of shots at getting the score they want (due to time constraints, along with professional, academic, and financial commitments), they need to know exactly what score they can expect to get going into Test Day. This requires a consistent schedule that involves regular full-length practice tests (one every 1 – 2 weeks), thorough reviews of the tests to see what patterns emerge, and a strategic mix of content review and short timed practice in between tests.
- Post Test Day: Plan to retake the test if necessary. The second test is when some students reach their full potential, and with GRE’s Score Select score-reporting options, students have full control over how schools receive their scores. Once the GRE is complete, however, it’s time to begin moving on to other parts of the grad school applications – even students who are not submitting applications this fall or winter should begin doing research on schools, to prepare tailored and compelling applications when the time comes.
This framework will suit anyone who is preparing for the GRE in the coming months – best of luck to all of your advisees as they finish out the semester strong and dive into productive summers!
