It’s all about mind management in the end, Ishita  recommends watching Greg’s anxiety video for managing pre-exam nerves

Gupta advises mimicking actual test timing during practice. “GRE Verbal gives you slightly less than 1.5 minutes per question; Quant gives slightly more. Use a timer and train your brain accordingly."

Simple Vishwakarma mumbai

Ishita Gupta, an Indian student based in Delhi, recently took the GRE Focus Edition from Gurgaon and scored an impressive Verbal: 168 and Quant: 170. Balancing a full-time job with a demanding prep schedule, she shares practical tips and personal insights for students planning to take the exam.

Don’t rush; know when you’re ready

Ishita gave herself around three months to prepare. Instead of setting a rigid date at the beginning, she waited until her mock scores consistently hit her target range (around 327). Once that happened, she booked her test for a month later and used the final four weeks to double down. “There’s no point booking a date and stressing if you’re not ready,” she says.

Build your base with trusted resources 

She highly recommends GregMat for its structured plans and clear explanations, especially for verbal. Alongside that, she used the ETS Official Guides (4th edition) for Quant and Verbal Practice. “Study under timed conditions,” she advises. For reading comprehension, she found the Big Book (old ETS material) extremely helpful, as it closely resembles the actual exam.

Carve out time consistently

With a full-time job, Ishita studied 3 hours every evening on weekdays and tried to extend study hours to 4–5 hours over the weekend. A week before the test, she took time off to focus entirely on prep. “That last week was crucial,” she says. She followed the GregMat 1-month plan at first, then transitioned to solving mixed sets from the Official Guide under strict test conditions.

Master vocabulary through smart repetition

For vocabulary, she followed GregMat’s Vocab Mountain—a methodical approach involving 1000 words, revisiting them regularly. “It’s time-consuming, but worth it,” she says. In addition, she read articles from The Economist, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, looking up unfamiliar words. “You’d be surprised how much GRE vocabulary shows up in quality journalism,” she adds.

Strengthen quant by reducing silly mistakes

Although she comes from an engineering background and scored high in Quant from the start, her focus was on reducing careless errors. “I logged every mistake I made, analysed it, and looked for patterns.” She adds that many Quant questions rely on familiar tricks. “The more question types you see, the easier it is to spot the traps.”

Mock tests are the game-changer

Ishita started her prep with ETS PowerPrep 1 (free) and scored 317. After completing much of the GregMat plan and practice tests, her scores started to climb—328 on PowerPrep 2, then 328+ on ETS book mocks. In the final two weeks, she took three paid ETS PowerPrep tests, scoring 326, 332, and 330.

She faced a hiccup when a technical issue during her first test attempt led to a delay. “There’s a 3-week gap rule for retakes,” she explains. During that time, she revised and retook earlier mocks, scoring up to 333+. “Consistent revision kept me in shape,” she says.

Time management starts from day one

Ishita advises mimicking actual test timing during practice. “GRE Verbal gives you slightly less than 1.5 minutes per question; Quant gives slightly more. Use a timer and train your brain accordingly,” she says. Early on, focus on understanding concepts; later, prioritise timed practice to build stamina and precision.

What to watch out for

In verbal, she suggests giving extra time to reading comprehension (RC). “Answer options can be misleading. Always stick to what’s explicitly stated or strongly implied in the passage,” she says. In Quant, she reminds students not to overlook the 'D' option — sometimes a question lacks sufficient data, and that’s the correct answer.

Final few weeks

“Practice under real conditions — sit at a desk, use a timer, no phone,” she says. Ishita also emphasised logging and reviewing mistakes rather than obsessing over scores. “It’s all about mind management in the end,” she adds, and she recommends watching Greg’s anxiety video for managing pre-exam nerves.

Finally, her advice to beginners is simple: personalise your plan. “What works for me may not work for you. Some people need more time or struggle with different sections,” she says. Her approach? Treat the exam like a conversation. “They ask questions, you reply — that’s it. Don’t think about pressure or scores while solving.”