Overview
ETS describes the current GRE as five sections: one Analyze an Issue essay (30 minutes), two Verbal Reasoning sections and two Quantitative Reasoning sections, for about 1 hour 58 minutes in total. The Verbal and Quant measures are section-level adaptive: your performance in the first section of each determines the difficulty of the second. There is no longer an unscored experimental section or an Argument essay, so every section you see counts.
Many applicants come to the GRE years after their last math class, or as speakers of English as an additional language facing demanding vocabulary. We start with an official practice test, then build a plan that weights your time toward the measure your target programs care about most: a strong Quant score for economics or engineering, or strong Verbal and Writing for humanities and social science programs.
Preparation is structured around your schedule, with realistic weekly goals and full-length practice at agreed points. We also help you decide when to test, how many attempts to plan for and how the ScoreSelect option affects what programs see.
Who it’s for and the problems it solves
This is for you if you are…
- Applicants to master's and doctoral programs that require or recommend the GRE
- Working professionals returning to math after several years
- International applicants who need support with advanced English vocabulary and reading
- Business school applicants deciding between the GRE and the GMAT
Common problems we help with
- Quant questions feel easy untimed but you lose points to speed and careless mistakes
- Text completion and sentence equivalence depend on vocabulary you have not met
- Reading comprehension passages are dense and you second-guess inference questions
- You are unsure what a competitive score looks like for your programs
- You prepared with older materials that describe two essays and longer sections
What’s included — and what isn’t
Included
- Baseline diagnostic with an official ETS POWERPREP practice test
- Verbal Reasoning: text completion, sentence equivalence, reading comprehension and critical reasoning (argument) questions
- Vocabulary building in context, prioritizing words that recur in GRE-style passages
- Quantitative Reasoning: arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis, including quantitative comparison and numeric entry
- Data interpretation sets and efficient use of the on-screen calculator
- Analyze an Issue essay coaching with feedback on your own practice essays
- Section-level adaptive strategy, pacing targets and use of mark-and-review
- Test timing, retake planning and guidance on sending scores
- GRE-versus-GMAT discussion for business and economics applicants
Not included
- Taking the GRE or any practice test on someone else's behalf, including at-home test sessions
- Writing essays for you to memorize or reuse; we coach and comment on essays you write
- Promising a score, percentile, admission or funding outcome
- Using leaked or recalled live test questions
What you receive
- Diagnostic breakdown
- Verbal, Quant and Writing results from an official practice test, broken down by question type with the main causes of lost points.
- Target and timeline
- A realistic target range based on your programs' published information, and a study timeline to your test date.
- Tutoring sessions
- One-to-one sessions on the question types and content areas where your diagnostic shows the most room to improve.
- Vocabulary and formula lists
- Personalized lists built from words and concepts you actually missed, with review scheduling.
- Essay feedback
- Written comments on your own timed Issue essays, organized around the ETS scoring guide: position, reasoning, examples, organization and language control.
How it works
Program check
You share your target programs and deadlines. We look at whether they require the GRE and what score information they publish.
Diagnostic
You take an official practice test; we review it question by question.
Plan
We agree weekly goals, session frequency and dates for practice tests.
Teach and drill
Sessions cover content gaps, question-type strategy and timed sets, with essay feedback as needed.
Final checks
A last practice test, pacing review and test-day checklist for test center or at-home delivery.
Preparation methods
- Official ETS practice
- POWERPREP tests and the Official Guide are used for diagnostics and final checks because they reflect the current section lengths and scoring.
- Quantitative comparison strategy
- Testing cases, simplifying both columns and recognizing when the answer cannot be determined.
- Text completion method
- Predicting the missing word from clues and structural signals before reading the answer choices.
- Sentence equivalence pairing
- Finding two choices that produce sentences with the same meaning, not just two synonyms.
- Reading comprehension mapping
- Short notes on the purpose of each paragraph to answer main idea and inference questions quickly.
- Issue essay template thinking
- A planning routine for taking a clear position, addressing the specific instructions and developing two or three well-chosen examples.
The current GRE at a glance
The Analytical Writing section always comes first. After that, Verbal and Quant sections can appear in any order. Scoring for Verbal and Quant is on a 130–170 scale in one-point increments, and Analytical Writing on 0–6 in half-point increments.
- Analytical Writing: one Analyze an Issue task, 30 minutes
- Verbal Reasoning: two sections (12 then 15 questions), 41 minutes in total
- Quantitative Reasoning: two sections (12 then 15 questions), 47 minutes in total
- Adaptive at section level; you can skip, mark and change answers within a section
Working with section-level adaptivity
Because the difficulty of your second Verbal and Quant sections depends on your first, early accuracy has a big effect on your ceiling. Unlike question-by-question adaptive tests, you can move freely within a section, so we train you to answer the questions you can do well first, mark the rest and return with remaining time.
With the shorter sections, a single run of slow questions can cost several points. We set per-section time checkpoints and practice them until they feel automatic.
GRE or GMAT for business school?
Many business schools accept both. The GRE has more vocabulary and geometry, while the GMAT Focus Edition emphasizes data analysis and critical reasoning. A timed practice test of each, plus a check of your target schools' preferences, usually makes the choice clear.
What the work can look like
Illustrative example — fictional data
Sample study plan excerpt: economics master's applicant
A working professional applying to economics master's programs took an official practice test. The person and figures are invented for illustration.
Diagnostic
Verbal 153, Quant 158, Writing 3.5. Quant misses were mostly in data interpretation and probability; Verbal misses were split between vocabulary and inference questions.
Priorities
Because the target programs emphasize quantitative preparation, two-thirds of study time went to Quant: probability rules, percent change and reading combined charts. Verbal work focused on 15 minutes of vocabulary in context daily.
Checkpoints
Second practice test in week four, third in week seven, with the test date set for week nine to leave time for a retake before deadlines if needed.
Illustrative example with invented scores. Real plans follow your diagnostic and your programs' requirements, and no score is promised.
What you’ll need to provide
- Your target programs and application deadlines
- Any previous GRE scores or practice test results
- Your planned test date and whether you will test at a center or at home
- Your weekly study availability
- Practice essays you would like feedback on
You don’t need everything ready to ask for a quote — tell us what you have and we’ll say what’s missing.
What affects price and turnaround
Price depends on
- Number of sessions and weeks until your test date
- Whether you need support on one measure or all three
- Amount of essay feedback requested
- Depth of foundational math review needed before test strategy
Turnaround depends on
- Application deadlines and the time needed for official scores to reach programs
- Your starting point relative to your target range
- Hours per week you can study alongside work or coursework
Every project is quoted individually. How we price our work.
Questions people ask before starting
Do I still need to prepare for the Argument essay?
No. The current GRE has only the Analyze an Issue task. Materials written before September 2023 may still describe two essays and longer sections, so check dates on any book you use.
Can you help if I have not done math in years?
Yes. We often start with a short foundations review (fractions, exponents, algebraic manipulation, basic geometry) before moving to GRE-style questions.
Is at-home testing different?
The content and timing are the same, but there are strict equipment and room requirements. We walk through the current ETS checklist so there are no surprises.
How long do GRE scores last?
ETS reports scores for five years after the test date. Check your programs' own policies too.
Will you help with my statement of purpose as well?
Yes, as a separate service. See our statement of purpose feedback page.