GRE Verbal Reasoning study plan
GRE Verbal Reasoning · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Reading Comprehension
Take a 30-question mixed verbal diagnostic and tag every miss by cause (misread question, vocabulary gap, pacing, faulty logic).
Annotate 12 short RC passages for structure by labeling the thesis, the function of each paragraph, and the author's attitude.
Paraphrase each of 10 passages' main point in a single sentence without rereading the text.
Compile 20 recurring wrong-answer traps (scope shift, extreme language, true-but-irrelevant) and attach one concrete example to each.
Your checkpoint
A diagnostic error log covering 30 categorized misses plus a one-page RC passage-structure checklist you will reuse all eight weeks.
Reading Comprehension
Solve detail, inference, and function questions in separate blocks of 10 so each question type gets isolated practice.
Write a one-line justification for every answer choice, including the specific reason each wrong option fails.
Practice returning to the passage only to verify a line reference rather than to reread whole paragraphs.
Hold a 2-minute-per-short-passage pace across 4 consecutive passages without accuracy dropping.
Your checkpoint
A timed set of 4 RC passages (14 questions) finished in 32 minutes at 80% or better accuracy, with written elimination notes for all four options on every question.
Reading Comprehension & Text Completion
Complete 8 long and paired-passage RC sets, comparing viewpoints explicitly for each paired passage.
Identify the clue or signpost word that determines each blank before reading the answer choices.
Work 30 single- and double-blank TC items, writing the predicted word for each blank before looking at options.
Start a vocabulary notebook and enter 40 words encountered in TC items with the sentence context that carried their meaning.
Your checkpoint
A 40-question TC set (single- and double-blank) with a written prediction or justification line for every blank, scored against a 70% accuracy target.
Reading Comprehension & Text Completion
Take two timed half-length RC sections and record per-question time to locate pacing leaks.
Sort 30 missed TC items by clue type (contrast, cause, definition, restatement) to reveal your weakest signal pattern.
Apply 60 high-frequency GRE words by writing an original sentence for each rather than reciting definitions.
Rework every item from weeks 1-3 that was missed twice to confirm the error is actually closed.
Your checkpoint
A scored half-length verbal sectional (RC plus TC) with a full review sheet breaking errors down by sub-type and a ranked list of your top five error causes.
Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
Drill 20 triple-blank TC items, tracing how the three blanks constrain one another before answering any of them.
Use the sentence-equivalence method of generating a synonym pair first, then matching it to the options.
Complete 40 SE items and reject any answer pair whose two words are not interchangeable in the given sentence.
Consolidate the vocabulary notebook into 25 synonym families drawn from missed TC and SE items.
Your checkpoint
A 30-question SE set scored at 75% or better, accompanied by 25 synonym families each illustrated with a sentence you wrote.
Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
Run four timed TC-plus-SE sets of 20 items each to build speed under constraint.
Rank the vocabulary deck by miss frequency and retire words you now answer correctly three times running.
Rewrite each missed SE item with your own sentence that separates the correct pair from the closest distractor pair.
Review the week 4 error sheet and verify that your two worst TC clue types now convert at 80%.
Your checkpoint
A timed 20-question TC plus 10-question SE set at 80% accuracy with a trimmed vocabulary deck of 150 words ordered by miss frequency.
Reading Comprehension & Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
Complete two full verbal sections mixing all three question types in exam order to practice switching cognitive modes.
Apply a triage rule that caps time on any single question and flags rather than stalls on hard items.
Re-annotate 6 passages using only the structural checklist, with no margin notes beyond paragraph function labels.
Update the master error log with every week 5-7 miss and mark which ones are repeats.
Your checkpoint
Two full-length verbal sections of 20 questions each (10 RC, 7 TC, 3 SE) finished in 30 minutes apiece, with the master error log fully updated.
Reading Comprehension & Text Completion & Sentence Equivalence
Simulate two full-length timed verbal tests under exam conditions with no pausing or outside references.
Spend the review of each simulation repairing only repeated error categories, not first-time misses.
Compress the error log into a one-page strategy sheet you can reread in five minutes before test day.
Re-test the 40 vocabulary words still flagged as shaky until only genuinely unknown words remain.
Your checkpoint
Two scored full-length timed simulations plus a one-page final strategy sheet and a short list of remaining vocabulary gaps.
Milestones
Week 2: Complete 4 RC passages in 32 minutes at 80% accuracy and show a written elimination note for every option.
Week 4: Score 60% or better on the half-length mixed verbal section, with RC misread-question errors declining across the final three passages.
Week 6: Hit 80% on a timed TC plus SE set and demonstrate 80% conversion on your two previously worst TC clue types.
Week 8: Score consistently at or above your target on two full-length timed simulations, with no repeated error category appearing more than twice across both.