So my boyfriend studied for months to get a perfect score, then he helped focus my studies based on his experience.
Use the Magoosh app to learn all the vocab. It's not that hard, just drill vocab for a few minutes each day (I did this for longer than the weekend). Open the app while you're walking to class or waiting around for something.
Because I was pressed for time, I took a math GRE book and ONLY did the first ten questions in each subject section. This helped me triage what I was weak on so I could do more questions for those sections. Most of the math is stuff you already know. I would say that 1/10 math problems on the GRE requires some trick that you'll learn specifically for the GRE.
Other than drilling vocab, I didn't practice the verbal section at all. My reading comp is excellent, it's just a speed thing. Ideally I would have simply spent months ahead of time reading more literature, but that did not happen. Learning to read well is a very abstract skill, whereas you vocab is straightforward and you can get some guaranteed gains just by spending time with the Magoosh app. It is also easier to get a good verbal score because you're competing percentile-wise against a lot of foreign students. You can miss a ton of questions and still end up with a great score on verbal. In contrast, the quantitative section is unforgiving. Miss a couple problems and your score will tank.
The GRE website provides two practice tests. Take one before you start studying to get a baseline. Then take one after. It would be best to buy more of them, if possible (I didn't have time though). It's really important to get used to the pacing and to have the stamina to get through the test. Now, I take 8-hour exams for med school on the regular, so the GRE was a walk in the park in comparison. However, I have a smart friend that really struggled once she was a couple hours into it. My absolute weakness is reading speed and I had to force myself to read faster or skim in order to keep up.
Use the Magoosh app to learn all the vocab. It's not that hard, just drill vocab for a few minutes each day (I did this for longer than the weekend). Open the app while you're walking to class or waiting around for something.
Because I was pressed for time, I took a math GRE book and ONLY did the first ten questions in each subject section. This helped me triage what I was weak on so I could do more questions for those sections. Most of the math is stuff you already know. I would say that 1/10 math problems on the GRE requires some trick that you'll learn specifically for the GRE.
Other than drilling vocab, I didn't practice the verbal section at all. My reading comp is excellent, it's just a speed thing. Ideally I would have simply spent months ahead of time reading more literature, but that did not happen. Learning to read well is a very abstract skill, whereas you vocab is straightforward and you can get some guaranteed gains just by spending time with the Magoosh app. It is also easier to get a good verbal score because you're competing percentile-wise against a lot of foreign students. You can miss a ton of questions and still end up with a great score on verbal. In contrast, the quantitative section is unforgiving. Miss a couple problems and your score will tank.
The GRE website provides two practice tests. Take one before you start studying to get a baseline. Then take one after. It would be best to buy more of them, if possible (I didn't have time though). It's really important to get used to the pacing and to have the stamina to get through the test. Now, I take 8-hour exams for med school on the regular, so the GRE was a walk in the park in comparison. However, I have a smart friend that really struggled once she was a couple hours into it. My absolute weakness is reading speed and I had to force myself to read faster or skim in order to keep up.