GRE package contains material from all leading institutes.

It can be downloaded from torrent or else

directly from file sharing sites. It is almost 900+ MB folder and contains books and other material from all
leading GRE institutes.

Since GRE tests aptitude which is in reality your critical reasoning developed over the time, some of
practices make you thinking sharp enough to answer effectively. Some techniques such as “Clue-Connector-
Careful Reasoning”, “Positive vs. Negative”, “Power of Elimination”…etc. will lessen your time and give you
better possibility to arrive at right answer. If you are STEM student with normal IQ, A good preparation
would facilitate above 80 percentile score (320+/340).

Preparation is most effective means to score in GRE. You can self asses improvement within short span of
time for example:- When I used Reading “Comprehension Practice Software (Lagnajeeth Pradhan)” in initial
stages, I used to get 2/6-8 question correct but in due time (perhaps 1 week of practice), I could answer 6/8
questions correctly. This visible improvement was a big boast and I hope same observable upgrading would
be encouragement to continue your preparations.

Saving your time is also very important so I have prepared this small doc as a suggestion to what to read and
what to leave.

The most important material which I used frequently are’:-

1) Verbal_Workout_for_the_New_GRE_4nd_Edition,pdf
2) “Comprehension Practice Software (Lagnajeeth Pradhan)”
3) 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems - Manhattan Prep.pdf
4) Kaplan Test Software
5) ETS books/Test Software
6) FREE TESTS_KAP-TEST & PRINCETON REVIEW.pdf
7) Mangoosh online GRE flash cards/App https://gre.magoosh.com/flashcards/vocabulary/decks

You don’t have to read complete books, few elements from above docs are enough.
VERBAL REASONING
For sub-continent students particularly with engineering or math background, Quantitative reasoning is not
difficult at all, in-fact most students start preparing math in last week or 15 days before exam. If you need
more help in maths, I recommend joining coaching center or checking out Mangoosh videos provided in
material.

English is generally the tough part for most of Indian and Pakistani students. But with little study you can
achieve 80 percentile and above (160+/170). Here are some tips.

1. Vocabulary practice.
a. Start with Princeton’s Hit parade of 300 words. Most of vocab question are based on that
list. The list is divided into four parts each 75 words. Start with first list of words and
remember them
The list starts on page 239 of Verbal_Workout_for_the_New_GRE_4nd_Edition.pdf found in
GRE PACKAGE\GRE\BOOKS\Princeton Review. Master the first 75 words, complete the
corresponding exercise, let it sink in you and then proceed to next 75/300 words. Let it take
more than couple of days for each part. The 300 words set is most important word list
having high frequency of occurring in GRE test.
b. After mastering Princeton’s Hit parade of 300 words, go to
https://gre.magoosh.com/flashcards/vocabulary/decks or download Mangoosh GRE
Vocabulary Flashcards app, it has 20 sections, each containing 50 words, the hit parade
words will be revised in the flashcard. Try to do 1 section every night or alternative night.
c. During practice of text completion or sentence equivalence, you will always come across
new words, write them down with meaning, try to collet 50 words every day from text
completion or sentence equivalence questions and learn them at end of the day before
going to sleep
Also Princeton’s Hit parade of 300 words comes with online flashcard preparation, you can check
out it at http://www.cram.com/flashcards/the-princeton-review-gre-hit-parade-300-3050845.
Other than the Above two I.e. ” Princeton’s Hit parade of 300 words and Mangoosh GRE
Vocabulary Flashcards”, you don’t need to remember any other list of words, However people do
go for 3,000 words and beyond list which I personally found impossible for me. But if you have time
and are good at memorizing, there is no harm. Just check “GRE PACKAGE\GRE\BOOKS\WORD LIST
FOR GRE+Practice Site” folder

P.S: I never finished Mangoosh GRE Vocabulary Flashcards. I just remembered 500-700 words in
total and focused more on “Princeton’s Hit parade of 300 words”. Also try to improve your vocab by
remembering new words which come in practice session of various workouts.
2. Text Completion The text completions are simple fill in blank(s), Apart from vocabulary, you will
need to have keen insight, and you will need to understand what is really asked in the sentence. All
the options for the blank are closely related, it may be tempting to use wrong option, this section
needs most focus. VOCAB and KEEN INSIGHT are the key for it
a. Start with Verbal_Workout_for_the_New_GRE_4nd_Edition found in PRINCETON REVIEW
folder. It starts with page 31. Few initial pages give good insight of strategies to be used like
power of elimination or write all options (abcd) on paper and strike the irrelevant ones.
i. Quiz 1 starts from page 35. It has 7 questions and after quiz there is explanation.
There are 7 quiz try to complete all. These quiz are not test, they are only for
learning so if you can’t answer even 1, it is acceptable at least you can improve
vocab by writing new words & meanings and memorizing them before sleep.
ii. After 3 quiz, the practice drill starts from pg 48, there are 5 practice questions sets
and answer with explanations can be found at pg 63 afterwards.
b. You can have glance of Official_GRE_Verbal_Reasoning_Practice_queestions.pdf found in
ETS books folder.
c. Try to complete as many questions from 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems - Manhattan
Prep.pdf found in Manhattan Prep folder. Manhattan book contains some of the toughest
question there is no higher level other than this book.
i. Text completion starts on page 46, it contains 140 questions, practically completing
all questions is not possible, try 10 or 15 everyday but along with explination and
answer found on pg 79 onwards
P.S: Don’t forget to improve your Vocab by writing all new words you collect during day in work-out
exercises.

3. Sentence Equivalence: In sentence equivalence, you have to select two options which best fit the
blank. The two options are synonyms. Practice of this section will only improve vocabulary. This is
the easiest and quickest section, the key here is Vocabulary.
a. Verbal_Workout_for_the_New_GRE_4nd_Edition found in PRINCETON REVIEW folder
starts this section from page 158. There are no new tricks except what you have learned in
text completion, This section is a time saver. Practicing this section will increase your vocab
as you will try to learn new words as they come along
b. Do 10 questions daily from 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems - Manhattan Prep.pdf
found in Manhattan Prep folder. It starts from pg 94 onwards.

4. Reading Comprehension: This section needs most practice and you will notice the improvement in
real-time. You will get 4-5 Reading comprehension passages each having 4-5 questions associated
with it. This section takes lot of time but fortunately this is a scoring section however this section
needs practice.
a. Start with Verbal_Workout_for_the_New_GRE_4nd_Edition found in PRINCETON REVIEW
 i. Start with quiz 1 on page 91 and see explination, there is quiz 2 also which is for
explanation not to test.
ii. The practice quiz starts from pg 106. There are 9 pactice passages each having 4-5
questions. It may take a day or 2 to complete all of them. See explanation for right
answer also
b. Another important tool for practice is RC_Practice_Utility which can be extracted from zip
in folder Reading Comprehension Practice Software (Lagnajeeth Pradhan). This contains
excellent passage however lacks explanation for correct answer.
When I used this software initially, I could answer 2 questions out of 7 correctly but I could
easily see the improvement as I progressed in practice
c. 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems - Manhattan Prep.pdf found in Manhattan Prep folder
contains good standard passages which you should start practicing after you fininish
Princeton review
i. Reading comprehension passage starts from pg 136. It contains 20-30
passages(approx.) having 180 questions in total. Do 3- 4 passages daily as you will be
simultaneously doing 10 from text compl. and sentence eql.
ii. Pg 229 stats Logic-Based Reading Comprehension which is type of short reading
comprehension but it is king of brain teaser and you will see improvement as you
practice. Do 10 questions daily it will help in brain development. There are at least
1-2 questions from this sections

Quantitative aptitude
Generally this section does not need extensive practice. The questions are from 10th standard Algebra,
Arithmetic, Geometry and Data Analysis. However it is advisable to brush up concepts of triangle, circle,
mean, deviation, probability, permutation combination, inequalities etc. IF YOU ARE GOOD IN MATHS,
FOLLOW BELOW INSTRUCTIONS.

1. Start practicing math 15-7 days before exam. No need to practice math from beginning instead
focus more on verbal reasoning
2. The math practice should be started after you take mock tests. For example : In Kaplan software
there is separate section for quantitative reasoning. As you finish first quant test. Riview it and see
which area you are lacking
3. Practice the area which you are lacking determined by the test. See some useful notes folder for
formulas which you might have forgotten
4. Manhattan folder has separate pdfs for different math section and should be used only in case you
don’t have any proficiency in maths, otherwise these big books will wate your time
5. 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems - Manhattan Prep a comprehensive math guide, see for the
sections you lack and consult them in book by locating them using contents page.
Analytical Writing Analysis (critical Essay writing) AWA This is first section
consisting of 2 questions each is of ½ hr.
First question is GRE issue topic where you will be given one topic and you
have to write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or
disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you
take. (1/2 hr)
Second is GRE Argument Topic where you will be given a paragraph and you
have to write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed
to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or
strengthen the argument (1/2 hr)

Both questions are scaled from 1-6 score and you will get separate score for this section. You don’t
have to worry about this section as this section is not included in 340 GRE score and is least
evaluated by admission department. 1-2 day preparation is enough for this section
Do not practice this section in mock test it will waste your 1 hr.
Folder “AWA/ ESSAY TOPICS” contains some sample.
Also consult ETS software and book and check review to determine how to write them.
 Taking Mock tests
1. Before 1 week or 15 days try to take at least one test a day. This is single most important
trick to get good marks in GRE.
2. Start with ETS software; it gives two mock tests. Take 1st test initially to get familiar with pattern and
standard of the test. Do not practice AWA, just skip that, it will save you 1hr. There will be 4 sections
each 30 min therefore, the test will take 2hrs. T10 sRY TO GIVE EVERY MOCK TEST IN A STRECH as it
will increase your endurance
3. Kaplan Software which can be extracted from zip in “GRE PACKAGE\GRE\BOOKS\Kaplan Series”
folder 10 mock test series of verbal and quant each. Take 3-4 tests from this series particularly quant
as it will be easy to determine your weakness in maths.
4. Online tests:
a. Princeton and Kaplan gives 6-7 mock online tests. Skip the AWA part and continue test at
stretch for 2 hrs. The instructions for accessing online test can be found in FREE TESTS_KAP-
TEST & PRINCETON REVIEW.pdf located in “GRE PACKAGE\GRE\BOOKS” folder
b. http://www.msinus.com/content/free-full-length-gre-tests-672/ contains some site which
provide online test
c. Take Manhattan test compulsorily from the above site as it is toughest and important test.

Folder-wise Review of some Material

“GRE PACKAGE\GRE\BOOKS” contains subfolders sorted institute wise. Here is a brief review as per my
experience

1. AWA.
a. This folder contains book On writing well-William Zinsser.pdf which is a best seller, It is a
general book which explains art of writing, it is a lucid beautiful and effective book but
would hardly help in GRE however, for general purpose do read it when you get time
b. The subfolder “ESSAY TOPICS” contains two useful books CopyofGREArgumentTopics and
CopyofGREIssueTopics which you should glance 1-2 days before test. It has sample answers
which are reviewed.
2. Barron's is also a leading institute. However I never used its material. I have heard Barron’s 800 GRE
words are famous, they can be found in “WORD LIST FOR GRE+Practice Site” folder
3. ETS Books. Only software part is worth using, and it is better to download new version from ETS site
4. GRE-Verbal Behind The Scenes 2014_ Discover BTS of ETS (GRE Test Prep) It contains book by
Bashir HosseiniJafari which is actually his 1yr experience with GRE preparation. I never used it and I
don’t have any hopes that it will benefit anybody
5. Gruber's GRE. NEVER USED IT
6. Kaplan Series: Only good for its offline software for mock tests which can be extracted from
“Kaplan new gre premier (revised gre) only model tests.zip”
a. Kaplan - Gre Verbal Work Book is 194 book dedicated only to build vocab. I never used it
but if you have time more than year use it.
7. Magoosh It contains small book which gives overview of how to study for GRE. I NEVER STUDIED IT.
BUT download Mangoosh gre vocal app on android or use
https://gre.magoosh.com/flashcards/vocabulary/decks online site for practice
8. Manhattan Prep. It contains my fav book 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems - Manhattan Prep,pdf
which is single book that can help you to get good marks in GRE. Manhattan Books have highest
standard and you won’t find higher difficulty level then it. Other books are extensive and long which
would waste time. If you have time and want to study from single book set, USE THIS FOLDER.
9. NOVA. NEVER USED IT
10. Princeton Review. Verbal_Workout_for_the_New_GRE_4nd_Edition.pdf is a good book which I
used frequently. The difficulty level is medium
11. Reading Comprehension Practice Software (Lagnajeeth Pradhan). BEST software ever from reading
comprehension software
12. some useful notes contains two pdf having math shortcuts and formulas. Take it as reference to
check formulas and to brush up concepts. The two pdf won’t teach you maths but will be your guide
when you want to look up for reference
13. WORD LIST FOR GRE+Practice Site Contains 10,0000 words combined from all material. The
different pdf’s will give their separate list. The only useful file from the folder is free site for vocab
practice.doc and free site for vocab practice.txt
14. FREE TESTS_KAP-TEST & PRINCETON REVIEW.pdf is important file as it explains steps to enroll on
free online KAPLAN AND PRINCETON TEST
15. Full GRE computerized practice tests.doc contains link:http://www.msinus.com/content/free-full-
length-gre-tests-672/ which can be accessed for highly recommended MANHATTAN ONLINE TEST.