Score improvement depends on your starting point, current gaps, and commitment to practice. Many students see meaningful gains (10-15 percentile points or more) within 8-12 weeks of focused tutoring, especially when they identify specific weak areas early and practice consistently between sessions. Varsity Tutors connects you with expert tutors who assess your baseline, target your weaknesses, and track progress throughout your preparation.

The most common struggles are pacing (managing time across 40 questions in 70 minutes), understanding unfamiliar question formats, and gaps in foundational math concepts that resurface under test pressure. Many students also struggle with data interpretation questions and geometry problems that require spatial reasoning. Personalized tutoring helps you identify which specific areas slow you down and develop targeted strategies to address them.

Your first session typically includes a diagnostic assessment to identify your current strengths and weaknesses, a discussion of your target score and timeline, and an overview of the tutoring approach. The tutor will likely walk through a few sample questions to understand your problem-solving style and where breakdowns occur. This foundation allows you to jump into focused, efficient preparation tailored to your specific needs.

Practice tests are essential—they help you get comfortable with the test format, identify pacing issues, and reveal patterns in the types of questions you struggle with most. Most students benefit from taking full-length practice tests every 2-3 weeks and reviewing mistakes thoroughly with a tutor. This combination of timed practice and expert feedback accelerates improvement far more than studying content alone.

Effective pacing starts with knowing which question types you can solve quickly and which require more time, then strategically allocating your 70 minutes accordingly. Tutors teach you to recognize when to move on from a difficult problem, use educated guessing strategically, and avoid getting stuck on any single question. Regular timed practice combined with strategy refinement helps you develop the rhythm needed to complete the section confidently.

Most students work with tutors for 8-16 weeks, meeting 1-2 times per week, depending on their starting level and target score. Students who start further below their goal or need to build foundational math skills may benefit from longer preparation, while those with stronger math backgrounds might need less time. Your tutor will create a personalized timeline based on your baseline assessment and goals.

Yes—many students experience anxiety on GRE Quantitative because math feels high-stakes or because they've had negative math experiences in the past. Working through problems with a tutor in a low-pressure environment builds confidence, and mastering specific strategies gives you concrete tools to rely on during the test. As you see improvement in practice tests and understand the material better, anxiety naturally decreases.