Your first session typically starts with a diagnostic assessment to understand your current skill level, test-taking habits, and specific challenges. The tutor will review a sample of GRE Verbal questions with you to identify patterns—like whether you struggle more with reading comprehension, text completion, or sentence equivalence. From there, you'll develop a customized study plan that targets your weak areas while building on your strengths, and establish a realistic timeline based on your target score and test date.

Pacing is one of the biggest challenges on GRE Verbal since you have about 90 seconds per question across two 20-question sections. A tutor will teach you strategic approaches like identifying question types quickly, knowing when to skip and return to harder questions, and using elimination techniques to save time. They'll also have you practice full timed sections regularly so you build stamina and internalize the rhythm, rather than just drilling individual questions in isolation.

GRE Reading Comprehension requires active reading—annotating key ideas, identifying the author's main point and tone, and understanding how arguments are structured. Many students try to memorize details, which wastes time; instead, a tutor will teach you to read strategically for purpose and relationships between ideas. You'll practice techniques like skimming for structure first, then diving into details only when a question requires it, which significantly improves both accuracy and speed.

While GRE Verbal does test sophisticated vocabulary, you don't need to memorize endless word lists. A tutor will focus you on high-frequency GRE words and, more importantly, teach you context clues and word root strategies that help you decode unfamiliar words during the test. This balanced approach—learning key vocabulary plus inference skills—is far more effective than rote memorization and helps you retain words long-term rather than cramming and forgetting.

Most test-prep experts recommend taking 4-6 full-length practice tests under timed conditions, with at least 2-3 of those being official ETS GRE tests since they most closely match the real exam. A tutor will help you space these out strategically throughout your prep—using early tests to identify weak areas, middle tests to track progress, and final tests to build confidence. After each test, you'll review mistakes together to understand why you missed questions, which is where real learning happens.

Test anxiety often stems from uncertainty about question formats or not knowing your own strengths, both of which tutoring directly addresses. By practicing extensively with real GRE questions and building a clear understanding of your capabilities, you'll feel more confident walking into test day. A tutor can also teach you stress-management strategies like how to reset mentally between sections and how to manage time pressure without panic, which are skills you can practice during tutoring sessions.

Most students benefit from 8-12 weeks of focused preparation, though this varies based on your starting score and target score. If you're aiming for a top business school or graduate program, you may want 12-16 weeks to allow time for deeper skill-building and multiple practice tests. A tutor will help you create a realistic timeline based on your specific situation, balancing study intensity with your work and school commitments, and adjust the plan as you progress.