I have a maths degree but my GRE quant score is mediocre. How is that possible?
Because GRE quant is not testing advanced mathematics. The content stops at roughly secondary level — arithmetic, algebra, geometry, basic statistics. What it tests…
Worked answers
GRE questions, worked through
A graduate admissions test covering verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing. The quantitative content is not advanced; the difficulty is in the framing of the questions and the time pressure.
- 2 worked answers
- 2 topics
Quantitative reasoning strategy
Verbal reasoning and vocabulary
Is memorising GRE word lists worth it, or is there a better use of the time?
Partly worth it, and most people do it in the least efficient way available — flashcards with one-word definitions, learned in isolation, in alphabetical order.
Where GRE marks actually go
These answers are written around the failure modes below rather than around the topic list. That is deliberate: most students who are stuck in this subject know more content than their grade suggests, and lose marks to one of these instead.
- Vocabulary memorised from lists without the context that makes it usable in sentence-equivalence questions
- Quantitative comparison questions approached by full calculation when estimation would be faster and safer
- Analytical writing prepared last, despite being the most structurally trainable section
- Practising untimed, which builds accuracy but not the pacing the test actually rewards
More on how we teach GRE, or browse questions in other subjects.
Who these are written for
Graduates applying to master's and doctoral programmes, particularly in the United States. Requirements vary by programme, so it is worth confirming whether a score is needed at all before committing months to it.
How to get something out of a worked answer
Reading one of these is worth very little on its own, which is true of any explanation and is the reason revision by rereading feels productive and mostly is not. The method that works is slightly uncomfortable and takes about ten minutes per question.
Read the question, close the page, and attempt it on paper. Get it wrong if that is what happens: being wrong and then finding out why is the part that sticks. Then read the worked answer and, rather than checking whether your final answer matched, find the exact step where your version diverged from ours. That step is the thing to practise, and it is usually one specific decision rather than a whole topic.
Then find two similar questions from your own materials and do them cold. If the same step goes wrong again, you have found a genuine gap. If it does not, you have just fixed something. The wider method is here.
Why we publish these at all
Because we do not publish reviews or testimonials, and a parent choosing a tutor needs something to judge. Review widgets are cheap and star ratings are unfalsifiable, so we would rather hand you the actual teaching and let you decide whether it is any good. If these explanations are clear, that is the most honest sample of what you would be paying for that we can give you. More on that policy here.