For many people, two weeks is enough time for comprehensive GRE preparation. Look for a book that offers skill-building lessons and not just practice test questions. One last thing I would recommend is to practice some of the most difficult GRE mathematical problems. I've been told that the test is adaptive, I'm not sure if that's true or not, but my second quantitative section was MUCH more difficult than the first one.
I had about 3 or 4 questions that I would consider very complicated. In fact, I was a little unprepared for this. Look for difficult questions and work on them persistently. Relying on the right resources and adhering to your curriculum will greatly help you prepare for the GRE.
Final Comments To be completely honest, I don't think anyone needs to prepare more than 4 to 6 weeks for the GRE. You'll also cover the 1,000 GRE words included in most GRE flashcard packs, and you'll have time to add your own supplemental reading words. First of all I should mention that I did the GRE once 5 years ago and got a 325 (168Q, 157V), but I took it again to apply for MBA programs (I chose GRE instead of GMAT because I had already done the GRE before and it was last minute, so I didn't have much time to prepare). Unlike shorter deadlines, the 2-month GRE curriculum gives you time to discuss each and every topic in the Quantitative Reasoning sections of the GRE so that nothing surprises you on the test itself.
In 12 weeks, you will be able to master all the mathematical concepts covered in the QR section of the GRE and you will be very comfortable with the three types of questions in the VR section of the GRE. Taking a practice test at the beginning of your GRE preparation is a great way to assess what you need to work on. However, it is not as much time as it seems, so this study program requires around 3 hours every day, as well as one day a week that you can spend taking a full practice GRE exam. I improved 8 points in the verbal session compared to the score I got on the ETS PowerPrep II road test, which I did on the first day of preparation; and in my opinion, the key (for international students; I have no idea how native students would perceive verbal GRE) to improving the verbal part of the GRE in a short period of time is for studying vocabulary.
The GRE is one of the most popular entrance exams internationally and thousands of students take this exam every year. On the other extreme, your GRE scores are still official for 5 years, so don't bother taking the GRE if you don't plan to apply to a graduate program at that time.
