GRE prep
GRE Flashcards — A Complete System for Vocab, Quant, and AWA
Since the September 2023 shortened format, the GRE rewards focused prep more than long grinds. Ellie handles vocab, quant formulas, and AWA templates in one deck built for the current exam.
The GRE General Test is administered by ETS and accepted by most US and Canadian graduate programs, plus a growing list of MBA programs. Since September 22, 2023, ETS shortened the exam to 1 hour 58 minutes across three scored sections: Verbal Reasoning (two 18-minute sections, 27 questions total), Quantitative Reasoning (two 21–26 minute sections, 27 questions total), and Analytical Writing (one 30-minute 'Analyze an Issue' essay). The old 'Analyze an Argument' essay, the unscored experimental section, and the unscored research section were all removed.
The Verbal section is where flashcards produce the clearest score gains. It is heavily vocabulary-driven — Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions test whether you know the target word, not whether you can reason around it. ETS has never published an official word list, but the community-vetted 'high-frequency 500' (compiled from Magoosh, Manhattan Prep, and PowerPrep releases) covers the majority of tested vocabulary in practice tests. Quant flashcards pay off differently: not the reasoning itself, but the formulas and identities you shouldn't spend time deriving mid-test.
Ellie generates GRE decks from your Manhattan Prep, Magoosh, or Barron's materials — or from official ETS PowerPrep questions you flagged. The card format is optimized for the section: cloze deletions for vocab in context, formula cards for quant, and structured template cards for AWA.
The high-frequency 500 — the actual highest-yield deck
Barron's 1,100, Magoosh 1,000, and Manhattan Prep 500 all overlap heavily on the words that historically appear on real administrations. If you memorize 3,000 words spending three months, you will forget most before test day. If you memorize 500 high-frequency words plus 300 targeted from your practice test errors, you will hit most of what appears on the actual exam.
The high-frequency 500 covers Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence primary vocabulary. Aim for context sentences on every card — a bare word/definition card teaches recognition but not usage, and Sentence Equivalence tests usage. Build cards as {sentence with word in context} → {definition + register + example collocation}.
Quant — which formulas actually earn cards
GRE Quant is high-school level content (arithmetic, algebra, geometry, data analysis) at graduate-level speed. Reasoning cannot be flashcarded; the formulas underneath the reasoning can. Skip the trivial ones you already know (rectangle area) — card the ones you will otherwise derive under time pressure.
- Common Pythagorean triples: 3-4-5, 5-12-13, 8-15-17, 7-24-25
- Special right triangles: 30-60-90 (1 : √3 : 2), 45-45-90 (1 : 1 : √2)
- Sum of arithmetic sequence: n(a₁ + aₙ)/2
- Sum of geometric sequence: a₁(1 − rⁿ)/(1 − r)
- Combinations vs permutations: nCr = n!/[r!(n−r)!]; nPr = n!/(n−r)!
- Probability of 'at least one' = 1 − P(none)
- Percent change formula and the classic 'increased by 25% then decreased by 20%' identity
- Standard deviation intuition (not the formula) — for the ~1 SD/exam question
AWA — one essay, one template
In the shortened format, only 'Analyze an Issue' remains — one 30-minute essay. ETS publishes the full official pool of Issue topics on their website, so you can practice on the exact prompts that may appear. Scoring runs 0–6 in half-point increments and is holistic: coherent thesis, specific examples, and clean grammar drive the score.
A scored 5 essay follows a predictable structure: intro (state and complicate the position), two or three body paragraphs (each with a concrete example — historical, scientific, or literary), one counterargument paragraph (steelman then rebut), and a short conclusion. Flashcard the transitions, the openers, and 4–6 go-to examples you have researched enough to deploy confidently on any prompt.
A realistic 12-week study plan
Adjust based on your diagnostic. This plan targets a jump from ~305 to ~320.
Weeks 1–4: Content. Manhattan Prep 5 lb Book quant chapters + high-frequency 500 vocab. Two hours daily. End of week 4: full-length official PowerPrep 1.
Weeks 5–8: Targeted weakness. Review PowerPrep 1 errors, generate cards for missed vocab and missed quant patterns, and drill official ETS Verbal + Quant practice books. End of week 8: PowerPrep 2.
Weeks 9–11: Timed sections daily. Two verbal + two quant sections per day, no more than 20 new vocab cards.
Week 12: Taper. PowerPrep Plus if you haven't used it. Freeze new cards. Full-length two days before test day, then rest.
How Ellie fits the workflow
Ellie's differentiator on GRE is generating cards from your errors, not just from published lists. After every practice section, paste the questions you missed into Ellie — it produces a card for the vocabulary, a card for the quant identity you didn't know, and a card for the reasoning trap you fell into. That targeted addition is what drives score gains once you've done a first pass on published lists.
Frequently asked questions
How much did the September 2023 format change affect scoring?
The scoring scale is unchanged (130–170 for Verbal and Quant, 0–6 for AWA). ETS reports that concordance with pre-2023 scores is high because the item pool remained. What changed is length and stamina — 1 hour 58 minutes is much less fatiguing than the old 3 hours 45 minutes. Preparation strategy should reflect the shorter form: less endurance drilling, more targeted content.
Is Magoosh, Manhattan Prep, or ETS official material best?
Use all three tiers. ETS PowerPrep (free) and ETS Official Guide (paid) are the gold standard because the questions are retired real GRE items. Manhattan Prep 5 lb Book has the widest quant coverage. Magoosh has the strongest video explanations and a solid app. Serious prep uses ETS for realism and Manhattan Prep for volume; Magoosh is a strong all-in-one for a budget prep.
Do I really need 3,000 vocab words?
No — this is one of the most common wasted efforts in GRE prep. The high-frequency 500 covers most of what appears on any given administration. Extending to 800 (adding the next tier of overlap between Magoosh 1000 and Manhattan Prep 500) gets you comfortable at 160V+. Beyond that, hitting 165V+ is more about Reading Comprehension than more vocabulary.
Is the GRE accepted for MBA programs now?
Yes. Most top MBA programs (Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, Booth, and virtually all top-50) accept GRE in lieu of GMAT. Business schools convert GRE scores to a GMAT-equivalent for internal comparison. If you're deciding, take a diagnostic of both. GRE tends to favor strong verbal / weaker quant profiles; GMAT rewards quant-heavier ones.
How should I handle the 'Analyze an Issue' pool?
The pool is public — ETS posts every possible Issue prompt at ets.org/gre. That means you can pre-plan example templates. Spend an hour categorizing prompts (technology/society, education, government, arts, ethics), then research 4–6 examples that work across categories (e.g., the Manhattan Project for science-and-society prompts, Rosa Parks for civil-disobedience prompts). Flashcard the examples with a one-sentence hook for each.
Can I import an existing Anki GRE vocab deck into Ellie?
Yes — export from Anki as .apkg or .csv and Ellie imports it as an editable deck. Popular decks like Magoosh 1000 and Manhattan Prep 500 have community exports available. Import once, then add cards from your own practice errors on top.
What is a competitive GRE score for top programs?
Varies widely by field. For top-10 US PhD programs: STEM often looks for Q165+, Humanities looks for V162+. For MBA programs, a GRE composite equivalent to GMAT 720+ is competitive at top schools. Individual program medians are published on their admissions pages — check yours before setting a target.
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