Many people can be overwhelmed by the thought of preparing for the GRE’s Math section. Often, after many years of not doing much math, students and adults find themselves faced with an exam that resurrects numerous topics from the far past—equations, graphs, and many other seemingly intimidating topics and concepts. While such concern is understandable, the Math section does not need to be a stressful affair. Much of its content does not surpass that which is tested on the high school SAT examinations, meaning that very little higher-order math knowledge is needed for success. Whether you need GRE tutoring in Atlanta, GRE tutoring in Houston, or GRE tutoring in San Francisco, working one-on-one with an expert may be just the boost your studies need.

What is necessary, however, is a comprehensive review plan, for the GRE’s Math section does include a rigorously broad set of topics, covering everything from basic algebra to probability questions and graph interpretation. Throughout the exam, a number of topics are fused to provide a careful test of your ability to reason through quantitative problems. It is no mere matter of blindly applying memorized equations. Instead, you will need to use your skills in algebra, geometry, and statistics to work through questions carefully, ascertaining the steps needed to solve complex questions.

Of all the problem classes in the GRE’s Math section, the ones that are often found to be most difficult are those which require the student to compare abstract quantities in order to tell which is larger (or if they are equal—or even completely indeterminately related). These questions carefully integrate the various technical skills tested on the exam with complex, abstract reasoning. It is necessary to understand the general “lay of the land” being investigated in the question and then proceed in a very thoughtful manner to perform the comparisons of the quantities.  

However, with proper preparation, even these somewhat abstract questions are far from being insuperably difficult. Since the mathematics being used is not extremely advanced, all such difficulties begin to fade as you reacquire skills that have lain fallow for some time. A careful and thorough program of study is needed, but with the Varsity Tutors’ free GRE Math resources available, such a program is easily made to be ready-to-hand. You can use the free GRE Math Flashcards to study at whatever moment and in whatever place best suits you by using either the online website or the Varsity Tutors app. Each GRE Math Flashcard is accompanied by a full explanation of how the correct answer was ascertained, making any missed cards into valuable opportunities to adjust your approach to a particular type of problem. Varsity Tutors offers resources like free GRE Quantitative practice tests to help with your self-paced study, or you may want to consider a GRE Quantitative tutor. Furthermore, making a free Learning Tools account allows you to track your scores as you use Varsity Tutors’ free GRE Math resources, meaning that our GRE Math Flashcards can be used to supplement our Practice Tests, Diagnostics, and other free GRE Math tools.

Of course, the work of reviewing for the GRE’s Math section requires time above all else. The topics may not be difficult, but you should not attempt to relearn the whole of them in a few brief weeks (let alone a few crammed days). By working assiduously over a period of several months, you can hone your skills to readiness that will serve you well on test day, enabling you to face the topics with ease and balance. Ultimately, therefore, the math section is not something to be faced in paralyzed fear. Instead, it merely requires a resolute devotion to your preparation routine, helping you to regain the “mental muscles” needed for examination day—that is, relearning the major classes of mathematical skills and the tools needed for applying them. In addition to the GRE Quantitative flashcards and GRE Quantitative tutoring, you may also want to consider taking some of our GRE Quantitative practice tests. With such careful preparation, the GRE’s Math section is really nothing more than a repeat of a high school examination!