The three biggest hurdles are managing time pressure (you have roughly 1.5 minutes per question), distinguishing between answer choices that seem equally plausible, and building vocabulary that goes beyond simple definitions. Many students also struggle with the reading comprehension passages, which often cover unfamiliar academic topics and require inference skills rather than just finding stated facts. Tutors can help you develop strategies for each question type and build the confidence to make decisive choices under pressure.

Your first session focuses on assessment and strategy. A tutor will review your current strengths and weaknesses, often by working through a practice section together, then discuss your target score and timeline. This helps create a personalized study plan that prioritizes the areas where you'll gain the most points. You'll also learn the specific question formats and get a sense of the tutor's teaching style to ensure it's a good fit.

Practice tests are essential—they help you understand pacing, identify patterns in your mistakes, and build test-day stamina. The official GRE practice tests (available free from ETS) are especially valuable because they match the real test's difficulty and format. Most tutors recommend taking a full practice test every 2-3 weeks to track progress, then reviewing your errors in detail with your tutor to understand why you missed questions and how to avoid similar mistakes.

Effective pacing comes from knowing which question types you can answer quickly and which need more time. Text Completion questions are typically faster than Reading Comprehension, so many students tackle those first to build confidence and secure points. Your tutor can help you develop a personal timing strategy based on your strengths, teach you when to skip and return to a question, and use practice tests to calibrate your approach until it becomes automatic.

Not exactly. While the GRE does test advanced vocabulary, the test focuses on understanding words in context and recognizing how they function in sentences—not isolated definitions. Rather than memorizing thousands of words, it's more effective to learn common word roots, prefixes, and suffixes, plus study words that appear frequently in GRE materials. Tutors can guide you toward high-impact vocabulary study and teach you strategies to infer word meanings from context, which is often more useful on test day.

Test anxiety often stems from unfamiliarity with the format or doubt about your abilities. Working with a tutor builds confidence through repeated practice with real question types, immediate feedback, and proven strategies that reduce the feeling of being caught off-guard. As you practice under timed conditions and see your scores improve, anxiety naturally decreases. Many tutors also teach stress-management techniques specific to test day so you can stay calm and focused.

Look for tutors with strong GRE scores themselves, proven experience teaching the test (ideally several years), and familiarity with the latest test format. It's also valuable if they understand your target programs' score expectations and can tailor prep accordingly. Varsity Tutors connects you with expert tutors who have demonstrated expertise in GRE Verbal and can provide personalized instruction that fits your learning style and timeline.