GRE prep: Quant mental math and vocab flashcards

GRE Quant gives you an on-screen calculator, but the test is timed tightly enough that reaching for it on every step costs you questions. The candidates who finish comfortably know the core facts cold and do the easy arithmetic in their heads. Verbal works the same way: a word you have to puzzle out is time you don't have.

What the test looks like

The shorter GRE General Test, introduced in September 2023, runs just under two hours. Section timings as ETS publishes them (check ets.org/gre before test day, as formats change):

That is under two minutes per Quant question. Verbal and Quant are each scored 130–170; the essay is scored 0–6 in half-point steps.

Practice questions in every GRE format

GRE Prep has practice in each format the test uses, with a worked explanation after every answer:

• Quant: Quantitative Comparison, multiple choice, select all that apply and numeric entry, across arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis. The questions are generated, so they don't run out.
• Verbal: Text Completion (one, two and three blanks), Sentence Equivalence and Reading Comprehension, plus a vocabulary quiz.
• Timed sections: 12 questions in 21 minutes (Quant) or 18 (Verbal), with Mark and Review like the real test, then every explanation.

Its Stats tab ranks your accuracy by question type and topic, so you practise the weakest one next.

The Quant facts to know without thinking

The GRE doesn't hand you a formula sheet. These come up again and again, and each one is a card in the GRE Quant essentials deck:

• Number properties — 0 is even and neither positive nor negative; 1 is not prime; 2 is the only even prime. The primes to 100 and the divisibility rules make factor and remainder questions quick.
• Exponents and roots — the exponent laws, and that squaring a number between 0 and 1 makes it smaller, a favourite Quantitative Comparison trap. Know √2 ≈ 1.414 and √3 ≈ 1.732.
• Algebra identities — (a + b)², (a − b)² and a² − b² = (a + b)(a − b). Spotting the difference of squares turns ugly arithmetic like 51 × 49 into 2,500 − 1.
• Percentages — percent change is (new − old) / old, and successive changes multiply: up 20% then down 20% is a 4% loss, not zero. Percentages in your head.
• Geometry — the 30-60-90 (1 : √3 : 2) and 45-45-90 (1 : 1 : √2) triangles, the Pythagorean triples 3-4-5, 5-12-13 and 8-15-17, and the polygon angle sum (n − 2) × 180°.
• Data analysis — median, standard deviation (adding a constant leaves it unchanged), the 68-95-99.7 rule, combinations n! / (k!(n − k)!) and P(at least one) = 1 − P(none).

Mental math that beats the calculator

The on-screen calculator is slow to click and easy to mistype. Use it for genuinely messy numbers and keep everything else in your head:

• Times tables and squares. Knowing squares to 30 and the tables to 12 instantly makes factoring, simplifying roots and estimating fast. Times tables practice.
• Fractions and decimals. Answer choices often come in one form and your work in the other. The fraction to decimal chart covers halves to twelfths.
• Estimate first. Many questions only need to know which answer is closest, or whether a quantity is bigger or smaller. Round, compare, move on.
• Two-digit multiplication. Splitting, rounding and the difference of squares get most products in a few seconds. Three methods.

Timed GRE Quant drills

Math mode has a GRE Quant row of timed drills built from the arithmetic the test leans on. Every answer is exact, so you type it rather than pick it:

• GRE Percents — percent of a number, and percent increase or decrease between two values.
• GRE Fractions — a fraction in, its decimal out: 3/8 → 0.375.
• GRE Powers — powers, square and cube roots, and on Hard fractional exponents like 8^(2/3).
• GRE Algebra — solve for x in one-variable linear equations.
• GRE Stats — means, the missing value for a target mean, n!, combinations and permutations.
• GRE Mix — all five at once, like the section itself.

Vocabulary with spaced repetition

Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence reward knowing the precise sense of words like laconic, equivocal and obdurate. Reading word lists doesn't make them stick; spaced repetition does. The GRE vocabulary deck has over 120 high-frequency words with the sense the test uses, and R3CK0N's FSRS scheduler shows each one again just before you would forget it. How spaced repetition works.

Add a few new words a day rather than the whole list at once, since every new card brings reviews with it. How many new cards a day? Add your own words as you meet them in practice tests, as one word per card.

A study plan

1. Take one timed Quant and one timed Verbal section in GRE Prep to find your starting point.
2. Open Flashcards, choose Add a starter deck, and add GRE Quant essentials and GRE vocabulary.
3. Do your reviews every day, before anything else. Ten to twenty minutes keeps the queue short. Reviewing every day.
4. Run a two-minute GRE Mix drill most days, then spend a few minutes on whichever GRE drill Stats shows is slowest.
5. Practise your weakest question type in GRE Prep a few times a week, and a timed section each weekend.
6. Before test day, take the official ETS practice tests too, and turn every fact or word you missed into a card.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a calculator on the GRE?

Yes, an on-screen calculator in the Quantitative Reasoning sections. It is basic and slow to use, so the faster candidates save it for the few calculations that really need it.

Does R3CK0N have full GRE practice questions?

Yes: original questions in every GRE format, with explanations, in GRE Prep. They are not official ETS questions, so take the free ETS practice tests as well for the most realistic difficulty and a scaled score.

Is it free?

Yes. No ads, no paywall, and no account needed. Signing in syncs your decks across devices.