Complete GRE Math Concept List (updated for 2022)

6/5/2021

How To Study For The GRE Even If Y'all're Bad At Math

My proper noun is Vince Kotchian, and I've been helping people raise their GRE scores since 2008 as a full-time tutor and writer.

Maybe you haven't done math in years (or decades!) -- or maybe you never felt like you were good at math. Unfortunately, all of the popular GRE prep materials out in that location brush over math concepts very quickly and, worst of all, don't provide the basic-level practice that you probably need. That's why I've created this guide!

The big moving picture is really just three steps:

  1. First, learn and exercise math concepts at an easy level to brand certain you know them (this folio volition bear witness yous how).

  2. Acquire some helpful strategies. My Choose Your Own GRE Math Take chances guide is designed to teach you those.

  3. Side by side, do equally many official GRE math questions as possible to build experience with the GRE's trickiness. Y'all may also want to drill concepts at a GRE level with the Manhattan 5-lb book described in my study plans.

Those steps enable yous to ADAPT to the random, creative GRE questions that will appear on your screen when you have the real test.

A Brief Overview of This Guide

Here's what y'all'll learn on this page:

  1. NEW! All nearly my new GRE math practice app. (Scroll downwards but a fleck for more than.)
  2. How long should you report for the GRE?
  3. What kind of math is on the GRE?
  4. Why certain practice materials are way better than others
  5. The all-time GRE math books for 2022
  6. My most of import GRE math communication
  7. Some important tips about using Khan Academy
  8. All about the GRE calculator

Finally, at the very lesser of this page, y'all'll observe my consummate list of GRE math concepts with links to Khan Academy for relevant do questions and helpful videos.

To skip straight to that consummate GRE math concepts list, only click right here, or coil way down.

A GRE math practice app you'll actually enjoy!

(Promo video)

gre math app

Our kingdom is held hostage by evil monsters whose only weakness is GRE math!

In GRE Math Knight, you'll hone your math skills by practicing the well-nigh commonly tested GRE math concepts.

First, build your skills on the grooming basis, where you tin drill the basics like mental math, fractions, percents, and more, and so travel to four dissimilar biomes to solve arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and information analysis GRE math questions in order to defeat the monsters.

Yous'll notice scrolls with math formulas forth the way to aid you in your quest, and fun games to play to interruption up your studying.

Can you lot salve the kingdom and become a true GRE math knight??

Download Vince'southward GRE Math Knight for iPhone / iOS here and download for Android here, or use the buttons below.

Rave Reviews

"I have been studying for the GRE for a long time now - needless to say, it can be frustrating not being having adequate time for hobbies (i.due east. play video games). Because of that, this game is Crawly - not only is it engaging, simply it keeps you motivated to go along studying and acquire key concepts. Even though studying can seem boring sometimes, this game definitely alleviates some of that pain. The concepts and explanations for problems are spelled-out clearly - so information technology's easy to understand where your strengths and weaknesses are."

How Long Should You Study for the GRE?

In terms of timeframe, I've found that near people demand to piece of work difficult on GRE math for 2 or ideally more than like iii months. (By "work hard" I hateful study for 2 hours a 24-hour interval or and then.) However, if you exercise piece of work hard and work smart, it's predictable that your GRE math score will go up. It'southward a standardized test, and we tin predict virtually of what it'southward going to throw at you.

If you're looking for a shortcut to main GRE math, I have bad news. There isn't one. You go ameliorate at GRE math by solving questions on your own, and it takes fourth dimension to do lots of questions.

What Kind of Math is on the GRE?

The GRE has a cursory  - very brief - review of all the math concepts it tests in the free ETS Math Review. Delight take a minute to stop reading and click on information technology and scroll through it a bit. The Math Review tells united states what's on the test. In a nutshell, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and "data analysis" - which means statistics and probability.

Now, marker which concepts you know and which ones you might not or don't know. Use the Math Review to effort to learn ones you don't know. This means read about the concepts and do all the practice exercises both inside the chapter and at the end of each section.

Important: If a topic in the math review is explained in a particularly wordy or confusing way, don't get bogged down with it. Add information technology to your listing of things to exercise and move on. The math review is mostly a TOOL to show you what you need to practice, NOT a consummate learning guide.

Of grade, you may very well need much more than exercise than the ETS Math Review can give you. For example, for certain concepts, y'all might just demand a reminder - like for a certain exponent rule. For other concepts - perhaps probability - you may feel like you demand much more than depth.

That's where Khan Academy comes in. If you haven't used information technology earlier, it'due south amazing - and 100% complimentary!

Hither's a moving-picture show from theKhan University websiteto show you where the video lesson, written lesson, and practice questions are for each concept - and where yous can have a quiz or test to gauge your skills.

FYI, agreement the video does NOT mean you can practise the problem from scratch. And so, make sure you take reward of the practice exercises every bit well. Doing enough questions to convince yourself you know what you're doing for a given concept is the goal here.

Pro tip:  Go straight to the the unit test for each concept which is located at the lower left corner of the screen. This saves time, and the website volition prompt you with appropriate videos if you get something wrong.

If you can't do very many of the test'south questions, then endeavor starting with the quizzes or fifty-fifty the practice links on the correct side of the screen. Don't exist afraid to sentinel the videos, if you lot need more foundation for something - I'd but watch them at 2x speed.

Note: This process is highly variable depending on the person and how much fourth dimension they have to set. Some of y'all might need minimal Khan exercise, and some of you lot might need much, much more. If your test engagement is coming up soon, you may have to skip topics that are either really difficult for you or that yous've never seen before.

Being halfway good at something won't cut it; if you're going to learn a concept, make sure you larn it well.

GRE Math Practice Questions

In one case y'all've mastered a concept, check it off on the ETS Math Review and movement onto the next i. Your job is to get this whole projection done ASAP, so you tin beginning practicing with existent ETS GRE questions. The more real ETS math questions you successfully solve on your ain - i.e., without post-obit someone else's solution - the improve you go.

It'south a numbers game, pun intended. :)

The reason this works is that, different a math test y'all'd study for in school, the GRE gets really creative with the ways information technology disguises math concepts. To conform to unfamiliar problems, you lot need lots of experience solving real GRE math questions.

Important: Having a plan and schedule is crucial. Make sure y'all cheque out my free 1, 2, 3, and 4-month GRE study plans.

And exist sure to cheque out GRE Math Knight - my GRE math do app!

Download Vince's GRE Math Knight for iPhone here and download for Android here, or use the buttons below.

Video: Why GRE math is like Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Why GRE math is like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.

The All-time GRE Math Books for 2022

Why buy: Contains 596 official GRE practice questions, which are worth their weight in gold.

Note: The higher up is an Amazon affiliate link and I earn a committee if you lot purchase things through information technology. Still, whatsoever commission I earn comes at no additional cost to you, and you pay nothing extra.

You lot'll notice the rest of my recommended resources in my free GRE study plans, which are designed around official ETS GRE books and exercise tests. This is the large reason my plans are more effective than plans from companies like Magoosh and Kaplan, whose plans volition take you wading through hundreds of unrealistic questions that those companies wrote themselves.

Fun fact: Information technology's incredibly expensive to license ETS GRE questions ($450 per question!) so prep companies write their own. Unfortunately, it's difficult and laborious to duplicate the nuances, logical reasoning shortcuts, intricacies, and wordiness of existent ETS questions, and then prep companies' questions aren't very realistic and aren't usually practiced practise. Empty calories. And of course, prep companies' free written report plans are designed to steer you into ownership their courses.

A common myth is that practicing with "harder" questions than you'll meet on the GRE will make the existent GRE seem easier. This isn't true, because those "hard" questions - if they're written by test-prep companies similar Magoosh, Kaplan, or the like - will exist hard for the wrong reasons - unrealistically computation-heavy, obscure, or written with no possibility of a shortcut.

This is why I preach "utilise ETS" advertisement nauseam.

Above: Your town jubilant your perfect GRE math score with a fireworks brandish.

My Almost Important GRE Math Tip

Although I do recommend the Manhattan 5-lb. book for repetition of quant concepts, it'due south important to retrieve that being able to solve math questions on the existent GRE is a skill that comes from practice with real GRE questions. Shocking, right?

Existent GRE questions are difficult until they're piece of cake. Past that, I mean that they're often wordy and complicated but often can be solved by cutting through the words to effigy out what the question'due south asking, or by using a logical shortcut. They're testing your power to think with math skills - which is why the department is called "Quantitative Reasoning".

This means that memorizing GRE math formulas, reviewing notes, using GRE math cheat sheets, and watching videos are WAY less important than getting your hands muddied by doing a ton of ETS math questions by yourself from a blank page (i.e., you're solving them, non just post-obit a solution that has been taught to you) then keeping a detailed fault periodical (as described in my free GRE report plans).

Studying for GRE math is not like studying for a math examination in school. GRE math performance demands fluency with concepts and experience with official questions, which are written in varied and creative ways. A giant database of experience from questions you've done makes information technology more probable the questions on the real GRE volition remind you of ones you've washed before.

The good news is that when you lot study for GRE math, the experience you accumulate doesn't go away hands since you're not memorizing; you're doing. It builds over time as long equally you're however studying. Every ETS question you solve is a footstep in the right direction toward a higher score.

A Few More than Things About Khan Academy

Important notation: If y'all encounter a concept in the ETS Math Review that you don't know only tin can't easily discover on the Khan page I've linked to, merely type information technology into the Khan University search bar. (BTW, the but topic in the ETS math review that I'm confident will Not be tested is how to summate standard deviation. Yous should still understand standard deviation - just don't worry nigh computing it with the formula.)

BUT if you notice a concept in Khan that is Not in the ETS Math Review, don't worry nearly it*. I'll list anything you don't demand in Khan adjacent to each Khan link.

*With that said, ETS does sometimes test a very pocket-size number of topics that aren't explicitly covered in the math review. For example, sequences. But don't worry - I got you, bro. Sequences are in the listing of topics linked to Khan below.

If you do have a topic for which you're non certain whether information technology might be tested, delightenquire near it on Reddit (r/GRE). I'm on in that location a lot, and I don't desire yous losing slumber over a random topic if y'all don't demand to.

Can You Use a Calculator on the GRE?

Yes! It'southward an on-screen calculator that you tin apply at whatsoever time during a GRE quantitative section.

Your GRE calculator tin can add together, subtract, multiply, dissever, and square root. Only that'due south pretty much information technology. And the display only fits 8 digits. That's why I created a GRE calculator app to help you lot get used to those limitations!

calculator app icon

Download the version for your phone with the below buttons and make your practice more realistic.

app store icon

play store icon

The exam center at which you have the GRE will besides provide you lot with scrap newspaper and a pencil. And so practice using a pencil, not a pen. Update: The GRE is now online due to COVID-xix.You can take it at domicile!

So actually, practice with a whiteboard and marking, since if you take the At Abode GRE, yous won't exist allowed to use scrap paper.

All GRE Math Concepts Linked To Khan University

You tin can either use this mindmap or coil downwardly to run into the aforementioned topics in a bullet-point list. In the map, more important topics are in a bigger font.

P.S. Once you're ameliorate with math concepts, y'all demand to learn math strategies to help you solve certain types of GRE questions. To do that, try my Choose Your Own GRE Math Gamble strategy guide!

GRE Arithmetic

  • one.iBones Math Operations
    • Factors, Multiples, Primes
  • 1.iiFractions
  • 1.3Exponents and Roots
  • 1.4Decimals
  • 1.5Real Numbers and their properties
  • 1.viRatio (includes rates, proportions, and percents)
  • ane.7Percent change or try Vince's percent change video

GRE ALGEBRA

  • two.1Operations with Algebraic Expressions (skip contained / dependent variables)
  • 2.3Solving Linear Equations
    • Systems of Equations,Systems of Equations Word Problems
  • 2.fourSolving Quadratic Equations
  • two.5Solving Linear Inequalities
  • 2.6Functions (skip recognizing fxns, max and min points, and intervals)
    • and New Operator Definitions
    • Vince's function video
  • two.eightCoordinate Geometry
  • Sequences

GRE GEOMETRY

  • (skip whatsoever proofs)
  • 3.1LinesandAngles
  • three.iiPolygons
    • Expanse and Perimeter of Shapes (skip anything about nets)
  • 3.3Triangles (skip theorems, bisectors, medians, and centroids)
    • Similar Triangles
    • Congruent Triangles
    • Pythagorean Theorem
  • three.fourQuadrilaterals
  • iii.5Circles (skip radians)
  • 3.6Three-Dimensional Figures (skip cones, pyramids, and spheres)

GRE DATA Analysis

  • four.2 Numerical Methods for Describing Data
    • Primal Tendency (mean, median, way)
    • Measures of Dispersion (range, standard deviation) skip variance; skip calculating standard deviation
  • four.3 Counting Methods
    • Sets
      • Venn Diagrams (skip frequency tables)
      • Counting Basics
    • Permutations
    • Combinations
    • Vince explains how to tell the difference betwixt permutations and combinations
  • four.fourProbability
  • iv.5 Distributions of Data, Random Variables, and Probability Distributions
    • Normal Distribution

Good luck, and happy GRE studying! If you enjoyed this free guide, check out Vince's other free GRE resources.

Reminder that we help people prepare for the GRE who are applying to graduate school, concern schoolhouse, and law schoolhouse. We also specialize in GRE prep for LD / ADHD students every bit well as older and non-traditional students.