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If you plan on applying to graduate schools in the US, chances are you will have to take the Physics GRE (as well as the general GRE). The test consists of 100 multiple choice questions over the course of 170 minutes. You will need to rapid-fire pick answers from lists under questions about that the full range of undergraduate physics plus some random trivia and obscure effects. In other words, it is almost completely divorced from how anyone does Physics in the real world. Even so, while it will not make or break your application, it is a necessary step for applying to most schools.
ETS, the company that administers the GRE, has released a few previous exams so that people can get an idea of what the test is like. It has evolved over the years, so more recent tests are better for developing expectations, but they can all serve as good practice. As mentioned, the GRE will be an unfamiliar way of doing Physics, so it will pay to practice doing multiple choice questions as much as you can.
The tests from 1986, 1992, 1996, 2001, and 2008 can be found here, and solutions to almost all the questions on these tests can be found here.
Solutions can also be found in many other places so if you don’t like an explanation given on the site above there will probably be a clearer solution somewhere else.
The most recent test, from 2017, is available here: https://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/practice_book_physics.pdf
Solutions can be found here: http://home.uchicago.edu/~abdelhafez/download/PGRE%201777%20Solutions.pdf
Conquering the Physics GRE is generally believed to be the best book and just came out with a new edition.
A set of free Physics GRE flash cards is available here courtesy of Case Western Reserve University. You will have to email them to gain access.
In just one person’s experience, the flash cards were not very helpful because they did not transfer well to the way you have to know things to answer questions quickly. This will obviously vary between people and you will have to figure it out for yourself.
One sample study plan is as follows:
Take the 2017 practice test 6 to 8 weeks before your scheduled test date to get a sense of where you’re at and how to focus your studying
Read a section or two of Conquering Physics every day and do the practice problems at the end of the sections
Take a practice test, from the book or from the old exams, every two weeks
Supplement all this with practice questions pulled from old exams or practice exams from the book, including ones you have already taken if it has been a while
Especially close to the exam date, doing 15 to 25 practice questions every day that you don’t take a full practice exam can prepare you for doing multiple choice
One good, fast way to prepare is to try to do 10 questions in 17 minutes, which reflects the rate you will have to go during the actual test. This is a great way to build speed and practice time management, especially once you already have most of the content down
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