<p>I'm a rising freshman this year. I'm looking forward, already, to my GRE (General) because I understand the significance of having a good score in my back pocket. During my junior and senior years I'll be occupied with writing my senior and honors theses respectively, as well as my research for those papers, studying for my Physics subject exam, and potentially getting my feet wet in graduate courses, all on top of applying and hopefully (and yes, I understand that these awards are extremely, extremely selective -- which is why I wish to be able to give them my full attention) interviewing for one or more of the Rhodes/Marshall/Mitchell Scholarships. </p>
<p>My questions are these:</p>
<p>1) Is there such a thing as taking the exam 'too early' in the eyes of universities? I realize the normal window is late junior or early senior year, but will colleges give less weight to an exam taken during sophomore (I don't know that I have the stones to take it as a freshman) year? </p>
<p>2) Is there a limit to the number of times (outside the financial concerns) a student can take the exam? This could either be a hard ceiling imposed by ETS or general wisdom regarding the perceptions of graduate adcoms. </p>
<p>3) How much time should be allotted for studying? Considering I have just over a three year window in which to fit my studying and exam date(s), where is the ideal length of study time? (And I realize the answer to that question might be "It varies for everyone," which I completely understand.)</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your time, and for your help!</p>
<pre><code>GRE scores are valid for five years after the testing year in which you tested (July 1–June 30). Currently, scores earned from July 1, 2007, to the present are available.
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<p>You can take the GRE revised General Test (computer-based and paper-based) only once every 30 days, and no more than five times within any continuous rolling 12-month period. This applies even if you canceled your scores on a test taken previously. If you take only the paper-based GRE revised General Test, you can take it as often as it is offered.</p>
<p>3) It’s usually recommended 2-4 months to study. Considering how busy you will be, maybe the summer before your junior year would be most ideal.</p>
<p>If you’re a high flyer, feel free to go for the GRE, as long as you think you will do your best now and won’t improve down the road.</p>
<p>I just took the GRE and I’m in my freshman year so… I did this because I was really well prepared by my high school courses/contests for what the GRE tests. I figured in the future I would be subspecializing, and my GRE scores might even decrease since the GRE tests general skills.</p>