GRE (GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATION)
The GRE is a computer-based exam required by many graduate schools for admission to a wide variety of programs at the graduate level. It is designed to assess general skills necessary for graduate school.
The test delivers a friendlier, more flexible test-taking experience. You will be able to change your answers, and skip questions, all within a section. The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures are section-level adaptive. The computer selects the second section based on your performance on the first. The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures allow you to preview other questions within the specific section on which you are working, review questions you have already answered, and change your answers.
GRE® TEST FORMAT:
Exam Length: 1 hour, 58 minutes
Scoring Scale: 130-170 (1 point increments) for Verbal and Quantitative; 0-6 for Analytical Writing
Format: Multi-stage test (MST), a computer based format that allows students to navigate forward and backward within each section of the test
No. of Sections: 5 sections, including an experimental or research section
Analytical Writing: One section with a 30-minute task: Analyze an Issue
Verbal Reasoning: Two 30-minute sections with approx. 20 questions each
Quantitative Reasoning: Two 35-minute sections with approx. 20 questions each; On-screen calculator is available
GRE® COMPONENTS:
- The Analytical Writing measure
- The Verbal Reasoning measure
- The Quantitative Reasoning measure
GRE® TEST STRUCTURE:
The computer-based GRE® General Test contains five sections:
- an Analytical Writing section with one task, which always comes first in the test
- two Verbal Reasoning sections
- two Quantitative Reasoning sections
- one unscored section, a Verbal Reasoning or Quantitative Reasoning section, that may appear at any place
GRE® SCORES:
Three scores will be reported on the GRE revised General Test:
- Verbal Reasoning score on a 130-170 score scale, in 1-point increments
- Quantitative Reasoning score on a 130-170 score scale, in 1-point increments
- Analytical Writing score on a 0-6 score scale, in half-point increments
The GRE General Test measures your verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking and analytical writing skills — skills that have been developed over a long period of time and aren’t related to a specific field of study but are important for all.
Verbal Reasoning
The Verbal Reasoning measure of the GRE General Test assesses your ability to:
• analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it
• analyze relationships among component parts of sentences
• recognize relationships among words and concepts
Verbal Reasoning questions appear in several formats, each of which is discussed in detail in the corresponding sections linked to below. About half of the measure requires you to read passages and answer questions on those passages. The other half requires you to read, interpret and complete existing sentences, groups of sentences or paragraphs.
The Verbal Reasoning measure contains three types of questions: Reading Comprehension, Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence.
Quantitative Reasoning
The Quantitative Reasoning measure of the GRE General Test assesses your:
• basic mathematical skills
• understanding of elementary mathematical concepts
• ability to reason quantitatively and to model and solve problems with quantitative methods.
Question types and Data Interpretation sets
The Quantitative Reasoning measure has four types of questions:
• Quantitative Comparison Questions
• Multiple-choice Questions — Select One Answer Choice
• Multiple-choice Questions — Select One or More Answer Choices
• Numeric Entry Questions
Each question appears either independently as a discrete question or as part of a set of questions called a Data Interpretation set. All questions in a Data Interpretation set are based on the same data presented in tables, graphs or other displays of data.
Problem-solving steps
In addition to the tips for answering in the question type sections above, there are also some general problem-solving steps and strategies you can employ. Questions in the Quantitative Reasoning measure ask you to model and solve problems using quantitative, or mathematical, methods. Generally, there are three basic steps in solving a mathematics problem:
Calculator use
You’re provided with a basic on-screen calculator on the Quantitative Reasoning measure. Sometimes the computations you need to do to answer a question in the Quantitative Reasoning measure are somewhat time-consuming, like long division, or they involve square roots. Although the calculator can shorten the time it takes to perform computations, keep in mind that the calculator provides results that supplement, but don’t replace, your knowledge of mathematics. You’ll need to use your mathematical knowledge to determine whether the calculator's results are reasonable and how the results can be used to answer a question.
Analytical Writing
The Analytical Writing section measures your ability to:
• articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively
• support ideas with relevant reasons and examples
• sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion
• control the elements of standard written English
It requires you to provide focused responses based on the tasks presented, so you can accurately demonstrate your skill in directly responding to a task.It doesn’t assess specific content knowledge.
The Analytical Writing measure consists of a 30-minute “Analyze an Issue” task. This task presents an opinion on an issue and instructions on how to respond. You’re required to evaluate the issue, consider its complexities and develop an argument with reasons and examples to support your views.
You’ll use a basic word processor developed by ETS to type your essay responses. The word processor contains the following functionalities: insert text, delete text, cut-and-paste and undo the previous action. Tools such as a spellchecker and grammar checker are not available.
