GRE
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a standardized test conducted by Educational Testing Service (ETS), designed to assess overall academic preparedness for graduate school. The GRE provides a common criterion for comparison among graduate and business schools. GRE scores remain valid for five years, although many colleges prefer scores from the last three years.
There are two types of GRE tests: the general GRE and the subject-specific GRE. The GRE General Test evaluates an individual’s academic readiness, and its scores are accepted by various graduate, business, and law schools globally. On the other hand, the GRE Subject Test assesses subject-specific technical knowledge and is required by certain colleges for specific courses.
The GRE General Test can be taken up to five times in a calendar year, with a minimum gap of 21 days between any two attempts.
GRE Exam Format
The GRE exam pattern comprises three primary sections: Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning.
- Analytical Writing: This section assesses the ability to think critically, articulate thoughts effectively, and support complex ideas.
- Verbal Reasoning: This section evaluates the capacity to analyze and assess written material. It involves incorporating information obtained from the material, as well as analyzing and recognizing relationships between words, concepts, and parts of sentences.
- Quantitative Reasoning: This section measures basic mathematical skills and evaluates the understanding of fundamental concepts in Algebra, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Modern Math problems. It also assesses skills in data analysis.
| Sections | Number of Questions / Score range | Allotted Time |
| Analytical Writing (One section with two separately timed tasks) | One “Analyze an Issue” task and one “Analyze an Argument” task [Score: 0 – 6, in half point increments] |
30 minutes per task |
| Verbal Reasoning (Two sections) | 20 questions per section [Score: 130 – 170 in total] |
30 minutes per section |
| Quantitative Reasoning(Two sections) | 20 questions per section [Score: 130 – 170 in total] |
30 minutes per section |
| Un-scored* | Varies | Varies |
| Research* | Varies | Varies |
The GRE may include an unidentified un-scored section, which does not contribute to the test taker’s score and can appear in any order after the Analytical Writing section. The questions in this section are experimental and are being tried out for possible use in future tests or to ensure comparability with scores from earlier editions.
Additionally, an identified research section, also not contributing to the score, may replace the un-scored section and always appears at the end of the test. The questions in the research section are included for ETS research purposes.
The GRE is a computer adaptive test, meaning the difficulty level of the second section for each subject depends on the test taker’s performance in the first section of that particular subject. For instance, if a test taker performs well in the first section, they are likely to receive a more challenging second section, providing access to higher scores. Conversely, if fewer questions are answered correctly in the first section, the second section is likely to be easier, with scoring potential capped at a lower range.