GRE®
What You Need to Know
What
The Graduate Record Examination General Test (GRE) is used for admissions to most graduate schools (masters and doctoral programs) in the United States. The GRE is administered by the Educational Testing Services (ETS). The GRE assesses verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills acquired over a lifetime of learning.
The GRE General Test was significantly redesigned in August 2011. It is no longer adaptive by question but rather by section. Now a test-taker’s performance on the first verbal and math sections determines the difficulty of the following verbal and math sections. The scoring scale was changed to a scale of 130–170.
When
The computer-administered version of the GRE General Test is offered year round at Prometric test centers. It is also available on specific dates at additional locations outside the Prometric test center network. Appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.
You can take the computer version of the GRE General Test only once every three weeks. And, you can take the exam a maximum of five times in a rolling 12-month period.
The paper version of the exam is not offered in countries (like the United States) where the computer version is available. If you are an international student whose country does not offer the computer version, visit the ETS website here for more information.
How
The cost to take the GRE General Test is $205. To register for the exam, test takers create an account with ETS. This account will also be used later in the score reporting and graduate school admissions process. Click here to register for the exam.
Test Format
The GRE General Test measures your verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking and analytical writing skills.
The Verbal Reasoning section measures a test taker’s ability to analyze and draw conclusions from text, reason with data, identify an author’s proposition, and interpret the various levels of meaning within a text. Test takers must also understand the meanings of words in context and understand the relationship among words and among concepts.
The Verbal Reasoning section contains three types of questions:
- Reading Comprehension
- Text Completion
- Sentence Equivalence
The Quantitative Reasoning section measures a test taker’s ability to apply basic math skills to arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis questions. Test takers will solve problems using mathematical models and interpret and analyze quantitative information.
Some of the Quantitative Reasoning questions are hypothetical real-life scenarios. Others are posed in purely mathematical terms. Many of the questions are word problems. The mathematical concepts are included in math and statistics courses at a high school level. There is no trigonometry, calculus, or other higher-level math.
The Analytical Writing section measures a test taker’s ability to provide a response based on presented tasks. Test takers must articulate ideas clearly, support ideas with reasoning and evidence, examine propositions, and – ultimately – display mastery of standard written English.
The Analytical Writing section consists of two separately timed writing tasks:
- Analyze an issue (30 minutes)
- Analyze an argument (30 minutes)
The issue task will present you with a perspective on an issue followed by specific directions on how to respond. You are required to evaluate the issue, consider its complexities, and develop an argument with reasoning and evidence to support your perspective.
The argument task requires you to evaluate a stated argument according to specific directions. You need to consider the assumptions and the argument’s logical integrity. You do not need to specifically agree or disagree.
Scoring & Accommodations
Scoring
Three scores are reported on the GRE General Test:
- A Verbal Reasoning Scores on a 130–170 scale in 1-point increments
- A Quantitative Reasoning score on a 130–170 scale in 1-point increments
- An Analytical Writing score reported on a 0–6 scale in ½ point increments
The computer test is section-level adaptive. The computer selects the second section based on your performance on the first. Within each section, all questions contribute equally to your final score.
Testing Accommodations
ETS does provide test takers with diagnosed learning disability the opportunity to take the GRE General Test with accommodations. To request accommodations for the GRE, candidates should visit this link.
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