What GRE®-Test?

The GRE Test is a standardized test taken by students who are applying to postgraduate courses in the US and in some other parts of the world.

GRE®-Test means Graduate Record Examinations

What is GRE®-Test Description?

The test intends to primarily aid Graduate Schools (of all fields other than business) to assess the potential of the applicants for advanced study. Provided  measures Verbal, Mathematical and Analytical Writing skills. Most universities in the US, while inviting applications from prospective students, ask for GRE® scores.

About GRE®-Test

The GRE revised General Test, introduced in August 2011, features a new test-taker friendly design and new question types. It more closely reflects the kind of thinking you’ll do in graduate or business school and demonstrates that you are ready for graduate-level work.

The GRE is produced by the Educational Testing Service, a US-based non-profit organization. Admissions committees use the scores along with undergraduate records, recommendations and other relevant criteria in evaluating candidates for admission to graduate courses. For some courses GRE is a prerequisite; for others it may be recommended or not required. Always check the requirements of individual institutions before applying.

For further information, visit:https://www.ets.org

GRE Test Structure

The GRE General Test is currently a computer-based test offered at centers in the US and in most other countries. In China and in some other parts of the Far East a paper-version of the GRE is administered. In both the computer and paper-based tests the questions types are the same.

The GRE General Test has three main divisions: Analytical Writing; Verbal Reasoning; Quantitative Reasoning. A typical computer-based test starts with the Analytical Writing section (1 hour). There are 2 sections of Verbal Reasoning each with approximately 20 questions to be completed in 30 minutes. There are 2 sections of Quantitative Reasoning each with approximately 20 questions to be completed in 35 minutes. There is usually also an unidentified unscored section that can appear at any position in the test.

The computer-based GRE takes 3 hours 45 minutes.

Analytical Writing

The analytical writing section has two essay writing tasks: the Issue and the Argument. The Issue task presents two topics of which the candidate must select one on which to write an essay presenting the writer’s position on the topic. The candidate is required to support his or her point of view with examples and reasoning. The time allotted for this task is 30 minutes.

The Argument task presents a statement of a position. The candidate is required to analyze the logic of the given position and suggest how and where the reasoning may be faulty or require improvement. The student is given 30 minutes for this essay.

The scoring for the Analytical Writing section is on a scale of 0-6. Each essay is scored by a human reader and then by a computer program called the e-rater. If the human and e-rater scores differ, the score is sent to a second reader. The final score is the average of the two human scores (to the nearest half mark). If the there is no disparity between the first human score and that of the e-rater, that score is taken.

Verbal Reasoning

The verbal reasoning section contains three types of question: sentence equivalence; text completion; reading comprehension.

The verbal reasoning section of the GRE is often said to be a test of vocabulary. However, the comprehension questions require good reading and reasoning skills.

Quantitative Reasoning

The quantitative reasoning section has two types of multiple choice questions: quantitative comparisons and problem solving. The test also contains Numeric Entry questions where students have to provide their own answers.

The level of math knowledge should be within the grasp of a 10th Grade student. Some of the questions involve data interpretation. An onscreen calculator is provided to students taking the computer based test. Students taking the paper based test are provided with a calculator at the test center.

What is a good GRE score?

A good GRE score is one that gets you into the graduate program of your choice. You can check the median score of last year’s intake to put an actual number to the score that any particular program requires. (The range of GRE score might actually give you a better idea of your chances for admission.)

Do note that an ‘unbalanced’ score – with a very high percentile in one area and a low percentile in the other – is not as impressive as a balanced score.

The score on the analytical writing section needs to be 4.5 and above to qualify as ‘good’.