The Graduate Record Examination or the GRE is one of the preferred and widely accepted standardized test, conducted by Educational Testing Services as a part of the application process, for admissions to the Masters, MBA, LAW and PhD programs worldwide. Irrespective of the field of study, the GRE fundamentally assess skills in Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Analytical Writing and Critical Thinking.
A good GRE score is often advantageous and beneficial for the students who are focusing at academic pursuits as well as in career success.
The GRE scores are accepted globally by graduate and business schools in the US, Canada, most of the European nations and in other top study destinations. With a good GRE score, it offers the students to apply to various global universities.
With a good GRE score, a student can apply to diverse programs which includes:
The GRE score is a standard benchmark, for the evaluators to analyze the student’s diverse analytical skills collectively, from various countries, whose grading system differs significantly.
A higher GRE score can help the students to compensate or make up with a lower GPA, which they had secured for their undergraduate studies. Even though the students had secured a lower GPA, a strong GRE score can prompt the evaluators to infer that the respective student has got higher critical and analytical skills, which makes it easy to fulfill the academic rigor of the graduate program.
A strong GRE score can help potential students, in securing scholarships and funding for their academic pursuits, eventually reducing the cost of graduate education.
The syllabus of the GRE general test had been modified, with a shorter and a streamlined exam schedule. The total duration of the GRE test is 1 hour and 58 minutes. The GRE General Test comprises of 3 score sections namely, Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning. The GRE test does not have a scheduled break while taking the test.
| GRE Section | No. of Questions | Time Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analytical Writing | 1 task to analyze and comprehend and issue. | 30 minutes | The First Section |
| Verbal Reasoning (Section 1) | 12 Questions | 18 minutes | It is Section level Adaptative. |
| Verbal Reasoning (Section 2) | 15 Questions | 23 minutes | The difficulty of this section is purely based on the performance in Section 1 of Verbal Reasoning. |
| Quantitative Reasoning (Section 1) | 12 Questions | 21 minutes | It is Section level Adaptative. |
| Quantitative Reasoning (Section 2) | 15 Questions | 26 minutes | The difficulty of this section is purely based on the performance in Section 1 of Quantitative Reasoning |
| Total Test Time | 1 essay and 54 Questions | 1 hour and 58 minutes | No Breaks in between |
The syllabus of the GRE general test is designed to evaluate the proficiency of the test givers, which are very much essential for undergoing graduate programs and also in the business school.
The Analytical Writing section evaluates the test givers, based on their analytical skills by responding to the task, based on clarity of thought and by articulating complex concepts clearly with relevant justifications. This section also measures how focused a test giver is analytically and critically to come to a coherent conclusion.
| Task Type | Key Focus | Key Skills Evaluated |
|---|---|---|
| To analyze an Issue | The test giver has to justify and comprehend the broader aspect of the topic and infer with supporting statements with a rational judgement, logical reasoning with evidence. | The key skills evaluated, will be on the test giver analyzing the topic critically with clear judgement and responding with a good command over English. |
The Verbal Reasoning section analyze the test givers, based on comprehending the information by forming relationship between words and context of the content.
| Question Type | Description | Key Skills Evaluated |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | Questions are asked from various fields like Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Science. The questions asked could be multiple-choice, select one or more answers and select-in-passage. | Key Skills evaluated are to analyze the author’s tone, critically comprehending from the incomplete data, inference and understanding the context of the text and content asked. |
| Text Completion | Text CompletionA short passage will be given with one or two or three blanks and the test givers must be able to fill in the blanks with the most apt words, to create a meaning full and coherent text. | The key skills evaluated are the logic formation through proper vocabulary and how it can be meaningful as per context |
| Sentence Equivalence | Placing two different words in a respective sentence, must give identical meaning. | The key skills evaluated will be on the formation of the meaning of the sentence and also in recognizing relationships among the concept by identifying the proper set of words |
The Quantitative Reasoning evaluates in analyzing the quantitative data by the test givers, through solving complex calculations in a simple and faster way using mathematical models.
| Question Type | Key Topics |
|---|---|
| Arithmetic | ArithmeticTopic includes fractions, integers, decimals, Real Numbers, Percentages, Rates, Exponents, Roots, Sequence and Series. |
| Algebra | Linear and Quadratic equations, Functions and Relations, Factoring and Simplification of algebraic expressions, Simultaneous Equations and Word problems involving algebraic concepts. |
| Geometry | Lines and Angles, Polygons, Circles, Volumes of 3-D figures, Surface Area and Coordinate geometry. |
| Data Analytics | Statistics topics like Mean, Media, Mode, Range, Standard Deviation, Percentiles; Probability, Permutation and Combinations, Data Interpretations from tables, bar graphs, pie chart etc. |
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a standardized test, that makes the test givers eligible for graduate schools like studying Masters, Law, Doctoral and MBA studies at top universities worldwide. The test givers are evaluated on skills like Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning through critical thinking. At Meleth Academy, our online GRE coaching, helps and guides students in implementing effective strategies to secure best scores.
The GRE test is approximately 1 hour and 58 minutes in duration.
The GRE exam consists of three sections, namely Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning (2 Sections) and Quantitate Reasoning (2 Sections).
Yes, the GRE exam is computer adaptive, especially for the sections pertaining to Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning. The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitate Reasoning has two sub sections each. The performance on the first sub section in each of the Verbal and Quantitate Reasoning, determines the difficulty level of the second sub section.
The GRE exam can be taken once every 21 days for a maximum 5 attempts within 12 months.
The Verbal and Quantitative reasoning scores can be seen unofficially immediately after the test. On a general note, the official score including the Analytical Writing can be officially be available on the test giver’s ETS account after 8-10 days from taking the exam. The GRE score is valid for a period of 5 years from the date of taking the exam.
