More about the GRE
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a requirement of most academic (i.e., non-professional) graduate programs in the United States, Canada, and many other countries. The GRE has a revised general test, which most academic graduate school applicants must take, and a number of subject tests that are more specialized requirements of certain programs (e.g., psychology, mathematics, computer science, chemistry, etc.). The exam measures your verbal and mathematical reasoning skills.
The GRE Revised General Test is approximately3 hours and 45 minutes in length and is is probably unlike any other test that you have ever taken. The GRE is section-level computer adaptive for the two Verbal and two Quantitative sections. This means that the computer will select the difficulty level of the second timed section based on your performance on the first timed section. Within each separately timed section, you will be able to respond to questions in any order as well as review and possibly adjust the response(s) to questions you have already answered.
GRE Structure
The GRE Revised General Test is divided into six sections: one Analytical Writing section with two tasks that always comes first, two Verbal Reasoning sections, two Quantitative Reasoning sections, and an unscored Experimental section that will look just like a Verbal or Quantitative section. The order of the Verbal, Quantitative, and Experimental sections is random.
| Analytical Writing Section |
| Length |
60 minutes |
| Format |
Typed Essay |
| # Questions |
2 |
| Question Types |
Analyze an Issue (30 minutes)
Analyze an Argument (30 minutes)
|
| Topics Tested |
Analysis of an Issue
Analysis of an Argument
|
| Verbal Reasoning (2 Sections) |
| Length |
30 minutes per section |
| Format |
Multiple Choice and Select Text |
| # Questions |
Approximately 20 per section |
| Question Types |
Reading Comprehension (3 subtypes)
Sentence Equivalence
Text Completion |
| Topics Tested |
Vocabulary
Verbal and Logical Reasoning
Reading and Critical Thinking
|
| Quantitative Reasoning (2 Sections) |
| Length |
35 minutes per section |
| Format |
Multiple Choice and Numeric Entry |
| # Questions |
Approximately 20 per section |
| Question Types |
Quantitative Comparison
Multiple Choice (select one answer and select more than one answer)
Numeric Entry
|
| Topics Tested |
Arithmetic/Number Properties
Algebra
Geometry
Problem Solving
Data Interpretation
|