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 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 is an approximately three hour long Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). It is probably unlike any other test that you have ever taken. Unlike paper based tests, you cannot go back and change your answers. And the difficulty level of each question is based on whether you got the previous question right or wrong.
GRE Structure
The GRE is divided into five sections: two Analytical Writing sections that always come first, a Verbal section, a Quantitative section, and an unscored Experimental section that can be either Verbal or Quantitative. The order of the Verbal, Quantitative, and Experimental sections is random.
| Analytical Writing Section |
| Length |
75 minutes |
| Format |
Typed Essay |
| # Questions |
2 |
| Question Types |
Present Your Perspective on an Issue (45 minutes)
Analyze an Argument (30 minutes)
|
| Topics Tested |
Analysis of an Issue
Analysis of an Argument
|
| Verbal Section |
| Length |
30 minutes |
| Format |
Multiple Choice |
| # Questions |
30 |
| Question Types |
Reading Comprehension
Sentence Completion
Analogies
Antonyms |
| Topics Tested |
Vocabulary
Verbal Reasoning
Logical Reasoning
Reading
|
| Quantitative Section |
| Length |
45 minutes |
| Format |
Multiple Choice |
| # Questions |
28 |
| Question Types |
Problem Solving
Quantitative Comparison
Data Interpretation (Graphs)
|
| Topics Tested |
Arithmetic
Algebra
Word problems
Geometry
Data Interpretation
|