GRE Test
Education is one the most important aspects of an individual’s growth and career choices. In today’s world, education is a very serious affair and hence, institutes offering Undergraduate and Graduate courses try to assess how you think, analyse and reflect. The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) Test is scientifically designed to understand the thought process, decision making ability and, above all, skills required to succeed in a career for a test taker. The score of an individual is a reflection of the above stated attributes, based on which colleges and business schools short list students for various courses.
The GRE test scores on the ability of an individual to score on Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Critical Thinking and Analytical Writing Skills. In order to understand them better, we will discuss them briefly.
- Verbal Reasoning: The verbal reasoning section tests your verbal skills coupled with reasoning. Your ability to analyze, reflect and draw conclusions from a given set of statements. This requires ability to understand assumption argument, premises and intent of the author. You should also be in a position to highlight the important points, summary and central idea of the question statement and distinguish between major and minor assumptions. All this can be achieved when you properly understand the text of the question.
- Quantitative Reasoning: It is subtly hinted that GRE test focuses on Quantitative Reasoning and not on Quantitative Aptitude. It simply means that through this test, a test takers basic quantitative ability is evaluated. The focus is on ability to understand, interpret and analyze quantitative information. A test taker should have basic skills in arithmetic, geometry, data analysis and algebra. If we talk from the perspective of Indian Students, then a test taker should understand quantitative reasoning till class X or high school
- Analytical Writing: Analytical writing is something which a test taker develops over a period of time. It is a reflection of learning and education cycle of an individual. GRE test focusses on an individual’s ability to analyze and hence, the objective of this section is test the ability to support ideas citing relevant example. Ability to express clearly with ambiguity and interpret complex ideas in a simplified manner. A test-taker should also have the ability to test merit of the claims made and present views in a coherent, logical and well structured manner.
The GRE Test is conducted in two formats namely: Computer delivered and Paper Delivered GRE Tests:
The Structure of computer delivered test is:
| A | B | C |
|---|---|---|
Measure |
Number of Questions |
Allotted Time |
| Analytical Writing (One section with two separately timed tasks) |
One “Analyze an Issue” task and one “Analyze an Argument” task | 30 minutes per task |
| Verbal Reasoning (Two sections) |
20 questions per section | 30 minutes per section |
| Quantitative Reasoning (Two sections) |
20 questions per section | 35 minutes per section |
| Unscored | Varies | Varies |
| Research | Varies | Varies |
(Source: ETS Website)
The structure of Paper Delivered Test is:
Structure of the Paper-delivered Test
| A | B | C |
|---|---|---|
Measure |
Number of Questions |
Allotted Time |
| Analytical Writing (Two sections) |
Section 1: “Analyze an Issue” task Section 2: “Analyze an Argument” task |
30 minutes per section |
| Verbal Reasoning (Two sections) |
25 questions per section | 35 minutes per section |
| Quantitative Reasoning (Two sections) |
25 questions per section | 40 minutes per section |
The Analytical Writing sections will always be first, while the other four sections may appear in any order
(Source: ETS Website)
The GRE Test is conducted by Education Testing Service (ETS), a non profit organization based out of New Jersey (USA).
Few important features of the test are:
Duration: The duration of the test is 3 hours and 45 minutes and it includes a 1 minute break for each section and 10 minutes break after the third section. A test taker can take computer based test throughout the year (as per the availability of test centers) and there should be a gap of 21 days before you take the test again (You can appear for the test as many times as you want).
Scoring: Score is awarded for Analytical Writing on a scale of 0 to 6 (in 0.5 point increments). For verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning, the score is awarded from 130 to 170 (in 1 point increments) for each section. It also important to understand that paper based test is conducted upto 3 times a year in the months of October, November and February and only in those areas where computer based test is not available. Normally a score in excess of 310 is considered very good and for analytical writing a score of 4.0+ is desirable.
All the best!!!