Everything you need to know about the GRE

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  Everything you need to know about the GRE

  • 29-5-2023
  • Posted By : Admin

  About The GRE

  
  

  The Graduate Record Examination, or GRE, is a standardized, computer-based, adaptive, test that is used for admission to graduate programs (MS), graduate business programs (MBA) and PhD program, globally. Many universities accept GRE in India too.

  The GRE is developed and administered by ETS. The aim of the exam is to have a common aspect to measure students under one roof who are from different educational backgrounds. A good GRE score not only improves the chance of an application getting accepted but also enhances the likelihood of getting a scholarship if applied for.

  What is on the GRE?

  
  

  The GRE exam measures test takers’ Verbal and Quantitative reasoning skills. It covers basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, data analysis, and college-level reading comprehension and vocabulary. In effect, it measures the test takers’ ability to think critically, to solve problems, and to analyze and evaluate written material.

  In addition to the following sections, viz.

  • Analytical Writing or AWA
  • Verbal Reasoning
  • Quantitative Reasoning

  you may see one of the following sections on the GRE.

  • An unscored section (either a Verbal Reasoning section or a Quantitative Reasoning section)
  • A Research section (used by ETS for research purpose)

  The Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning sections are each scored on a scale of 130 to 170 with one point increment. The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) is scored on a scale of 0 to 6 in half-point increments. Currently, the average scores for Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and AWA are 151, 153, and 4.0 respectively.

  Duration Of The Test:
  
  

  GRE Section	Duration
  Analytical Writing (2 tasks)	30 minutes per task
  Verbal Reasoning (2 sections, 20 questions each)	30 minutes per section
  Quantitative Reasoning (2 sections, 20 questions each)	35 minutes per section
  Experimental or Unscored (1 section)	Varies (30 or 35 minutes)
  Optional Breaks (total)	Approximately 12 minutes
  Total	Approximately 4 hours

  
  

  Analytical Writing

  
  

  The Analytical Writing section measures your ability to:

  • articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively
  • support ideas with relevant reasons and examples
  • examine claims and accompanying evidence
  • sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion
  • control the elements of standard written English

  The Analytical Writing measure consists of two separately timed analytical writing tasks:

  • The "Analyze an Issue" task presents an opinion on an issue along with instructions on how to respond to that opinion. Your task is to elaborate your views on the issue taking into account its complexities and develop an essay with supporting reasons and examples as directed in the instructions accompanying the opinion.
  • The "Analyze an Argument" task presents an argument and requires you to evaluate the argument according to specific instructions. As directed in the instructions accompanying the argument, you will need to critique the logical soundness of the argument rather than agree or disagree with the recommendation or opinion expressed in the argument.

  In the Issue task you are required to support your own views on the issue, while in the Argument task you are asked to find the weaknesses in someone else's argument. Thus the issue and argument tasks are complementary to each other.

  Verbal Reasoning

  
  

  The Verbal Reasoning section measures your ability to:

  • Analyze and draw conclusions from discourse; reason from incomplete data; identify author's assumptions and/or perspective; understand multiple levels of meaning, such as literal, figurative and author's intent
  • Select important points; distinguish major from minor or irrelevant points; summarize text; understand the structure of a text
  • Understand the meaning of individual words, sentences, and entire texts; understand relationships among words and among concepts.

  The Verbal Reasoning consists of:

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Text Completion
  • Sentence Equivalence

  The Reading Comprehension questions include a couple of argument questions. Reading and Vocabulary are the two aspects highly tested on the GRE Verbal questions.

  Quantitative Reasoning

  
  

  The Quantitative Reasoning section measures your ability to:

  • understand, interpret and analyze quantitative information
  • solve problems using mathematical models
  • apply basic skills and elementary concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis

  Quantitative Reasoning Consists of :

  • Algebra
  • Arithmetic
  • Geometry
  • Data Analysis

  Basic math concepts learned in class 6 to 8 is tested on the GRE Quant questions, however the questions would be tricky ones with trap answers.

  Cost Of GRE Exam:

  
  

  The cost to take the GRE is $228 in India and for all testing locations except China. You can choose to send your score reports to up to four graduate institutions of your choice without any extra cost. In case a student wants to send scores to additional universities that would cost extra.

  Ideal Time ToTake GRE

  
  

  The GRE score remains valid for 5 years, so students can take the exam as per their preparation and keep the score ready. The dates for the computer based GRE is available throughout the year. The dates can be booked online at ets.org.

  It is advisable to book dates early as the available dates often get filled up fast.

  GRE can be taken once every 21 days up to 5 times in a year.

  You can see your GRE scores immediately after completing the test once you accept the score, however, it takes about 10-15 days to get your official GRE Test scores. You will get a message from ETS when your scores are ready. You can check your account on ets.org/gre.

  What’s in the GRE official score report?

  
  

  Apart from your personal details, your official score report will contain the following.

  • The test date(s)
  • GRE test scores of all the three components (AWA, Quant and Verbal) and the associated percentile ranks
  • Your intended graduate major
  • Authorized score recipients, fellowship sponsors, and the institutions to whom your scores have been reported.
  • cumulative record of scores reported within the last 5 years unless you opt for Score Select

  What information is sent to institutions along with the GRE scores?

  
  

  Official score reports sent to the institutions you designate include:

  • Your contact information (name, address, phone number, email)
  • Date of birth
  • Gender
  • Your intended graduate major field
  • The GRE test dates and score(s) you choose to report with the Score Select option and the associated percentile ranks

  They don’t include:

  • Any information concerning the other score recipients you have chosen
  • Any scores you’ve chosen not to report
  • Any indication that you’ve taken other GRE tests

  How long are scores reportable?

  
  

  GRE scores remain valid for 5 years. At any point you can ask ETS to send to institutions of your choice scores pertaining to any GRE test that you have taken during last 5 years.

  GRE Score Select:

  
  

  With the Score Select option, you can decide which test scores to send to the institutions you designate, so you can send the scores you feel show your personal best, giving you more confidence on test day.

  On test day, immediately after the test, you will get to view your scores. You can choose not to send your scores at that time. Alternatively, you can select either of the following two options for each of your four FREE score reports:

  • Most Recent — Send your scores from your current test administration.
  • All — Send your scores from all GRE General Test administrations in the last 5 years.

  After the test day, you can send score reports for a fee. In that case, you have the following choices.

  • Most Recent — Send your scores from your most recent test administration.
  • All — Send your scores from all test administrations in the last 5 years.
  • Any — Send your scores from one OR as many test administrations as you like in the last 5 years.

  The additional score reporting charge is $30. If you submit your request online, it takes about 5 business days to process your request. After submitting your request, you can still change it or cancel it and ask for a refund.

  If you like to know about our GRE preparation programs, reach out to us at +91-82173-55908

Author

Ms. Sheetal Purohit

Co-founder & COO

Sheetal Purohit, is the guiding force in the formation of Erisha EduSupport, as a part of Rana Group. She has an extensive experience of 23 plus years of teaching and mentoring students. She has a wide array of experience teaching English for many purposes. Be it spoken English, Business English or English for Competitive Exams, Sheetal has taught it all. This shows her versatility in teaching the language because despite the language being the same, the way in which it is tested is different across all these genres.

Ms. Anshu Parmar

Co-founder

Ms. Anshu Parmar, Co-founder of Erisha EduSupport, is a Software Engineering Graduate, Postgraduate in MBA-Operations and Marketing and a student of IIT - Delhi, experiencing Quantum Technology and Machine learning. With expertise in various fields, she has an experience of 11+ years spread over various domains. Ms. Anshu aim to provide transformative global learning experiences for students which supports them to reach their academic goals, discover their leadership qualities, to explore global career opportunities, and for an intercultural proficiency.