WHAT IS THE GRE?
The Graduate Record Examination, or GRE, is an important step in the graduate school or business school application process. The GRE is a multiple-choice, computer-based, standardized exam that is often required for admission to graduate programs and graduate business programs (MBA) globally. Additionally, many law schools in the United States will accept a GRE score for admission.
The GRE is developed and administered by testmaker, ETS to provide graduate, business, and law schools with common measures for comparing applicants’ qualifications and preparedness for graduate-level academic work. Admissions committees look at your GRE score, along with your academic record and supporting materials, to assess your readiness for the rigors of graduate academic study.
What’s the takeaway? A high score on the GRE will have a direct, positive impact on your graduate, business, or law school application.
WHAT IS ON THE GRE?
The GRE exam measures your command of basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis as well as college-level vocabulary. More importantly, it measures your ability to analyze and evaluate written material, think critically, and solve problems. Learn more about what’s tested on the GRE.
WHAT ARE THE GRE SECTIONS?
You will receive three scores on the GRE:
These scores are generated by the following sections:
- 1 Analytical Writing Assessment section
- 2 Verbal Reasoning sections
- 2 Quantitative Reasoning sections
In addition, you will see one of the following sections:
- Unscored (may be either Verbal Reasoning or Quantitative Reasoning)
- Research (used for ETS research purposes)
The Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning sections are each scored on a scale of 130 to 170. The mean score for Verbal Reasoning is 152, and the mean score for Quantitative Reasoning is 156. The Analytical Writing Assessment is scored from 0 to 6 in half-point increments, and the mean score is 4.0.
ANALYTICAL WRITING
| Number of questions | Minutes to complete Analytical Writing | Score range |
| One “Analyze an Issue” task | 30 minutes | 0 to 6 |
The Analytical Writing Assessment, or “essay” section, measures whether you can articulate your thoughts and responses to complex ideas in a clear and reasoned way. Formulating a well-supported thesis in response to new and unfamiliar topics and key to doing well in Analytical Writing.
During the “Analyze an Issue” task you will read an opinion on a topic of general interest and be given instructions on how to respond to the issue at hand.
VERBAL REASONING (VERBAL)
| Number of questions | Minutes to complete Verbal Reasoning | Score range |
| 7 Text Completion questions 6 Sentence Equivalence questions 14 Reading Comprehension questions 27 questions total (roughly) | 18 minutes for section 1 23 minutes for section 2 | 130 to 170 |
The Verbal section of the GRE tests your ability to analyze written material, as well as relationships among component parts of sentences, including words and concepts. Verbal Reasoning questions appear in several formats:
Text Completion (TC) questions ask you to fill in the blank to complete sentences. Variations include 1-, 2-, and 3-blank questions. You’ll encounter approximately three to four of these in each Verbal section, and you should aim to complete each in about 1–1.5 minutes. To master these, you’ll need to build your vocabulary as well as develop your skill at using context clues from the sentence to make predictions for the blanks. There is no partial credit: you must answer correctly for all blanks to receive points for these questions.
Sentence Equivalence (SE) questions require you to fill in a single blank with two choices that create two coherent sentences that are logically similar in meaning. You will encounter approximately three SE questions in each Verbal section. Aim to complete each in about 1 minute. As with TC questions, you’ll need to work on building your vocabulary and identifying context clues in order to master SE questions.
Reading Comprehension (RC) questions are based on passages of one or more paragraphs that develop an explanation or argument on a topic. RC questions require you to understand central ideas presented in the text and the structure of a text, as well as to research details in the passage and draw valid inferences from it. RC questions require strategic reading and paraphrasing skills.
Each Verbal section will contain approximately six to eight RC questions, and you should aim to spend an average of 1–3 minutes on reading a passage and 1 minute per question.
QUANTITATIVE REASONING (QUANT)
| Number of questions | Minutes to complete Quantitative Reasoning | Score range |
| 10 Quantitative Comparison questions 13 Problem Solving questions 4 Data Interpretations questions 27 questions total (roughly) | 21 minutes for section 1 26 minutes for section 2 | 130 to 170 |
The Quant section of the GRE tests your basic quantitative skills, as well as your ability to reason and solve problems with quantitative methods. You’ll see questions covering basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. These topics are typically covered in high school. You will not see trigonometry, calculus, or any other high-level math.
Quantitative Reasoning questions appear in several formats:
QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON
Quantitative Comparison (QC) questions ask you to compare two quantities—Quantity A and Quantity B—and to identify the relationship between the two. You’ll likely see about 4-to-6 of these in each Quant section. To master these, be familiar with the QC answer choices and with shortcut methods that allow you to compare rather than calculate.
PROBLEM SOLVING
The most common Problem Solving (PS) questions are standard multiple-choice questions, with five choices and one correct answer. Variants include questions that ask you to select one or more answers from a list of choices (multiple-choice all-that-apply) and questions that ask you to enter your answer in a box (numeric entry.) To master PS questions, be familiar with the math concepts that are tested as well as strategies that allow you to approach solving efficiently.
There are also a handful (typically two per section) of Problem Solving questions associated with one or more charts. These Data Interpretation (DI) questions work like other PS Qs, but it’s important to note that gleaning the information correctly from the graphs is the key to answering them.
Please feel free to reach out to our advisor, Kaggwa Andrew, at 0702081492 or 0784508135 for further discussions and valuable insights. Additionally, he leads a team of experts specializing in research writing, supporting in courseworks, exam preparation and handling various assignments.