Everything to know about GRE

Comprehensive Guide to GRE (2021) - Prodigy Finance

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Everything to know about GRE including the eligibility criteria, exam pattern, fees, and how to prepare for the GRE exam.

If you are a student specialising in any given field of study, you must have heard of GRE. But just in case you want to brush up on your knowledge, we have prepared a comprehensive guide with all the necessary details you might find useful for your GRE preparation.

What is GRE?

The Graduate Record Examination is one of the preliminary steps in the application process for graduate or business schools. Conducted by ETS, the GRE is a fully computer-based standardised test that relies on multiple-choice questions to gauge your academic potential. Your GRE scores, along with your high school academic record and overall achievements, are taken into consideration during your admission to a business school or a graduate school.

Schools all around the world require a common standardised test to minimise bias and unfairness in the admission process, and that’s where the GRE comes in.

Simply put, if you manage to ace your GRE, it will increase your chances of getting into your dream school.

How is the GRE Conducted?

The GRE General Test is usually conducted at Prometric test centres all year round, although a few non-Prometric centres also offer the test.

If getting to a physical test centre is unfeasible, the GRE General Test is a computer-based test which can alternatively be taken at home. You can also sit the GRE home test at the comfort of your home, under the supervision of a human proctor. The GRE home test is identical to the tests conducted at test centres in terms of overall content, on-screen experience, and the general format.

How Many Times Can You Take the GRE?

You can write the GRE General Test up to five times in a year, but note that there must be a minimum of 21 days in between two attempts. This rule applies even if you have cancelled a previous test score in a year.

How to Register for the GRE

GRE registration can be done in 3 alternative ways:

Online

This option can only be availed if you are paying the GRE exam fees by credit or debit card. Register online at the GRE ETS site and print out your voucher for future reference. GRE online registration also allows you to check the seat availability in real time.

Phone

You can ring 1-800-GRE-CALL or 1-800-473-2255 to register for the GRE. The confirmation ID, test center, test date, and reporting time will be informed to you over a call. You can pay the GRE fees with an American Express, MasterCard, Discover, JCB, Visa credit, or debit card.

Mail

Fill out the Authorization Voucher Request Form in the GRE Information and Registration Bulletin. Sign the voucher request form and mail it along with the GRE fee in the envelope provided to the address mentioned on the voucher.

GRE Eligibility Criteria

Want to know if you are eligible to take the GRE? Here’s the great news:

The GRE has NO special eligibility criteria. The GRE has no age limit or educational qualification requisite, so you are at liberty to sit for the GRE any time you want. With the GRE exam eligibility guidelines being eased, all that counts is your preparation and intent to ace the test.

How to Prepare for GRE

Sitting to write your GRE paper might seem daunting, especially if it is your first time. To make your exam experience easier and less stressful, you can start sticking to a routine for your GRE preparation in the months ahead of your GRE examination. Here are a few ways in which you can ensure your best efforts at GRE preparation:

Keep solving previous years’ GRE papers as well as sample mock papers. Appearing for GRE mock tests can make you aware of your mistakes, in turn improving your chances of acing the GRE on the first attempt.
Pay attention to works of Analytical Non-Fiction, for the GRE has always seemed to favour liberal arts and philosophy students who are acquainted with analytical academic writing. This will help you improve your ability to comprehend reading passages. More than GRE books, reading works of non-fiction will help enhance your reading and writing skills, as well as your vocabulary.
Try to replicate the real-time GRE experience by appearing for practice tests in the same testing conditions, duration, and supervision. This will help root out the inherent fear of examinations, especially when it is one that decides your higher educational aspirations.
Work on enhancing your GRE vocabulary, as that would pay off in the reading, writing, as well as analytical sections. Inculcate a habit of reading newspapers, paperbacks, and magazines, and try to retain words that catch your eye.
Review your practice test results, and try to gauge your areas of weakness. Work extensively on those areas in limited time durations to acclimate yourself to the real-time testing conditions and the potential errors in judgement.

Many prefer to sit for multiple GREs before they send their final reports to the college admission committee. If you manage to ace the GREs with flying colours, your chances of getting into the best schools in the world becomes greater. So, try to allot a specific number of hours to your daily GRE preparation to be thorough with the possible challenges the paper can pose.

For more information on how to prepare for the GRE, you can check out the ETS Official Guide.

GRE Test Dates

If you are a prospective GRE examinee, make sure you are registered on the ETS website. Create your own ETS GRE account to be eligible to apply for the test. Keep checking the GRE exam dates to stay up to date about the upcoming tests.

When can you sit for the GRE?

You can sit for the GRE General Test anytime in a year, but note that it follows a first-come-first-serve policy, so fast-tracking your GRE slot booking is recommended.

When will you receive your GRE scores?

It can take 10 to 15 days for your GRE results to reach your school’s admission committee, so make sure you write the GRE early on. Your prospective graduate or business school’s admission committee should receive the scores within the application deadline.

Check out the test dates, test centres, and seat availability in the location of your preference.

GRE Syllabus 2021

The GRE exam syllabus for the verbal reasoning section is divided into 3 parts:

Reading Comprehension
Sentence Equivalence
Text Completion

The GRE General Test includes a Verbal Reasoning section that focuses on the following topics:

Idioms and Idiomatic expressions
Nouns, Adjectives, Pronouns
Verb tense
Subject-Verb Agreement
Pronoun Agreement
Modifiers and Parallelism

Here’s how the syllabus for the GRE Quantitative Reasoning looks:

The GRE General Test’s Analytical Writing section is divided into 2 parts:

Analyse and Argument: You will be required to accurately analyse, interpret, and argue against or in favour of the topic as provided on the paper.
Analyze and Issue: You will be required to offer an option on the issue of general interest.

Note: Make sure you follow the instructions properly before starting to write the Analytical Writing section.

Here’s an idea of the GRE subject test syllabus:

Make sure you are thorough with all the topics before sitting for the test. As far as the GRE is concerned, preparation is key.

GRE Exam Pattern

Here is the basic structure of the GRE General Test:

You can write the GRE Subject Tests in 6 subjects: Chemistry, Psychology, English Literature, Physics, Biology, Mathematics. Familiarise yourself with the GRE pattern through previous years GRE question papers and repeated mock tests to increase your chances of performing well.

Note: GRE Subject Tests are offered only in paper-delivered formats, and the total duration is 2 hours 50 minutes.

The GRE General Test consists of 5 sections:

Verbal Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Analytical Writing
Research
Unscored

While the Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning sections feature 2 sections each with 20 questions, the Analytical Writing section contains only one section with 2 questions.

Here’s how much time you can allot to each section of the GRE Computer-based General Test:

Verbal Reasoning: 30 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning: 35 minutes
Analytical Writing: 60 minutes

GRE Fees

The GRE fees is subject to change, so make sure you keep checking the ETS official website to be informed about any modifications. It is inclusive of all value-added taxes that ETS is liable to pay. Here’s what the GRE fees looks like:

You have to pay a nominal additional amount for special handling requests. Here’s what you have to pay if you want to reschedule the test or change your test centre:

Here’s a list of additional privileges such as reviews and analysis of your test paper that you can avail for a fixed fee. Some of the services in this category are as follows:

What is a Good GRE Score?

GRE Total Score

The GRE total marks depend on whether you are sitting for the General Tests or the Subject Tests. Here’s the score breakup of the GRE tests:

For your GRE subject tests, you will be marked on a 200 to 990 scale, featuring 10 point increments.

The highest score you can have in the GRE is 340, which would include 170 each in both Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning, and a 6 in the Analytical Writing section. However, it is important to note that the GRE scores are usually viewed separately, unlike ACTs and SATs, where scores for each section are clubbed into a cumulative score.

Graduate schools often want to see the scores of specific sections related to the course you are applying to. Hence, keeping the scores separate helps your admission committee gauge your potential in specific areas of speciality.

GRE Score Percentiles

For the Analytical Writing section, check the percentile scores in the table below:

Average GRE Scores

Here’s a list of section-specific average scores that will give you a fair idea about the potential scores you need to achieve to get into the school of your choice:

Check the table below to know the section-specific score requirements for students of different majors. For more information on MS Engineering GRE scores, click here:

Check out the best US universities for GRE scores 320 to 330.

GRE Score Validity

If you have taken your GRE on or after July 1, 2016, your scores would be valid for 5 years following your test date.
If you have taken your GRE before July 1, 2016, your scores are valid for 5 years following your test year
If you sat for your GRE prior to July 2015, your test scores are no longer reportable.

GRE Practice Tests and Sample Papers

Before any examination, preparation is integral to your chances of success. Keep solving sample papers and sit for GRE preparation tests. You can go through the official ETS Preparation Tests page to view some practise materials.

Here are a few renowned sites that have arrangements for sample papers and mock GREs:

Kaplan Test Preparation Princeton Review Magoosh Free GRE Practice Tests

GRE VS GMAT

Keep practising mock papers and sample questions to know more about the question patterns and topics. Be on the lookout for preparation tests in real-time test centres and register for preparation test reviews.

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