The GRE: Wha Yo
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Man grad schools around the orld require ou to take the GRE
but hat is the GRE? And hat do ou absolutel hae to kno about
it?
The GRE, ociall knon as The Graduate Record Eamination
General Test, is supposed to test our erbal, mathematical and
analtical thinking skills. (Whether it actuall does this er ell is a
matter of debate.)
Thousands of graduate programs around the orld ant to see our
GRE scores before the ill consider our application. That number
has been shrinking in recent ears. Some grad schools ma not ant
to see our GRE scores. Others dont require it, but a good score can
help ou stand out from the crod.
rst took the GRE back in 1991(!) hen it as still paper-based. ts
changed a lot since then. No, its a full computer-based test in most
countries.More recentl, students can take the GRE at home on their
on computer because of COVD-19. Find more about that here.
Full disclosure: e been teaching m on StudProf GRE Prep Course
since 2000. e taught thousands of students one-on-one, in m
priate classes, and through Teas A&M Uniersit and the Uniersit
of Houston.
Look here for m list of recommended GRE resources, including
recommended GRE prep books, free practice tests, ordlists, and
more.
Ke GRE Facs
The GRE is given as a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). In a few
countries, the GRE may still be paper-based.
You can register for the GRE at ets.org/gre and take the test at one
of many testing centers located throughout the US and around the
world.
You can sign up for a day and time that is convenient for you.
Check with individual testing centers for GRE test date availability.
As I write this, the cost for the GRE is $205 USD, but you can see
the latest fee structure here.
Many graduate schools use the GRE score in their admissions
process, much like undergrad programs use the SAT or ACT.
The scores are available from ETS (the company that makes the
GRE and SAT) for 5 years.
It usually takes ETS fteen days to get your ofcial scores ready
after you take the test, BUT you’ll know your scores on the Verbal
and Quantitative sections before you walk out the door on test
day. That’s known as your ‘unofcial score’.
Your ‘ofcial score’ will not be available until your essays have
been graded in about three weeks.
Some schools will accept your unofcial scores. That means you
don’t need to wait three weeks after the GRE before applying to
that grad school.
The GRE has seven different sections divided between Written
Analytical essays, Quantitative (math) questions, and Verbal
questions.
One of the seven sections–and you won’t know which one–is an
experimental section that won’t count towards your score.
The sections get harder or easier based on how well you do. For
example, if you get most of the rst math section right, then the
next math section will be harder.
Scoring
The GRE is scored on a scale of 130 to 170for the verbal and quantitative
sections. 150 is a more or less average score, although it varies from
year to year.
The writing section is scored on a 0 to 6 point scale in half-point
increments. In the GRE written analytical, a 3.5 is just below average.
Many schools don’t look at your written analytical score or only consider
it if you do very poorly in that section.
Some grad schools will lump your verbal and quantitative scores
together. For example, “Our students should get at least a 306 on the
GRE. Other schools may just look at percentile scores.
One thing we look at in-depth in m GRE prep course is how to nd out
exactly what your target grad school is looking at. Then we look at
strategies for maximizing your chances with that school given your GRE
scores.
GRE Srcre
Your GRE ill alas start ith the Analtical Writing portion hich
consists of to 30-minute essas. Then ou ill alternate beteen
Verbal and Quantitatie (math) sections.
There are 2 or 3 erbal sections and 2 or 3 math sections, ith one
section being an eperimental section that doesnt count toards
our score.
The hole GRE ill take ou about 3.5 hours. Heres the quick
oerie
General Srcre
The to essas alas come rst, and the are folloed b either a
math or a erbal section, folloed b a ten-minute break.
Verbal and Quantitatie sections come in random order, ith a one-
minute break beteen sections.
You ill hae either three erbal OR threequantitatie sections. The
etra sectionis an eperimental section used to test out ne
questions.
You ill not kno hich section is eperimental (dont aste time
tring to identif it), and it ont count toards our score.
2 GRE Verbal Secions
Each GRE Verbal section has around20questionsand is 30 minutes
long.
There are si text-completion questions in each section. These ill
hae a sentence or to ith one, to, or three blanks. You ill hae
from three to e ords or phrases to choose from for each blank.
You must get them all correct to get an credit.
There are four sentence-equivalence questions in each GRE erbal
section. These hae a sentence ith a blank and sipossible ords
that might go in the blank. You pick thetwoords that ould gie
the sentence a basicall equialent meaning.
Finall, oull hae around ten reading-comprehension passages
ith questions. The reading passages are from three to 15 sentences
longith one to si questions oer each passage.
150 is an aerage score for the GRE Verbal, but this can ar from
ear to ear.
There are some simple, straightforard techniques that can quickl
improe our GRE erbal scores. After that, big GRE scoring increases
ill come from learning a lot of ne GRE ocabular.
Dont make the mistake of simpl memoriing a list of GRE ocabular
ords ith their short denitions. n m eperience, that takes a lot
of time and rarel improes test-takers scores.
There are methods for quickl and eectiel learning large amounts
of GRE ocabular that reall can improe our GRE erbal score
signicantl. teach those methods in m class.
To Qaniaie
(Mah)Secions
Each GRE quantitatie section has around 20 questions and is 35
minutes long. There are four dierent tpes of questions.
Quantitative Comparisonquestions ill gie ou to dierent
quantities and ask ou to compare the to quantities to determine if
one is larger than the other, if the to quantities are equal, or if the
anser cannot be determined.
Multiple-choice questions are the same as the ones ou are familiar
ith from grade school and high school; a question ith e possible
anser choices.
Multiple-answer questions. These look like multiple-choice
questions but ill hae from 3 to tendierent possible ansers to
choose from.An or all of the ansers ma be correct, so ou can
choose more than one. e seen the correct anser beall ten of the
anser choices. e also seen it be onl one of the ten.
Numeric entry questions. On these, ou ill ll in a bo ith our
on anser.
On the GRE Quantitatie, a 152 is an approimate 50th percentile
score, but this aries from ear to ear.
ETS gies ou an on-screen calculator, but it isnt er good. ts the
sort of calculator ou might bu for $3 in the check-out line at
Walmart. There are no higher-leel kes, such as an eponent ke, for
eample.
The GRE quantitatie coers a er limited range of math concepts
including general number sense, algebra, geometr, and statistics.
There is no calculus or trigonometr. Knoing eactl hat math
concepts are and are not tested on the GRE can sae ou a lot of
stud time and energ. n m course, e coer onl the math
concepts actuall tested.
To Wrien Analical Essas
The GRE ritten analtical essas alas come rst on the GRE. There
are to dierent tpes of essas.
n the Analyze an Argument essay, the ill gie ou an argument
someones letter to the editor, a paragraph out of a nespaper
article, that sort of thingand ou ill hae 30 minutes to discuss
here the author should hae gien more eidence or here the
made unarranted assumptions. You cansee all the Argument essa
prompts here.
The Analysis of an Issueessay is also 30 minutes long. ETS ill gie
ou a topic such as, Censorship is rarel if eer justied, and ou ill
hae to build a logical, ell thought out argument about h ou
agree or disagree. See all the ssue essa prompts here.
A 3.5 is a slightl belo aerage score for this section, and man grad
schools dont actuall look at this section. Others ma onl consider
our score if ou reall do poorl. Man other schools look at this
section as carefull as the quantitatie and erbal sections.
There are clear and easil-learned methods that teach in m GRE
prep class hich can reall boost our score in the ritten analtical
section of the GRE. While the methods are easil learned, the do
require time to practice and gain master. Heres ho to prep
Prep for he GRE
Some tpes of GRE prep pa o much more than others in a shorter
amount of time. Knoing hich areas of stud ill ield the biggest
GRE score improements can help ou get the most out of our prep
time.
often hae students in m prep course ho are taking the GRE onl
a fe das after m class. Others ma be man months out from
their GRE test date. Whats a reasonable amount of time to spend
prepping for the GRE?
Generall, plan on spending 40 to 60 hours prepping for the test if
ou ant to turn in our best performance. Hoeer, there are
certain things ou can do to reall maimie or score een ith a fe
hors of prep.
One thing teach in m GRE prep course that students consistentl
report has a huge impact on their GRE scores is learning ho to
handle test aniet. There are poerful, eas-to-master methods for
turning o test aniet so ou can turn in our best performance on
the GRE. Thats reall orth orking on.
Other concepts, such as learning the techniques for each of the
dierent GRE erbal question tpes and memoriing certain ke math
concepts and formulas, are quick to master and gie instant GRE
score increases.
Still other areas of studsuch as the details of each dierent math
concept oure likel to see on the GRE and memoriing ocabular
can take a longer time to stud. Hoeer, the ill gie big paos on
that nal GRE score.
Finall, some areas of stud, such as GRE reading comprehension, are
almost not orth studing. Man das of stud in some of these
areas ill gie onl minimal score increases. One thing do in m
class is help students strategie about here to spend their time
prepping for the GRE, so the can get the most bang for their buck.
Ke Conacs
For the latest information and news and to sign up for the actual
GRE test go tothe ETS ebsite.
To sign up for a weekend GRE prep class or one-on-one tutoring
taught via Zoom, go here.
Lean Moe Abo SdPof GRE Pe
Ahor
Cod Blair has spent oer to decades researching ho students
learn and remember most eectiel. He helps students appl that
knoledge in and out of the classroom. He is the author, instructor,
and oner of StudProf GRE Prep based in College Station, Teas,
and has been teaching GRE prep since 2000.
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