Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

The GRE® revised General Test – the most widely accepted graduate admissions test worldwide.

What is the GRE?

The GRE revised General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills that are necessary for success in graduate and business school.

Applicants from all around the world, with diverse educational and cultural backgrounds, take the GRE to provide a common measure for comparing candidates’ qualifications. GRE scores supplement your undergraduate records, recommendation letters, and other qualifications for graduate-level study.

The test is available at about 700 test centers in more than 160 countries. In most regions, the computer-based test is offered continuously throughout the year. In Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea, it is available one to three times per month. In regions without computer testing, a paper-based test is offered up to three times a year.

Frequently Asked Questions

The GRE revised General Test is composed of three measures:

  • Analytical Writing: Tests your ability to articulate and support complex ideas, examine claims, sustain a coherent discussion, and control written English.
  • Verbal Reasoning: Tests your ability to analyze and evaluate written material, understand meanings of words and texts, and recognize relationships among concepts.
  • Quantitative Reasoning: Tests your basic math skills and understanding of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis, along with problem-solving using mathematical models.

The answer is partly yes and partly no.

  • Within each section: The test is computer-linear (difficulty does not change based on performance).
  • Between sections: The test is computer-adaptive (difficulty of the next section is based on performance in the previous one).

This does not apply to the unscored section, which may appear at any point in the test.

Yes, within a section, you can move forward or backward between questions. However, once you complete a section, you cannot go back to it. This is because the test adapts between sections, not within them.

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