The GRE is an internationally conducted test that is accepted across many institutions across the world. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it is the Graduate Record Exam or GRE for short and is conducted by Educational Testing Services or ETS for short.
The GRE is mostly taken by people who wish to study their postgraduate degrees or PHDs. Although a growing trend has emerged where MBA applicants are opting to take the GRE instead of the GMAT. This trend can mostly be attributed to two reasons:
- A growing number of MBA colleges are accepting the GRE scores for the admissions process
- It is easier to score well on the GRE than the GMAT.
What is tested?
There are primarily 3 types of sections on the GRE:
- Analytical Writing Assessment or AWA
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Verbal Reasoning
| GRE Sections | ||
| AWA | 2 tasks | 60 minutes |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 2 sections, 20 Questions Each | 70 minutes |
| Verbal Reasoning | 2 sections, 20 Questions Each | 60 minutes |
| Unscored | 1 section, 20 Questions | 30 or 35 minutes |
AWA
This section tests your ability to:
- Critically analyse complex ideas
- Effectively verify claims and corresponding evidence
- Coherently communicate thoughts with reasons and examples
- Effectively use grammar and standard elements of English
Quantitative Reasoning
There are two types of questions in this section:
- Problem Solving
- Data Interpretation
The syllabus for the GRE quant section is basic school level math.
| GRE Quant Syllabus | |
| · Number Properties | · Statistics |
| · Fractions, Decimals & Percentages | · Algebra |
| · Speed, Rate & Time | · Word Problems |
| · Geometry | · Data Analysis |
The GRE quant syllabus is comprised mostly of basic concepts of the above topics. While the concepts in and end of themselves are simple, the difficulty level of the questions varies.
Verbal Reasoning
There are there types of questions in this section:
- Reading Comprehension
- Text Completion
- Sentence Equivalence
The main objective of this section is to test your reading ability and your vocabulary. There are about 4,000 words and their definitions that need to be learnt in order to ace this text completion and sentence equivalence question types. However, for the reading comprehension question types, it is important to pay attention to the passage and read the questions carefully.
