Know about your GRE ® Exam

By Padma Sampath on October 30, 2019 in GRE

Dear Study Abroad Aspirant,

Are you still in the process of finalizing the country(s) you would like to study the graduate program? Is the USA your first choice for your higher education? Are you planning to do either a Master’s or PhD in STEM program in a highly ranked university? If your answer is YES for any of the above questions, then taking the GRE ® Exam is the first step to achieve your study abroad dream.

Why GRE ® ?

GRE ® is a standardized test that helps universities worldwide measure a student’s quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning, and analytical writing skills. Though it does not provide a clue about student’s subject knowledge in any of the disciplines like engineering, science or mathematics, it is still considered as an important benchmark to compare students from across the globe with a uniform scale. Many universities in the world, especially the universities in the USA, publish the minimum and/or average scores in GRE ® required for admission to their graduate programs, though the admissions decision is solely based on the holistic review of a student’s profile. GRE ® test result, along with other parameters like GPA, academic budget, etc. play a critical role in building a shortlist of universities fitting to a student’s profile.

About the test – GRE ®

The test consists of three sections as shown in the below table. The test can be taken all round the year and one can register for the exam easily online. There is no minimum number of attempts and a student has the choice to select only the test scores of a
particular attempt he/she wishes to report the institution.

Section Score Scale

Verbal Reasoning 130–170, in 1 point increments
Quantitative Reasoning 130–170, in 1 point increments
Analytical Writing 0–6, in half point increments
If no questions are answered for a specific measure (e.g., Verbal Reasoning), then you will receive a No Score (NS) for that measure.
Source: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/scores/

Tips to crack GRE ®

• Plan! Plan at least six months in advance of the application process.
• Prepare well! The best advice is to join a physical/online coaching class as it will speed up your preparation process.
• Work on a timetable! There are many self-study apps available online, which you could download in your mobile and enhance your preparation.
• Caution! Analytical Writing! – Many students do not pay much attention to this part. A minimum score of 3.5 – 4.0 is expected by most universities especially if a student is aiming for a research-oriented program.
• Use the two full-length practice tests wisely! Take these two full-length practice tests provided by ETS when you register for the GRE ® exam, 3-4 days before the actual exam date. Usually, the average of your score in these two exams (if taken after adequate preparation) will only be varying from your actual score by not more than 5%. Also, you can prepare a list of universities along with their ETS code, to which you would like to send your score report for free (up to 4 universities) after your test but before leaving the test center. There are charges for each additional score reporting once you leave the test center.

Wish you all the best!

Note: Refer https://www.ets.org/gre for more on GRE ®