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What is GRE

The Graduate Record Examination is a standardized aptitude test widely used for admission to postgraduate programmes throughout the USA and many other countries in the world.

Many aspirants dream of getting admission into top universities in US and other countries and there comes the importance of GRE exam. Getting the best score in this exam is really challenging for students. But achieving the fantabulous score surely requires methodical and efficient planning. This exam allows prospective students to demonstrate to universities that they have skills to sustain in the programme which they have chosen to apply. This exam is a standard test which is used by universities to compare the performance of a student with many others who have written this exam. Before that you need to have a clear overview of what is GRE. GRE General Test and GRE Subject Test are two types of GRE tests which is entirely created and administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS).

The GRE General Test measures your Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning skills which is meant to assess the overall aptitude in terms of academic skills of an aspirant. You must be aware of the purpose of these sections which you encounter while facing exam.

1. Analytical Writing:

This section measures your ability to:

  • Present the sophisticated ideas in lucid and effective manner.
  • Strengthening the content with valid reasons and examples.
  • Expressing the viewpoint with proper English grammar.
  • Maintain a balanced and consistent discussion.
  • Study the claims by providing evidence.

Finally this section demands you to provide rational answers depending upon the task given to you.


2. Verbal Reasoning:

This section measures your ability to:

  • Interpret and deduce reasoning from the incomplete information.
  • Deciding important points and differentiating significant points from insignificant points.
  • Recognize the author’s approach and presumptions.
  • Understand the relationship among words and concepts.

Hence this section tests your complex verbal reasoning skills.


3. Quantitative Reasoning:
  • Analyze the quantitative information.
  • Understand the basic mathematical concepts and apply them logically in solving the questions.

At the end this section assess your quantitative reasoning skills. The GRE verbal and quantitative sections are scored on a scale of 130-170 in one point increment in each of the two sections. Analytical Writing is scored on a scale of 0-6 in half point increments. If you do not answer any of the questions in any of the above sections then it will be reported as a No Score (NS). For knowing the complete syllabus and pattern of GRE please click on GRE exam syllabus and GRE exam pattern respectively.


The GRE Subject Tests are taken by graduate school candidates as they want to exhibit their knowledge in a subject which they choose to study. This test will help you to stand out from other applicants who take only General Test. It is tested for the subjects like Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Literature in English, Physics and Psychology.