Test Overview

General Test

• Offered on the computer, this test measures verbal, quantitative, and analytical reasoning skills that have been developed over a long period of time and are not necessarily related to any particular field of study.
• The paper-based General Test has been discontinued in most locations around the world. 
• Test is approximately 2 ½ hours.

Subject Tests

• The Subject Tests are offered only as paper-based tests and are given in 14 subject areas. 
• Measure achievement in specific subject areas and assume undergraduate majors or extensive background in those disciplines.

Writing Assessment  

• The assessment consists of 2 analytical writing tasks: a 45-minute “Present your perspective on an issue” task and a 30-minute “Analyze an argument” task.

Description of the GRE General Test

Verbal

• Uses questions from diverse areas of experience.
• The areas tested range from the activities of daily life to broad categories of academic interest, such as the sciences, social studies, and the humanities.

Quantitative

• Content areas include arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis.

Analytical

• Measures reasoning skills developed in virtually all fields of study.
• Tests your critical thinking and analytical writing skills.
• Consists of two writing tasks. 

Preparing for the GRE General Test

• Become familiar with each type of question used in the test, paying special attention to the directions.  If you have understand the directions for each question type before you take the test, you will have more time during the test to focus on the questions themselves.
• Use official GRE publications and software to familiarize yourself with the questions.
• Practice for the General Test by using the interactive GRE sample questions on the GRE Web site.
• The following are available in downloadable format on the GRE Web site:

                    General Test sample questions with explanations.
                    Full-length GRE Practice General Test.
                    Computer-based testing tutorials.

Test-Taking Strategies for the GRE General Test

• Use the tutorial to learn how to interact with the computer.
• During the tutorial, learn how to scroll both slowly and quickly so that you can move to areas of text at the speed you desire.
• Try to answer all of the questions in each section since the number of questions answered is incorporated into the calculation of the scores.  It is to your advantage to answer ALL of the questions.
• Maximize your score through effective time management.
• If a question is too time-consuming or if you do not know the answer, eliminate as many answer choices as possible and then select and confirm the answer you think is best.
• Determine exactly what each question is asking.