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Registering for the GRE
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How do I register for the GRE computer-based General Test? |
In the United States, U.S. Territories and Canada you can register to take the test
online using a credit
card, you can register by phone by calling 1-443-751-4820 or 1-800-GRE-CALL (1-800-473-2255),
or you can register by mail by using the
Authorization Voucher Request Form (PDF) that is available at ETS. Outside
the United States, U.S. Territories and Canada there are four ways to register for
the GRE computer-based General Test. You can register online, by phone by calling
your regional registration center, by faxing the
International test registration form to your regional registration center,
or you can rgister by mail by sending the Internatinal test registration form to
your local regional registration center. A list of
Regional Registration Center (RRC) is available from ETS. |
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How do I register for the GRE® paper-based General Test? |
The paper-based test is offered only in areas of the world where computer-based
testing is not available. Please contact your
Regional Registration Center (RRC) to check if computer-based testing is
available in your area. You can register for the GRE paper-based General Test online or by mail by
using the
Registration Form and mailing it to the address on the phone.
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How do I register for a GRE® Subject Test? |
The GRE subjects tests are paper-based tests that focus on a specific area of study,
such as biology, comparative literature, or physics. Not all graduate programs require
their candidates to take a subject tetst, to check with your school to see if you
have to take one. You can register for a GRE Subject Test
online or complete the
GRE Registration Form and mail it to the address on the form. You'll
need to pay by credit card, money order or certified check.
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Additional Score Reports
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What are Score Reports |
Additional score reports are your tests results that can be send to schools in addition
to those that you designed during test day. You can request that additional score
reports be sent after you have received your test scores. |
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How do I order additional score reports? |
You can order additional score reports by phone by calling 1-609-771-7290 or 1-888-GRE-SCORE.
You can also order additional score reports by completing the
Additioanl Score Report Request form and mailinig it with your payment to
the address on the form. You may also request additinal score reports by fax at
1-610-290-8975. Fax requests must be accompanied by credit card information.
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Test Content
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What skills does the General Test measure? |
The GRE general test is meant to gauge your overall academic ability and is the
standard test for admission to non-business schools. It is meant to measure your
verbal and quantitative reasoning skills, as well as your writing skills.
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What skills does the Verbal Reasoning section measure? |
The verbal reasoning section is meant to measure your ability to analyze and evaluate
written material and synthesize information from the written material. The verbal
reasoning section is also meant to measure your ability to analyze relationships
among component parts of sentences and to recognize and evaluate relationships between
words and concepts.
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What skills does the Quantitative Reasoning section measure? |
The quantitative (math) reasoning section is meant to measure your ability to understand
basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. The quantitative
reasoning section is also meant to measure your ability to reason quantitatively
and to solve problems in a quantitative setting. The quantitative reasoning section
is not meant to measure your ability to memorize formulas or performed trigenometry
or calculus, but you are expected to know many of the basic math concepts from arithmetic,
algebra, and geometry.
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What skills does the writing section measure? |
The writing section is meant to be a holistic measure of your ability to articulate
complex ideas clearly and effectively. In the writing section, you are asked to
examine claims and accompanying evidence, to support your stance and ideas with
relevant reasons and examples, to write well-focused essays, to provide coherent
discussions. You are also expected to control the flow of your essays and to demonstrate
mastery of the elements of standard written English.
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What is the Analytical Writing section like? |
The analytical writing section consists of a 45-minute "Present Your Perspective
on an Issue" essay and a 30-minute "Analyze an Argument" task. For the Issue essay,
you are given two topics from which you choose one to write about, and you are asked
to discuss the issue from any perspective. For the Argument essay, you are provided
an argument, and your task is to analyze that argument by discussing if it is well-organized
and if the reasoning in the provided argument is valid. In the argument essay, your
task is to evaluate the provided argument rather than to agree or disagree with
it. |
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What are the essay topics? |
You can view the entire list of possible issue and argument essay topics. The entire
list of
issue and
argument essay topics are available from ETS. |
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How are the essay scored? |
There are no "right" answers for each essay topic. Instead, the essays are scored
on a holistic scale that is meant to measure your overall ability to write well.
ETS provides a
description of the essay score ramges, and provides
Issue Essay Scoring Guidelines as well as
Argument Essay scoring guidelines. You may use any one of a variety
of strategies to structure your essays. Readers are explicitly trained to accept
any strategy in an essay that meets the essential requirements of the essay task,
i.e., a response that provides the information required by the essay prompt.
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How does the Analytical Writing section differ from the TOEFL Test of Written English
(TWE)? |
The TOEFL is a test that is meant to measure your command of English vocabulary,
grammar, spelling, and syntax, and the TOEFL does not measure higher levels of thinking
or analytical writing. |
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Preparing for the GRE
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How can I prepare for the General Test? |
The best way to prepare is to become familiar with the test format and to practice
as much as you can. IBM-PC compatible
GRE Powerprep software is available from ETS. A
test preparation booklet is also available from ETS. The powerprep software
includes test tutorials, practice questions, two computer-adaptive tests for the
Verbal and Quantitative sections, and sample topics and essays for the Analytical
Writing section. |
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What other practice resources are there? |
There are a wide range of websites as well as published materials that offer practice
materials. Hundreds of practice questions are avaialable at
myGRETutor.com as well as on other websites. |
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Taking the Test
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What is the price of the General Test? |
The General Test is $140 for individuals testing in the United States, U.S. Territories,
and Puerto Rico, $175 for individuals testing in China (including Hong Kong), Korea,
and Taiwan, and $170 for individuals testing in all other locations. A fee reduction
form is available. Completed pricing information is given on our Fees information page.
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Can I retake the test more than once? |
You may choose to retake the test if you are not satisifed with your score. You
may take the General Test only once per calendar month and at most 5 times within
any 12-month period.
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How is the General Test administered? |
The General GRE Test is given year-round as a computer-based test in the U.S., Canada,
and many other countries. The test is administred at various testing facilities
around the world. You have to pre-register to take the test, so be sure to plan
well in advance. Paper-based General Test administrations are offered in areas of
the world where computer-based testing is not available. |
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What is the word processor that is used for the Analytical Writing section of the
computer-based test? |
The GRE test uses a very simple, elementary word processor that was developed by
ETS. You do not have to be familiar with a specific commerical work processor in
order to do well on the GRE. The word processor that is used on the GRE developed
by ETS® so that individuals familiar with a specific commercial word processing
software do not have an advantage or disadvantage. The ETS word processing software
has very few features. It allows you to type and inserting text, delete text, cut
and paste, and undo the previous action. Features such as spell checking and grammar
checking which are part of many other commerical word processing programs are NOT
available in the ETS world processor. You can practice writing essays using the
word processor in Powerprep software or on MyGRETutor.com. |
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GRE Scores
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How are the sections of the General Test scored? |
Your scores on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the computer-based General
Test depend on your performance on the questions that you've already seen. The computer-based
GRE is a computer adaptive test, which means that the difficulty of each question
is based on your progress so far. The questions that you are presented is based
on the the statistical characteristics of the questions already answered, the required
variety of question types, and the appropriate coverage of content. The paper-based
general test is not adaptive. All of these factors are used to determine your final
score. The scoring of the Analytical Writing section is the same whether the test
is taken on computer or paper. Each essay receives a score from two trained readers,
using a 6-point scale. Readers are trained to assign scores on the basis of the
overall quality of an essay in response to the assigned task. If the two assigned
scores differ by more than one point on the scale, the discrepancy is adjudicated
by a third reader. Otherwise, the scores from the two readings of an essay are averaged.
The final scores on the two essays are then averaged and rounded up to the nearest
half-point interval. A single score is reported for the Analytical Writing section. |
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What scores are reported? |
For the general GRE test, a Verbal Reasoning score on a 200-800 range in 10-point
increments, a Quantitative Reasoning score on a 200-800 score scale in 10-point
increments, and an Analytical Writing score on a 0-6 score scale in 0.5 point increments
are reported on your official score report. If you answer no questions at all in
a section, you receive a No Score (NS) for that section. |
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When are scores reported? |
If you take the computer-based General Test, you will be shown your verbal and quantitative
scores at the conclusion of the test at the test centern. Because essays are scored
by readers, you will receive your Analytical Writing scores when you get your score
report. Verbal, Quantitative and Analytical Writing scores on the computer-based
General Test will be sent to you and the institutions you designate within 10 to
15 days of your test administration. If you take the paper-based General Test, you
will not view any scores at the test center. Verbal, Quantitative and Analytical
Writing scores on the paper-based General Test will be sent to you and the institutions
you designate within four to six weeks of your test administration. |
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Computer-Based GRE
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How does the computer-based General Test work? |
The Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning sections of the General Test are adaptive
tests that adapt to your progress so far. They adjust to you your performance level
and provide precise information about your abilities using fewer test questions
than traditional paper-based tests. At the start of the test, you are presented
with test questions of middle difficulty. As you answer each question, the computer
scores it and uses that information, as well as your responses to preceding questions
and information about the test design, to determine the next question. If you answer
a question correctly, you will typically be given questions of increased difficulty.
When you respond incorrectly, you will typically be given less difficult questions.
Because the computer scores each question before selecting the next one, you must
answer each question when it is presented, so this is different from a standard
paper test where you can skip around to different questions. Once you answer a question
and move on to another, you cannot go back and change your answer. For the Issue
task you choose one of two essay topics that are presented to you. The Argument
task does not offer a choice of topics; the computer will present you with a single
topic selected from the topic pool. |
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Are computer-based scores comparable to scores earned on the paper-based test? |
ETS claims that the computer-based scores are comparabel to scores earned on the
paper-based test. |
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I am not computer literate. What do I do? |
You can take the General GRE Test even if you have little or no previous computer
experience. The test requires only basic computer skills, and the start of the test
includes a hands-on tutorial that you must completed before starting the test. The
tutorial is included in GRE
Powerprep program that you can download from ETS. The tutorial will let
you try out the functions of the computer (e.g., mouse, scrollbar) that you will
need to use during the test. |
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Split-Test Administration of the GRE General Test in China (including Hong Kong),
Korea, and Taiwan
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What is the split-test? |
The GRE general test in China, Korea, and Taiwan is offered in two parts. The Analytical
Writing section is offered on computer, while the Verbal and Quantitative sections
are offered at a paper-based administration. Test takers are required to take both
the computer-based and paper-based parts of the GRE General Test in the same testing
year, and must take the computer-based Analytical Writing portion first. A choice
of two paper-based administrations will be offered during the 2007-08 testing year,
spaced out so as to minimize congestion in the computer-based test (CBT) centers. |
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Why is the split-test used in Chain, Korea and Taiwan? |
ETS went to a split-test administration to restore the validity of scores for students
in these regions. The questions that are given on the paper Verbal and Quantitative
sections are never used again after the day on which they are shown, and so students
cannot give other students an unfair advantage by memorizing questions and telling
other students of the questions that they have seen. |
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When are the paper-based Verbal and Quantitative sections offered as part of the
split-test? |
The two paper test administrations are October 27, 2007 and June 7, 2008. |
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Will Analytical Writing scores be reported separately from Verbal and Quantitative
scores to schools and colleges? |
Scores on the split-test General GRE Test are calculated and the score report is
generated only after all three sections of the test have been completed. |
