The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a standardized test that is part of the admissions process for some graduate schools in the United States and Canada.GRE Registration and Information Bulletin The GRE is owned and administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The test was established in 1936 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

According to ETS, the GRE General Test aims to measure verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills that have been acquired over a long period of learning. The content of the GRE consists of certain specific data analysis or interpretation, arguments and reasoning, algebra, geometry, arithmetic, and vocabulary sections. The GRE General Test is offered as a computer-based exam administered at testing centers and institution owned or authorized by Prometric as well as at home.

In the graduate school admissions process, the level of emphasis that is placed upon GRE scores varies widely among schools and departments. The importance of a GRE score can range from being a mere admission formality to an important selection factor.

The GRE was significantly overhauled in August 2011, resulting in an exam that is adaptive on a section-by-section basis, rather than question by question, so that the performance on the first verbal and math sections determines the difficulty of the second sections presented (excluding the experimental section). Overall, the test retained the sections and many of the question types from its predecessor, but the scoring scale was changed to a 130 to 170 scale (from a 200 to 800 scale).

The cost to take the test is US$220, although ETS will reduce the fee under certain circumstances. It also provides financial aid to GRE applicants who prove economic hardship.MBA Channel: "GRE:Wharton joins the club" 31 July 2009 ETS does not release scores that are older than five years, although graduate program policies on the acceptance of scores older than five years will vary.

Once almost universally required for admission to Ph.D. science programs in the U.S., its use for that purpose has fallen precipitously since 2020.

History

The Graduate Record Examinations was "initiated in 1936 as a joint experiment in higher education by the graduate school deans of four Ivy League universities and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching."

The first universities to experiment with the test on their students were Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University and Columbia University. The University of Wisconsin was the first public university to ask their students to take the test in 1938. It was first given to students at the University of Iowa in 1940, where it was analyzed by psychologist Dewey Stuit. It was first taken by students at Texas Tech University in 1942. In 1943, it was taken by students at Michigan State University, where it was analyzed by Paul Dressel. It was taken by over 45,000 students applying to 500 colleges in 1948.

Until the Educational Testing Service was established in January 1948, the GRE was a project of the Carnegie Foundation.

Changes to exam over time

The earliest versions of the GRE tested only for verbal and quantitative ability. For a number of years before October 2002, the GRE had a separate Analytical Ability section which tested candidates on logical and analytical reasoning abilities. This section was replaced by the Analytical Writing Assessment.

Some changes to the GRE took effect on November 1, 2007, as ETS started to include new types of questions in the exam. The changes mostly centered on "fill in the blank" type answers for the mathematics section that requires the test-taker to fill in the blank directly, without being able to choose from a multiple choice list of answers. ETS announced plans to introduce two of these new types of questions in each quantitative section, while the majority of questions would be presented in the regular format.

Since January 2008, the Reading Comprehension within the verbal sections has been reformatted, passages' "line numbers will be replaced with highlighting when necessary in order to focus the test taker on specific information in the passage" to "help students more easily find the pertinent information in reading passages."

Before August 2011, the scale was 200–800, in 10-point increments.

2011 revision In December 2009, ETS announced plans to move forward with significant revisions to the GRE in 2011. Changes include a new 130–170 scoring scale, the elimination of certain question types such as antonyms and analogies, the addition of an online calculator, and the elimination of the CAT format of question-by-question adjustment, in favor of a section by section adjustment.

On August 1, 2011, the Revised GRE General test replaced General GRE test. The new types of questions in the revised format are intended to test the skills needed in graduate and business schools programs. From July 2012 onwards GRE announced an option for users to customize their scores called ScoreSelect.

Experimental section Until 2023, there was an experimental section, which could be either verbal or quantitative, and contained new questions ETS is considering for future use. Although the experimental section did not count towards the test-taker's score, it was unidentified and appears identical to the scored sections. Because test takers had no definite way of knowing which section was experimental, it was typically advised that test takers try their best and be focused on every section. Sometimes an identified research section at the end of the test was given instead of the experimental section. There was no experimental section on the paper-based GRE.

Structure The computer-based GRE General Test consists of six sections. The first section is always the analytical writing section involving separately timed issue and argument tasks. The next five sections consist of two verbal reasoning sections, two quantitative reasoning sections, and either an experimental or research section. These five sections may occur in any order. The experimental section does not count towards the final score but is not distinguished from the scored sections.

Unlike the computer adaptive test before August 2011, the GRE General Test is a multistage test, where the examinee's performance on earlier sections determines the difficulty of subsequent sections, using a technique known as computer-adaptive testing. This format allows the examined person to freely move back and forth between questions within each section, and the testing software allows the user to "mark" questions within each section for later review if time remains. The entire testing procedure lasts about 3 hours 45 minutes. One-minute breaks are offered after each section and a 10-minute break after the third section.

The paper-based GRE General Test also consists of six sections. The analytical writing is split up into two sections, one section for each issue and argument task. The next four sections consist of two verbal and two quantitative sections in varying order. There is no experimental section on the paper-based test.

Analytical writing section The analytical writing section consists of two different essays, an "issue task" and an "argument task". The writing section is graded on a scale of 0–6, in half-point increments. The essays are written on a computer using a word processing program specifically designed by ETS. The program allows only basic computer functions and does not contain a spell-checker or other advanced features. Each essay is scored by at least two readers on a six-point holist scale. If the two scores are within one point, the average of the scores is taken. If the two scores differ by more than a point, a third reader examines the response.

Issue Task The test taker is given 30 minutes to write an essay about a selected topic. Issue topics are selected from a pool of questions, which the GRE Program has published in its entirety. Individuals preparing for the GRE may access the pool of tasks on the ETS website.

Argument Task The test taker will be given an argument (i.e. a series of facts and considerations leading to a conclusion) and asked to write an essay that critiques the argument. Test takers are asked to consider the argument's logic and to make suggestions about how to improve the logic of the argument. Test takers are expected to address the logical flaws of the argument and not provide a personal opinion on the subject. The time allotted for this essay is 30 minutes. The Arguments are selected from a pool of topics, which the GRE Program has published in its entirety. Individuals preparing for the GRE may access the pool of tasks on the ETS website. This task is already cancelled since September 22, 2023.

Verbal section The computer-based verbal sections assess reading comprehension, critical reasoning, and vocabulary usage. The verbal test is scored on a scale of 130–170, in 1-point increments. In a typical examination, each verbal section consists of 20 questions to be completed in 30 minutes. Each verbal section consists of about 6 text completion, 4 sentence equivalence, and 10 critical reading questions. The changes in 2011 include a reduced emphasis on rote vocabulary knowledge and the elimination of antonyms and analogies. Text completion items have replaced sentence completions and new reading question types allowing for the selection of multiple answers were added.

Quantitative section The computer-based quantitative sections assess knowledge and reasoning skills taught in most Mathematics and Statistics courses in secondary schools. The quantitative test is scored on a scale of 130–170, in 1-point increments. In a typical examination, each quantitative section consists of 20 questions to be completed in 35 minutes. Each quantitative section consists of about 8 quantitative comparisons, 9 problem solving items, and 3 data interpretation questions. The changes in 2011 include the addition of numeric entry items requiring the examinee to fill in the blank and multiple-choice items requiring the examinee to select multiple correct responses. Arithmetic: Integer, Divisibility rule, Integer factorization, Prime number, Remainder, Parity Exponentiation, nth root Estimation, Percentage, Ratio, Rate, Absolute value, Number line, Decimal representation, Sequence Algebra: Operation Factorization, Expression Relation, Function, Equation, Inequality Equation solving, Linear equation, Quadratic equation System of linear equations Analytic geometry, Graph of a function, Zero of a function, Y-intercept, Slope Geometry: Parallel, Perpendicular Circle Triangle, Isosceles triangle, Equilateral triangle, Special right triangle Quadrilateral, Polygon Congruence, Similarity Polyhedron Area, Perimeter, Volume Pythagorean theorem Angle, Degree Data analysis: Statistics, Mean, Median, Mode, Range, Standard deviation, Interquartile range, Quartile, Percentile Line chart, Bar chart, Pie chart, Box plot, Scatter plot, Frequency Probability, Independence Conditional probability Random variable, Probability distribution, Normal distribution Counting method, Combination, Permutation, Venn diagram

Scoring An examinee can miss one or more questions on a multiple-choice section and still receive a perfect score of 170. Likewise, even if no question is answered correctly, 130 is the lowest possible score. Verbal and quantitative reasoning scores are given in one-point increments, and analytical writing scores are given in half-point increments on a scale of 0 to 6.

Scaled score percentiles