GRE Test Structure
Posted by jagmohan on October 20, 2007
GRE® General Test Overview
What Is It?
The GRE® General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study.
Verbal Reasoning — The skills measured include the test taker’s ability to
- analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it
- analyze relationships among component parts of sentences
- recognize relationships between words and concepts
Quantitative Reasoning — The skills measured include the test taker’s ability to
- understand basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis
- reason quantitatively
- solve problems in a quantitative setting
Analytical Writing — The skills measured include the test taker’s ability to
- articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively
- examine claims and accompanying evidence
- support ideas with relevant reasons and examples
- sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion
- control the elements of standard written English
Since GRE is just a medium to apply for MS in USA it’s important to note that application reviewing committee of most grad schools in USA mostly cares about your Quantitative score and your verbal score.Analytical score isn’t that important.Atleast that how it was when I applied some 5 years back.I guess that’s why ETS have overhauled the Analytical ability test to come up with new format.By the way a bad score in quant and verbal can be made up by good academic records at the undergraduate level.So good quant & verbal score isn’t the be all and end all as they might appear.
