GRE General Test

GRE General Test
Name	GRE General Test
Administered by	Educational Testing Service
Purpose	Graduate admissions assessment
Duration	About 3 hours 45 minutes
Score range	130–170 (Verbal, Quantitative); 0–6 (Analytical Writing)
First administered	1949

GRE General Test

The GRE General Test is a standardized assessment administered by Educational Testing Service used by applicants to graduate and business schools such as Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, and University of Oxford; it evaluates skills relevant to programs at institutions like Columbia University, Yale University, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Chicago. Many admissions committees at schools including University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan, and Duke University consider GRE scores alongside credentials from organizations such as the Fulbright Program, the National Science Foundation, the Rhodes Scholarship, MacArthur Foundation, and Gates Cambridge. The test interacts with professional programs linked to Kellogg School of Management, Wharton School, INSEAD, London Business School, and Harvard Business School and informs decisions by departments at institutions like California Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, University of Toronto, and University of Melbourne.

Overview

The GRE was developed and is maintained by Educational Testing Service and historically influenced by assessments used by institutions such as Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, and University of Chicago; international uptake includes applicants from Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Tokyo, University of São Paulo, and Seoul National University. Graduate programs in fields connected to National Institutes of Health, World Health Organization, European Research Council, United Nations, and Wellcome Trust often view GRE results together with transcripts from universities such as McGill University, University of British Columbia, University of Edinburgh, Sorbonne University, and Sapienza University of Rome. The test’s interpretations are used by committees at research centers like Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, CERN, Max Planck Society, Salk Institute, and Brookings Institution.

Test Content and Format

The GRE General Test comprises three main sections: Analytical Writing assessed with tasks similar in evaluative context to essays submitted to Princeton University, Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, London School of Economics, and Yale Law School; Verbal Reasoning that tests reading and vocabulary drawn from sources comparable to publications associated with The New Yorker, The Economist, Nature, Science, and The Lancet; and Quantitative Reasoning with problem types akin to material taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Caltech, University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, and Imperial College London. The format includes computer-delivered adaptive sections used in test centers operated under policies similar to those at Pearson VUE, Prometric, ETS Test Centers, British Council, and IDP Education; experimental or research sections have appeared in administrations connected to initiatives at Educational Testing Service, Council of Graduate Schools, Association of American Universities, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of Virginia.

Scoring and Score Use

Scores report Verbal and Quantitative scales from 130–170 and an Analytical Writing score from 0–6; admissions committees at Stanford University, Columbia University, University of Chicago, Yale University, and Cornell University interpret results alongside GPAs from institutions such as Brown University, Duke University, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and University of Texas at Austin. Many fellowships and grants administered by National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Fulbright Program, Rhodes Trust, and Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission consider GRE results, while some programs at MIT Sloan School of Management, Harvard Business School, INSEAD, Wharton School, and Kellogg School of Management use scores as one component among research experience and recommendation letters from faculties at Princeton University, Caltech, UCL, University of Sydney, and University of Auckland.

Preparation and Study Resources

Preparation resources include materials published by Educational Testing Service and independent publishers used by test takers attending prep courses from companies like Kaplan, Inc., The Princeton Review, Manhattan Prep, Magoosh, and Target Test Prep; many candidates supplement study with textbooks from authors associated with Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, McGraw-Hill Education, Wiley, and Pearson Education. Workshops and seminars offered by university centers at Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, Columbia University, and University of Michigan are common, and online communities connected to platforms such as Reddit, Quora, Stack Exchange, LinkedIn, and GitHub frequently exchange practice problems referencing sources like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and Scientific American.

Administration and Registration

The GRE is administered at test centers and via home testing options coordinated by Educational Testing Service with logistics comparable to services provided by Pearson VUE, Prometric, British Council, IDP Education, and Khan Academy; registration procedures interface with graduate application systems used by Common Application, UCAS, Coalition Application, ApplyYourself (Acsenda), and centralized portals at universities such as University of California, University of Michigan, University of Texas, University of Florida, and Ohio State University. Test-takers must follow identification and scheduling rules similar to those enforced by Transportation Security Administration, Department of State (United States), UK Visas and Immigration, Immigration New Zealand, and Australian Department of Home Affairs when testing internationally at centers in cities like New York City, London, Paris, Beijing, and Sydney.

History and Revisions

The GRE was introduced in 1949 by Educational Testing Service with early adoption at institutions including Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, Columbia University, and University of Chicago; major revisions over decades were influenced by psychometric research from groups such as the American Educational Research Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, American Psychological Association, Council of Graduate Schools, and Institute of Education Sciences. Notable changes—such as the move to computer-delivered testing and score-scale revisions—parallel developments at testing organizations like College Board, ACT, Inc., International Baccalaureate, SAT Subject Tests, and TOEFL and have been discussed in academic venues including American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Association for Psychological Science, European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction, and Psychometric Society.

Category:Standardized tests